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.
Mine on a (well used) 10440 gives 142 lumens at switch-on down to 109 at 2 minutes. My youngest 10440 is about two years old and all of them have quite a lot of cycles on them. (87-83 lumens with-on to 2 minutes on an NiMH, 88-73 on an alkie)
Maglite need a new counselors staff… I can help… >)
I’m sure they aren’t ignorant of what’s available elsewhere. But I can certainly see the reasoning for their approach. One is the fact that they sell their lights in retail stores. Ever see a Tank 007 in a retail store? I haven’t. You have to mail order it from Hong Kong. And most people HATE mail order. You have to wait a week to get the thing. And who knows if you’re even going to see it or whether you will suddenly find a $1000 charge on your credit card? This may sound melodramatic. But it’s the way people think. On the other hand, you can go to Wally World and have a Solitaire today.
There’s also the issue of usability for the average person. On its highest mode, my Tank 007 realistically has about twice the output of a Mag Solitaire. But how useful is it in that mode? It burns through a NiMH AAA in 25-30 minutes. I’m sure that, with the 2A+ draw in high, an alkaline performs even worse. And it gets quite warm in the process. Unless it’s 10 degrees outside, most people would probably rather avoid this. A Solitaire, on the other hand, stays cool and runs fine on alkalines. This suits Joe Public much better. Also, in its single 36 lumen mode, there’s no pesky PWM.
This last factor doesn’t apply to the Solitaire. But with larger Mags, there’s the issue of cammed focusing. It’s a well-known fact that your average Joe LOVES this. It makes Mags sell. But it’s also well-known at least around here that it prevents the proper heatsinking of the emitter. So output is generally kept low to keep the cammed focusing. Perhaps most people would like a brighter light. But jot at the expense of losing the cammed focusing OR having a light that doesn’t work well on alkaline batteries. And Mag KNOWS this. Remember, Mag doesn’t make lights for flashoholics. They make lights for the lowest common denominator because that’s what sells.
I understand StorminMatt but I’m not much into what is correct lumens or not but the E09 is still BRIGHT. Just a couple of years ago, it was unimaginable for a single AAA light to be this small, this bright and this quality for such a small amount of money.
Maglite will always be found in favor with the general public and the newer LED Solitares are plenty bright enough for the average Joe.
We’re spoiled by the latest offerings from China in the past few years and if you’ve just gotten into flashlights forums in say the past 5 years, you’re really spoiled!
I was one the first 125 members 13 years ago on CPF, (Member #123), where all we had to talk about was how to make our beloved Maglites brighter. LED lights were still a thing of the future.
These lights nowadays are amazing and we would have paid big bucks back in the day for something with “only” 80 lumens and especially as small as an E09. Heck, we would have been tickled pink just to have something like the LED Solitares!
80 lumens is certainly pretty good for a light as small and cheap as the Tank 007 e09. But the REAL issue here is that the light doesn’t perform as promised. If it was sold as an 80 lumen light, I would have not had this issue with it.
I agree.
BG has it cheaper too! such a great lil light….I’ve also realized I can “pistol grip” it by holding my keys in my palm, and the light perched on the side of my index finger.
In the approx 1 month I’ve had it, it’s already earned it weight in gold. I’ve used it at work plenty of times and at home for small, quick jobs.
One time a while back I did a Nichia 219 direct-drive mod from a 10440 cell in a solitaire and the heat sink was so insufficient that the solder holding the LED to the MCPCB melted causing the 219 to drift, shorting the circuit and killing the 10440!
Luckily that was my most catastrophic flashlight modification failure, but it did help teach me how much energy these tiny Li-Ion cells contain, as well as the importance of safety and knowing the risks.
That said, about the most I’d put in a Solitaire now would be a Nichia GS (5mm) or maybe an XP-E at the very most.