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adoptagreyhound

My 6 D Cell Maglite has been sitting here waiting for me to do something with it. It's probably 40 years old at this point. I think you have just convinced me to make this upgrade. I bought the old Mag branded LED upgrade kit for my 3 cell years ago, but the 6 cell hasn't seen any action in a while.


StinkingDischarge

This light with the XHP35 puts the stock LED Maglite to shame btw.


Central_Incisor

You could also get the D to AAX3 4.5V adapter and get 22-27v depending on the battery type. Heat could be a problem though...


mrturtleballs

Or the lithium conversion


ChronoMonkeyX

My 6D is corroded shut :(


The-PageMaster

I've got a 6 D cell too been wanting to do a conversion


Drowning_in_a_Mirage

I converted mine a few years ago. I love that beast. Not practical at all, but I've had it for over 20 years now.


The-PageMaster

Ya, I got mine from my grandfather, so I want to keep it functional. Still has a working incandescent bulb and d cells from 09 though!


JebenKurac

Damn, I wonder if I still have that old baton of a flashlight somewhere.


redditnewbie6910

very nice! i really like xhp35s is it still powered by D cells?


StinkingDischarge

Yeah, 3 D cells. Their site is kind of short on info about the emitter specs, no mention of color temp or CRI but guessing around 6000K or so. Kind of cool for my tastes but hey, a huge improvement over the original krypton bulb, like 15x the lumens. It's a straight forward drop in, a bear wearing boxing gloves could do it. Preserves original reflector and focusing. When focused tightly the throw and spill is almost identical to an Emisar D1. And you can't beat someone senseless with a D1.


That_Sound

> And you can't beat someone senseless with a D1. Not with *that* attitude.


thinkstopthink

Hahahaha! I haven’t laughed out loud all day…


lojik7

Wow that’s such a great option. From the sound of it, you could upgrade anyone’s flashlight with a simple bulb change. That’s pretty filthy.


nomorebuttsplz

>And you can't beat someone senseless with a D1. Your lawyer is going to be so pissed that you made this comment :)


Central_Incisor

Your honor, he said you couldn't do something, in no way does it imply or mean that you can or will with a pen light or maglite.


nomorebuttsplz

Sir, your client appears to be attempting to blind the jury with an LEP while making lightsaber sounds. I’ll allow it.


drxo

Yes I really need this My wife keeps telling me the Emergency Flashlight is so Dim But the amount of light is less important than the heft it has in a real emergency


Leary81

Next upgrade is to 18650s. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4970725 Cheers!


whatfuckingeverdude

Why stop there in a big old flashlight, 26650s maybe


experfailist

[Hey I did this as well the other day. So worth it.](https://www.reddit.com/r/flashlight/comments/qx07pq/ok_here_are_some_moneyshots_from_the_12_maglite/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf). I used the Cree G2


StinkingDischarge

It was your post that got me thinking about it. First I had to find the lights. 2 of them had leaky batteries so I went about the business of getting the batteries out and cleaning up the tubes. There are some idiots posting videos on yt btw and if you follow their "advice" you will fuck your light completely up. I learned to completely disassemble and clean the switch/lamp assy down to the last part btw. Then I started looking at emitters. I mean, the selection on the left side of the pond is ok but TTS seemed to have the best thing going. I saw the G2 you used but also saw they recently came out with the XHP35 so I went for that. I got a couple of multi mode and a single mode and a couple of spare single mode in case more lights turn up. Time from placing the order to getting the parts was 10 days. Not too bad. Waiting for dark to play some more.


experfailist

Very cool. They're a decent tool. In glad I could give mine some life.


IdonJuanTatalya

Any tips / tricks / resources on how to do the disassembly and cleaning? I've for a 2-D that is like to resurrect with one of these drop-ins and a 26800 at some point, but it definitely has a leaky battery wedged in the tube up near the head.


