I have a very old Maglite Solitare, (1 AAA), that I’ve kept for sentimental reasons. Are there any cheap, LED drop-in modules available for it? Thanks in advance.
Anyone?
I found a couple but for the price, (cheapest I found was $6.99), it’s just not worth buying any of them with the prices of great AAA lights now that are as little as $12.00. Guess I’ll just keep it as a memento of the past!
I spent awhile searching for the same thing, but came to the same conclusion you did…I now have a tank007 es12 hanging on my keychain. slightly shorter than a solitaire (half inch), HEAVIER! but also made of what feels like decent stainless…I don’t really futz with the modes very much, but have found the low and high usable in a couple situations.
I’ve also heard many good things about the tank007 e09 (it’s what I was eventually going to buy, but I found the es12 on a decent sale) and had my eye on a few others scattered around the forums here in comparison threads and reviews.
I kinda had an idea of ones I liked, and waited for one to fall into my lap, lol.
Just get the new LED Solitaire!
TehSpaz,
What’s a Tank007 ES12? I have a Tank007 E09 on order.
Racer,
I thought about that but I wanted to make the old Solitare somewhat usable as I’ve had it for over 30 years and a match is brighter! Instead of the new LED Solitare, I went with the Tank007 E09.
Dave,
Thanks much for that link. It looks like the way to go especially since I have a couple of good 10440 cells lying around!
The es12 is a wallbuys-only model, but incredibly similar to the e09 from what I’ve read. It’s shiny stainless, which was another plus in my book. I only bought it over the e09 because it was on wallbuys instantkill sale, and I got it for roughly the price of the e09, but the 12 is solid stainless. I’d consider a switch to the e09 for lighter weight more than anything! 13g vs 32g!
you can check it out here
Thanks TehSpaz. That’s a neat little light! Too bad it’s over double the price of the E09.
If that e09 feels half as good in the hand as the es12 does, you’re still getting a great lil light!
Only thing about the es12 that bugged me is it comes with a “swivel” keychain thats like, an inch long. On my keys, it dangled down from the ignition far enough to rub my knees when driving. I have the big split ring from my keys attached to the small split ring on the es12…It’s just the right length to not bug me, and when I’m handshake-holding the es12, I can slip the large split ring around my pinkie as a poor-mans wrist strap.
There’s another fairly easy mod and that is to use a pill from a cheap AAA light. I haven’t documented this but I had a cheap $2 light from a dollar shop. The pill came out easily but I needed to solder on some legs as well as cut my own washer for the legs to go in and operate the on and off. I was looking for a lens to fill the space between the pill and the front of the light so the process isn’t quite finished … and hasn’t been for a while now …
Well, I went with E1320’s mod…sort of. I had some 3V mini LED’s lying around, (I don’t remember where I got them), that fit the hole of the Solitare’s reflector perfectly. I just cut the leads to the size of the Solitare’s original bulb and pushed it in. No filing needed at all!
I put a freshly charged unprotected 10440 cell in and t fired right up! It’s nothing great but it’s at least 300% brighter than the original Solitare bulb and it still focuses and has a nice hotspot now where the stock Solitare bulb was ringy and ugly.
Thanks for all the help folks!
Glad to hear it! I might need to breathe new life into my solitaire now 
Thanks TehSpaz and yes, make your Solitare at least produce some light! :bigsmile:
Lambdalights used to sell one. I don't see it on his website now but I'd email him and ask.
I have one somewhere. I think in the back of the car.
Just wanted to add that I received my E09. What a great little AAA light! My example has the LED perfectly centered and the threads were well lubed and not gritty at all. I LOVE that it’s just low, medium and high. Again, a great TINY light!
It’s kind of sad that a former leader in the flashlight market like Maglite has fallen so far behind the rest of the world.
Even their newest releases are two or three generations behind what we buy daily as ‘budget’ lights for 25% of the price of Maglites. Maybe they’re so far behind they can’t even SEE the competition, and believe they’re still in front!
The one thing I DON’T like about it is that is isn’t a 120 lumen light. Maybe more like 80 lumens. But definitely not 120.