Does an old Maglight have any value, or should I just put it in the recycling?

It still works, but we haven’t used it for years (it was bought new about 15 years ago), and it has been sitting by the back door just taking up space. Quite a bit of space.

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Useless as a torch but it’s a cosh shaped heavy object that you can legitimately keep by the door to use against intruders when the brexyviropocalpse hits.

Convert to LED. Loads of kits available.

Is it a C cell of D cell, if D and you are that way inclined, it’s a legal way of carrying a handy club.

It’s quite a pretty thing in its own right, isn’t it?

I thought the main purpose was for ‘tactically’ clubbing burglars to death, and as such, never obselete?

EDIT: I see this is a popular opinion among us STW hardmen 🙂

I bought a massive D cell one recently at a junk shop for £3 so no, not much value! They are shite compared to any modern LED torch. They are cool though, an LED conversion is on my (very long!) list of projects.

oooooh LED conversions are possible!!?

I converted my old D cell Maglite to LED. Seemed a shame to throw it away, and a bit of a waste. Ultimately not as bright as a modern LED torch but bright enough to be serviceable.

Something like this kit will do the job:

I’ve an old AA one that lives by the fusebox, doesn’t get used even when the power goes off as even the phone screen is brighter!

Kinda nice to upgrade it, even if you can get two 1000 lumen LED torches on Amazon for the same price as the conversion

I did the LED upgrade on mine. It upgrades it from “really shit” to “mediocre.” Probably worth doing if you’re not tossing it out.

I’ve got a tiny little Maglight Solitaire thing. I keep it handy incase The Borrowers break in.

I’ve got the opposite ‘problem’

One thing I really dislike about cree LED torch lights is the brightness and ‘coolness’ . They are intensely ugly things and if you’re all nice and relaxed while camping etc and want to read a book or make a brew then it’s grab the Cree 600000Lumen Retinargh Plus Mk 4 and …POFF! Flash bang wallop what a wakeup.

I was given a Maglite Mini last year by a friend who would have just thrown it in a skip. I love it. Soft light when soft light needed. Lovely warm glow a little like firelight. That perfectly ingenious little candlelight function where you remove the lens and fit the ‘candle’ in it as a base. It’s a beautiful thing. I like it in the same way I like a Swiss Army Knife. It’s beautifully made and classic. Think of it as a ‘bedside torch’ for indoor or in-tent use and it makes a lot of sense.

However. The SAK has no real discernible downsides for what it is. But….the Maglite Mini eats AA batteries at a rate. I suppose rechargeables is the answer. Not the worst problem. I’ll be keeping it. I wouldn’t want a larger one (except as a baton come zombiegeddon)

As above, convert it to led which is supposed to extend the burning time by 3.

I’ve a brace of them. 2x3D Red and Green off the boat.Port and Starboard. Were clipped to the inside of the companionway so no matter the tack, you could reach in and grab one.

I’d like to convert them completely, including drilling and tapping the bottom to take a charger point, with li ion batteries inside. But alas I dont have the technical skill to do the electrical bits, circuit boards and the rest 😕

I’ve got a 4xD cell version which has been converted to the okay LED bulb and I now use eneloop AA rechargables so it’s bright, lighter and longer lasting.

I remember getting one as a kid about 25 years ago. I couldn’t believe how wonderful and bright it was.

LED would destroy the candlelight function even if I could find an LED soft and ‘warm‘ enough to match.

I’ve seen USB rechargeable 1.5v AA lipo batteries but they’re about £40 a cell!

My big 4-cell stopped working. I emailed Maglite, said can I replace this part, they took my details but after a couple of days said sorry, that exact part’s discontinued as it’s such an old torch. I thought, oh well, never mind, it was old anyway.

A month later and a brand new LED model turned up in the post from America 🙂 They didn’t even tell me they were doing it.

I mean, in torch terms it’s still way less good than any of my cheap chinese ones. But we were in the middle of a spate of breakins so an iron bar with an led on the end is quite welcome.

p7eaven
Free Member

However. The SAK has no real discernible downsides for what it is. But….the Maglite Mini eats AA batteries at a rate. I suppose rechargeables is the answer.

Change it to a 14500 IMR or lipo and a dummy battery, makes it lighter, ups the voltage a little but almost certainly won’t cause any problems, and avoids the vdroop issues of normal rechargables. You do need to buy a specific charger though

if its a big ol Dcell there must be a massive power LED dropin for it somewhere. Id convert it to Li Ion 18650 or suchlike, save a few kilos, but ultimately its still big and gonna help you blind/bludgeon/stick it up the burglar where the sun never shines

Thanks Northwind, £3.99 plus charger looks a better option. Don’t know anything about electronics. Does a dummy battery just work like a contact or is it full of gubbins and overload circuitry stuffthings?

if its a big ol Dcell there must be a massive power LED dropin for it somewhere.

1000 lumens big enough?
Pricey but I was feeling flush at the time. Now I can blind burglars before I bludgeon them😁

1000 lumens big enough?

yeah I found that site, dated 2016 which is about 2 ice ages ago the rate LED tech moves forwards isn’t it? Or is it still pretty current?

One thing I really dislike about cree LED torch lights is the brightness and ‘coolness’ . They are intensely ugly things and if you’re all nice and relaxed while camping etc and want to read a book or make a brew then it’s grab the Cree 600000Lumen Retinargh Plus Mk 4 and …POFF! Flash bang wallop what a wakeup.