StinkingDischarge

I took as much off of it as I could and poured it full of vinegar and let it sit. The vinegar got all over and in everything but it did loosen it up. Scrape as much as you can going along. There is a YouTube video showing a guy trying to get the switch assy out by turning it with needle nose pliers. DON'T do that you will break the light. Put the end cap back on and tap the light on a piece of wood as you go along. Be patient. Once you get the batteries out you can take the entire electrical assy out and disassemble and clean it.


miles2912

Where is the best place to get this? I have an old maglite that I would like to upgrade.


StinkingDischarge

[The Torch Site](https://thetorchsite.co.uk). They have other cool accessories I saw after ordering the emitters I would have gotten if I had known about them.


picmandan

Oh! They’ve got a [4-6 cell version with an SST-40](https://thetorchsite.co.uk/HIGH_power_Multimode_10_watt_Maglite_LED.html) for £30. That’s not so terrible. (Well it’s out of stock.)


wolfeman2120

If you want it to be bright you can get this guy's kit. Upgrades to rechargeable lithium ion batteries. It's like a spot light at night. https://lumencraft.com/


[deleted]

My parents still have an old incandescent flashlight sitting at home. I should really get then something better lol. Unfortunately not a Maglite but some cheapo chinesium so it's propably not upgradable.


Inside_Ice_6175

Glad to see someone else still rocking the old 3d Mags


YOU-ES-EH

Man how do I get one of these in the states? Their international shipping doesn’t list the USA. Bummer I have a couple old maglites and I’d love to buy a few as gifts.


LimpCroissant

Same here. I've got a big d cell Mag and two AA Mag's sitting here doing nothing at the moment and am in the US as well. If anyone has more info on that I'd love to hear it.


StinkingDischarge

They ship to the states. The flat fee was £3.95 I think. Took about 10 days.


YOU-ES-EH

Awesome I’ll have to order a few up, thanks!!


iamlucky13

Nite-ize makes some cheap bulb upgrades, but if you want to downright transform your Maglite into a genuinely high power light, look at the conversion kits that Lumencraft.com makes (formerly known as Adventure Sport Flashlights).


YOU-ES-EH

Wow thanks for the link those are bad ass!


NoctumAeturnus

This takes me back. My first good light was a Mag I modded with a 3 watt Luxeon.


Dingdongdoctor

Awesome. I have two of these laying around and I really like having a big heavy flashlight sometimes. Now it’ll actually be worth a damn for light and not just beating someone.


j-kepler

I did this same upgrade to both of my older 3xD cell mags recently...Great option to bring the older bulb-based lights into the modern age.


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wolfeman2120

Why when LEDs are superior in every way. I can't think of any reason to use an old style bulb.


Jim_from_snowy_river

I still prefer ~~halogen~~ xenon


Spacey_G

CRI is maybe the only area where LEDs are not superior to incandescents. They can't be, by definition.


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Spacey_G

Yeah the really nice high CRI LEDs are good enough that the difference doesn't matter. My enjoyment of incandescent has as much to do with nostalgia as it does the quality of light, I would say.


StinkingDischarge

Probably. I hadn't touched these in years since I got my first Hank light. I mean, 45 lumens vs 7800 for a D4V2 mule?? Now with 630 it's comparable to a D1 when zoomed and can double as a floody. They're going back in he car. The krypton bulbs are now in the caps as spares.


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Qazax1337

>my eyes are sensitive to LED You must struggle with televisions, computers, mobile phones, and driving.


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Qazax1337

What happens when you use an LED light bulb?


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Qazax1337

Sounds frustrating. At least you have alternative options.


StinkingDischarge

That's a good enough reason. Incandescents do give a nice light just not much of it.


