# My Mag-light Self Extinguished



## icewolf08 (Mar 26, 2008)

So sad, my mini-mag with nite-ize LED upgrade self extinguished  Unlike any battery leakage I have ever seen, the guts of the light were so corroded the batteries would even com out with violent shaking and banging. I ended up having to drive a tek screw into the end of the top most battery and then yank it out with a pair of pliers. That totally finished of the insides of the mag, and I can't even get to the second battery. I have a photo, which I could post when I get home. Needless to say, I was bummed.

Guess it is time for a new light, not going to be another mag though. Thinking more along the lines of the Streamlight Twintask 2L. Gonna need a new holster though.


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## derekleffew (Mar 27, 2008)

I curious as to the brand and age of the batteries, and an now going to check all of mine.


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## icewolf08 (Mar 27, 2008)

Duracell batteries, and they couldn't have been more than 3 months old (how I love LEDs!).


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## Charc (Mar 27, 2008)

What?! Alex! Surefire is surely for the win. I have the 9P. If you like LED go the 6P LED route.


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## Footer (Mar 27, 2008)

I always manage to lose flashlights, so whatever wal-mart has for around 15-20 bux usually fits the bill. The batteries might have just gotten too hot or who knows...


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## gafftaper (Mar 27, 2008)

A warning to new parents. My boys have destroyed/lost my mags. I'm buying new ones. Lock em up! Also my Mag LED has gone funky on me. Don't know why but it is having issues with suddenly blinking on and off. Don't know what the problem is but I'm a little ticked off about it.


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## Traitor800 (Mar 27, 2008)

Gaff, have you tried taking the cap off and fiddling with the spring in the end cap, its a poor design and sometimes pulling it out will fix it, and if that doesnt work put in a new pair of batteries, cause when my batteries get low mine sometimes goes on and off.


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## Charc (Mar 27, 2008)

Gaff it sounds like some sort of poor contact, doesn't it?


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## avkid (Mar 27, 2008)

Traitor800 said:


> Gaff, have you tried taking the cap off and fiddling with the spring in the end cap, its a poor design and sometimes pulling it out will fix it, and if that doesnt work put in a new pair of batteries, cause when my batteries get low mine sometimes goes on and off.


Exactly the problem, and they admit it.


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## icewolf08 (Mar 27, 2008)

charcoaldabs said:


> What?! Alex! Surefire is surely for the win. I have the 9P. If you like LED go the 6P LED route.


I have no good reason to spend $100+ on a flashlight. Streamlight fishlights are just as high end as Surefire, without the pricetag. I have friends with Surefire flashlights, and they don't impress me any more than Streamlight. Also, as has ben mentioned, small flashlights have a tendency to walk away, break, or disappear, so why invest big bucks? That is one reason that I love Mag-lites, they are durable yet inexpensive.


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## soundlight (Mar 27, 2008)

Streamlight makes high-quality gear. I got the model that has the xenon/LED/laser selections, so that I can use the LEDs, the Laser or the Laser and the Xenon. The laser is great when I'm talking about something in the electrics and point to something and the person that I'm talking to doesn't understand what I'm pointing to. I think it was around $35.


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## SerraAva (Mar 27, 2008)

Streamlight ftw. I have a Twin Task 3C and a Strion. Love them both. They don't stop working no matter what I have managed to do to them. Falls from 30+ feet, soaking wet, people using them as hammers, etc. 

I never hand off the Strion, because it would walk as mentioned by others. Walking away with the 3C isn't an easy task however, it's large and silver. Looking at a SL-20X LED next for shining up on grids and cat walks in some of the places I frequent.


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## jufam44 (Mar 27, 2008)

Can I suggest a surefire G2? 36 dollars shipped to your door, and you can get a LED module for it that is pretty darn bright. On your quest, you might check out candlepowerforums.com, lots of info about flashlights there.

