# how many lumens is a standard Mini Maglite?



## mccririck (Feb 24, 2010)

Not LED, normal bulb version.


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## kelmo (Feb 24, 2010)

Welcome to CPF!

Try here;

http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/maglight_minimag.htm

kelmo


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## mccririck (Feb 24, 2010)

Thanks. About 30 lumens then?


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## Burgess (Feb 24, 2010)

30 LUMENS ? ? ? ! ! !

:lolsign::lolsign::lolsign:



(Oops, sorry -- couldn't help myself)


Ahem . . . .


You can figure a standard (incand.) 2AA Mini-Maglite

to produce perhaps 5-10 Lumens, on *Brand-New Alkalines*.


This number will, of course, drop *Rapidly*, in just a few minutes.

Just so you know.



Good Luck in yer' search for the Perfect Flashlight(s).

:candle:
_


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## bluepilgrim (Feb 24, 2010)

http://www.brightguy.com/manufacturer/maglite.php lists it at 5.3 lumens.


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## mccririck (Feb 24, 2010)

bluepilgrim said:


> http://www.brightguy.com/manufacturer/maglite.php lists it at 5.3 lumens.



Thanks


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## Swedpat (Feb 25, 2010)

Several times I have read stated numbers of 15 lumens for standard Mini Maglite (from where does that statement come?), but have been quite doubtful when I tried my example and compared to other lights. 5,3lm seems to be more correct...

Regards, Patric


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## was.lost.but.now.found (Feb 25, 2010)

Maglite used to keep many of these figures on their website, but I just checked and they have been replaced with "ANSI data coming soon". I assume this refers to a new industry standard I've heard about somewhere recently.


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## Burgess (Feb 25, 2010)

and when Maglite sez: " Coming Soon " . . . .


:tired: __ :sleepy:


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## LEDninja (Feb 26, 2010)

kelmo said:


> Welcome to CPF!
> 
> Try here;
> 
> ...





mccririck said:


> Thanks. About 30 lumens then?





Burgess said:


> 30 LUMENS ? ? ? ! ! !
> 
> :lolsign::lolsign::lolsign:



:welcome:

For alkaline batteries:
Multiply Overall Output by 1.39 (for LED flashlights) to get lumens: 5.80*1.39=8 lumens.
That is 100% on the runtime chart. This drops to 50% 4 lumens in 45 minutes then to 25% 2 lumens in about 5 hours.

-

For NiMH batteries:
Because NiMH batteries is 1.2V instead of 1.5V for fresh alkaline, Brightguy's 5.3 lumens should be correct.


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## ampdude (Feb 26, 2010)

The newer Minimag AA bulbs are brighter. If I had to guess, I'd say they start out around 20 lumens on fresh alkalines and drop to about 10 lumens in an hour.

But my perception may be a little warped, since I tend to only use the light with a well focused hotspot. The newer Minimag bulbs are definitely brighter though.


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## Swedpat (Feb 26, 2010)

ampdude said:


> The newer Minimag AA bulbs are brighter. If I had to guess, I'd say they start out around 20 lumens on fresh alkalines and drop to about 10 lumens in an hour.
> 
> But my perception may be a little warped, since I tend to only use the light with a well focused hotspot. The newer Minimag bulbs are definitely brighter though.



Compare with ceiling bounce test by shining the light to the ceiling and look around the room and you will get a better estimation about the total output.
Actually, according to all my tests with lightmeter, a focusable incan like Maglite has a higher total output with the beam at wide(not focused) setting.

Regards, Patric


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## was.lost.but.now.found (Feb 26, 2010)

Swedpat said:


> Actually, according to all my tests with lightmeter, a focusable incan like Maglite has a higher total output with the beam at wide(not focused) setting.


 
That makes complete sense since when you focus you are drawing the bulb back into the light and making it harder to 'see'. I imagine it goes to show why a lot of CPFers don't care for focusable lights - as you tighten the hotspot you lose lumens so you're not really gaining much unless you have a very good reflector.


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## Monocrom (Feb 26, 2010)

mccririck said:


> Thanks. About *3* lumens then?


