Modified mini-lantern

Hello everyone,

Well, i am now catching on to you guys and am trying to mod lights. I purchased 3 different lights from my local .99cent store. 1 light was a mini-m@g knock off, 1 was a pocket led light in blue and last was a mini-lantern.

Well the mini-lantern was taken apart and i replaced the bulb with a 3d m@g light bulb and it is much brighter. My question is, that the mini-lantern takes 4 AA's and i want to know is it safe to run the 3d M@g light bulb with the 4 AA's?

What say you guys?

Here is a pic of the mini-lantern:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v424/bestcounsel/scan0011.jpg

I will try to post a pic of a night shot of the mini-lantern. I hope it is safe for i really like the way this lantern is coming out...

Anybody??

people overdrive bulbs all the time.... the main problem is melting plastic/starting fires and if you run it for a few mins and feel the plastic parts around the bulb if they are getting *soft* to the point of melting you got a problem.. otherwise the worst that could happen is a burned out bulb.

would 4AA's be overdriving a 3D M@g bulb?

yea, a 3D mag bulb is rated at probably 3.6v where 4AA bulbs are rated for 4.8v and alkalines put out 6.0v when new so you could be overdriving as much as 2.4v. It will either hold and be rather bright and decrease the bulb life some... or go out in a bright flash quickly. I don't do much overdriving so I really don't know everything about it. I just went out and purchased a higher Amperage rated 4.8v bulb for my arcwhite and another light that uses 4AA cells.. they came with .5A bulbs and I put .75A bulbs in and they are noticeably brighter. They make xenon PR2 bulbs that are probably even brighter for 4cell lights.

I thought i might be overdriving the bulb. Which bulbs do you suggest that may fit and be able to take the 6 volts coming from the 4AA's

I am guessing it takes a pr based bulb, just find a bulb with a similar base rated at 4.8v and .7A or greater and that will make it brighter at expense of runtime, otherwise you could try putting resistored LEDs in it somehow instead.

The bulb it came with is a 4.8volt 0.5A lamp. I look around and see what up, thank lynx

Ok, i found Rayovac 4AA bulbs at walmart for 1.50. They are 4.75V/.5A.

Mini-Lantern has a much better spot light now and is a lot more bright.

Total Cost:

Mini-lanter .99
Rayovac bulbs (2) 1.50
Total: $2.49 for good, basic, tent, emergency mini lantern.

I know it is basic for you flashlight experts, but it is my first somewhat sissy mod.

You could also have used a 4D bulb although run time would suffer it would probably be noticeably brighter.. krypton
.7A like what I put in my arcwhite and dorcy Boss clone light. Now if you start playing a lot with lights you better quickly save up for a recharger and nimh to get a head start on using lots of batteries.

As for first mod... we all start somewhere and work up. I am still shaking my head at some of the outrageous stuff I see here in all but amazement, I have done sissy mods in the past including taking apart a chapstick container with a red cap and putting a bulb in it.

Hey Junior,

You can go to RadioShack's website just to get the specifics for different bulbs. Great for research for your hotwire needs. I too am a newbie to mods. [limited budget at that.]

Good luck. Here's a few bulb specs to get you started.


Danno

Thank's danielo,

You think you are on a tight budget, at this current time, all i can afford to mod are .99cent lights!

Its cool, i started a business, now i have to pay the price!

Hey lynx, i just tried to modify one of my mini-mags...i bought a 5mm led bulb from radio shack and put it in directly.

I think i burned the light out, for it now doesnt work.

I paid 5.00 dollars for the led and 6.00 for my Dorcy1AAA, go figure.....

I saw the mag bulbs but each bulb was 3.00 dollars. The rayovacs were 1.50 for 2. The light will be used for tent and tailgate camping only so it will do.

Thanks for all the info...

I would skip buying white LEDs from radio shack as they are probably lousy and lousily priced. If you can order them and only need a few try lsdiodes.com or there are other places that will sell you a few with cheap shipping. As for burning them up if you don't get proper polarity on LEDs they wont work and you could possibly toast them, but 3v shouldn't zap them.

One thing I did cheaply for tailgate camping was I broke a bulb that fit in a dome light and soldered wires to it and ran wires to a switchbox with smaller 12v bulbs in it for lighting, thus tapping off a huge battery.

You should search around on the forums as lots of cheap mods out there. I have several dollar store lights myself and find it is cheaper to pull LEDs out of them instead of paying through the nose elsewhere. 3.00 for a bulb is a bit high... they may have them cheaper at a home depot or lowes if you have on near there.

Hey lynx,
I recently bought 2 .99cent lights and one was an led pocket light. I pulled the led light out and put it in the other light which was a mini- m@g knock off. I was able to stuff the 2AA batteries and one button cell to power the led in the mini-m@g knock off. Bright, but not as bright as my Dorcy1AAA. Also, i could not get the light to turn off. Also, the led was blue.