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Brighter Idea?

guido

guido

Well-known Member
Hello,

Since I lost the glass on my Maglite, I have had just cover the front with a piece of clear plastic. That made the light dull but usable.
I sacrificed a bulb and soldered an led to the leads of the old bulb. Now I have the batteries on charge. Hope to have a brighter beam then the standard bulb. Here are the before and after pictures,

Guido.
a135308.jpg

a135309.jpg

a135309.jpg
 
Nice, but my experience with Maglite indicates they would be happy to provide you with a replacement lens. They replaced a switch for me, free, and included another bulb.
 
A Bingo chip ,fits right in. [ for a while wife played Bingo]. I had a red one on my drag bike as a tailight or I could not pass tech inspection at one track at night. Held the mag-lite in one of those insulated oil line straps . Just spin the Mag-lite and instant tailight. They really just want to see you turn onto the return road so they can start the next racers. No battery or generator so Mag-lite solved it.This is probably all usless to you Guido unless they make a clear Bingo chip and not red.
 
Hello Va Tom,

I did not know that........Thanks. I bought that light in 1991 and still works good. Just wanted to try and see if it would work. I may just go and buy the led kit for it. I have 3 rechargeable Ni Cads for thee light. @4000Ma the led may go a long way between charges,

Guido.
 
MagLite makes a drop in LED replacement for the bulbs in their lights. Pricy, but well worth it. Brighter, longer battery life, almost indestructable, burn out proof.... Be sure to get one rated for your number of cells. Available from sporting goods stores - got mine at WallyLand.
 
LEDs don't put out a lot of heat, but they do put out some, so they need to be kept cool or they will fail. Normally they are soldered to a bit of circuit board which acts as a heat sink, and higher power LEDs will be thermally bonded to a metal heat sink. Just soldering as you have done, with no current limiting resistor will probably result in a fairly short life. I've seen them actually fracture the plastic lens when they fail. Makes kind of neat little popping sound...
 
I changed all my Mag Lites over to LED bulbs. The only problem I have with them now is the ones I keep in vehicles I have to remember to check the batteries before they start to leak and cause corrosion. The one I keep in my tool box is the only one I have had to replace the batteries in because they got weak. I used to replace batteries every couple of months. Now they last several years. For what I save in batteries it more than covered the cost of the replacement bulbs.

Snap-On used to carry both plastic and glass lens that would fit the flash light. I used the glass ones in the shop because plastic didn't like some of the solvents they would get exposed to. I need to find another source for the glass lens.
 
Hello 36 coupe,

The D on led stands for diode, which is a one way electrical check valve. It will only light if the polarity is correct. Reverse the polarity and no light, reverse it again...........light.
There is no need for anything else to power an Light Emitting Diode(LED), just a 4.5 volt DC source,

Guido
 
Hello CLIFF(VA),

I really did not look for the replacement lens.
But a new lens will make the light shine as it always has. The led I used came out of an old led flashlight,

Guido.
 
Was not impressed at all with the LED replacement kit, was never as bright as the standard bulb.
The new minimag that is LED from the factory is incredibly bright, almost too much in some cases but the 25 dollar price tag is a bit steep.

We used to punch our own replacement lenses out of stiff clear plastic, kept a few in the tool box at all times.
 
Guido,
You seem to have more time on your hands than I do. I ended up with 3 18v dewalt lights. They are very bright. Have to be careful because a slight jar when hot, there goes an expensive bulb. However, I live 3 miles from HF, where the sometimes give away a small 9 LED light. I don't leave home without it in my pocket. It's as handy as carrying a knife. I use it many times a day.

So, thinking one led may not be bright enough.
George
 
(quoted from post at 20:47:33 11/14/13) Hello 36 coupe,

The D on led stands for diode, which is a one way electrical check valve. It will only light if the polarity is correct. Reverse the polarity and no light, reverse it again...........light.
There is no need for anything else to power an Light Emitting Diode(LED), just a 4.5 volt DC source,

Guido
Click to expand...
I believe the LED needs a current limiting resistor or it will fry very quickly.
 
Hello IH2524,

A diode only needs a 4.5 volts input and will light one way only. Reverse the polarity no light.
Did you know that a diode has a voltage drop?
Also the color of the diode will have a different voltage drop,

Guido.
 
Guido, you are preaching to the choir.Ive been using leds since the mid 70s.Built a few 13.7 power supplies during the CB craze and used led pilot lights.Some colors contain arsenic so you may be subject to a 2000 buck clean up fee if you pop one.
 
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