Worth Upgrading Old Streamlights ?
Hi! I'm looking for some input on these old Streamlights. I used to be a dealer so I bought these back in the day and I'm wondering if there's anything I can do that's cost efficient to bring them up to par with my newer lights.
I am a retired cop-type. I only mention that because I have used a few Streamlights in my life. Mainly the SL-20 and SL-35 back in the day. Some of us liked to pop in the SL-35 modul3 in the SL-20 for a brighter light, but it came at the trad off of shorter run time.
As Streamlight Stingers became more common, I eventually had some of those. A "mod" I did back the day was to get a couple of custom battery sticks for the Streamlight Stinger that allowed it to sue the Ultrastinger bulb. Again, more lumens, in a somewhat compact light and shorter run time.
My first couple of excursions into LED lights weren't great, but they were learning experiences! One went into either a Mag-Lite or Kel-Lite. With time, some of the LEDs starting burning out.
Even more recently I bought an LED module for an older Streamlight Stinger incandescent light. It may have been a Terralux. It doesn't have great throw, but for the money it allows me to get some more life out of an old Streamlight Stinger that probably wouldn't get used at all. I also bought a Ni-Mh stick to replace the old, worn out NiCad stick.
Some time back and old friend of mine offered me has old Streamlight Stinger LED. He told me that it would also need a new battery stick. While I wasn't looking for any additional lights, free is free. It, too, now has a brand new NiMh battery stick.
When I look at the cost of the various modifications that can be done with your lights, my personal opinion is that money can be better elsewhere. It took me a while to switch to 18650 batteries and stand alone chargers. Because of my background, I was sort of stuck on lights that charged in a cradle. I do still think they make sense for many/most folks in public safety, however.
To truly and accurately answer your question, however, I would have to know what your newer lights are. Anyway, in my way of thinking, I would put money into keeping these running with good quality batteries, but I probably wouldn't put any money into modifications, unless you just want to do it for the sake of doing it.