I value any knowledge which is result of my own experience but of course buying readily available item is cheaper.
New Mag C-cell incandescent twisties: ML25IT
- Thread starter StudFreeman
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greenpondmike
Flashlight Enthusiast
"Really? I figured it wouldn't really work at all without the reflective coating."
It works on the solitaire with no noticeable loss in lumens. No disrespect Fivemega, just throwing in my $0.02
It works on the solitaire with no noticeable loss in lumens. No disrespect Fivemega, just throwing in my $0.02
Get the lens!
It's awesome, you won't be disappointed.
Just remember one side has the coating on it and put that on the inside, as to not scratch it up.
When I put it on mine I liked it so much I went back onto their webpage and bought three different sizes to go in some other lights, or at least to try, my only disappointment was I wanted to put one in a mini mag and the lens is a bit thicker than the original lens in the mini mag, I need to try to find a really thin reflector I guess.
I added two of them to a couple Malkoff LED Ma$s I have. A 3-D with XP-G2 and a 4-C with XM-L2. Makes them just all the better!
It's awesome, you won't be disappointed.
Just remember one side has the coating on it and put that on the inside, as to not scratch it up.
When I put it on mine I liked it so much I went back onto their webpage and bought three different sizes to go in some other lights, or at least to try, my only disappointment was I wanted to put one in a mini mag and the lens is a bit thicker than the original lens in the mini mag, I need to try to find a really thin reflector I guess.
I added two of them to a couple Malkoff LED Ma$s I have. A 3-D with XP-G2 and a 4-C with XM-L2. Makes them just all the better!
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The site used to say 94% light transmission.
Whatever the number is it is at least as good as the stock Maglite lens. At 300 feet I did not see any reduction in output with my 3 cell ML25 using a TL3 bulb and acrylite lens versus using the stock lens.
Whatever the number is it is at least as good as the stock Maglite lens. At 300 feet I did not see any reduction in output with my 3 cell ML25 using a TL3 bulb and acrylite lens versus using the stock lens.
jross20
Newly Enlightened
I can absolutely say that the Acrylite FF P-99 is great. So far in all of my testing it's done nothing but improve the look of the beams, just adds a nice "blur" to smooth things out.
Also, side note... the final coat of sputtering I put on the ML25IT's reflector is drying and I will hopefully be able to test it soon. I've got to say that the ML25IT has become my favorite maglite, other than the big-ol-D. (gosh that sounds wrong out of context)
The throw, and spot, are just incredible for an incan. To me at least. The runtime is more than enough with NIMH cells, the form factor, size, weight, it's all fantastic. I actually bought a 2nd 3 cell to add to my collection, a nice red one.
Last side note... how did you guys get the TL3 bulb to fit? The legs aren't that long and are pretty stiff, I'm worried I will shatter the bulb when I try to push it in.
8 month later answer:
If I recall correct I bent the pins on mine to take on a slight bow-legged appearance as an insurance against those short pins coming out.
Now on another note, if you are looking for a super-duper long running, fairly low output LED light one of those 5mm Yuji bi-pin units using 2 C cells will put out around 8 lumens for night after night after night. I haven't timed it with an ML25 but I ran a minimag for like 60 hours on old batteries before getting bored with it.
If I recall correct I bent the pins on mine to take on a slight bow-legged appearance as an insurance against those short pins coming out.
Now on another note, if you are looking for a super-duper long running, fairly low output LED light one of those 5mm Yuji bi-pin units using 2 C cells will put out around 8 lumens for night after night after night. I haven't timed it with an ML25 but I ran a minimag for like 60 hours on old batteries before getting bored with it.
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Instead of a tl3 bulb, I'd suggest the tad customs 7212 bulb. Around the same wattage and brightness, and cheaper. Gives a great beam and fits perfectly as it was specifically designed for maglites. Only issue is the base is a little shorter than the mag bulb so it sits in deeper. Doesn't focus so you need to pull it out a couple mm. I used a dab of hot glue to hold it in place after I got the focus right
I looked at mine this morning and the TL3 bulb was pushed in like a Maglite bulb would be.
If one is concerned with it popping out when dropped you can bend the pins just a bit away from each other.
If one is concerned with it popping out when dropped you can bend the pins just a bit away from each other.
Did you ever order these reflectors and try them?Re: New Mag C-cell incandescent twisties: M25IT
I just scoured the kaidomain site and found a metal reflector that looks promising mjg.
7mm opening.
