Turn your AA Mini Mag LED

[gafftaper]

COOL TOY ALERT!!

I just found an upgrade kit for Mag lights. I got mine at Lowe's Hardware store, but they are available on-line too. You pop the top off and replace the reflector. Then you pull out the lamp and plug in the new LED lamp... which is actually 3 LEDs. Mine also came with a push button on off switch. You unscrew the cap in the butt and replace that with another piece. I got the white one but they also come in Red, Green, and Blue. It looks like it's such a new product that the colored LEDs aren't available yet. They are releasing an LED upgrade for the C and D cell Mags in April too.

I think it's brighter... it's at least a higher color temperature. Unfortunately, the focus feature doesn't work. It's locked at a little wider than the narrowest focus a mini mag produces... but I think it has a larger hot spot. The Twist off, twist on feature still is in effect and over rides the push button so it's sort of like having two switches. You can push the button on and off all you want but it does no good if it’s twisted to the old off position. I think I'm going to just switch back to my old base and forget the switch. The LED part of the unit looks durable enough so with 100,000 hour lamp life, it should last pretty much forever. The manufacturer claims it has 4 times the battery life. I just think it's cool. You can also still easily gel the inside of the light if you need to use it backstage or again try the colored kit... I’ve got to find one and I’ll let you know how it is.

I got mine for $9. It looks like the kit without the switch runs about $7.50. If I had known I wouldn’t have got the one with the switch. They are made by a company called Nite Ize. Who also make the “lite bite” another useful gadget for your mag. Here is the link to their Mag-lite accessory page on their website:
http://www.niteize.com/category.php?...16cebfebd38f1a

[Calc]

While I've thought about rigging this up myself in the past, I decided that it would probably be to much work to do to modify my own maglite. I have also seen such kits online.
However, did you know that Mag is releasing their own LED light soon?
http://www.maglite.com/LED_technology.asp
It says that they're releasing them "early 2006", so personally, i'm gonna wait till the official thing is released before I go buy something else.

[chslighttech]

I was in Lowes the other day and I saw the same kit. Its sitting on my desk right now. I think it is pretty neat little acsessory. It doesnt focus though, Which I really didnt like but Ill get used to it. It does produce more light though I think.

[Mayhem]

When I was in the US last year I picked up some similar LED upgrades from a company called Terralux , although I ordered mine through a distributor.

The ones that I purchased were the TLE-5 model that has a Luxeon 1W white LED and some power regulating circuitry. This particular upgrade enables the MiniMag to retain its focus ability, which was one of the reasons that I opted for this model.

They were more expensive that the three LED option but I made my purchase after reading a review of some of upgrades on several sites, including One From The Road – which (for those of you that don’t know) is the web site of Andy Leviss, a fellow CB member. Andy often has product reviews on his site and they are well worth the read (http://www.onefromtheroad.com/index.php?p=48).

This particular LED upgrade was about $26 (if I remember correctly).

[gafftaper]

Originally Posted by Calc

While I've thought about rigging this up myself in the past, I decided that it would probably be to much work to do to modify my own maglite. I have also seen such kits online.
However, did you know that Mag is releasing their own LED light soon?
http://www.maglite.com/LED_technology.asp
It says that they're releasing them "early 2006", so personally, i'm gonna wait till the official thing is released before I go buy something else.

Yeah I thought about rigging up my own as well but decided it would be too much hassle to cram it all into such a tight space.

The official Mag LED sounds cool. AND it's going to be focusable... very cool I can't wait. I'm such a Flashlight Nerd.

[MircleWorker]

about five years ago I Made a circuit board with five white LEDS on it and put it into a Mini Mag. I should have marketed it then. I used two N size batteries with a little spacer that had a resistor in it.

[chslighttech]

I found this flashlight forum one day. It was basically full of people who tinkered around with their flashlights and modded them. Lemme see if I can dig it up.

[avkid]

Originally Posted by chslighttech

I found this flashlight forum one day. It was basically full of people who tinkered around with their flashlights and modded them. Lemme see if I can dig it up.

Candlepower forums

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/index.php?

[Andy_Leviss]

I've actually had the Nite Ize LED upgrade and switch on my review "at bat" list for a while, but I haven't had time to sit down and get it all written up, and wanted to get some other reviews on the site before I posted another LED mag kit. Short version is, it's not as good as the TerraLux and Opalec kits, but it's not a bad cheap option, as far as the LED goes.

As far as the switch, it's the same Ram one I reviewed on the site, although it's been fixed so that it is NO instead of NC, which means it works as a momentary switch. I dig the recessed switch and the fact that, since it's not rubber coated, it goes in and out of holsters easier. Alas, it feels really cheap...the switch wiggles around a lot, doesn't feel "beefy", and it turns on accidentally with very slight bumps.

[saxman0317]

i found that my backpacking headlamp works great when im running cables under the stage and such...3 leds and multiple settings. The lowest isnt really able to be seen from the stage when ur in the wings at production lighting, and if u need to go on stage, i just duct tape a peice of dark blue gel on it like my board light.