Snakes in a Light!

I was digging through some boxes in our attic, and found one of my old flashlights, an old 2-C cell light, standard, wimpy incandescent bulb, it's old Hannaford store-brand C-cells had leaked, but were able to impart a dim glow to the bulb filament, so it still functioned....

I pulled out the batteries and tossed them, rinsed the battery compartment with vinegar, dried it out, then dropped in a new pair of C cells, and the light returned to life, admittedly a sickly, yellow life.....

So, I popped open the head of the light, and swapped the patheticly weak incan bulb for a MJLED PR bulb, reassembled the light, and threw the switch

....and was treated to an incredibly smooth, wide flood of light, i mean, this light is a really good flooder, we're talking a floor-to-ceiling flood of light, completely unexpected from this old classic light, switching to an LED bulb gave it a new lease on life



I did try a MagLED bulb in it, it worked, marginally, i had to leave the closure nut off the back of the reflector, however, spring pressure held it in the light, the MagLED did put out a nice, bright flood of light.....for about 5 minutes before the protection circuitry ramped down the brightness due to rapid heat buildup, since the reflector is plastic, as is the body of the light, the only "heat sink" per se was the metal contact rim around the back of the reflector, so it was back to the MJLED, it was dimmer, but usable, but more importantly, it runs cooler and longer

So, what was this Classic that has been given a new lease on life?

a classic Black & Decker Snakelight;

shadowbuds said:

Very nice story and I like that cute kitty but I was waiting for a picture of a snake coming out of a old flashlight

​

Click to expand...

+1

The story started off so well...

I was digging through some boxes in our attic, and found one of my old flashlights

Click to expand...

...and this bloody big snake slithered out of me trusty old 4D...etc.


CFU

I also have the Black & Decker rechargeable Snakelight, it came as a kit with a Versa pack cordless screwdriver, It has been sitting around doing nothing in my garage, I have a few of those SMJLED PR2 bulbs in my LED storage bin. It looks like it worth a try.
Well done

This makes me wonder what ever happened to my Snakelight. Hmmm...I may have to do some digging around. :thinking:

I used to have one of those, darned if I could ever find it... making that light a FLOOD light would make it great for what it was DESIGNED for!

Great pics with the cat! I was also expecting something along the lines of a snake in one of your lights :laughing:

My snake light is a Sears 3 D cell light. Will the MJLED handle the voltage okay? I suppose I could put a dummy in for the third cell if I had to.

Nice story and useful looking snakelight. Very handy with a 'third hand' i would say...

I have an orange version of their 2C, and did the same thing with a SMJLED purchased during the Halloween 666 sale.
It becomes a very good long running flood light. Great for power outages, camping.

MacTech said:

So, I popped open the head of the light, and swapped the patheticly weak incan bulb for a MJLED PR bulb, reassembled the light, and threw the switch

....and was treated to an incredibly smooth, wide flood of light, i mean, this light is a really good flooder, we're talking a floor-to-ceiling flood of light, completely unexpected from this old classic light, switching to an LED bulb gave it a new lease on life

Click to expand...

Which MJRLED was that?

MacTech said:

So, what was this Classic that has been given a new lease on life?

a classic Black & Decker Snakelight;

Click to expand...

What a coincidence! I was just thinking to myself, yesterday, if a LED upgrade to the ol' Snake Light would revive it. I've always found it handy, but it's never been very bright, even with fresh C-cells. And batteries don't seem to last in it.

It's whatever version of the MJLED PR that Lighthound sells, i'm also using a pair of Rayovac 2900 mAh NI-MH batteries in it

it does seem to be a pretty poor electrical design internally, i mean, even a simple 2AA Eveready contractor light with a MJLED PR in it is brighter, but then again the Contractor is optomized more along the hotspot/spill line, the Snakelight's a pure flooder, it's multifaceted reflector really throws a wide spread of light....

Hmm.... i wonder.....

what would happen if i tried turning the Snakelight into a flamethrowing 3 CR123a monster, pop in a MagNumStar 6 cell bulb and 3 123a's, could the reflector handle the heat?

Oooh Nooo. Not another disaster movie. And with kute kitties too!

Samuel L. Jackson said:

I have had it with these mother!@#$%^& snakes in this mother*&^%$#@ Light!

Click to expand...

MacTech said:

Hmm.... i wonder.....

what would happen if i tried turning the Snakelight into a flamethrowing 3 CR123a monster, pop in a MagNumStar 6 cell bulb and 3 123a's, could the reflector handle the heat?

Click to expand...

Sounds like something that would melt-down pretty quickly--but what do I know?

6D mag reflectors are plastic... so I guess it just depends on the "quality" of the plastic... I did the 3xCR123 mod to a Colman 2AA light, and it melted the stock reflector TO the bulb. bummer

I gave my original Snake Light away. It never was very bright and it got dim rather quickly. It was also frustrating to set up to point in a specific direction.

Now I have a choice of three headlamps to substitute for the function of the Snake Light. Even with a mod I don't think I'd want to go back to it.

On a whim, i tried the 3 123A cells and a MNS 6-cell bulb in the snakelight.....

*EXTREMELY* dissapointing.....

it was no brighter with 3 123As and the 6 cell bulb than it was with 2 C-cells and the MagLED bulb

so, it's going back to it's original config with the MJLED and being put into storage again, extremely craptacular performance.... :thumbsdow :thumbsdow

Snakes in a Light! This could be the innovative plot to a new movie. Some bad guys try to kill a witness to a murder, so the witness can't testify. To do this, give him a flashlight with a snake in it! The movie could even star Samuel L. Jackson!

Okay, since I don't have much to add to the thread, carry on.

I hate to bump a 3 year old thread, but, this really interested me, both in that I, too, was expecting a snake to jump out of the handle of the flashlight - it would have done it to me, anyways - and, I'm interested in giving my old snakelight a bit of a resurrection.
I'm curious as to exactly what LED bulb he used, where I could get one (or more), and if there would be a newer, better technology to use for this application now?
Yeah, the snakelight's hardly a worthwhile body for upgrading, and the cost probably won't justify the end, but then how can you put a price on sentimental reasons?
And those lovely times late at night at the lake....:naughty:

MacTech said:

So, I popped open the head of the light, and swapped the patheticly weak incan bulb for a MJLED PR bulb, reassembled the light, and threw the switch

....and was treated to an incredibly smooth, wide flood of light, i mean, this light is a really good flooder, we're talking a floor-to-ceiling flood of light, completely unexpected from this old classic light, switching to an LED bulb gave it a new lease on life

Click to expand...

MJLED bulb
http://theledguy.chainreactionweb.com/product_info.php?cPath=48_52_82&products_id=853

complete list of all LED PR flange drop-in bulbs
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/178595

Other than the MJLED most of the other bulbs do not focus well in fixed focus flashlights.
The Tectites focus well but are ringy due to the use of side emitter LEDs.
The Terralux TLE-1F depends on the actual flashlight.
The Dorcy should focus well but I can't get one to try.
The Superbrightleds PR2-W1-WVR uses the front of the LED to focus most of the light. I smoothed out the rings caused by the improperly located LED die by frosting the sides (NOT THE TOP) of the LED with some sandpaper. At $4.95 each they are probably the most cost effective. There is a $25 minimum for customers outside the US. It is the bulb that replaced the head of the Dorcy AAA in my avatar.