a Simple flashlight conversion.

Katherine Alicia

Enlightened
Joined
May 15, 2020
Messages
836
Location
Central UK.
This isn`t really intended for the established flashlight modder, but I get asked quite a bit about converting old incan lights into something more "Modern" namely Li-Ion and LED usage.
So I`m sharing a simple method that I use with ordinary easy to find bits and require some soldering experience.

The bulbs for most retro lights will either be an E10 MES, or a PR13.5, there`s plenty of different LED dropins for those, you can even use maglite LED dropins for the PR type socket, personally I prefer multi-emitter dropins for these lights, you get more light with less heat (losing heat is big problem with these lights).for the battery you have to do a bit of DIY, it`ll involve cutting a suitable cardboard tube to fit either a protected 18650 or 21700 (you must use protected cells!), and then a way to make a spacer so it`s long enough to connect at both ends. I use brass PCB standoffs with a penny soldered to each end (you can adjust the length then). OR, you can buy some AAA to C cell adaptors and fill them with 10440`s it`s expensive this way and takes a while comes charging time because you`ll have 8 of them to do! plus they`re not protected (I don`t recommend this method but I have done it).
I`ll put up a picture link to show what I mean ;)

this is a 2xC cell light from the 60`s with an assortment of different LED dropin types.

retro-convert.jpg



There Are other ways to do this but propper adaptors for 18650/21700 to 2xC or 2xD are hard to find or often expensive, and not everyone has a 3D printer.

Hopfully this may help someone out in the future! :cool:
 

Tasky

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jan 20, 2021
Messages
73
Location
UK
Interesting read, Katherine.
I don't mod myself (yet?), but I'll certainly bear this in mind, as I'm fairly likely to meet someone who wants to convert a WW2 lamp, or something.
 

DrafterDan

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 28, 2013
Messages
1,317
Location
Phoenix, AZ
Cool stuff. I have one of the Desert Storm era plastic 90° military torches. Huge for the amount of light they put out. Been wanting to do an upgrade to modernize it. More for using Lithium than anything. Not a fan of alkaline
 

xxo

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 30, 2015
Messages
2,993
Nice work Katherine Alicia.

Before I started 3D printing them, I used to make adapters out of everything from PVC pipe to cardboard and electrical tape – crude and ugly, but they did the job (for the most part).

One of the problems I often ran into was the tail cap spring coil on C and D cell lights being too big to make contact with the smaller Li-ion cells, usually 26650 cells will work in D cell lights and 21700's in C cells. If I wanted to use 18650's, I would usually design the adapter to load the cell from the front and use a washer on the base to make contact with the spring.

Oh, and + one on using protected cells!
 

xxo

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 30, 2015
Messages
2,993
Cool stuff. I have one of the Desert Storm era plastic 90° military torches. Huge for the amount of light they put out. Been wanting to do an upgrade to modernize it. More for using Lithium than anything. Not a fan of alkaline

Some of my first attempts at 3D printing adapters for my Nite-Ized Fulton moonbeam:


cO9yzel.jpg




I even made one to run on 9 Volts:


2HLFXwR.jpg
 

xxo

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 30, 2015
Messages
2,993
I`m lovin that 9v adaptor! no idea what I`d use it for but it`s seriously cool :thumbsup:

It's really not all that practical, unless maybe you had a bunch of 9 V batteries to use up. It's kind of a rough prototype that I made just to see if I could after watching a cool vid on yt where a guy made a much nicer one of his own design out of machined PVC:







if I ever 3D print another one, it will be more refined, but the fact is I don't have much need for one as I don't use a lot of 9 Volt batteries and I am afraid someone might try to use it in a 2D light that can't handle 9V and blow the bulb or LED.
 

bykfixer

Flashaholic
Joined
Aug 9, 2015
Messages
20,351
Location
Dust in the Wind
I use LifePo4 solar lamp 18500's in 2C lights with schedule 80 pvc pipe in 75mm (3/4") inner diameter. The LifoPo charge up to 3.7 but after resting overnight end up around 3.2 volts. The pipe I use is called "gas service" pipe and comes in 3 foot lengths of black pipe for a dollar a foot at Home Depot. Lowes has 4 foot sections for about a buck 25 a foot.

I've not done any vintage lights to LED conversions but like KA said you can get all kinds of "bulbs" these days.

EC4-CD893-C147-4-CE6-A731-A0-E2-B3-BF8007.jpg

A 1940's nickel plated HIPCO with boat switch that puts out about 150 lumens with a 4 cell Maglite krypton bulb.
Everything about the light is metal and I swapped the plastic lens with a 1-9/16" Rayovac flat glass lens from the 1930's (model F 4-10)
 
Last edited:

Katherine Alicia

Enlightened
Joined
May 15, 2020
Messages
836
Location
Central UK.
Neat, I never thought of using 18500s like that, I normally stick those in lights that use the 3xAAA caddys, I might have a play around afterwards, I`m pretty sure I have some 8 and 9v bulbs (I don`t have any FePO types).
 

bykfixer

Flashaholic
Joined
Aug 9, 2015
Messages
20,351
Location
Dust in the Wind
Over on this side of the big pond it has become popular to decorate the yard with an array of solar powered items like frogs and dragonflies near a garden or a line of lights along a walkway. There are a number of kits that are strung together and use an 18500 battery to power all 6 or so items instead of one L91 size in each item. Duracell got in on the idea and began selling 4 packs of 18500 cells for about $2 (US) each.

I had bought some other brand numbers prior to that from a battery store to fire a 4 cell bi-pin bulb in a Maglite ML25. Duracell may sell them on your side of the big pond too.
 
Last edited:
Top