-Max


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## icewolf08 (Mar 28, 2008)

jufam44 said:


> Can I suggest a surefire G2? 36 dollars shipped to your door, and you can get a LED module for it that is pretty darn bright. On your quest, you might check out candlepowerforums.com, lots of info about flashlights there.
> -Max


I love people who push Surefire flashlights, they are like Mac owners (I am a Mac owner), they think that what they have/use is the best, and you should accept no substitutes. However, I still can't justify paying twice the price and not getting twice the flashlight. That, and my previous arguments still stand, while it is always nice to have nice things, I would rather not have to worry about a $65 flashlight (yeah dunno where you came up with $36, unless you don't count the cost of LED upgrade or just buying the LED version). I don't want to carry a flashlight that I have to worry about who I let borrow it, or if I forget it in the theatre overnight.

Now, of course if someone wants to gift me a nice new flashlight, I will happily use it, but in spending my own money, it just doesn't seem like a logical investment.

I still want to know what makes the SureFire so much better that warrants the additional cost. You can drop a mag light or run it over with a truck, I bet if I was really creative I could get the other batter out of mine and clean out the inside and it would still work, but to replace a mini-mag at $10 or less in any store makes it not worth my time or effort to fix it. So, the SureFires are brighter, so are Streamlights and many others. Durability, size, weight, and ease of use are probably about the same across the board, so in my eyes all you are paying for is the name. That just doesn't do it for me, I'll take the same quality at a lesser price and be quite happy.


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## Charc (Mar 28, 2008)

jufam44 said:


> Can I suggest a surefire G2? 36 dollars shipped to your door, and you can get a LED module for it that is pretty darn bright. On your quest, you might check out candlepowerforums.com, lots of info about flashlights there.
> -Max



Thanks, I just found out my SF has a lifetime guarantee. I should go drop it out my window now...


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## icewolf08 (Mar 28, 2008)

charcoaldabs said:


> Thanks, I just found out my SF has a lifetime guarantee. I should go drop it out my window now...


So does your mag-lite! (Unless you live in the Eastern Hemisphere)


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## Charc (Mar 28, 2008)

icewolf08 said:


> I love people who push Surefire flashlights, they are like Mac owners (I am a Mac owner), they think that what they have/use is the best, and you should accept no substitutes. However, I still can't justify paying twice the price and not getting twice the flashlight. That, and my previous arguments still stand, while it is always nice to have nice things, I would rather not have to worry about a $65 flashlight (yeah dunno where you came up with $36, unless you don't count the cost of LED upgrade or just buying the LED version). I don't want to carry a flashlight that I have to worry about who I let borrow it, or if I forget it in the theatre overnight.
> Now, of course if someone wants to gift me a nice new flashlight, I will happily use it, but in spending my own money, it just doesn't seem like a logical investment.
> I still want to know what makes the SureFire so much better that warrants the additional cost. You can drop a mag light or run it over with a truck, I bet if I was really creative I could get the other batter out of mine and clean out the inside and it would still work, but to replace a mini-mag at $10 or less in any store makes it not worth my time or effort to fix it. So, the SureFires are brighter, so are Streamlights and many others. Durability, size, weight, and ease of use are probably about the same across the board, so in my eyes all you are paying for is the name. That just doesn't do it for me, I'll take the same quality at a lesser price and be quite happy.



There is a great thread on that on the CP forums.

I'm not going to differ with you Alex, the SF lights are priced over what I feel is fair market value... Doesn't mean I don't like it!

So, quick question, how would I get a new mini mag? How many of my other tools have a lifetime guarantee? No one ever takes advantage of these, but that thread about monster cable did have a great idea about paying extra, but replacing all your cable every year.


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## gafftapegreenia (Mar 28, 2008)

I am a mini-mag person, with the single diode nite-ize upgrade. I also own a mac.


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## tomed101 (Mar 28, 2008)

icewolf08 said:


> Duracell batteries, and they couldn't have been more than 3 months old (how I love LEDs!).



I had a very similar problem with my 4D Maglite. One of the batteries split and another has swollen so it cant be removed. The batteries were Duracell as well. This all happened within about a week of me no using it. I am going to send it to Duracell who have a garentee to replace any item damaged by their batteries. Now when you listen into the torch barrel, I can hear it fizzing away in there... Been doing that for over a week now...