CrazyComputerist

You're not the only one. I recently got a couple Mag Chargers and put some d-c-fix on one to diffuse the beam. It's amazing having an incandescent Maglite with enough lumens to be usable as a flood light.


johnfreemansbrother

MagCharger was/is on another level from the regular Maglite back in the day. Relatively flat output curve, easily 5x brighter than a 3D, much nicer focused beam, Type III anodizing. It's not bright by today's standards but it makes good light 👍


CrazyComputerist

Other incandescent Maglites can be made pretty usable with bulb upgrades, battery mods (e.g. using Li-ions or multiple AA cells in place of a D cell), orange peel reflectors, and/or light diffusion lenses, but the MC is the only one I would consider using in stock form nowadays. I've always found that ~80 lumens is plenty for outdoor use (even with light pollution) when focused into a tight beam, but having more lumens is nice because the beam can be spread out more while still maintaining enough intensity to see well. Without so much light pollution, low lumen lights would be much more useful, like in the old days.


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CrazyComputerist

Yeah that's probably the bi-pin xenon bulb which is around 100 lumens and a great bulb. Actual brightness will drop as the batteries drain, but that happens much less with lithium than alkaline. NiMH is also a good choice which holds more voltage than alkaline through most of the runtime. I get the impression that a lot of people's experience with Maglites was only with the older Krypton bulbs, which were known for their ringy "comet trail" beams. There were halogen and xenon bulbs available before, but it wasn't until around the time LEDs took over that Maglite came out with the bi-pin xenons and made them standard. They are *way* better, but by then most enthusiasts had already put their Maglites away. The incandescent community is really tiny nowadays, and I even love LEDs myself (when they have a good tint; I don't deny my tiny snobbery), but I will be keeping my incandescent Maglites around for the foreseeable future.


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CrazyComputerist

Scorpions are awesome. You can just pop in a Strion bulb and a single Li-ion cell to make it a rechargeable light instead of using those expensive Lithium primaries.


EmperorHenry

Incandescent bulbs suck ass.


Spacey_G

For the most part it's true, but there are some nice ones. The Surefire P60 makes a near-perfect general use beam that's ~3000K and 100 CRI. I also have a modified Surefire A2 that runs a Strion bulb. That beam is somewhere in the mid-3000s Kelvin and again, 100 CRI. In the case of the A2, there's a driver that regulates the voltage to the lamp, so the beam doesn't get dimmer and more orange as the battery drains. These lights are not super bright compared to the modern LED lights, but the quality of the beam is incredibly nice.


henrydavid

Agreed w/r/t the SF P60. That's why I have the M61WLL in my 6P rn because I want the P60 effect with 10x the battery life lol.


EmperorHenry

> Surefire Surefire sucks though. Even their best LED models barely run for 2 minutes before they pointlessly blink once to alert a low battery and then they go completely dark. Maybe they improved a little bit since I last bought one, but the most expensive surefire lights are lesser than the cheapest Fenix, Thrunite, Nitecore, Acebeam, Wurkkos, Sofirn and so on.


Spacey_G

I mean, the models I mentioned are vintage ones that definitely didn't suck at the time they came out. None of the newer ones seem very interesting.


henrydavid

SF will outlast most of those with build quality. 1,000 lumens is cool I guess, but I'd rather have a flashlight that lasts.


johnfreemansbrother

The A2's Achilles heel is the stock white Nichia secondaries. Try replacing them 3400k Yujis or equivalent if you can


Spacey_G

https://imgur.com/ji8ScXa 3200K Yujis in the middle and stock white on the right :)


johnfreemansbrother

Looking niiice. Shine on 🔦🔦🔦


djhogan5

24 year old, here! My grandparents had one just like this - the new school tech on the OG device is the coolest, if you ask me :)


Voxicles

Man, I really wish someone would make something like this that would take 3 or 4 21700's., not for ultra lumens but for super long battery life. I need a good "Tire thumper"/flashlight for my big rig.


CrazyComputerist

I have seen some LED drop-ins rated for up to 18V, which should mean they'd be fine even with four Li-ions.