Nite-Ize LED's for mini-maglites

steve1701d

steve1701d

Joined
Dec 21, 2000
Messages
684
Hey, these are pretty cool!
I have plenty of mini-mags laying around, and found this at Wal-Mart for around $5.00. It's a three LED setup, need to change out the focuser (is this a word?), too.

I have used mine for a couple of weeks now, both at work and in the woods, and so far it is a nice update.
It's not quite as bright as the Krypton bulb is when it's new, but the light is better for close up work, and still works good for walking along a dark trail or inside a dark electrical enclosure. Best part, no "dark spot" that mini-mags always have... :thumbup:

http://www.niteize.com/productdetail.php?category_id=28&product_id=110
 
The reviewer for CandlePowerForums says its 65 lux center and 587 overall. It is enough for any camp chore or walking along a trail. The batteries stay at 50% of original for 20x what the incandescent yields (10 hrs vs .5 hour) + no bulb to break.
 
And in all honesty, how many lumens do you really need? This is a cool way to recycle an old light. When I camp I use a Gerber Sonic, even that throws out enough light (remember its pitch black) to see at least 10m ahead.
 
The Opalec Newbeam is a little more expensive but has much better regulation. Plus you get a tiny red LED that comes on to let you know that the Opalec is dropping out of regulation, and it's time to think about changing the batteries. Great feature.



 
I just installed the Nite-Ize mod with my old Mini Maglite AA. It's literally a 3-minute job, and breathes new life into an unused flashlight. I would recommend skipping the combo upgrade kit (the one with the tail cap switch), since the switch isn't very good.
 
I've had the Nite-Ize for about four months now, and it's my walk the dog at night light. I'm still on the same set of batteries since fall. Last night I picked out a good target at witch I still had good illumination and paced it off at 25 yards. Like temper said-how much light do you really need?

I have not missed the spotlight feature at all, in fact I prefer the soft blue/white flood of light that lights up the trail in the woods where I walk the dog. When I shine it off into the woods the soft flood lights things up a surprising distance. It's just a different kind of light.

I too recomend the 4.95 conversion without the tail switch. I kept the standard butt end on my minimag for use as a kubaton sort of thing. Since I had three of the AA minimags around I love the Nite-Ize conversion. It recycles an old light that is built like a tank, and if the conversion ever goes belly up I have the bulb in the tail cap for converting it back in an emergency.

The best of both worlds.
 
I bought the Nite-Ize about 6 months ago. Tried installing it in an old Mini-mag I had lieing around. It worked but kept cutting off. I could shake the light and it would come back on for a while then cut out again. I disassembled it and tryed to fix it but with no luck. I bought a new mini-mag and intalled it with the same result. As far as I am concerned they are POJ. I've gone back to the mini-mag lite.
Oldsalt
 
Oldsalt,, no offence intended but your not being fair saying they are junk because you got a bad one. You should of exchanged the Nite Ize. They have a 2 year warrenty according to there web site.

For what its worth I have 4 Nite Ize conversions and I am very happy with them.
 
DirkDiggler,
You are probably right, however, I hate dealing with returning faulty merchandise no matter how good the company is. I admit that after working on this thing off and on for several months and going through two mini mags with it my patience has worn mighty thin. Instead of returning it, I may just buy another, they are relatively cheap and thats quicker than waiting for the company to respond and others seem to getting them to work, so maybe I did get a bad one. If so, and and new one works I'll return the old one for a replacement. I was looking forward to using it and the longer battery life and as I said was very frustrated that it would not. I'll post the results of my second try with these.
Oldsalt.
 
Oldsalt,, I know what mean about returning bad parts. It can be a real hassel. I think you will be pleased with the conversion once you get one that works.
 
Sorry to bring an old thread back up but I needed to vent.

I finally made it back to wally world to pick up this conversion head for some exploring I'm doing tomorrow and low and behold......sold out.

Yea, they had 90 of the freakin things last weekend. Been thinking about it all week ( little bit of the OCD.)really looking forward to testing it out.

Oh well, I guess I'm EBAYing one of them tonight.
 
I finally got it. Wow, I am very impressed.

I chucked the clicky tail cap after about an hour of playing, it was cheap.
Not as bright as my 1 watt Luxeon or a fresh standard mag light but the quality of light seems better to me.

Really cant beat it for 5 bucks.
 
I knew they were coming out with them, and I finaly found one at Lowes... Im all about the Led lights,,,,last longer, no bulbs to replace...
 
Adjusted for inflation, the AA model - Minimag - is selling for 25% of what it brought twenty years ago. That should be a big hint that it's time for maglite to move to LED.
 
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