Radio Shack 3D Krypton Enerlite

[ericjohn]

So a few days ago I was able to order a vintage Radio Shack Krypton Enerlite off of Ebay.

It only set me back $11.76 with Free 3 Day shipping.

This light is awesome and is in fairly decent condition, despite it's age of ~20-26 years (according to the Radio Shack catalog.) The catalog number for Radio Shack is 61-2537, for those of you who wish to do the research. It was featured in the Radio Shack catalog from 1991 to 1996, but catalogs were printed a few months ahead of the new year.

The only things wrong with it are that the reflector has a smudge from an overheated bulb and the tail-cap O-Ring disintegrated when I opened it up.

However, it still functions quite well and came with a high quality KPR103 bulb.

It is definitely brighter than my 3 D Maglite with the Krypton bulb of the same specifications.

The only design flaw I can gripe about is that the switch is a reverse clickie instead of a forward clickie and those annoy me. Is the former cheaper to produce than the latter?

Anyway, how does one get a replacement O-Ring for the tail-cap?

I want this just to make sure that no liquids will get in, if I need it any time in the future.

Let me say right now that I do NOT care if it is OEM, just as long as it fits.

Where could I go/browse to get such a a thing?

Is it something as simple as taking dial or (slide rule) calipers, measuring the OD of the groove where they fit in tail-cap and finding an O-Ring of that same, but ID, or is it more complicated than that?

I haven't seen much about this flashlight on here (CPF) or the rest of the web for that matter. Has anyone else ever used one?

 

[KeepingItLight]

I don't know much about this, so hopefully others will follow with better information than mine.

I have read that many flashlight owners buy O-rings at a local hardware store. For online purchases, a site called The O-ring Store (theoringstore.com) was mentioned at CPF last year. I have never done business with it, but I saved the link, nevertheless.

Pay attention to inside diameter, outside diameter, and thickness.

 

[StarHalo]

What made you get this particular light?

 

[ericjohn]

I don't know much about this, so hopefully others will follow with better information than mine.

I have read that many flashlight owners buy O-rings at a local hardware store. For online purchases, a site called The O-ring Store (theoringstore.com) was mentioned at CPF last year. I have never done business with it, but I saved the link, nevertheless.

Pay attention to inside diameter, outside diameter, and thickness.

Thank you very much for the information!

 

[ericjohn]

What made you get this particular light?

I got it because I have an interest in flashlights from the 1990s (1960s, 1980s and modern as well.)

it seems to be very well built and is more than bright enough for what it is using.

I also used to be a heavy Radio Shack shopper from age 14 (2001) until recently.

Radio Shack started going down in about 2004. That's when they stopped selling ham radio and business band radios and it all went down hill from there. That's also about the time when they started having less and less selection in their stores. Then they've really never been the same ever since bankruptcy.

 

[bykfixer]

Man I used to darken the door of Radio Shack often.

Back before the disposable electronics days they were more than a hang out for the odd ball. At the end of the day their "Realistic" and "Optima" products were pretty good as well.
Then it seems some nit-wit decided to McDonalds-ize the business and move to high rent shopping malls with one every half mile.

At that point it was just a matter of before there weren't enough customers buying RCA cords or cell phones at Radio Shack to keep the business profitable...meanwhile disposable products reduced their core support.

I saw the writing on the wall as every one of their stores in a 25 mile radius of me began going dark. I bought several 'enercell' cords as they had unique features only available at Radio Shack. I also bought a whole bunch of Radio Shack branded alkalines.

Recently I purchased some 05 era lights from a clearance site and was pleased that a couple had a Radio Shack sticker on the back.

I'm intrigued by the topic Radio Shack light and hope to add one (or similar) to my collection of classics.

 

[ericjohn]

Man I used to darken the door of Radio Shack often.

Back before the disposable electronics days they were more than a hang out for the odd ball. At the end of the day their "Realistic" and "Optima" products were pretty good as well.
Then it seems some nit-wit decided to McDonalds-ize the business and move to high rent shopping malls with one every half mile.

At that point it was just a matter of before there weren't enough customers buying RCA cords or cell phones at Radio Shack to keep the business profitable...meanwhile disposable products reduced their core support.

I saw the writing on the wall as every one of their stores in a 25 mile radius of me began going dark. I bought several 'enercell' cords as they had unique features only available at Radio Shack. I also bought a whole bunch of Radio Shack branded alkalines.

Recently I purchased some 05 era lights from a clearance site and was pleased that a couple had a Radio Shack sticker on the back.

I'm intrigued by the topic Radio Shack light and hope to add one (or similar) to my collection of classics.

I had the grey and red 5 D Powerhouse model as a child that my Paw Paw handed down to me, but my mom threw it away for whatever reason. I also had one of the Halloween lights that were given for free and an LED penlight.

I have several other Radio Shack electronics, most are vintage scanners and transistors.

 

[swampgator]

Is it something as simple as taking dial or (slide rule) calipers, measuring the OD of the groove where they fit in tail-cap and finding an O-Ring of that same, but ID, or is it more complicated than that?

Take the light to an Ace Hardware. They sell o-rings. Try various sizes til you find one that fits. Then buy a few extra.