Just finished up a tiny 6aa 2D Maglite mod. Wanted to see if there were any other bulbs that were better than the normal KPR118, but were cheaper than maglite's own xenon bulbs. I haven't been able to actually find any for sale, but the phillips HPX60 looks to be about what I'm looking for.
Xenon or Halogen KPR118 Equivalents?
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Halogen bulbs run pretty hot. If you have the stock plastic reflector that may become an issue.
TurkishCoffee
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You could look for vintage PR18s, I have found that the vintage bulbs made in America are actually brighter and better than the crappy made in China bulbs that are carried by most websites for these odd voltages.
alpg88
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Halogen hpr series are one of the best bulbs imo. their filament is straight, it focuses better, an the light is whiter. i used 4 cell bulb in maglites, no heat issues. my guess 4cell halogen bulb did not make more heat than 6cell oem bulb, however focus wise it was not much better than oem white star bulb (which is very good as well). To see the bulbs full potential, it is best to use it in a 6v lantern with big reflector, i use it in Dolphin lantern. The beam is very good with that bulb. better than with krypton or xenon.
Incandescent
Newly Enlightened
There is the HPR51 which is a 5 cell bulb and might be a good choice to overdrive with 6 cells, especially since it's rated at 6.5 volts and is not driven very hard on 5 cells. I've seen these available for reasonable prices even quite recently.
The 6 cell Mag-Num Star II is fantastic, though, so I'd keep an eye out for any good deals on those. I think you can still order them from Mag, but I'm not sure on the pricing on shipping costs. The Mag-Num Star II is what i use in my 3D with 6 Eneloops and it's almost as bright as a Mag Charger.
A lot of the older bulbs, especially xenons, have become very difficult to get a hold of.
If you haven't already, you might want to see if your area has any "mom & pop" type of hardware stores. Sometimes they will still have a rack full of flashlight bulbs and you might be able to score a Mag-Num Star or halogen there for cheaper than online sources.
The 6 cell Mag-Num Star II is fantastic, though, so I'd keep an eye out for any good deals on those. I think you can still order them from Mag, but I'm not sure on the pricing on shipping costs. The Mag-Num Star II is what i use in my 3D with 6 Eneloops and it's almost as bright as a Mag Charger.
A lot of the older bulbs, especially xenons, have become very difficult to get a hold of.
If you haven't already, you might want to see if your area has any "mom & pop" type of hardware stores. Sometimes they will still have a rack full of flashlight bulbs and you might be able to score a Mag-Num Star or halogen there for cheaper than online sources.
Incandescent
Newly Enlightened
6 NiMH are only going to average ~7.5 volts total under load, which is only about 15% more than the rated 6.5 volts of an HPR51. Of course it won't last the full 25 hours, but the lifespan might still be acceptable. Using cells that have been resting for a while rather than freshly charged would also help. I would only go this route if the HPR51 can be found a fair bit cheaper than the Mag-Num Star II though. The 6 cell Mag-Num Star II is truly fantastic and probably even brighter than an overdriven HPR51.
I haven't gotten a chance to try the bi pin 6 cell mag bulb. But the pr based xenon is fantastic as well. I've been running one on two Imr 18650 for over a year and it's still going strong. I can only imagine how good the brighter bipin bulb goes.
I know the 2 cell bi pin in fantastic compared to the white star even with alkaline.
I know the 2 cell bi pin in fantastic compared to the white star even with alkaline.
alpg88
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Maglite bipin bulb is not really brighter, i compared side by side several bulbs, it does not focus better either. it is actually worse, when you drop a mag, it knocks the bulb out of alignment half the times. i have few maglites that are stock, and still use bulbs, but i removed all bipins, and use pr magnum star. the whole reason maglite went for bipins is because it is manufactured in usa, not overseas. not becuse it is an improvement, imo it is actually a step down
alpg88
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i was not talking about shortened lifespan while overdriven. i'm talking about it instaflashing.
Incandescent
Newly Enlightened
I can't make any guarantees without trying it myself, but I don't see why it would instaflash on first use. Back when incan was popular, people would regularly overdrive bulbs to a greater extent and still get through one or two sets of batteries without the bulb flashing. On 5 cells, the HPR51 isn't driven much harder than a 5 cell krypton, and using a 5 cell krypton on 6 cells was a common thing back in the day.
You can actually roughly calculate the burning temperature of an incandescent lamp just by knowing its efficiency. I found an HPR51 rated at 90 lumens and 4.5 watts, giving it 20 lumens per watt, which means it has burning temperature of about 2950K at the rated 6.5 volts. At 7.5 volts, the burning temperature should be somewhere around 3100-3150K, which isn't usually instaflash territory, just reduced lifespan territory. Again though, I still wouldn't go this route unless I could get some HPR51s for cheap. It would be a waste even if they last 5 hours.
Every Mag-num Star II bi-pin I've seen has been Made in Germany, not USA. The only Mag bi-pin I've seen made in USA is the Mag Charger bulb. The bi-pins are great bulbs, but the possibility of being knocked out of alignment is one negative aspect. On the other hand, I've had issues with PR bulbs being difficult or impossible to center perfectly, because there's only so much you can do to move it in the socket, and because the cam system in a Maglite tends to skew the bulb tower a little bit. With a bi-pin, you can always get 100% perfect centering, at least until you drop it and have to do it again. As for brightness, the 6 cell PR Mag-num Star is rated at 129 lumens, compared to 178 for the Mag-num Star II. That's a pretty big difference, but it's also possible that Mag's official ratings are fudged a bit and misleading.
swampgator
Enlightened
Last time I ran an HPR51 on 7.2 it instaflashed. But that was on 2 Li Ions.
In my experience it was too fragile to overdrive.
I wonder if a softer start would help. Some rechargeables are capable of sending so much juice at once it's no wonder 
happens.
happens.
swampgator
Enlightened
FM,
Any plans for another run of G4 to PR sockets?
Sorry, no plan due to lack of interest.
These work fine in M*g "D" size.
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Chicken Drumstick
Flashlight Enthusiast
What is a pr magnum star?
I have a 6D and a 3D that I've adapted to run Eneloop AA. Both are old torches, early 1990s.
The 3D is actually running 7 Eneloop AA's while the 6D is on 6.
I tested the original style 6D bulb on 6 and 7 AA. As well as the new bi-pin with the factory adaptor. The beam profile is different, much tighter focus and more throw with the bi-pin and a lot more output in my testing too. The 7th cell really makes a difference.
Although neither setups are able to match my Magcharger with stock bulb on 6 Eneloops.
But I much prefer the bi-pin beam profile, performance & colour compared to the older kyrpton bulb.
Lumens are "relative lumens" rather than definitive ANSI FL1. But the cd should be pretty close.
I've not messed about with aftermarket bulbs. Not sure if it is worth the effort or not really. But pretty pleased with how they perform. I did try a Philips 5761 bulb in the MagCharger once, but you have to enlarge the reflector (I had a spare). But the beam was more orange than stock, and while the spill might have been brighter it just didn't seem to focus very well and had no throw at all.
Chicken Drumstick
Flashlight Enthusiast
I don't use it loads nor for long runtimes. But the bulb has been in there for about a year so far. They are Eneloops, so 7 x 1.2v rather than 7 x 1.5v. Not sure if this would make a difference or not.
swampgator
Enlightened
Appreciate the response.