 
There you go . . . Fixed your typo for you.


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## fiftycalibre (Feb 26, 2010)

I remember back when I was a pre flashaholic, I tried using a minimaglite to illuminate the letterbox number while I was in the car. I couldnt see a damn thing


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## ampdude (Feb 28, 2010)

fiftycalibre said:


> I remember back when I was a pre flashaholic, I tried using a minimaglite to illuminate the letterbox number while I was in the car. I couldnt see a damn thing



That's how I used to use a 2 C Maglite and it worked pretty good for that, plus it is easier to turn on while steering.


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## ampdude (Feb 28, 2010)

was.lost.but.now.found said:


> That makes complete sense since when you focus you are drawing the bulb back into the light and making it harder to 'see'. I imagine it goes to show why a lot of CPFers don't care for focusable lights - as you tighten the hotspot you lose lumens so you're not really gaining much unless you have a very good reflector.



Yea, the Magled's have the same issue. If you go back and check some of the earlier threads people realized that a lot of the light was being lost behind the reflector.


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## upriver (Jun 22, 2010)

LEDninja said:


> :welcome:
> 
> For alkaline batteries:
> Multiply Overall Output by 1.39 (for LED flashlights) to get lumens: 5.80*1.39=8 lumens.
> ...


 
Sort of an old thread, but...

It appears that it's safe for a mini mag to run on NIMH then, with a possible/probable hit on brightness?

A google search turned up almost nothing, expect for one forum where a guy contacted the Mag company...the reply didn't make a lot of sense to me, but it ended with saying that NIMH is okay and may shorten bulb life a bit. I'd like to use NIMH because alkalines in the AAA model cause below 50% brightness after 40 minutes...I figure I could get well over an hour with eneloops.

BTW...multiple sites do list the mini maglite (AA or AAA) as 15 lumens, so I'm surprised to see ~5 posted here...with that said, it does seem closer to 5 (seems dimmer than Fenix E01).


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## bluepilgrim (Jun 22, 2010)

Ohms law: amps = volts/resistance. The current at 1.2V is going to be less than at 1.5V, so NIMH can't shorten the bulb life since it would be running underpowered a bit, and cooler (and dimmer). 

A nickel zinc (rechargable) would give you a bit more brightness at 1.6V, and though it might shorten bulb life some I wouldn't expect it to be that much -- but nickel zinc should also not dim down as much until it's mostly discharged. A fresh Alkaline will usually run somewhat over 1.5V at no load (measured on voltmeter) and I expect with a light load also, although I haven't done measurements (probably someone else has and can be found on this board).


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## Swedpat (Jun 23, 2010)

The statement of shortened life using NiMh also is used by LedLenser. Can the explanation be that NiMh batteries provide a higher average brightness for the same runtime? In this case it's a bit misleading to tell that you will lose lifetime of the bulb with NiMh without telling you will gain average brightness. 
Therefore I wonder if it can be correct that NiMh could shorten the lifetime of a bulb compared to alkalines. Comparing these batteries for incans it's only a very short time the alkaline will provide better brightness, the most part of the runtime NiMh will be brighter.

Regards, Patric


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## Chrontius (Jun 23, 2010)

It's new Mag rating is 8 lumens on AAs, 7 on AAA cells.


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## bluepilgrim (Jun 23, 2010)

One has to specify then how often new cells are swapped in. If done as soon as light output drops then a higher average voltage and current would be maintained with alkaline than nimh. You need to use a series of tables or graphs, and specify brightness along the way, to say something truly meaningful for this -- a simple statement such as 'nimh will shorten bulb life' won't do. 

One can give an average value for most common practice, but the question is, if bulb life is shorter then how much shorter -- if 10%, say, that could be acceptable to the user. 

But then, how often you turn it on and off is also a big factor since much of the damage to a bulb results from that thermal shock, and that might well outweigh any considerations of running voltage -- it seems to work that way for me with house bulbs: if I leave the light on all the time the bulb lasts much longer.

