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Description of Business and Basis of Presentation (Details Textual) (USD $)
3 Months Ended 0 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015
Segment
manufacturing_location
Apr. 23, 2015
Dec. 31, 2014
Jun. 03, 2014
Mar. 31, 2014
Dec. 31, 2013
Description of Business and Basis of Presentation (Textual) [Abstract]            
Manufacturing locations 3mxwl_ManufacturingLocations          
Operating segments 1us-gaap_NumberOfOperatingSegments          
Cumulative valuation allowance $ 64,200,000us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsValuationAllowance          
Warranty period, minimum, in years 1 year          
Warranty period, maximum, in years 8 years          
Accrued warranty liability 823,000us-gaap_ProductWarrantyAccrualClassifiedCurrent   716,000us-gaap_ProductWarrantyAccrualClassifiedCurrent      
Deferred revenue and customer deposits 1,235,000us-gaap_DeferredRevenueAndCredits   703,000us-gaap_DeferredRevenueAndCredits      
Cash and cash equivalents 23,101,000us-gaap_CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue   24,732,000us-gaap_CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue   31,585,000us-gaap_CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue 30,647,000us-gaap_CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue
Working capital amount 57,100,000mxwl_DebtInstrumentDebtDefaultAmountofWorkingCapital          
Debt outstanding 15,300,000us-gaap_LongTermDebt          
Aggregate value of securities permitted for issuance       125,000,000mxwl_ValueofSecuritiesPermittedForIssuanceUnderShelfRegistration    
Equity Offering Sales Agreement under Shelf Registration Statement | Cowen and Company | Subsequent Event            
Description of Business and Basis of Presentation (Textual) [Abstract]            
Number of shares the Company may sell per equity offering sales agreement (up to $10 million)   10,000,000mxwl_SaleofStockConsiderationReceivedonTransactionUponSale
/ us-gaap_CounterpartyNameAxis
= mxwl_CowenandCompanyMember
/ us-gaap_SubsequentEventTypeAxis
= us-gaap_SubsequentEventMember
/ us-gaap_SubsidiarySaleOfStockAxis
= mxwl_EquityOfferingSalesAgreementunderShelfRegistrationStatementMember
       
Revolving Credit Facility            
Description of Business and Basis of Presentation (Textual) [Abstract]            
Amount outstanding under line of credit 9,900,000us-gaap_DebtDefaultLongtermDebtAmount
/ us-gaap_CreditFacilityAxis
= us-gaap_RevolvingCreditFacilityMember
         
Revolving line of credit 10,000,000us-gaap_LineOfCreditFacilityMaximumBorrowingCapacity
/ us-gaap_CreditFacilityAxis
= us-gaap_RevolvingCreditFacilityMember
         
Revolving Credit Facility | Revolving Line of Credit            
Description of Business and Basis of Presentation (Textual) [Abstract]            
Revolving line of credit $ 10,000,000.0us-gaap_LineOfCreditFacilityMaximumBorrowingCapacity
/ us-gaap_CreditFacilityAxis
= us-gaap_RevolvingCreditFacilityMember
/ us-gaap_DebtInstrumentAxis
= mxwl_RevolvingLineofCreditMember
         
High Reliability            
Description of Business and Basis of Presentation (Textual) [Abstract]            
Number of product lines 3mxwl_NumberofProductLines
/ us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis
= mxwl_HighReliabilityMember
         
China            
Description of Business and Basis of Presentation (Textual) [Abstract]            
Number of contract manufacturers 2mxwl_NumberofContractManufacturers
/ us-gaap_StatementGeographicalAxis
= country_CN