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## avkid (Mar 28, 2008)

How about a Mag LED? 
I got mine for $20 from  Zbattery


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## jufam44 (Mar 28, 2008)

icewolf08 said:


> I love people who push Surefire flashlights, they are like Mac owners (I am a Mac owner), they think that what they have/use is the best, and you should accept no substitutes. However, I still can't justify paying twice the price and not getting twice the flashlight. That, and my previous arguments still stand, while it is always nice to have nice things, I would rather not have to worry about a $65 flashlight (yeah dunno where you came up with $36, unless you don't count the cost of LED upgrade or just buying the LED version). I don't want to carry a flashlight that I have to worry about who I let borrow it, or if I forget it in the theatre overnight.
> Now, of course if someone wants to gift me a nice new flashlight, I will happily use it, but in spending my own money, it just doesn't seem like a logical investment.
> I still want to know what makes the SureFire so much better that warrants the additional cost. You can drop a mag light or run it over with a truck, I bet if I was really creative I could get the other batter out of mine and clean out the inside and it would still work, but to replace a mini-mag at $10 or less in any store makes it not worth my time or effort to fix it. So, the SureFires are brighter, so are Streamlights and many others. Durability, size, weight, and ease of use are probably about the same across the board, so in my eyes all you are paying for is the name. That just doesn't do it for me, I'll take the same quality at a lesser price and be quite happy.



I'm a mac owner as well, and I own more than just surefire lights. I recommended surefire because of their customer service. As an example, call mag instrument about your light. Then count all the departments you're forwarded to and transfered to, and see how long they tell you it will take to get a new light. Most likely, they'll ask you to send back your old one, and then send you a new one. Surefire doesn't bother with all that, and instead just says OK what's your mailing address, we'll send you a new body tube, screw the old head on and you're fine. I got the 36 dollars from surefire's website, and you don't necessarily need the Surefire brand drop in. PM me if you're interested in learning more about the LED's, but my point is that surefire has many positives. I'm not saying Mag doesn't. Mag lites are very difficult to destroy, but they also have their downsides. A mag needs to be replaced every few years due to wear and tear. I've had a surefire since 2001 that's still working as well as the year I bought it. I was attempting to point out that there are alternatives to Mag that may be better suited to some folks' needs. 

-Max


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## Lightingguy32 (Apr 10, 2008)

jufam- are you a cpf member? I'm lightingguy321. I would have to agree with you on surefire customer service they are truly world class


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## jufam44 (Apr 10, 2008)

Yes, I am. Same s/n over there.


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## Lightingguy32 (Apr 11, 2008)

This whole surefire people are like mac people is a bit of a misconception. Surefires are actually quite common and have a much better build quality than that of maglite, and thus are worth the money if you have it. Not to bash mag, but technoligically, they are far behind in LED technology compared to most other companies.


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## Pip (Apr 12, 2008)

Lightingguy32 said:


> This whole surefire people are like mac people is a bit of a misconception. Surefires are actually quite common and have a much better build quality than that of maglite, and thus are worth the money if you have it. Not to bash mag, but technoligically, they are far behind in LED technology compared to most other companies.



Yeah and I've talked to a couple of guys who have Surefires and they are AMAZING, plus the customer service thing is one of the best I've ever heard of. They back their lights because they really are built well...

Anyway-
I have an Inova XO3, and I love love love love love it. My friend has the XO, and I loved it so much I went to buy it, then found the XO3. 
It's super bright (brightest flashlight anyone in our theatre owns...) to the effect of being able to FUNCTIONALLY light the 60' grid at the city's theatre... (Yeah, too bright to shine on a light plot- i have a tiny little penlight for that that works super well for that purpose)

I LOVE it. I can't speak highly enough of it. I got it at Target for like 55 bucks. http://www.inovalight.com/x.html

5.9W LED, takes 2 123A lithiums... momentary on thumb button on the end, constant on twist.


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## achstechdirector (Jun 20, 2008)

Currently as my small flashlight
THe Energizer Hard Case Professional


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