I'd say just find some bulbs on sale and stock up a few, and change them when they blow and don't worry about it too much. Getting them on sale is more cost effective then fiddling with battery voltage. Or use an LED drop-in. :shrug:


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## Locoboy5150 (Jun 23, 2010)

Swedpat said:


> The statement of shortened life using NiMh also is used by LedLenser. Can the explanation be that NiMh batteries provide a higher average brightness for the same runtime? In this case it's a bit misleading to tell that you will lose lifetime of the bulb with NiMh without telling you will gain average brightness.



I think that LED Lenser doesn't recommend anything other than alkaline batteries in almost all their lights because most of their lights are not regulated. Thus, LED Lenser lets the alkaline batteries do their normal thing and regulate the current going to the LED via voltage sag. It's a cheap fix "solution" in my opinion and one of the main reasons why I have not considered buying any of those non-regulated lights from LED Lenser.

People have used non-alkaline batteries in their LED Lensers, but I don't know what that does long term to the lights.


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## Monocrom (Jun 23, 2010)

bluepilgrim said:


> One has to specify then how often new cells are swapped in. If done as soon as light output drops then a higher average voltage and current would be maintained with alkaline than nimh. You need to use a series of tables or graphs, and specify brightness along the way, to say something truly meaningful for this -- a simple statement such as 'nimh will shorten bulb life' won't do.
> 
> One can give an average value for most common practice, but the question is, if bulb life is shorter then how much shorter -- if 10%, say, that could be acceptable to the user.
> 
> ...


 
Honestly, if you have to go through all that, it's just easier to buy a coin-cell light. Or, a Streamlight Nano. Tiny, put it on your keys, wear it on your neck, just as bright as a 2AA Mini-Maglite, and costs a couple of bucks less.


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## paulr (Jun 23, 2010)

I think the claim of 8 lumens from the minimag may be exagerrated, based on ceiling bounce tests I did a while back. 5 lumens at best is more realistic. But, the minimag is not really comparable to a typical 5 lumen LED light, because the minimag bulb's tiny filament combined with the minimag's fairly large, smooth reflector gives the minimag more ability to put a small spot of light on a distant target than a Nano-like led can do.


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## apete2 (Jun 23, 2010)

Get this and then you will have your 20 lumens on Nimh

http://www.amazon.com/dp/STREAMLIGH/?tag=cpf0b6-20

you just need to drill out the reflector a little

only works with AA lights, hits the lense on AAA minimags


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## ericjohn (Jul 30, 2013)

I know this is an OLD thread BUT I have to add my two cents:

When I bought my first Mini Maglite in December 2005 (they were on sale because of the Red Cross and being in post-Katrina Louisiana.)

I opened up the packaging as soon as I drove home and loaded it with 2 2.5 amp Energizer NiMH AA's. The bi pin bulb was the Krypton version, but it shone much brighter than my Garrity 2 AA Xenon bi pin flashlight. This was possible because the filament in a Krypton bulb is thicker than in a Xenon bulb. It can handle more electricity and burn brighter. I used that same bulb on a regular basis until May of 2006. I would definitely say that is a decent life-span. If you tried doing this with the modern Xenon version, it would probably blow. For Christmas of 2007, one of the gifts I got was an Energizer phone charger that was powered by two Energizer Ultimate Lithiums. After they were used up in the phone charger, I tested them. My meter indicated a whopping 1.7 volts. I had another Krypton bi-pin in my Mini Maglite, and loaded those Lithium batteries in it just to see what would happen. It burned VERY white and VERY bright. I don't know how long the bulb lasted, because my bird-brain self gave it to charity. The output (just by eyeballing) was significantly better than the Xenon bi-pins (running on Alkalines) of today. Doing this "mod" with a Xenon bulb probably cause it to blow instantly; because of the thinner filament. I know this because in February of 2009, I had a S&W Xenon 2 AA flashlight. I (not knowing any better) loaded it Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries and the bulb instantly blew. Too bad the Krypton Mini Maglite bulbs are no longer available. If they were; driving them on AA Lithiums would make a brightness to be reckoned with.


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