Teardown of a 20 year old LED torch

I picked up one of those huge black "confession extractor" Maglites at an amateur rally for next to nothing a few years back - it had 4 D-cells in it and a mediocre krypron incandescent bulb. So, I bought a replacement LED bulb - like a mini luxeon in a non screw-in bulb housing - for £8 off eBay and this thing is insanely bright. It's turned what was a tired old filament light into a very useful modern flashlight. I figure you could retrofit your old LED flashlight with a modern LED or LEDs and bring it firmly into the modern era..

Gordo

I think I have one of those 4D ones kicking around too with the LED retrofit. The focusing went to crap after the change, and it's not terribly bright.

Dustin

It looked like it had been injected through a hole in the side.

Big Clive

My first LED torch was a modded 2xAA Maglite, using a NewBeam retrofit that has 3 Nichia white LEDs. I remember produced similar light to the original bulb, but lost its focusing ability. However, it was great getting over double the battery life and not having the bulb fuse while out walking. I still have that torch somewhere in storage. I also have 4D Maglite with a 3W LED retrofit (220 lumen if I recall right). It was well used around 10 years ago, but now just an emergency light for power failures.

Seán Byrne

Very cool piece! I wonder how they got that silicone on there so clean. Was it flowed or was it a pad? I still have a couple of AA Maglites, but one has an LED mod that was sold at the time and its terrible. The other sits because I have 30 or so other better ones floating around the shop.

Michael Thompson

How interesting it reminds me of my black metal LED torch that cost me around £50 to £60 new. Then I must’ve bought, core blimey, back in 2004, admittedly very expensive but very well-made (could clopper someone with it and knock them out easily.... Not recommended!) and the brightness was good for around the time when I bought it. I think it’s safe to say since 2004 the advancement of LEDs. Has come quite away for example, can now get 6500K LED headlights for cars.

I still have a black version similar to the one in the link. Still use it now and then and still with the original light bulb (love the built-in lens)

Zeedijk Mike

In the 1980s we made jokes about a solar powered torch, funny how technology moves on. Back late 1980s I bought my dad a tiny "non LED" torch that had a fancy parabolic reflector and a very small bulb. I did a quick search and found it. There was nothing to compete with it back then https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/torches/7693826/ This is the spare for it https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/torch-bulbs/2428848/

John Harrison

Now every LED is ultra, super, mega high brightness, its impossible to find one that's not retina searingly bright.

Wim

I have one of those it upped the battery voltage to 120v to get the fluorescent tube to light. When I learned that I stopped using it. But it was cool.

Alex Taylor

With 3 D cells, it would have made a handy little truncheon if anyone came snooping during a powerout! But would have needed plenty of swing as it was made of plastic and rubber :D

John Carr

I have the 4D cell mag lite still going strong. Around that same 2000ish time frame I bought the $20 3 watt replacement replacement bulb and though it was the greatest thing. The light was used heavily each summer for a week at a Boy Scout camp and after the led upgrade my 4 D Alkaline cells lasted an entire week at camp, the rest of the year and another full week of camping again. I dropped the light a few years later and bought another led but other than that it’s the best flash light I’ve ever owned.

Jim

I still have an original 3 cell Maglite, although I bought an LED replacement lamp for it a few years back. The transformation was fantastic as expected.

"All been tungsten lamp based" Somewhere I have a hand held illumination device with a fluorescent tube along the long axis, and a tungsten lamp at the end. Where's it gone ? I could not find it on the web, maybe you have reviewed one in the past ?

In early 2002 I bought what I think was the first 1 watt Luxeon Star flashlight, the Arc LS. Still have it. http://www.ledmuseum.net/arcls.htm

Its great that you bought it for your parents, I think I might have kept it for myself.

Mike Hanley