What Happened To Maglite?

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Maglites Response

Dear Mot,
Thank you for your interest in Maglite products. I'm really surprised that you are having problems with these units. We really do not get any bad feedback on any of the Maglite flashlights. (especially if their brand new). Please make sure that the large end of the coil spring is snapped into the tailcap therefore the small end should be touching the negative side of the battery. Also be sure that the positive end of the batteries is facing inward. Please contact us if we can be of further assistance.

Sincerely,
Esther SotoCustomer Service
Click to expand...

My problems were with various Maglites. What started it was replacing one that served me well with one that was a POS. I then checked my stash and found them all to be defective out of the packaging. These were mini-mags and "D" models. Twist and push button. Incandecent and LED. There is a problem in the connection somewhere. You have to whack it with the heel of your palm to get it to come on. Lord forbid you bump something with it while trying to use it. Yes the spring was in, and yes the batteries were in right. I guess Maglite's policy is to blame the user for their shoddy product. Talk about insult to injury.

Maybe thats my frustration is I can usually figure things out without broad sweeping statements. And I cant find a common denominator other than having Maglite stenciled on it.
 
Now For Some Good News

I have already taken the 3 cell back to Acadedmy. Exchanged it for a Brinkmann (they didnt have any other full size lights) and a lil wind up light/radio thingy. I have Surefires and I am in love with my Solarforce but, sometimes you want a big flashlight in your hands. Kinda like I like my Glocks but, sometimes it feels good to have an all steel pistol in my hand. Something with some heft to it.

The problem that the OP may be having with his light may be as simple as the switch having come loose within the body. If you remove the rubber boot and insert a allen wench to fit the screw in the bottom of the switch that secures the switch to the body that may be all that is needed to fix the problem. The screw is pointed to pierce the interior anodizing thus ensuring the ground connection of the switch to the body from the batteries. Clean all the contacts and you should be good to go.
Click to expand...

Special Thanks to Robert Palermo /Penn Bullets

This has fixed the original one that fell and broke. And given that the symptoms were similar to the one I just bought and returned I'd bet it would have fixed that one too.(by the way its a 4 cell not a 5 as I stated earlier:eek: ) Now I have my old beat up maglite that is still on the same batteries from Ike. The finish has been stripped from caustic and it is ugly as sin.

I wish the others worked but hey, I will take this small victory and be happy.
 
I've got about a dozen and a half maglites between my house, vehicles, and the ones my kids have. Most of them LED. Only one has ever failed, and it failed for no reason at all. I simply haven't gotten around to sending it in for it's LIFETIME WARRANTY. No complaints here.

The only time my LED lights have flickered or needed a good slap to come on, was when the batteries were nearly dead.
My regular AA LED light gets about 8 hours out of your average set of alkaline AA's, and my modified one (contains LED module from a 2D light) is quite bright, and gets just under 2 hours on a pair of eneloop NiMH AA's.

I think the question is better asked, what DIDN'T happen to maglite. Their basic light design is unchanged. Some may say that means it didn't get better, but in a day when everything else is turning to cheaply made crap, I think that means it didn't get any worse.

I, for one, like the fact I can, if I choose to, go to walmart, and buy one that is the same as the one I bought 20 years ago.
 
Eh, I think thats the problem. They haven't kept up with other flashlight makers. It's pretty bad when a 9 LED $4.99 chinese piece of crap makes a maglight look like an oil lamp. I'll give them build quality - the body of my maglight is bulletproof (Although the LED bulb in mine had to be replaced when I used it as a hammer), but they really need to do some R&D, they're about 15 years behind even the Chinese.

I don't know why these american companies think they can produce the same crap for centuries and not get railroaded by foreign companies that are constantly innovating. Just look at Ford, Chrysler and GM. Only after they faced certain demise did they start to produce cars that are even close to the quality of their foreign counterparts.
 
I always liked the mag lights. For the last several years, I've found headlamps to be more useful, asd I have both hands free, packing horses, butchering elk killed late in the evening, and whatnot. Battery life was horrible. The first generation of LED's had great battery life, but poor light. This last generation seems quite good. Some will throw a spot beam 50 yards, which I seldom use. 2 brands I'm using are the Princeton Tec Apex,
and the Black Diamond Icon. Both will throw spots 50 yds + and are quite acceptable as a coon hunters light. Both have quite good battery life on regular beam, the spot will eat batteries of course, with the edge going to the Icon. We use it with the optionable rechargeable battery most often They are both a bit spendy, but it dropped our AA battery bill from about 160.00 per year down to less than 20.00, so do the math. For a hand held, the maglite is still one of the best. I can't remember the last time I used one though. For the "what it's worth department".
 
those surefire lights have a promising add in some old magazines of mine, theres a pic of one that stopped a bullet from hitting the police officer and continued to work even after that.
 
