which bulb should I use? 3 cell or 4 cell Xenon?

I wanted to replace a bulb in a old Wilcox lam unit. Would like to use the best available option at Home Depot

In the manual it says to use a 6 volt lithium battery pack (CR-P2).

The bulb replacement is supposed to be a 5 volt quart halogen bulb.

Somewhere down the line the bulb was replaced with a Mag 3 cell bulb.

Should I replace the bulb with a 3 cell (4.5V) or 4 cell (6V) mag lite Xenon bulb?

The manual says 6 volt battery pack and a 5 volt halogen bulb. Should I play it safe, I'm not trying it out until I find out more

Is the Xenon bulb brighter or better than a halogen bulb?

Thanks

Chris

A 6volt power plant usually matches with a 4 cell bulb.

When using stock alkaline D-Cells they are 1.5 volts a piece. 4 cells equate to 6 volts.

Meanwhile, primary batteries actually sag under load to less then rated voltage, so a 4-cell bulb is actually rated for 4.8 - 5.2 volts to compensate.
So yeah, a 5volt bulb to a 6volt battery is generally the way it works.

Sounds like your manual is asking for an HPR50 bulb.

I havent' compared the Halogen to the Xenon. I've just been using the Halogen cause they are easier for me to get.

Try an HPR44 if you you want more output, if you can get one, and think your light can take a bit more heat.

I ended up using the 3 cell Xenon bulb. After a few uses it did something weird. I turned on the flashlight and it dimmed immediately. I then used another bulb and it seemed to burn out. A quick flash and then death. I pulled out the bulb and sure enough dead. It also seemed to kill the battery. Although it shows 5.38 volts around tere it's not turning on the other bulb. The bulb is supposed to be rated 5 volt and a 6 volt battery. And the 3 cell Xenon is 4.5 volts.

Is not too uncommon with mag lite bulbs? or once in great while it happens? I'm thinking of trying out a 3 cell led bulb. I don't think heat will be an issue but I just don't want to burn out a more $$$ led bulb.

any thoughts? thanks

Chris

The 3 cell xenon is actually 3.6 volts and doesnt like to be overdriven like the krypton ones

Thanks for the info

One last thing, the battery I used seemed to die out when the bulb died. It was weird becaues the bulb barely lit and then faded out. Did that a few times and then I put in a newer battery and quick burst of light before dying.

I checked the voltage of the bad battery and it's 5.27V. While the good battery seems to be at 5.88V. Is the 5.27V just too low to support even a 3 cell Krypton bulb?

I need to replace the Krypton bulb because the bulb diameter is too large. Although Conte mentioned HPR44 and HPR50 I was thnking maybe I should go with a LED. What would be a comparable LED in terms of lumens and voltage? The Wilcox lam is late 90s tech and the halogen is nice but I'm sure LEDs are brighter with less heat? What do you think a 5 volt halogen bulb gives off in lumens? I want something same or better than what the Wilcox had I also don't want to burn out a 3 cell LED, would a 4 cell LED work? Would it be dimmer than a 5 volt halogen?

thanks again

Are these fresh batteries ? Are you sure they aren't dead, that's what it sounds like to me.

I just looked them up online. They are rated for 1400mah.
That'll give you about an hour and a half of light out of the Halogen bulb they are rated for.

Bulbs don't fail in the way you are describing, batteries do.

Your voltage readings dont' mean much. A battery can read full when not in use. Hence why you get bursts of light when you first turn it on. But when a load is applied to the battery, then the voltage drops to nothing.

That battery almost looks like its one of those packs that are made of up a pair of CR123's. I'd take your battery to whatever store you buy batterys from and compare it to CR123's. Eyeball it, see if it looks like a pair of CR123's would fit into your battery casing.

If so, you could probably easily mod your light to take 123's then that would open up more possibilities for you. Like getting some 3v rechargeable 123's that will more that easily run a mag xenon bulb.
Or even full out 3.7v rechargeables, then you can go up to a 5cell xenon and gain a few lumens.

As for led, you CAN get PR based drops ins, but, they aren't going to kick as hard as a good incan in the size range. You'd have to do some physical mods to rig a high output LED in that unit I think.

I would recommend sizing up some CR123s in your unit, if you can make it work, they you have some more options.