Bringing a 6P in to the 21st Century

[Lawman VII XIV]

Ran across my ancient Surefire 6P that I carried as a backup light to my Streamlight SL20, for years. This was when the 20s were plastic, not aluminum. The 6P was tough on the CR123 x2 (?) batteries, which came out of my pocket, not the Dept's.

I'd like to bring the light close if not up to modern standards as it's still in excellent shape and handy for around the house during a power failure aka casual use.

At this point it looks like a Malkoff M61L is the ticket giving me a white light, ok throw, and longer runtime compared to the original 6P.

What should I know about using rechargeables or should I even bother. It's a drag replacing batteries all the time.

Is there a USB rechargeable battery or batteries that would replace the 2 CR123s? I ask about USB as that seems simpler than external recharge and risking cataclysmic destruction should I choose the wrong charger or overcharge.

Simple is good and I await sage advice from CPF SMEs.

 

[thermal guy]

Well 18650's are to big to fit a standard 6P but a 16650 fits great. It's basically a replacement for 2X123's it's 3.7 volts so will run your malkoff just fine. I use keeppower 16650's. There protected cells and are very safe.

 

[ChrisGarrett]

8-9 years back I added an EDC+/Redilast 3 mode 1.5A P60 to my 6P and it still sits in my drawer.

Chris

 

[troutpool]

You might want to consider the high CRI versions of Malkoff dropins with Nichia LEDs, available from Illumn. For your purposes now, you might enjoy the superior color rendering and tint of the Nichia emitters.

 

[LEDphile]

You might want to consider the high CRI versions of Malkoff dropins with Nichia LEDs, available from Illumn. For your purposes now, you might enjoy the superior color rendering and tint of the Nichia emitters.

It is worth noting that if you don't need the 5700K, the neutral and warm Malkoff drop-ins use high-CRI emitters.

 

[bykfixer]

A Malkoff M61 can handle up to 9 volts.

Elzetta sells RCR batteries with a USB port on them.

I'd reccomend an M61NL since it puts out 200 lumens with a 5 hour regulated output on CR123's and a nice long taper after that.

Now the NLL will remind you of the old P60 since it puts out 80 lumens. 10 hours with CR123's.

The beam of the N series is very similar to the P60 with fresh batteries.

Edit: just read you like a white beam. The standard M61L is a great choice.

 

[fivemega]

Get a bored out body to fit 18650 cell and a lamp module which runs at 3.7 volt.
single 18650 has much more energy compare to 16650 or pair of CRC123A
Less frequent charging, longer battery life and longer run time per charge.
Keep the original body intact for feature use or resell.

 

[vicv]

You really can't beat the original. P60 drop in lights are not designed for the thermal requirements of an led. Yes you can wrap the drop in but that removes the interchangeability of it. If you want an led light, my suggestion is to get one designed for it from the start. It will perform better in every way.
To get away from primary batteries, I'd get a 16650 and either a Lumens factory ho-4, or any of the cheap 3.7v incandescent drop ins from kaidomain, AliExpress, ECT. They're pretty good and like $4

 

[sween1911]

Depending on how old your 6P is. If it's an older collectible version, maybe with a round bezel and lexan lens, I say put it aside and put CR123's in it and save it for posterity. If not, then go with a Malkoff unit and a 16650 if you don't wanna get it bored. If you get it bored, 18650's are the way to go.

 

[FPSRelic]

With the Malkoff m61l you are looking at you can run 1 x 16650, 2 x 16340's, or 2 x cr123a's. If you get an a19 extender for it you can also run 3 x cr123a's for extra runtime or 2 x AA's. Note that when running on 1 x 16650 or 2 x AA's the light drops out of regulation. Pretty versatile. I have the same light but bored for 18650's, although my m61l is an older version that only puts out 175 lumens.

 

[bubbatime]

I found my old 6P last year, and like you, said, this thing can be useful again.

I put a Keepower 16650 rechargeable battery in it, and dropped a Malkoff M61 warm low low low light in it. I think it has like 60-70 lumens for 10 hours or so.... before needing recharged.

Its the perfect brightness level (not too bright) for next to the bed. I have an old duty flashlight holster screwed into the back of my bedframe, easily grabbed at night, and I keep the Surefire there.

 

[Owen]

-2x Keeppower P1621U(2100mAh USB rechargeable 16650), ~$30 at the Keeppower Store on Amazon

-Malkoff M61N, NL, or NLL

M61N will be brightest, but will not stay in regulation and maintain full brightness for long, after which it will continuously dim.

M61NL will be significantly brighter than a P60, and should also remain in regulation significantly longer than the M61N before continuously dimming.

M61NLL should be in the same neighborhood as the P60 on fresh CR123As, and will in turn remain in regulation much longer than the M61NL before beginning to continuously dim.

Since you're talking power failure(and whatever "casual use" is), I'd go with the M61NLL for the longest regulated runtime, and most practical level of brightness for general use.

 

[lightfooted]

Old Surefires weren't designed for the thermal requirements of an LED? No, they weren't designed for a power LED putting out 2000 lumens or more...but trust me they can handle anything less than that just fine. Even without wrapping the drop-in.

Personally as an owner of an original 6P I would recommend that you find an appropriate LED drop-in (which it seems you have) and power it from the Keeppower 16650 cells. Mine are the same diameter and length of a pair of Surefire branded 123As and are 2500 mAh cells. Plenty of oomph for anything I need them for. I see no reason to bore the tube out just to get an extra hour or so at max output. Any future collector will value it more if it's essentially untouched.

 

[vicv]

Sorry but no I don't "trust" you. Lol. They can not handle that. Everyone who makes them claims you must wrap the drop in (malkoff not included).
The whole design is to keep the heat from the drop in away from the body.
There's nothing wrong with a p60. But every single other light is better with LED

 

[Owen]

Do everyone a favor, and stop talking.

 

[WarriorOfLight]

There are a few options. The cheaper options were already mentioned.

also what would work is bore thre both to make it 18mm capable, buy a Overready Dropin V5.x and use the dropin with two 18350 cells. There will be than ~3000lm light. That should be enough

 

[orbital]

+

Order 4 to get free shipping::::: https://illuminationgear.com/shop/ols/products/16650-2500mah-eagtac-battery

 

[bubbatime]

The whole design is to keep the heat from the drop in away from the body.

I think what you meant to say was, "The body of the light acts like a heatsink. It draws heat away from the LED module. You WANT a good transfer of heat, away from the LED module, and into the body of the flashlight."

Fixed it for you.

 

[vicv]

Nope. I think people may need to look into this better. But I'm not going to contribute any more to here. If someone would like to make a post about 6p versus modern LED lights I would like to continue the conversation there

 

[defloyd77]

You should also consider Malkoff's M61WL which uses a warm white 3000K SST-20 with 95+ CRI or M61NL which uses a neutral white 4000K SST-20 with 95+ CRI. Both bring your light into the modern age while still giving that warm, nostalgic feel of an incandescent light.