Or, anyone have a more workable idea for how to mod a 6 D cell maglite into a better flashlight?
Man, did you come to the right place. Although, you may not think so several months from now when your wallet is empty and you have half a dozen unfinished, modified lights sitting around waiting for those awesome Fivemega bulbs and AW switches to become available (you don't know Fivemega or AW now, but you will...and so will your Paypal account).
There are a huge number of ways to mod a Maglite. You can start by reading through the threads shown
here.
To be truly inspired, read through LuxLuthor's most powerful mag mod list found
here.
Here's my two favorite beginner Mag mods. Both of these will provide 40-150 times the amount of light over the stock Mag.
1.)
Terralux TLE-300M-EX drop-in head in a 3D Mag using a
Fivemega 9AA>3D battery holder and a
UCL lens. Power this puppy for 2.5 hours on the highest setting with Energizer Ultimate Lithium AA batteries, or 1.75 hours on the highest setting with Sanyo Eneloop rechargeables. This is a great light, and since everything is drop-in, it is extremely easy to make. Also, since you have a six D Mag already, you could just buy the Terralux assembly and drop it right into your 6D Mag. It will run for about 1 hour on a six new D cells in your light. That would save you some $$$ on the Fivemega battery holder and the UCL lens, and you could see if you like the light or not. The 3D Mag mod described above is nice because it is smaller and has a longer runtime, but the light output between the two is exactly the same.
2.) The Mag85 hotwire mod. There a many variations on this light. Basically, it is a WA1185 incandescent bulb driven directly by the battery. Here is an easy variation: a
Welch Allyn WA1185 bulb, a
Fivemega G4 bi-pin socket, a
Fivemega 9AA>3D battery holder, a
Fivemega bi-focal reflector and a
borofloat lens. Power this bad boy with Sanyo Eneloop (about 30 minute run-time) or Powerex Imedion 2400 AA cells (about 40 minute run-time). Again, everything is drop-in and very easy to do.
If you go with a rechargeable battery option for the lights above, I recommend getting a charger like
this, that way you can charge the batteries without removing them from the battery holder.
But rather than choose between the two, why not build both? That way you will get a good feeling for the difference between LED and incandescent flashlights.
Have fun, and tell us what you build!
Cheers,
Battery Guy