LED flashlights: worth a darn?

Gee. I bought a bunch last Christmas season for 5.88 a piece (aa version), for us made that is as good a deal as one can get. The only problem I've had with maglights is that sometimes they get turned on carrying in my pocket.

For an interesting read, check out the USPTO site for all the patents on the thing.

Wes

Has anyone used a luxion 1 watt in a 2AA maglight using NiMH batts? How well does it work?

Wes

The 6D Maglight with krypton bulb produces 106 lumens. A single Luxeon V 5-watt LED produces 120 lumens. A Luxeon properly fitted into a 6D reflector will produce as good a beam as the krypton bulb does.

Even the 1-watt Luxeon LED's produce brigher light than the krypton bulbs used in 2D Maglights and 2AA Minimags. The 3-watt and 5-watt Luxeons are brighter yet.

A Luxeon works great in the reflector from a 2D Maglight. I made a

There are also plastic collimators that produce about a 12 degree beamwidth from a single Luxeon. They're about 3/4" dia, considerably brighter than a Minimag.

Maglites are the best and will last two lifetimes if not more. I have 7 of them. Don't you wish Ford make cars this well?

I have LEDs too, compact, bright white, battery last forever but doesn't throw the light 1/4 mile away like the Mags do - not even close. I like both.

Perhaps you should do what I do with each new flashlight with a machined case -- LED or MagLite -- lube the threads and the O-rings with Vaseline. And if exposed to direct salt water, unscrew it and wash off the freshly exposed surfaces with tap water prior to re-lubing it and re-assembling.

All of the LED flashlights which I have are as likely to fall victim to salt wate as the Maglites are -- similar construction, similar materials.

:-)

Enjoy, DoN.

What manufacturers market flashlights equipped with Luxeon V 5-watt LEDs?

How much do they charge for one?

I'm not interested in having to buy both a MagLite AND an upgrade kit - which is, precisely, what you're describing.

Somehow, I don't see anyone selling an LED upgrade kit for a price low enough to justify upgrading such a miniscule difference in light output. (I presume that the upgrade kit costs more than $1.40 + shipping and handling.)

The Maglight was a very significant innovation circa 1979: a rugged and reliable flashlight at a relatively high price : > $20 then, >$50 in today's $ with inflation factor of 2.68 between then and now. It was the first "really good" flashlight.

One problem with the Maglight is that it uses a threaded aluminum tailcap as part of the current path. Incidentally, Maglight is not so named because it's made of magnesium (it isn't), but after it's designer Anthony Maglica.

The threads can't be anodized because an anodize film is non-conductive. Non-anodized aluminum threads still oxidize and sometimes gall though a bit of lube helps a lot. Neither oxidation nor lube helps conduction of low voltage a bit.

Another problem is that it (as any incandescant flashlight) loses nearly 75% of its brightness over nominal battery life to 0.8 volts per cell. Most users change batteries long before the cells are fully depeted for that reason.

The "spot" is not uniform. It's mottled with artifacts of imaging a glowing filament. This is not good for inspection or for hunting for small objects.

If the light is dropped when turned on, the bulb will usually fail. If not, the bulb will usually fail when first turned on -- which is exactly when you need a light or you wouldn't have turned it on.

Now, 26 years later, the Maglite, with its wonderful (and deserved) reputation, is obsolete. It definitely deserves a place in history.

Luxeon LED's are brighter than the krypton bulbs used in most Maglites, have life of 50,000 hours, and won't fail when dropped. They produce a very even white beam. The light does not change color at reduced power -- and electronic regulation can maintain constant brightness while fully depleting the batteries. Luxeon lights are available in machined aluminum bodies with O-ring seals that are made as well as a Maglite, though most are considerably smaller and lighter. Some use internal battery carriers that do not depend on aluminum threads as a return conduction path. One, Zweibrueder, even uses gold-plated contacts. Good 1-watt Luxeon flashlights, with electronic regulation, are available in the $40 to $60 pricerange -- which is comparable to the cost of the Maglite (in todays' dollars) at the time of its introduction in 1979. (Inflation factor from 1979 to now is about 2.68.)

Flashlights using several individual 5mm LEDs are useful too, but different. In those, each LED produces its own beam with it's own integral lens. This cannot be improved with a reflector or array of reflectors. They also run at much lower power than a Luxeon and use that power less efficiently. But they're still quite sufficient for walking thru a dark house without tripping on anthing or anyone.

The Luxeon is more of an omnidirectional radiator, more like a lightbulb. As such, it needs a collimator or parabolic reflector to form a beam -- and, given such a collimator or reflector it can produce a tight, intense, uniform beam.

