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Available from Flash-Lights.com
The Diamond brand LED replacement bulbs are designed
to be direct drop-in replacements for 3 cell (C or D)
Maglights. They all use Luxeon III LEDs which are shockproof.
These LEDs are direct-drive, which means there is no
regulator circuit or anything like that in the bulb.
The units themselves simply replace the stock bulb
and bulb holder and utilize the Mag reflector, lens,
and head with no modification necessary. They are available
in multiple colors, including White, Red, Red-Orange,
Amber, Green, Blue, and Royal Blue.
Body: The bulbs themselves consist of a metal
collar in which the bulb is built. The collar screws
into the Maglight bulb receptacle, taking the place
of the stock Mag bulb holder and creating a positive
thermal connection to draw heat away from the LED. Inside
the collar is the rest of the bulb, which looks like
a standard PR base bulb.
Bezel/Head: Installation is a snap - remove
the stock bulb and retaining collar and throw them away.
Screw in the Diamond bulb and reattach the head. That's
it! Just make sure to use no larger than a 3 cell C
or D Maglight for any of the bulbs.
Output: Output is in the form of a beam similar
to the stock Maglight. It can still be focused, and
if you focus the light outward you get the familiar
"rings and holes" typical of using a smooth
reflector.
The white light produced by the LEDs is a higher color
temperature than the stock incandescent bulb and produces
good color rendition weighted more toward the blue end
of the spectrum. The colored LEDs produce one color
which is not useful for color
rendition, but may serve specific purposes for different
needs. For example, red may be helpful for preserving
night vision, while blue is good for tracking wounded
game and making fluorescent
items glow.
The outlandishly high "throw" numbers in
the table below are the result of the excellent job
that the Maglight reflector does of focusing most of
the light from the LEDs into a concentrated beam. However,
once you widen the focus to create a more diffuse beam,
you wind up with the typical black hole in the center.
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Color
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White
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8400 (91.65)
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4200 (42.00)
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Red
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3250 (57.01)
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3900 (39.00)
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Red-Orange
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3700 (60.83)
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5000 (50.00)
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Amber
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2000 (44.72)
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2350 (23.50)
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Green
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7350 (85.73)
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3250 (32.50)
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Blue
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4800 (69.28)
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2250 (25.50)
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Royal Blue
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3200 (56.57)
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1150 (11.50)
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All throw readings are in Lux
at one meter. The numbers in parenthesis are for comparison
in the Comparison
Charts.
 
White beam at one meter, Narrow focus, wide focus
Below are the monochrome module pictures.
Keep in mind that the center is never white in any module
except the white module - if it appears so in the picture
it is because the camera CCD was overloaded by the amount
of light.
Next to the module color, I have included
my impression of the color that I saw. This may be different
than the appearance of the color in the picture due
to the way that the camera interprets the color.
 
Red (deep red) left, Red-Orange (tomato red) right
 
Amber (orange) left, Green (lime, yellowish green) right
 
Blue (aqua, slightly greenish blue) left, Royal blue
(true blue) right
Runtime Plot: Quick drop up front, but then
a very steady level of output for many hours. That quick
drop may look pretty bad, but let's do a little comparing...
Runtime
completed with Rayovac brand batteries. More information
on runtime plots is available HERE.
Keep in mind that a normal Mag 3-D drops
to 50% in about 1 hour and continues to decline. These
3W modules appear to drop to about 55% in about 11 minutes,
but then just keep going around that level for a long
time. However, the 100% point is not the same for both!
The Mag stock bulb starts out at about 1/2 the overall
output of the 3 Watt!
Let's compare them visually. Here is a
graph of output comparing the Diamond 3W and the Stock
Mag Bulb, calibrated to the 3W 100% point by using the
overall output readings from each light:
All of a sudden that quick drop by the
3W Diamond doesn't look so bad, does it! As you can
see, the Diamond maintains for 12+ hours around the
same output as what the Mag stock bulb starts out with!
Damn fine performance if you ask me!
Switch: Same as standard Maglight.
Seals / Water Resistance: Same as standard Maglight.
If it gets wet inside, just disassemble as much a possible
without tools and let it dry before using again.
Ergonomics: Same as standard Maglight.
Batteries: These modules should only be used
in 3 cell Maglights.
Accessories: In case your light takes more than
3 cells, you can get dummy cells from the supplier.
What I Liked: Simple installation,
Maglight retains all functionality, Practically indestructible,
Emits about the same overall light as the stock 3-D
Mag bulb does initially, but does so for many, many
hours, Won't burn out.
What I Didn't Like: Nothing.
Picky Little Things: Note that
the colored modules may need to be screwed in very tight
to work. Mine didn't at first until I applied quite
a bit of pressure.
Conclusions: The Diamond Luxeon
LED bulbs are an excellent upgrade for a Maglight. Produces
around the same amount of light as the standard 3-D
Mag bulb does at start, but keeps it going for many
more hours. The colored modules allow for special purpose
application, and the white bulb works very well as a
replacement for the normal incandescent bulb.
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