Thanks for the excellent review! I particularly like my keyring
'PhotonPump' and my 'Led Lenser' single AA (at my left-hand on my desktop
for close-up work, still running on the original branded AA cell after 18
months).
My son loves the Led Lenser 'Police' we got him for last Christmas
http://www.amazon.co.uk/LED-Lenser-Police-Focus-Torch/dp/B000OGCP6W
I'm now seriously going to have to consider retrofitting my Maglites...
thanks
jez
On 7 March 2010 11:40, Moose <olymoose@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I'd be very surprised if I found that more than a few list members don't
> accumulate, among their other gear, flashlight/torches.
>
> I seem to accumulate them all too easily - and frequently. ;-) The
> various 1, 3, 9 & 40 LED models I've acquired are fine in many ways.
> They provide a lot of light compared to a hodgepodge of incandescent
> predecessors with much better battery life.
>
> These arrays of small, low output LEDs are particularly good relatively
> close-up, where they throw an even, diffuse light. At longer distances,
> they give the impression of good light, but somehow don't make details
> very clear. Still, the 3 & 4 cell Maglites did the long stuff quite well.
>
> Then there's the battery thing. I've got all these eneloops and a couple
> of good chargers. But put 1.2 v batteries in either the incandescent or
> LED lights, and the light output goes down a lot - like in half. Then a
> couple of impulse purchases led me down the path of LED flashlight
> knowledge.
>
> All those lights that use three or more cells, tiny button, 357 size
> button, AA or AAA in holders that drop into the flashlight body, no
> name, Maglite, whatever, are direct drive, the batteries simply are
> connected to the LEDs. As voltage drops with age and use, brightness falls.
>
> But the two cell lights use a DC-DC inverter to up the voltage. And they
> generally are fairly well regulated, so as voltage drops, they draw more
> current from the batteries to maintain the output voltage. Sooooo...,
> with NiMh cells, they only lose about 5% of the output, which isn't
> visible to our eyes.
>
> The Mini Maglite AA was a revelation. Amazing, focusable light output,
> with no drop that I could see using rechargeable batteries. I'm
> particularly interested in small flashlights. I keep my study/computer
> room/library/stuff room dim, day and night, so image editing doesn't
> vary. So I always have at least a couple of flashlights on my desk to
> assist with rummaging. I also tend to keep then in places like glove
> compartments.
>
> I could, of course, just replace them, but these are high quality tools,
> and the idea of putting them aside was unappealing. Another impulse buy
> had been an LED conversion kit for Maglite AAs. No brighter than with a
> fresh incandescent bulb, and the three LED light didn't focus any more,
> but the light was much whiter, a nice pattern for desk use and batteries
> last much longer.
>
> Now that I'd seen the amazing light out of the Maglite AA, I started
> looking into other conversions. Wow, everything I needed. I had one each
> of Maglite AA and AAA, two AA Legends, one labeled Eddie Bauer and one
> Brinkmann, a AAA Legend and a AAA plain Brinkmann.
>
> Now I have all of them but one AAA converted to LED and working fully on
> the eneloops. The items I tried are:
>
> 1. Nite-Ize three LED upgrade. This comes either with or without a
> switch for the tail end. I really like having a switch. It's one of the
> reasons I preferred the Legends to the Maglites, a tail switch so I can
> turn them on and off without changing the focus and using only one hand.
> Nice white light.
>
> 2. Nite-Ize 1 watt single LED upgrade. This is much brighter than the
> tungsten bulb, although not quite as bright as the Maglite LED AA.
> Yellower light than LED Maglite or #1. Again comes with or without a
> tail switch, but a fancier one. Successive presses of the button give
> full, half, 1/4 power, then slow or rapid flashing. There is also a tiny
> LED in the transparent push button that flashes every few seconds. Not
> sure yet how I like that. It makes the light easy to find, but I wonder
> how much battery it uses.
>
> Both these upgrades just drop right into either brand of flashlight and
> #2 focuses as well or better than the original bulb.
>
> 3. TerraLUX TLE-20 upgrade. This is a 1/2 watt single LED with
> replacement reflectors for both AA and AAA Maglites. I wouldn't get it
> for AA, as the Nite-Ize 1 watt is brighter. It just drops into the AAA
> Maglite, focuses well and is a bit brighter using eneloops than the bulb
> with alkalines. Very slightly warm white.
>
> In the AAA Legend, the replacement reflector doesn't quite fit, being
> just a tiny bit too big in diameter to drop all the way in. However, if
> one is willing for the front bezel to not screw on quite all the way, to
> center the reflector when almost tight and to insert the bulb only half
> way at first, the reflector presses on the light assembly to push it
> almost all the way in, plenty of contact, and rest against the light
> assembly. Voila! Focus works, although not quite as tight as on the
> Maglite.
>
> It would also be possible to reduce the reflector diameter just a bit. I
> wouldn't want to do it by hand, as that could leave it uncentered. I
> thought about a mini lathe approach, spinning it in the Dremel, but the
> above approach works very well without violence. :-)
>
> A couple of very useful resources about flashlight preformance are
> <http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews_index/reviews_by_mfgrs.htm>
> and <http://www.cpfreviews.com/reviews.php>
>
> They disagree in a couple of cases I noticed and don't always agree with
> user reviews on the web, but are extremely informative.
>
> The three D cell LED Maglite is distinctly brighter than the three cell
> regular, maybe a bit brighter than the four cell and whiter than both.
> So far, I haven't found the upgrades for them as compelling as for the
> smaller units.
>
> One upgrade that looks interesting for some uses is the Nite-Ize upgrade
> "bulb" for C & D size Maglites. It compensates for voltages from 3 to 9
> volts, so works with 2 to 6 cells. Not particularly bright with few
> cells, its strength is amazing battery life - like 92% of original
> output after 24 hrs with two D cells.
>
> A. Bright Moose
>
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