I used to buy a lot of mini maglights (2AA). Then I got a Streamlight Twintask, which is nice, and most recently a Fenix L1T. Runs on ONE AA battery and makes enough light to use as a headlight on my tractor. I've got a few Mini-Mags scattered all over my areas and a 3-D cell with a LED bulb I keep under the nightstand. But I won't be buying any more MagLights. I do get sick of the Maglight "Fiddle with the bulb end" to get it reliably bright.
 
Glad to see that the fix I suggested worked out well.
Action Lights offers new Mag Lites up to 6 cell models for under 20.00 and that for an American made product is a great bargain.

One of the easiest upgrades is the R.O.P.
Roar of the Pelican in which the 3854 bulbs from Pelican products (there is one High and one Low Bulb available thru a company called Lighthound ) that are the same PRN based bulb as used in the standard Maglite.
Putting a 6-7 AA battery pack ( also available thru Lighthound and vendors on CPF) in a 2 or 3 D light (usually Eneloops) will give you a light with about 1100 ROP LOW(longer run time) to 1500 ROP High(more output) lumen flashlight that you have to see to believe this mod.

I have several different ROP conversions and if you do one you will become a believer.
The added advantage of the low slow discharge AA batts means that the batts after charging will retain 85% of their energy after 1 year.

I am going to also be working with the 3853 bulbs as well with 6 Ni- Zin batts at 1.6 volts each that will give 1500 lumens as well. Can't say this will work just yet but will give an update when I do. Should work as the voltage numbers seem to be spot on.

There are detailed threads on ROP mods on CPF and if you need any help just PM me.
I am currently working on a red 6 d cell mag and the thing is a beast.
This one will have 7- 26650 Safe Chem Life-Po batts driving a special bulb to about 3500 lumens. Can you say "Blinded by the Light"?
 
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What's a maglite?? :evil::neener:

Seriously, while "ROP" mods are a very cool thing, they are not necessary for most typical (pre-mod) maglite uses, while there are tons of $16-50 lights that do the job better than mags ever thought about doing.

However if you want a 700+ lumen beast, with a bit of work, ROP is the way to go, and as the guy with the long user name above me says, maglites do have good build quality. But unless you actually need a light that bright (most people just think they do), why bother? Why not go w/ a manufacturer who isn't stuck in the late 70s?
 
update

Apparently Mag Lite has updated the screw that holds the switch in place with a Torx T8 screw. You need a wrench whose shaft is no bigger in diameter than the head. This might have been an ongoing issue so the switch to Torx allows them to tighten the screw further than with the allen.
Another area to look at also is the spot where the screw pierces the anodizing. I have sometimes taken a dremel to that area to be sure the anodizing is out of the way to be sure the screw make good contact with the body of the light.
 
i have (had) some maglights. all turn into junk.

i have a streamlight stinger that fully rocks. its seen heavy use @ work (mechanic) and in the field. it just doesnt quit. i have a few streamlight things (pro stylus, original stylus, extended reach stylus etc.etc.) and im very happy with them.
 
Then came the Kel-Light
Click to expand...

I seem to remember Kel-light coming out first in the 60's.. I had one in the mid 70'd when I first got on the job.

Later Mag-lights were cheap and never were that reliable. Maybe it was the nasty and expensive divorce that screwed up the company.
Kel-light was sold to Streamlight when the company ceased production in the 80's..
 
"Mag-rite" would be the chinee version I think.

I dunno...I have a couple pretty old four and five Cell size Checkered Black Aluminum "Maglite" ones...been dropped many times, left in the rain, bumped around, loaned out, left in HOT Las Vegas car interiors 24/7/365 they old and worn when I got them...never had anything but 100 percent satisfaction with them.


The idea of upgrading them to 'LED' sounds interesting!

I will go visit the "CPF" Forum...


I had a 1936 Chevrolet in daily use for years. On the front, it had two period aftermarket Fog Lights, mounted to the Bumper-Spring Irons.

I fitted 2 100,000 CP 6 Volt Sealed Beam Spot Lights to those, fit perfect, and wow, if I pulled the Switch for them to come on, I had some LIGHT!!!

I bet I could see a mile...but, never ran 'em if anyone was coming the other way.
 
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My fav small flashlight used to be my Mini-Mag-Lite, but now it has been replaced by a Streamlight Polytac LED. 120 Lumens and runs on 2-CR123A's. Very bright and very durable. Around $50.
 
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