I might mention that I'm in no way affiliated with Luxeon -- or any other business for that matter. I'm retired. I just like good flashlights. I have four commercial Luxeon flashlights, some better than others, and I enjoy making my own as well. 1-watt Luxeons are only about 6 bux each, 3-watt jobs are a coupla bux more.

Read the thread, follow the links. There are several, all pricey.

I merely responded to your noting that a Luxeon LED can compete favorably in brightness with a 6D Maglite.

Yes, it would be considerably more than $1.40, and a Maglite retrofit won't work as well as a flashlight designed from the ground up to use a Luxeon.

I agree that a miniscule increase in brightness is not an "upgrade" worth a farthing if your flashlight otherwise works well for you.

I have a couple of lights that are way beyond LED (or Maglite) capability; bulky and kinda heavy, , but when I need 2 million candlepower they deliver it. I only use them a couple of times a year.

I haven't, but it would work just fine. A 2AA Luxeon light needs voltage boost elex because the Luxeon runs at about 3.6 volts, so some degree of regulation is implicit. Fully-charged NiMH cells are lower in voltage than fresh alkies, but the discharge curve is flatter.

The TerraLux module would work just fine with NiMH cells.

The light does not change color

Don,

Is it possible for you to explain in such a way a machinist (that lacks electronics smarts) could understand how the voltage is established and regulated? Seems the voltage drop as the batteries depleted would present a problem.

TIA

Harold

I see lots of 3-AAA Luxeons, does anyone make a 3-AA version? I much prefer AAs to AAAs, more power per buck and not much bigger/heavier

According to Ron Moore the 3 watt LED and reflector (presumably you need to buy the Maglite separately) costs $70 and the 5 watt kit $300. Maglite.com gives the brightness of the 6-D krypton bulb as 106 lumens and the brightness of the 6-D xenon bulb as 114 lumens. I can buy a 6-D Maglite here in England for £28.91. At current exchange rates that's about $52. Who is going to spend an extra $300 to get little more than a

Chris

Better flashlights incorporate a switching type regulator. These can be over 90% efficient in converting one voltage to another. Actually in case of LED it would be converting a battery voltage to constant current so that as the battery voltage drops the switching regulator would take more power from the battery to maintain the constant current that the LED requires.

The Maglite might be obsolete if you're a flashlight enthusiast who wants the very latest technology, the absolute brightest beam, the best battery life, and so on, but from the point of view of the man on the street who wants a good flashlight it's alive and well. We're comparing very good flashlights here and the differences are pretty small when it comes to everyday use. A 2-D Maglite and your Luxeon flashlight are both going to be better than perhaps 95% of flashlights in high street stores. The Maglite sells because it's an uncomplicated, tried and tested design from a well-known company, it's durable and it's damn bright compared with the other 95%. What's more, it's widely available.

Chris

The 'shake & Shine' lights advertised on TV are as good a buy as I've seen & they work great. Only caveat is they'll try to hard sell more than you want. The big one works with just a couple of shakes but the little one has to be shaken quite a few times. Good bright LED's Bugs

I really didn't finish all of the responses. But here is my opinion, based on my own experiences.

I own 9 Mag lights, of various sizes. Mainly D cell batteries in

Now that I have told you about my Maglights, I will tell you about my favorite! I recently purchased a Surefire G2 for 34 bucks at Cabelas. The moment I got it home I compared the light output to my "best" Maglight (6cell), there was no comparision! The Surefire out shined with a better more focused beam. The runtime is diminished but after 6 months of use, I have found that the batteries will last me about a month the way I need the light. Short bursts. It is also MUCH nicer to carry around a couple of oz. rather then a bulky

As far as LED lights, I have several. I like the VERY small pocket lights with the single LED I even have a 3 LED flashlight, Its not the greatest, the light is more blue than white.. I usually use this light to navigate around my sons toys in the dark! or to go down to look in on the dog.THe beam is TOO focused for me.

Hope this gives you insight. Searcher1

OK, cool, but how do the Surefire lights work as nightsticks/bludgeons?

:)

I did say 'better,' not 'brighter.'

Better, in that it's as bright as the 2D cell maglight, but smaller, more reliable, and longer battery run life.

It's small enough that I can carry it in a jacket or riding suit pocket all the time - which would be impossibly awkward with even a 2D maglight.

One of the problems I find with the maglights is, the anodization tends to prevent the tail cap from making good electrical contact with the body tube. The lights often won't work unless you twist its tail.

Even though the maglight is environmetally sealed with O-rings the contact point between the rear cap and the body is *outside* of the O-ring, and as such is susceptible to oxidation and corrosion over time.

Jim