Now the Mag is about 39mm wide where the kaidomain is 35.
The Mag is roughly 25 mm tall and so is the kaidomain. But the push point of the Mag is about 22mm away from the top of the reflector. That seems to mean a 3mm protrusion of the reflector.
Repeat photo to show my point.
A lens is about 1.5mm thick. So doubling a lens and fastening the bezel about a mm shy of complete still covers the o-ring.
At some point I'll put together an order from them and await the 'slow-boat-from-China' to deliver that and whatever else I've ordered.
Maybe somebody else will have tried it by then.
It's $2.85.
They also have a 36mm dedicated "C2" reflector, but no dimensions for the bulb opening are given.
No I did not.
I just drilled the opening a bit larger and used a 5 cell bulb and the melting was no longer an issue. If I recall correct the opening was made about 3mm larger than factory.
I just drilled the opening a bit larger and used a 5 cell bulb and the melting was no longer an issue. If I recall correct the opening was made about 3mm larger than factory.
Ok. I'm using a little more powerful of a bulb, and I opened the hole bigger than you did. But the reflector is losing its shine. So I wasn't sure if you had tried or not. I went on the site and I have a few different ones in my cart. They're pretty cheap, so I'm going to give it a shot.
mrfixitman
Enlightened
A123 3.2 volt cells can be substituted to raise voltage and capacity in C cell applications. 2 cell 1 replacement. 3 cell 2. 4 C cell might hold 3 A123 cells for 9.6vdc.
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so I ordered 4 reflectors from kaidomain. Three didn't work and one had bad plating so it's in the trash. But the S027789, 37mm x 20.5mm OP reflector works nicely. Very nicely. Unfortunately, I just checked and it doesn't appear to be on their website anymore😢. So here I am recommending a metal reflector that seems to throw a good beam, and it's no longer available. It's not perfect. I had to drill out the opening hole to 1/4" for the bulb to fit. It's a bit too short so I took up the extra room with a couple o-rings for the lens to hold it in place. And the head switch no longer works. So it's a tail twisty now. Buuuuut, I have an aluminum reflector now. Which cost $4. Discounting the $9 I wasted on the other 3 that didn't work. And the light basically wasn't useable before because I'd melted the shine off the stock plastic reflector.
It need to be twisted a few full turns out before it's focused. So a shim behind the reflector could help with that and possibly remove one o-ring. But it works fine as is
Edit: weather has turned but tomorrow I'm going to see if I can get a collar in there to raise the reflector and possibly get the switch working. The tail cap only works due to anodizing and isn't very reliable
It need to be twisted a few full turns out before it's focused. So a shim behind the reflector could help with that and possibly remove one o-ring. But it works fine as is
Edit: weather has turned but tomorrow I'm going to see if I can get a collar in there to raise the reflector and possibly get the switch working. The tail cap only works due to anodizing and isn't very reliable
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so I took the light out and it sucks. It's a 7.2v 1.2A bulb. So should be roughly 200 lumens or so. I'm seeing about half that. A 6 cell magnum star bulb is much brighter. I noticed when I came back inside that the filament is at the same level as the reflector opening when I'm at optimum focus. Which makes sense why it's so dim. Guess I'm losing over 50% of the light out the back. Is it because it's a reflector made for LEDs and the focal point just isn't right?
Lowglow
Newly Enlightened
It's a skill matching bulbs to the reflectors. SureFire got it right but Mag always had losses from the big gap between the reflectors and bulb. Probably to make room for the beam adjustment system but as you say output is reduced. I've given up trying to find one of these in the UK but all focus type systems for the Mag - even the custom reflectors - have this lumens loss at optimal focus. It's annoying but a price to pay for the focus feature. Personally speaking the focus is not so useful as wide just means a big black hole in the beam. Fixed focus is the best I feel.
No but in this case it's half as much output as a stock 6 cell bulb in a kaidomain mag C OP reflector. But this has a 1.2A bulb and was brighter before with the stock reflector.
That being said I did discover that I don't think I melted the shine off my original reflector. It is smoked. From the hot glue I used to hold the aftermarket bulb at the right height. So that was my fault. The plastic reflector could probably handle the heat. But I've covered the reflective material in smoke. Won't be using hot glue again. Should've shimmed it. Wish we could buy factory reflectors.
So this new reflector isn't working very well. I've seen in past threads someone painted a reflector with white glossy paint for a smooth very floody beam. I may try that. Paint the factory reflector
