I'm reviving this thread. There may still be some Pelican M6 Lithium (Incandascent) users out there, who would like to convert their incandescent unit, over to a LED light, but are a little reticent about doing so.
Since initially posting my inquiry on this subject last year, I had never really gotten around to experimenting with drop-ins for my two 2320 M6, and M6 LED, which I've had for several years. During this past year, I have purchased numerous lights, but was really disappointed with how low-perfoming my old M6s had become (by comparison); so they sat...and sat, with little to no use, as I debated whether to just gift them to someone who might enjoy them, as-is, or take the plunge and try and upgrade them, without investing more dollars than would make sense.
I had found numerous P60 drop-ins available on-line, at the Battery Junction website (where I've purchased some of my lights, and other goodies), and of course, other sites, including Malkoff (Thanks to the person who recommended Malkoff); but all the specs on the drop-ins that they carried, said they would be compatible with the newer M6, with "some" modification. Well, I had no idea what the "newer" Pelican M6s were, or what kind of modification they were talking about, and was admittedly kind of fearful about messsing with it.
I finally decided, after some more reading, to see if the stock drop-in that already came with a SolarForce L2T light that I picked recently (Drop-In Model LC-XML T6, rated at 820 lumens, from 3.7V - 8.4V), might actually work in one of my old M6s; and if so - with how much modification to the drop-in. Much to my surprise, the light module on this M6
literally is a drop-in. As you remove the bezel on the M6, the drop-in will literally fall out of the light. I read that some of the older M6 lights had threaded interiors, where you would have to thread the light engine in; but these are not threaded (Please see pictures below); so I guess that makes mine a newer one. The P60 drop-ins, for this light, literally
drop in. The
only modification I had to make, was to remove the outer spring from the SolarForce drop-in.
That's it!
The length of the light engine (after removal of the outer spring of the newer drop-in), including the inner spring, appeared to be nearly identical to that of the stock Pelican 2324 engine that was originally there. The "modification" (chuckling) took must a matter of seconds, holding the drop-in in my left, and prying the spring lose, with my right, after unthreading the spring as best I could, first; and now the light works like a charm - as an LED light!
Yessss!
Quick note - the M6 incandescent and LED versions I had, are completely interchangeable, drop-in-wise. Good news!
And now, after experimenting with different batteries, I found that the light will
now easily work with 2 CR123s, 2 RCR123s/16340s (yes -they work, if they fit - I tried some EagleTac 16340s, and they're perfect), or a 17650 battery, with no battery rattling, or contact problems. This particular newer drop-in was rated at 820 lumens.....yeah right (It's more like 400 OTF, if that, but it was practically free, so what do I care?). Now, I am ready to invest in some
real drop-ins for these lights, so I can actually start using them again
. Might see about replacing the plastic lenses with glass ones.
I've got one more 2320 incandescent, and a 2390 (LED) light to upgrade; so now I'll make the investment in some other drop-ins, to make these old lights more usable, by today's standards - making an older Bronze AA Mini Mag, the only incandescent light I actually have left, to convert/upgrade.
On an unrelated side note, I bought a SolarForce L2N, with a custom Erik Kress drop-in (XM-L 7C, 5-mode - very warm, and very bright!), and that is about as close to warm incandescent light as I have ever seen - but in an LED, and with none of the headaches associated with an incandescent bulb - very nice! I know....that's another thread.
No tools were needed for this one! Flexible battery options (lithium primaries on the left, RCR123 (16340) lithium ions in the center, and 17650 lithium ion on the right. All work! Just be sure the drop-in accomodates the voltage specified on the batteries (The SolarfForce one is rated from 3.7 - 8.4 Volts).
Close-up of the the head - no threads, there. The drop-in on the right, is the old Pelican 2324 incandescent, which was rated at 74 lumens, direct drive. Run time on this was pretty terrible, and it got HOT, very quickly - typical of an incandescent.
Close-up of original incandescent drop-in and P60 SolarForce drop-in (with outer spring, removed)
