Eveready Dolphin Mark 1

With all of the discussion on the Eveready Dolphin lights in the recent thread on the 1AA Energizer Weatheready "Pico" LED, I was very pleasantly surprised to find a 6 Volt Mark 1 Dolphin for $3 at Goodwill!





A lot of people had these back in the late 60's and 70's, often keeping them in their kitchen, garage or basement for use around the house, in their vehicles for emergencies or to take fishing, camping or boating. In the pre-Maglite era, these were a good choice for a rugged, dependable light – much better than the typical 2D plastic flashlights of the day that usually needed to be slapped around to get them to light up.


This one was in real good shape for a 50 year old light, nothing corroded or beat up too bad an the lens only a few small scratches. Since I have moved on from incandescent bulbs, I immediately replaced the bulb with a Rayovac LED drop-in (same or very similar drop-in is offered by Dorcy) – only about 40 lumens but has very good throw with a tight hot spot for distance combined with a large spill beam just bright enough to keep from bumping into things up close and the drop-in will run near forever on a 6 Volt battery. Speaking of which, if you don't want to mess with the 6 Volt batteries, 4D to 6 Volt adapters are available from Dorcy, providing dual fuel capability and if you have AA to D cell adapters you can also use AA's!













The old Mark 1 is of much sturdier build quality than the typical plastic 6V lights of today.....the plastic case is thick and durable, the screw on reflector/lens assembly appears to be decently water resistant and the switch has a nice solid CLICK. The wires that connect the head of the light to the switch do seem a bit vulnerable, so you may need to be careful with them when changing batteries and bulbs.











If you come across a Mark 1 at Goodwill or a yard sale in working order it still can provide many more years of faithful service with a LED drop-in and maybe a 4D to 6 Volt adapter at a modest cost.

Neeeeeeeeeet

Apparently at one time these were known as the "Eveready All American":





Not my pic, found it on line.

Saw another one (plastic clips for the visor instead of metal with a black rubber switch cover) in it's package on a current ebay listing, which I will not link to. On that one it is called the "Eveready Heavy Duty Floating Lantern With Battery" and "Reorder No. 108WB Made in USA"

Awesome! I found three nice ones at thrift stores also. I looked for a long time wanting one for my collection because my Grandfather always had one in his car. All three materialized in a short time and were in great shape,no corrosion. One of the three has metal tabs like the one you posted a picture of from ebay and has the All American name in raised lettering with the Eveready name.

Still solid lights and better than the 6V lantern style lights you find in stores these days. I would advise sticking with the 6V batteries over D cells in an adapter unless you are are using rechargeables or lithium AAs. Since a 6V uses for 4 cells enclosed in a casing I think any leaks are better contained. You can also store the light bezel up to help prevent any leaks from reaching the contacts. Another advantage of 6V lights is that some use F cells giving them better capacity than four D cells. You do have to look since some 6V just use four D cells instead of the F cells.Use of alkaline 6V may undermine any floating ability of the light as they are heavier than the carbon zinc batteries typically paired with the Mk1.

The simple 10MM drop-in should give you outstanding run-time.I think all the 10MM drop-ins are dual polarity so they work fine with lanterns but you won't be able to use most other higher power drop-ins as they are positive polarity and the lantern lights are usually negative unless you modify them. Unfortunately negative polarity drop-ins are hard to find.I have searched for years with only limited success because I don't really want to modify my old lights.

I have seen later model Dolphin style 6V at thrift stores as well (Mk 2 and Mk 5) but their condition was pretty rough and they were certainly never available in the numbers of the original All American. By the way, have I mentioned I really like the Eveready Dolphin.......:laughing:

The "heavy duty" zinc carbon batteries are not bad if you get them at a good price (walmart has or had them for 2 for $5), especially when using one of these LED dropins that don't draw much current - FL-1 run time will be around 120 hrs.

6V alkaline batteries seem to be around $8-$12 when I see them in stores and it's hard to tell if they have F cells inside or D's. Energizer is the only brand I know of that specifies:

http://data.energizer.com/pdfs/529-4f.pdf

http://data.energizer.com/pdfs/529-4d.pdf


still, even the version with D cells should about double the runtime of a heavy duty battery:

http://data.energizer.com/pdfs/1209.pdf

I think the adapters make sense if you are running alkalines, because it is often easier and cheaper to use 4 D's than an alkaline 6V, although I see your point of using the lantern battery if storing them inside the light. Personally I use the 6V to D cell adapters more with Eneloops in 3AA to D adapters.


BTW - yes the typical Rayovac/Dorcy drop-ins are dual polarity they come in 2 cell/3V and 3-4 cell (4.5-6V) varieties, the latter is of course the one to get for one of these 6 Volt lanterns. I find that these rayovac/dorcy LED drop ins focus very well in these old lanterns, often better than the incan bulbs they replaced! And they throw very well with the big reflectors even though they are only about 40 lumens (which is why they run so long and don't over heat despite lack of heat sinking in these lanterns). The 55 lumen Nite Ize drop-ins (also dual polarity) are great for Mags with adjustable focus, but they usually will give poor focus in a fixed focus lantern without some mcGivering.

I didn't realize the 55 lumen Nite-Ize drop ins were dual polarity,that is a good piece of information! You are right on about the focus issues though, it can be tough to get a clean beam with some drop-ins. I really like the Dorcy/Rayovac 10MM drop-ins in incandescent 6V lights as emergency lights for the home. As you pointed out there are multiple battery options and exceptional run time on lantern batteries. With most homes having white ceilings the ceiling bounce method works well for area lighting. They are also cheap and have simple construction so there isn't that much to go wrong plus you can replace the drop-in if it should happen to fail.

I think an old LED upgraded lantern may still have a place for someone on a budget that wants something for extended power outages or maybe for fishing or camping trips or just for projects around the house where a little extra light is needed - they won't impress anyone with sheer lumens, but the throw is usually pretty good the run times are great! Especially considering that a lot of people may already have an old lantern that is kicking around, not being used......a few $ for a LED drop-in and maybe a d cell adapter and/or some 6V lantern batteries might not be a bad investment.

Agreed! I didn't touch on outdoor use but that is quite valid as well. For neutral tint fans like myself who don't like the cool white for outdoor use adding a filter to "warm" up the output works. It should be easy to do on the Mk 1,might be tougher on some other models though. I am seeing some warm 10MM drop-ins now but so far it looks like they are positive polarity.

Another potential advantage with regard to tint with the old Dolphin Mark 1/No. 108 is that the clear lens may take on a very slight brownish tint over the years, as mine has, creating a bit of neutral filter effect.

xxo said:

Another potential advantage with regard to tint with the old Dolphin Mark 1/No. 108 is that the clear lens may take on a very slight brownish tint over the years, as mine has, creating a bit of neutral filter effect.

Click to expand...

I have had this same effect with a Varta 6V light. I am using a CREE based drop-in that is whiter (less blue) than the 10MM and the "tinting" from the age of lens nearly makes it look like a neutral.

An old B&W TV ad staring what looks like a Mark I Dolphin:

Is that relector metal?
Looking for one that is to hotwire

thin metal on mine, but there's a lot of plastic that attaches to it and it's not set up to handle much heat.

I would imagine this light able to handle a more powerful generic PR-bulb style LED drop in and note the local version at Bunnings (marketed locally as Eveready Dolphin) sports quad emitters for a claimed 235Lm, I have one of the earlier versions (NOS) in the shed and would be more agreeable towards the battery caddy over the 6v battery format still available here.