Simplest Mod That Could Be?

[PaulW]

So simple that you might not even call it a mod. All I did was to take out the stock bulb and replace it with a 3-cell Mag bulb. I know, others have done this before, but I couldn’t stop myself from telling you all about it.

The host. Today I drove over to my local Sears store and picked up a Craftsman 4 AA Tool Light (34-93068). I understand that this is like the Dorcy boss. Length 5.0 “ - Diameter 1.9" - Bezel dia. 2.5”- Effective reflector (faceted) dia 1.75” - Body rubber-coated plastic - Spare bulb in cheapie lanyard - LED battery level indicator - Cost $7.99.

The beam. I like this light. It has an oval, almost circular, well-defined hot spot about the same size as the SureFire A2. The light intensity at 1 meter is 2300 lux when the batteries (alkaline) are new. This is about equal to the Surefire A2 and a little less that the E2e when its batteries are fresh. There are minimal artifacts; a white wall is needed to see them.

Run-time.This configuration overdrives the 3-cell bulb considerably, but the bulb seems to be okay (now on the second set of batteries). Initial intensity is almost twice what is put out with 3 C cells. The following is a run-time test I did. The lux levels are relative -- shown in percent of the level from 3 C-cells.

Minutes_Volts___Amps__Lux (%)
___0.5__5.47___1.05___175
___2____5.27___1.03___156
___5____5.03___1.00___137
__10____4.80___0.97___120
__21____4.51___0.94____99
__30____4.37___0.92____88
__40____4.25___0.91____81
__52____4.11___0.90____73
__62____3.99___0.88____66
__71____3.855__0.87____54
__80____3.69___0.85____48
__91____3.35___0.81____35
__97____1.40___0.29_____5 (ambient light - bulb not lit)

Credits. It was reading this thread that prompted me to go to Sears. In it PlayboyJoeShmoe suggested using the 3-cell Mag bulb in a 4AA light such as this. Illuminated posted a picture of the light there.

 

[Lurker]

Yes, this is a great mod. The only drawback is that the bulb life can be pretty short, depending on the particular bulb. I would be interested in finding out which bulbs are the most durable when overdriven like this. I have tried the Rayovac KPR103 bulbs from WalMart, which burned out pretty quickly in my Tec 40 on NiMH batteries. They lasted about 15 minutes. The Radio Shack KPR103 and the Mag 3-cell seem to be a little more robust, but I haven't used them enough yet to be sure how much longer they will last.