Customer Reviews

Nite Ize 1-watt Led Upgrade Kit

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I had two Mini MAG lights with burned out bulbs, so I orgered a pair of these "upgrade" kits.

For one of the flashlights, the electrical contacts from the replacement LEDs made enought contact with the original flashilight that I could at least use it -- sort of. Becasuse the contact wasn't very solid, the light kept flickering on and off everytime I moved the flashlight.

For the other flashlight, I could barely get any contact at all -- it would light up occasionally when I pushed the LED contacts directly into the "socket" by hand, but it never did work when I screwed the whole thing back together.

More than that, even when the LEDs did work, they were considerably less bright than the original bulbs. I thought thaqt being able to focus a 3-LED set-up would produce a relatively intense light, but that is definitely not the case.

What do I recommend instead? First, read the reviews for the "Nite Ize #LUC-07 LED Comb Upgrade Kit" which tend to agree with my assessment of the LEDs, and then point out that the replacement on-off switch included in that kit is even more poorly designed.

Second, spend the money on a "MAG INSTRUMENT 2 cell AA Mini Maglite LED" (about $24). Its 3-watt LED is much more powerful than what you get from the Lite Ize adapter -- and its excellent performance will instantly remind you why you were so impressed with the original Mini MAG light.

Finally, if you have an original, one-AA Mini MAG light with a burned out bulb, buy the "Mag Instrument LM2A001 Replacement Lamp for AA Mini MagLite, 2-Pack" for a $1.28 (for two bulbs), and you'll end up with a much better light beam than you would get if you bought the so-called "upgrade" being offered here.

I think other people are reviewing different products. The 1 watt replacement for the AA mini-mag is much brighter than the original and makes better use of the batteries. Also, mine just works perfectly so far. It has 5 positions, and the dimmest one seems better than the original. Of course, the batteries are old and the bulb was old and darkened. The LED with the same batteries just blows away the stock unit. Of course, a new bulb with new batteries probably wouldn't be that impressively different.

Looks like the original kit with 3 LEDs wasn't as good.

-nfsmith

I bought one of these retrofit kits because I have a MiniMag with LED and it is just awesomely bright. Since I also have some standard Mag lites I thought I would simply use these retrofits. Nowhere on the package did it say what the wattage output was. After I put the unit in & saw that the light intensity was extremely weak and looked on Amazon, that's when I found out this unit is only 1 watt. A 1 watt LED is significantly dimmer than the standard halogen bulb that comes in the Mini Mag. Why would anyone want to retrofit & end up with a dim flashlight? So... don't bother with this cheap imitation. Mag makes a 3 watt retrofit kit & it is worth the money.

Bulb works great, but when you change the bulb out you have to be very careful. There is a very tiny conductor between the switch and the bulb wire guide that can fall out easily. If this tiny conductor used to connect the negative to the case is missing the light will not work. This part is not shown on any of the diagrams from Nite Ize or Maglite. I was getting pretty upset when the bulb did not work until I figured it out so be careful!

I've gone through more than a couple of these kits. They are a great idea at a great price. If you are looking for a real LED conversion, spend the money and go with Terralux!

I bought a few of their LED in the past all were cheaply constructed and output miserable. They're more on the line of toys for my friend's kids. Since trying their bulbs, I found a better company out there; TerraLux. Their line of LED maglight upgrades are worlds superior to the Nite Ize.

Save the planet and upgrade to a LED bulb today. Only 1 watt, so it's not terribly bright (there is a Mag-branded LED upgrade that is 3 watts, for about twice the price.) Nearly as bright as 3-D mag bulb, but 6-D standard mag bulb is much brighter if you need the power (the LED isn't going to be any brighter in a 6-D Mag than a 3-D Mag, the batteries will just last longer.) At tightest focus, has a smaller spot than standard bulb, and you can still focus with this. It will pay for itself in just a few hours since your batteries will last many times longer. Price for this bulb varies all over the map - local Ace hardware wants $16, Fry's has it for $9. Shop around.

I bought one of these a little while back to see how well it would perform in one of my several MiniMags. It was indeed very bright but the first flaw I noticed right away was that the head of the flash light could only be screwed on a short distance after installing the LED. This resulted in the user only being able to adjust the beam slightly and if you twisted it a little too far the head would fall off while you were using it. I could have lived with that flaw though if the LED hadn't stopped working after only a dozen or so casual uses, for it to suddenly fail after doing only a handful of very light duty tasks earns this bit of Nite Ize Paraphenalia my Piece Of S*** award.

This bulb throws a really bright light. It's only draw back is that it will draw the batteries down quite low and then shut off. Make sure that you have a back up light with which to load your back up batteries.

Well received by recipient. Purchased as gift