how to improve a 6V lantern?

I have a generic 6 volt lantern (spotlight) Ozark, I think? What would be the best led replacement bulb I can use that would be a good compromise between runtime and brightness? I would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks!

Correction... it's a Dorcy 6V spot. Hope someone will answer.

I carry them in vehicles. I don't put LED drop-ins in them. PR based ones wouldn't heatsink very well anyways, since it's a big plastic light.

I replace the stock bulbs with Maglite 4D/C Magnumstar xenon bulbs and buy the alkaline lantern batteries instead of the "heavy duty" ones. I try to make sure I get the ones that have the F cells in them as well like the Energizer ones.

Those two things make lantern lights much better. I have one I bought at walmart, I think an ozark with the stock bulb and crappy heavy duty battery. Puts out an orange pinhole of light with little sidespill, I don't really like it.

+1 on the Magstar Xenon.

Or a SKPR823, if you can find one.

You can also use a 6V SLA battery, which allows you to use a HPR71 (6v, 10w, 210 lumens, which is exactly the configuration of the Eveready Dolphin Rechargeable.

Or the SLA with a 3854L (RoP low) (6v, 11w, 290 lumens)

Or what I call the "Roar of the Dolphin", which is the RoP low powered by 8.4v worth of NiCads stuffed into a 509 shell.

That, IMHO, is about the limit with the plastic lens and reflector, and especially the bulbholder.

But if you want to stick with the standard zinc-carbon battery (and why not, they are superb pieces of kit these days), you can go with a Philips HPR53 which will give you well over 100 lumens.

A simple upgrade is the Craftsman LED upgrade...the power range on them makes the usable in most old krypton bulb flashlights...nothin' fancy, but they're easy to get and will give you around 50 lumens of white light as opposed to the typical yellow of krypton bulbs. I use these in my craftsman lantern and my old GI Crook-necks.

ampdude & lctorana, how much runtime should I expect by using the magstar xeon?

lctorana, where do I find the different bulbs you're referring to?

angelofwar, is the craftsman led rated for 6 volts?

thanks, guys!

The Craftsman LED ($14.99) is variable (1.5V to 14.5v?), so it will replace just about any krypton bulb, and will work inpalceo f the MAG LED's for your Maglites as well...just not as powerful...

angelofwar said:

The Craftsman LED ($14.99) is variable (1.5V to 14.5v?), so it will replace just about any krypton bulb, and will work inpalceo f the MAG LED's for your Maglites as well...just not as powerful...

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... although it's not quite as powerful, I assume it would run a looooong time... right? Thanks, angelofwar

+1 for 4 cell magnum star...

I got a 6v lantern with a 4 cell magnum star.... it ownes my 6 cell maglite with a magnum star...

thanks, fire-stick, for jumping in and for the information. sounds good.

angelofwar said:

A simple upgrade is the Craftsman LED upgrade...the power range on them makes the usable in most old krypton bulb flashlights...nothin' fancy, but they're easy to get and will give you around 50 lumens of white light as opposed to the typical yellow of krypton bulbs. I use these in my craftsman lantern and my old GI Crook-necks.

Click to expand...

angelofwar,
Be careful what you call "white" light ;P

roymail,
I have not done a runtime test, but we're talking about a long time of light, many hours. Look at the runtime specs of the 4D incan flashlights like Maglite on their website. The F cells in the alkaline lantern batteries will last even longer.

Once you get up to that much runtime, for me it is not really a concern anymore unless I'm looking for a caving light or longtime survival light that will run for days on end.

lctorana,
The carbon zinc cells are not as robust as the alkalines and a poor chemistry for flashlights. Even poorer than alkaline.

fire-stick said:

+1 for 4 cell magnum star...

I got a 6v lantern with a 4 cell magnum star.... it ownes my 6 cell maglite with a magnum star...

Click to expand...

My favorite lantern lights to date are some Energizer Industrial ones I picked up at Big Lots a long time ago. Throws like a spotlight and still has a decent sized hotspot.

The Sears LED upgrade will not work in a lantern, most lanterns that use the big blocky 6V batteries are actually reverse polarity, reversed polarity+standard PR LED upgrade=dead upgrade bulb

Unless Sears has changed the setup of that bulb to handle reverse polarity, it's not worth the risk, incans don't care about polarity as it's nothing more than a glowing wire

I am currently running the Sears LED upgrade in a DORCY 6Volt lantern, and it works just fine.

BillC said:

I am currently running the Sears LED upgrade in a DORCY 6Volt lantern, and it works just fine.

Click to expand...

I'm also using the Craftsman LED in my 6V lantern, and haven't had any problems...

today i replaced stock bulb for 3854l, i also opened up 6v lantern battery, removed 4f cells and put 6 sub c nicd 2.4ah in there (had them laying around), will see how it goes, if i like it, i'll buy 12 nimh sub c 4-5ah, and build high cap battery,
so far it is a lot better than stock, i have not ran it long enough to see how it holds up to heat, hopefully it will be fine, don't feel like ruining a light that you can't find in us, thanks to norm for sending me one.