After a long and rough life, about two decades of travelling, my trusted Mini-Maglite ceased to function.
Serial number 2t002299xxx , bought around 2000 in the US, powered by 2 AA-sized batteries.
A closer look identified the cause:
The inductance of the voltage regulator broke: In photo, note missing wire and little pink arrow. The ferrite core broke first, a brittle
material known to dislike mechanical shock, and finally the wire raptured.
After so many drops onto hard surfaces, it was about time for this to happen.
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Luckily, a matching replacement coil is readily available at electronic distributors, e.g. Digikey. What worked for me: TDK coil, part number LTF4022T-100m-D, Digikey number 445-16202-1-ND . The label "100" means "10µH".
When the new coil is soldered centric on cleaned pads (height!), it will fit snugly into the plastic housing of the electronics.
- Eh voilá, good as new.
Thanks to Maglite for designing the electronics and mechanics in a way that is repairable in the field !
Update March 2023: Maglite offers an LED replacement pack, consisting of the electronics board and an insulator ring:
P/N 118-000-188 "Module/LED,2CL,MMLD,AA,V1L,FSK".
It includes detailed do-it-yourself instructions on how to swap the electronics.
Costs were 10 USD for walk-ins at their repair shop, 2001 South Hellman Avenue, Ontario, CA. Probably this is available over the web as well.
The type of LED is newer and brighter than the old one.
Thanks to the very supportive and professional lady at their service desk in Ontario.
However: Apparently the Maglite service is not as good outside the USA. Secondly it is increasingly difficult to buy a Maglite in an US store. Even some specialists on camping gear don't stock them anymore. And the Maglite website seems a bit overloaded with all sorts of gadgets, making it surprisingly hard to find the standard LED model with 2 AA batteries. Still a good product, but a somehow weird marketing policy.