What kills my mini maglites?

Check out the Photon II lights. Small, light, tough, and bright as hell. I've been keeping one on my keys for a couple years and its very handy. Cheap (under $20 shipped) some places, and suprisingly good battery life; I usually get a year or more out of a pair of CR2016 batts.
Sounds good, thanks for the recommendation! I'll look into those. If they are the ones i think they are then they will come in handy!
 
They probably are, they're pretty popular. A quick google search should bring up all kinds of retailers and the compay web site.
 
Sounds good, thanks for the recommendation! I'll look into those. If they are the ones i think they are then they will come in handy!
(Re: Photon II)

The Photon Freedoms are the most recent version of those. IIRC the IIs have little tiny screws you have to undo to change the batteries. The IIIs and Freedoms can be pried open and are actually more water resistent. I don't remember all the details, but I did some research last summer and settled on the Freedoms over the IIs. Tried a III, but I like the Freedoms better - the IIIs have three brightness levels, the Freedoms actually have a dimmer function - just press and hold the button!

I buy mine here, have yet to find any cheaper (and the guy will ship First Class, saves like $2):
http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZblueheadsetsQQhtZ-1

Oh, and to get back on the topic, I have one mini-Mag and one clone. They both ahve the same problem - dim / flickering light even with fresh batts. No leaking batts, either - they look clean on the inside. Maybe I'll try sanding the contacts before I give up entirely. I'd buy the LED conversion if it didn't cost as much as the light itself.. I'd rather wait for the Princeton Tec Attitudes to go on sale at campmor.com; they're the same size but brighter than an incandescent mini-mag, and are totally waterproof - can be used as dive lights. On sale they're $12-13.
 
I recommended the II's because they are extremely simple with only one moving part, and only function for the push button; momentary on. A tiny slider provides constant on. They also have proved extremely durable and very adequately water resistant for me.

And besides, I have a few II's and love them!
 
HElo guys, Any idea how good is a Dorcy light when compared with a Maglite?

Can you guys include a pic of a dorcy for me please? Thanks.
 
recently brought three AA Mini-maglights back to life. I find that if I take them totally apart that I can get the grit out of them and get them working again.

Unscrew the lamp, reflector, lense assembly. The maglight should be in "candle" configuration with just the bulb showing. Remove the bulb. There is a small circular piece on top now with two tiny holes for the bulb. Pull this straight up and it will pop off.

Remove the tail cap, dump the batteries. A small cylinder shaped plastic piece can now be poked out the bottom. This plastic piece has a small metal contact in it that has to make contact with the body of the light. Be careful as this little metal part can fall out. Carefully bend the little "arm" upwards slightlyto make positive contact with the body of the light.

Clean any dust out of the parts. Lube lightly with silicone lube, those black plastic pieces have to move up and down freely pushed by the spring in the tail cap.

I just did this to three lights and brought them back to life. One had, had the batteries burst in it and now it works fine. Mac
 
Shotty components and construction.

MAglights are natoriously unreliable thus they are virtually unused on our and many SAR teams.

Besides there are much better made lights out there.

Skam
 
Is that why I've never had one reliability issue with any of mine?


Not talking, of course, about excessive bulb and batt. useage.
 
Dropping and heavy abuse have ruined (or made them inoperable at the time) many a maglight for me and others when we needed them most.

Never again.

Skam
 
This baffles me. I've beat the hell out of my lights for years on end. The only time they have ever failed me, other than bulbs burning out or batteries going dead (upgraded to LED now) was when I lost them!

I really don't get this reliability issue; is it a product of the times? If so I'm going to think twice about buying a new maglite.
 
Buck,

The components around the bulb tend to break and or work loose over time, the aluminum housing is bomb proof agreed but thats not the problem I have had. Sure there are some success stories no doubt but even if only 5% go bad in time (not my experience) that is way too many if you need the light to be 100% reliable.

Similar lights from Streamlight, Pelican, Princeton tec have not failed under the same abuse, they cost more (reasonable) but they work for me ;) .

I owned 5 maglights 3 D cell models and 2 AA's and only have one AA still working, thats an 80% failure rate for me. The rest are in landfill.

Maybe their new LED line is better I dont know?

Mine and others experience your mileage may vary.

Skam
 
Yeah, they must vary! Wow, I've always considered them great lights, interesting to see how some other people have had troubles.
 
Wow, big topic!

I tore one of the dead ones apart... and my switch only has one piece of brass to hold the bulb. Wonder where the other went? Its got two holes, and plastic sure as heck doesnt conduct electricity.

Must have lost the other piece at some point...

No corrosion or anything else, swapped out batteries and bulbs... but no dice.

Hmm.
 
It's gotta be a quality control thing; lots of people swear by MagLites but I'll never buy another. Had two die on me last summer/fall, no abuse, never dropped etc, I have no clue what happened. I mean one night they worked fine, the next day nothing. (Yes, I put new batteries and bulbs in them, still no joy.)

I've honestly had better luck with the cheapo penlights and stuff.
 
I bought the end-cap switch for my mini-mag and absolutely HATE it! The design allows the switch to be turned on when bumped at the end, even when sitting in my belt-sheath! I've discovered that I have to unscrew the switch in the globe as well as hit the butt-switch to be sure it stays off.

I've got two 3-D cell Mags that have been bulletproof. Canoe trips, kayak trips, hunting, kids, they've survived them all! They do chew up Ni-Cd rechargables, but I've not noticed any "damage" caused by using them. (I'm upgrading to NiMH soon, that should be an interesting experiment...)

I have one Mini-mag that's been through the worst I could dish out and is still going strong, but I've also toasted three other newer mini's in the last few years maybe something's changed in QC or design recently?

Gotta bite the bullet and go for a SureFire soon...

J-
 
For a long time I thought Mag was the cat's miau. Looking back I have to say they are junk, for me they never really worked. It took me about 10 years to figure that out.
I always have about five flashlights at home and at least one in every car. After hurricane Charly, when we had a power outage of over a week, I started hating the Mags. They suck batteries empty in now time and go through bunches of bulbs. Sometimes they behave weird, like the light won't come on, the next day it does. I have two Camping World Mag knockoffs that I had purchased for 4.99 each on sale. They seem to perform much better than the original.
 
LED is the only way to go. No bulbs to burn out, shock resistant and longer run time. My favorite is the Fenix. It carries in my pocket without being bulky and it works everytime. Uses AA batteries you can get anywhere.
Take a look; (not a plug, I just really like these lights).

http://www.fenixlight.com/flashlight/index.htm
 
Back
Top