LED would destroy the candlelight function even if I could find an LED soft and ‘warm‘ enough to match.

You’re not looking hard enough – you need a Nichia LED light with a ‘firefly’ or ‘moonlight’ mode. I’ve got a couple of Reylight LAN titanium lights, via Drop, only reason I’ve got two, is I mislaid one, thought I’d lost it, and Drop had some more come on offer.
Great little light, the Nichia emitter is a warm, daylight tone, and the firefly mode is exactly what you’re looking for, although you can’t use it as a ‘candle’ in the way a Maglite does, however it will stand on its tailcap – the button is flush – and you could switch to a brighter mode.
https://www.reylight.net/product/reylight-titanium-lan/
Reylight are out of stock at the mo’, but it might be worth looking at Drop, formerly Massdrop, for further drops, or register an interest, to encourage a new release
One nice, although expensive additional feature, are the little slots in the lens cap, a slot in the push button, and small holes in the tailcap, allowing the use of 6 x 1.5mm tritium vials to be glued in. As they’re around £5-6 each, filling all the slots is pricey, however, even a few means it’s very easy to find the torch in complete darkness like when camping. One or other of mine is always by my bedside, I can but my hand on it instantly, without groping around and knocking stuff on the floor.
Oh, and they run on 14500 Li-ion cells, as well as AA, but output is lower with the 1.5v AA, 14500’s are 3.7v

1000 lumens big enough?
Pricey but I was feeling flush at the time. Now I can blind burglars before I bludgeon them

Only 1000? I’ve got a small flashlight that puts out 13,000 lumens, but that’s on a short Turbo mode, and on strobe, and those will fry your eyeballs!
It can get very hot, though. This one has three emitters, they do another that puts out 25,000ln, and a monster that puts out 100,000, but it’s sodding expensive. Mine’s an Imalent MS03, it uses a proprietary 21700 li-ion cell with a USB-C charging port in the top. If you want really whizzy, there’s a new compact flashlight that uses white laser technology, like Audi use in some of their top-end cars, only 500ln, but a beam range of 1200 metres!
Oh and thanks for the link to that 1000 ln Maglite conversion, I’ve got an old Maglite with an early LED conversion in, and like Cougar said, it’s crap, but that one might be worth looking at, to keep the torch in use.

The laser light is a Fenix TK30 …
https://heinnie.com/fenix-tk30-laser-light/?utm_source=Heinnie+Haynes+Customers&utm_campaign=07c4b7514a-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_10_23_11_07&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_15c01d759b-07c4b7514a-147414577&goal=0_15c01d759b-07c4b7514a-147414577&mc_cid=07c4b7514a&mc_eid=192e1752a8

Diffuser ?
They did one for the mini, red and amber, and im sure they do it in the full sized models. Photography shop could well be a source for a diffused filter giving a warm glow.

Need to try it first, being super bright, but so are pro lighting, and they diffuse those a lot, so there must be options.

You want that wallop of OH GOD IVE DROPPED MY KEYS IN THE GRASS search light, take it off.

Jeezo there’s a 100,000 lumen version of that imalent torch and it’s got a fan in it 😳

https://m.banggood.com/IMALENT-MS18-18-x-XHP70-100000Lumens-8Modes-High-Brightness-LED-Flashlight-p-1471868.html?akmClientCountry=GB&gmcCountry=GB&currency=GBP&cur_warehouse=CN&createTmp=1&utm_source=googleshopping&utm_medium=cpc_bgcs&utm_content=lijing&utm_campaign=ssc-gbg-all-1223&ad_id=407616486909&gclid=Cj0KCQjwxNT8BRD9ARIsAJ8S5xYQeolSEAuEBZKvJvjXqiMnuNoznpQQIEq4bAj68TxVTzGax-hiIPIaAjbOEALw_wcB

p7eaven
Free Member

Thanks Northwind, £3.99 plus charger looks a better option. Don’t know anything about electronics. Does a dummy battery just work like a contact or is it full of gubbins and overload circuitry stuffthings?

Literally just a wee conductor. If you go down that route drop me a PM, I sell them on ebay but I’ve got some with cosmetic marks, I’ll send you one for nowt if it’s useful.

^^. Thanks Count Zero. Those look cool. Expensive! Yet, I’m hopelessly attached to the incandescent candlelight and smooth, silent operation of the Mini. It’s like the Anglepoise I have. People throw them away or sell for a tenner. I got one for that and put a £5 daylight temperature bulb in it. Now can’t imagine anything nicer for work.

Tritium vials

whut the fruit? Is this a James Bond movie? I don’t have a clue what they are but WANT

I forgot to say, other things about a Maglite Mini are

– the microscopic streamers of magical light (which you can see even better after a few many pints of Gwatkins.

– No clicky switchy, just smooth turn of the lens cap

– Focus/beam adjust

Lots to play with.

I just need to get better rechargeable battery/batteries. Any recommendations? What would be too much enough voltage?

*edit

Woawaweewooah!

(need a better lens to capture, they’re indescribably sharp and tiny streamers)

Incidentally, the best thing about shopping for torches on gearbest, banggood etc is the surrealist images. How big is this torch!

https://uk.banggood.com/XANES-P70-T3U-XHP70-LED-5Modes-USB-Rechargeable-Waterproof-LED-Flashlight-18650-Flashlight-26650-Flashlight-p-1588890.html?rmmds=search&cur_warehouse=CN