I mainly collect 'non-letter serial' D cell Maglites. What does this mean? Maglites without a D in the serial number are from before 1992. These lights are quite a bit different from the later 'letter serials'. The biggest difference is the size of the light. Non-letter serials have a much thicker body and weigh much more. This gives them the feel of a much more sturdy, durable light. If you've never held one I highly recommend it versus a new Maglite as it feel like a different light entirely. See below for an example of a letter serial versus a non-letter serial.
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Mag Instrument, Inc. 2001 South Hellman Avenue Ontario, CA 91761. Phone: (909) 947-1006 Fax: (909) 947-3116. If you are unable to locate the battery for your Maglite flashlight or have any questions, please click on Talk to a Battery Specialist or Send Email and allow us to assist you in finding the battery. Maglite Black 3 D Cell Torch Flashlight. An iconic black 12inch/31cm Mag-Lite. Known for a superior beam of adjustable light, this simple to use torch has the individual serial number 2. Excellent condition. This robust piece is in solid metal with a textured central grip strip.
Shown in the above pic is a 3D letter serial (bottom) from around 2000 and a non-letter serial 3D from around 1980 (top). The leading digit, 3, specifies the cell size in the non-letter and the leading D and 3 in the letter serial specifies the cell type and number of cells. The rest of the digits specify the number of the light in the production sequence. All lights started at number 1 and worked their way up. So, the earliest 3 cell light would be 30000001. The non-letter light on top is 30051558 so it is the 51,558th 3D cell light produced. This numbering carried over in 1992 and did not reset when the letter serials came out. Older lights did not differentiate between the cell type in the serial. Newer LED lights will also have other letters on the prefix side as well. This blog is specifically about incandescent lights.
Shown below is a new (1992+) end cap threaded into an old (1990) barrel to show the difference in size. The red barrel is an old production non-letter and the jade end cap from a new production letter serial.
The secondary update was to the switch. From 1979 until 1992 Mag Instrument used a retaining ring switch. The retaining ring was made out of aluminum early on but was changed in 1990 to plastic. The aluminum ring resulted in more difficult maintenance because the retaining ring gets stuck when dirt or corrosion get into it. The aluminum ring also resulted in higher production costs because the aluminum is more expensive to produce than the plastic. The 1992+ letter serial switches use a snap ring instead of a retaining ring which also results in less machining and a lower production cost.Shown below is a 1979 to 1989 aluminum retaining ring switch on the left, a 1990 to 1991 plastic retaining ring switch in the center, and a 1992+ retaining clip switch on the right. The retaining clip is difficult to remove from the barrel and removal is not needed for most maintenance. It should be noted that Maglite still sells retaining ring replacement switch for older lights but they are now all of the plastic ring variety. The aluminum ring has been discontinued since 1989.
These non-letter serial lights are far less common than the later lights. A new 3D is around a 48,000,000 serial which means Maglite has produced around 48,000,000 3Ds as of this post date. Mag Instrument will actually tell you the date a light was produced based on this serial number although I have a Quick Dating Guide that will give you a rough idea without having to go through Mag.
It's interesting to note that when 1992 rolled around only 4,000,000 of each model, and sometimes many less, were produced when the lights changed to the currently available models. Currently Mag Instrument will sometimes sell 4,000,000 lights of each model a year so non-letter serials are much more rare due to their low production numbers and age.
The variations on the standard black model are also much more rare on the earlier lights. Lights came in far fewer colors and there were far fewer special editions than there are on the newer style lights. I've detailed these here.
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Another easy way to tell the difference is the addition of the panther logo on the bezel of the new style lights. According to Mag Instrument a panther represents a creature of the night and was added when the models changed in 1992. Shown below is a new style letter serial with the panther logo on the bezel on the bottom and the older style bezel on top.There are changes and variations on these early Mags most of which I have in my collection and I will document in future posts. It's very interesting to see the early evolution of Maglite and some things they tried that worked and some things that didn't work. It really is a very interesting piece of flashlight history that just isn't well documented. I've seen a lot of rumors and urban legends that simply aren't true so I'll try to document the information I've found out as best I can.
C cells were not modernized until 2003. I've covered the differences between letter serial and non-letter serial C cells here.
I am always interested in hearing from other collectors too and I am always interested in purchasing lights.
As always I'm looking to buy Vari-Beams and Vintage/Rare Mags. Please let me know if you have any, top dollar paid.
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I made a post earlier about Non-Letter Serial D cell lights and the differences between these earlier lights and the later, 1992+, lights that are almost an entirely different light. That post can be found here. Well, I've been saying for sometime I would do a similar post for C cells and here it is.C cell lights haven't sold as well as D cells and I've done some early history on them here along with sales numbers to back this up. C cells started in 1981 after Mag Instrument was in business for 2 years. Maglite didn't modernize the C cells until 2003. More than 10 years after Mag modernized the D cells. So, what changed and why?
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The main update was to the switch. From 1981 until 2003 Mag Instrument used a retaining ring switch which was a sized down version of their D cell light. The retaining ring is very thin and as such it could never be changed over to plastic like the D cells. This resulted in more difficult maintenance as the retaining ring gets stuck when dirt or corrosion get into it. The ring also results in higher production costs as the aluminum is more expensive to produce than the plastic. The new style switches use a snap ring instead of a retaining ring which also results in less machining and a lower production cost. Shown below is a 1981 to 2003 switch on the left and a 2003+ switch on the right with the retaining clip removed from the barrel.The secondary update was the relocation of the o-ring from the head to the barrel. Early C cells had the o-ring located in the head. This was troublesome as the o-ring would wear when the light was focused as it past over the threads. This would cause water to get inside the light. I believe this was an oversight during the original design and was rectified after numerous service center complaints during the run of the C cells up until 2003. Shown below is an example of the o-ring placement on a 1981 to 2003 light on the right and a 2003+ light on the left.
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Unlike the D cell lights the addition of the panther logo did not signify any design changes. Maglite simply started using the bezel in 1992 when the D cells change over and has used that same bezel ever since. 1992 to 1995 bezels will have a TM next to the Panther as the trademark was still pending and 1996+ lights will have an R with a circle next to the panther. Bezels, lenses, and reflectors always interchanged between C and D cells. The only way to tell the new and old lights apart is from the serial number.
All parts will interchange between old and new lights with the exception of the heads and switches. A new style head will go on an old light but because no seals exist the light will not be waterproof. Old style heads won't even thread on to new style lights. The switches, with the exception of the retaining ring vs. clip, are identical but Maglite doesn't sell retaining rings or clips by themselves so you'll likely have to buy a new switch instead of interchanging them.
I should also mention that the barrels are marginally thicker on the new lights by just about a tenth of an inch or so. A lot of the early C cells I've seen are dented so I'm guessing the aluminum extrusion thickness was increased just slightly when the changeover happened to increase durability. This is the opposite of D cell lights which saw both outside and inside diameter reduced. This is because C cell lights were always extruded whereas D cell lights were originally made from aluminum pipe.
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Also in 2003 5C and 6C lights were discontinued. Only a very small handful of the last 5Cs and 6Cs had letter serials. I did a post about these here but basically they were such slow sellers that they were discontinued. Like other discontinued lights they are popular among collectors and often sell for 2 or 3 times their original price.
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As always I'm looking to buy Vari-Beams and Vintage/Rare Mags. Please let me know if you have any, top dollar paid.