First post; Mag 6-cell

Hi everyone, my name is Phill and I'm retired living in the state of Washington. I just found this forum , and since I have a "light fetish" (my wife says), I figured this would be the perfect place for me, lol.
I'm interested in making a super bright flashlight. I've got huge a spotlight with twin 55w halogen bulbs, which is fun to play with and use in emergencies, but I'd like to make a smaller one for camping or whatever. I have never tried to modify a flashlight so this will be all new to me. I have an old 6 cell mag light a friend of mine threw away because it would work anymore. I took it apart and cleaned it up and it works just fine, with an adjustable focus beam. what I'd like to do is make it the brightest I can especially to reach long distances.
Some day, I'd like to build a flashlight that will be so bright, I could start paper on fire in an emergency situation. Just another toy, lol.....
I will be searching the threads here for a while looking for instructions on how to modify this old 6 cell mag light.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Phill

:welcome:

Hello there and :welcome:

There are a few upgrades for the 6 D cell mag, but it all depends on what you're budget is. If you are looking for serious performance from your 6 D mag, and can afford it, a popular and simple mod is known as the "ROP" (roar of the pelican") and is one of the simplest and most cost effective maglite mods. Typically it is done using a normal 2D cell maglite, with a 6AA to 2D cell battery carrier, a glass lens, metal reflector, and a pelican big spotlight lamp Assembly. However, one can do this same modification with a 6D cell mag, only difference is you will need 6 NIMH D cell batteries (alkalines won't work) and a decent charger for them. Let us know you're budget is, and if funds allow, I can point out some links for the parts you will need. If against forum rules, I'm PM them to ya.

Thank you Ganymede

That would be great ebow86. Budget is not the best but I can save up! "Serious performance" is my main goal. I want something that everyone else will be envious of, plus, when winter gets here, this "old man" is the one that goes out and checks on the others living on the cul-de-sac. The links would be awesome, because I would probably just buy a couple of parts at a time, depending on our bills. Being a disabled vet, retired and on a fixed income doesn't allow much extra spending, lol.....
I havn't PM'ed anyone here yet, but will try to send one to you with my email address.
Thanks again,
Phill

I'll second the ROP as a good option...figure on $20-25 for lens and reflector, $35-45 for batteries & charger if you're willing to go with NiCd (not a bad choice for cold conditions, just require a little care), and bulbs coming at $10 for a set of high (~800 lumens) and low (~350 lumens). In the meantime, overdriving a more conventional bulb (like running a 5-cell bulb on 6 cells) will give some cheap thrills. Also a good upgrade path to the ROP, just add one piece at a time (the ROP bulbs last).

The ROP high bulb is limited to ~10 minutes continuous runtime before you start melting things (either the bulb's base or the switch assembly).

I'll leave LED alternatives to the others.

Thanks Notrefined. Sounds like another project will be taking place.....

do simple mr16 mod, no aluminium reflector to buy, or worry about melting things, (search mr16 modes here, you'll find many results) in 6d you can stuff 5 26650 li ion cells, bulbs are cheap and come in wide range of wattage, from 20 to 75, and diffrent angles, the best results i got using osram bulbs, narrow spot, 20W bulb wil have about 1.5 hours of runtime, 50w little less than half as much, just get bulbs with 3000hours lifetime or more, theose you can overdrive the hell out of.
the most expensive parts are batteries, 11bucks a piece, from battery space, also you can't charge lion cells in series with no ballance circuit, charger for 5s about 25-30, to charge all at once you'll need a cradle (5 single cell D holders, streched, 1 4cell and 1 single cell wired in series, those are sold in radoshack) and a ballance circuit about $12, i realize it is not as simple proces of charging as with li ions, but advantages they give you outweigh this drawback, plus with 95% certanty i can tell you once you fire up first bright flashlight, you wont stop at that, plus you can charge 18650's too in set up like that. it will come in handy in the future.

but if you insist on not using li ions, there are adapters for 18AA that fits into 6d light, you'll get ease of charging, and the same voltage as with 5 li ions, but around half the capacity

Can anyone point out a decent metal reflector for using in a ROP mod? I know kaidomain sells them, but I'm having a bit of trouble finding the correct one. Links to both a smooth reflector and a LOP or MOP would be great.

no link on hand, but fivemega had some reflectors for sale in the custom b/s/t forum