Please Help with my PT-40's!!

Please Help with my PT-40\'s!!

Okay, I went overboard and bought a few too many PT-40's, one for me, the wife, one for my fishing boat, both vehicles...hey, they were only 11.00 a light, couldn't resist. Any easy, simple mods to a PT-40 you guys can help me out on???? Is there an easy way to make it a little brighter? I have extra 2-D, 3-D, and 4-D mag lite bulbs if that helps....thanks in advance for the help!

Re: Please Help with my PT-40\'s!!

Put in one of those 3D MagLite bulbs and power it with rechargable AAs. It should make it brighter than the stock setup and with rechargables, it will be cheaper to use in the long run.

*edit* Some people have had problems getting PT40s to run with rechargables. The way the electrical contact at the bottom of the barrel is designed might cause problems. I think people have used some aluminum foil at the bottom to fix this.

Re: Please Help with my PT-40\'s!!

I tried a 3D mag bulb in my PT40 last night. It's definitely brighter, but I'm not sure about how long the bulb will last. It also gets quite a bit warmer, making me concerned about it melting the reflector. I've gone back to the halogen bulb.

Re: Please Help with my PT-40\'s!!

the 3D mag bulbs can make it brighter, but alot of people also just use KRP103 bulbs for more brightness. I would suggest sticking with alkalines if you go this route(overdriving a bulb ex. mag 3D, KRP103). Or just keep the stock bulb and use lithium AA's(can be had for $2.00 a piece online). The lithium/stock bulb is the route I would take if I were you for glove compartment lights, of course for reasons such as better cold weather performance, longer shelf life, longer/more consistent and slightly brighter runtime, and lighter weight.

stock= pretty bright
stock bulb/lithiums=brighter
3.6V bulb(KRP103/mag3D)/alkalines=even brighter
3.6v bulb/lithiums=brightest but bulb won't last long if it even survives the first activation

Re: Please Help with my PT-40\'s!!

i tend toward giving up a little brightness for more reliability.

if you can find them, an XPR113 is a very bright and reliable bulb in the tec40. i run lithiums and xpr113 in our glovebox tec40s.

Bob

Re: Please Help with my PT-40\'s!!

Thank-you guys for the info!

I'll probably go the lithiums route first since I'm a newbie at mods, and frankly, I'm kind of intimidated about messing with bulbs....too many horror stories of breakage i guess....any tips?

Re: Please Help with my PT-40\'s!!

Find M*g Xenon Star bulbs and get a 4 cell or several. NOT the bulb with a magnifying end!!! It is a small glass bulb.

It makes the TEC 40 have a somewhat tighter and therefore whiter and brighter.

Or get some heavy duty aluminum foil, make a rectangle that will sit down in the TEC 40, use NimH rechargable batteries and a 3 cell or KPR103 bulb.

It has a much cleaner beam using the Xenon Star/alkaline over the NimH/103 setup.

Re: Please Help with my PT-40\'s!!

I made an LED bulb for my PT40 with a white side emitter Luxeon and it's REALLY nice. Went the cheap and dirty route with resistors, but now I'm thinking I'd like to try and do it right with some kind of regulation...

Aloha, iG