First of all, let me thank our member "Black Bear 84", for his help in this project. Juan (as is the real name of BB84) is an expert in customizing flashlights, and especially Maglites. Without his help, this conversion wouldn't have been possible. I didn't even know it could be done!
About 20 years ago, during a visit to Lowell MA, I had visited a small, friendly gunshop, which was within walking distance from the hotel I was staying at. One of the items I got from that shop, was a two-D-cell Maglite. At that time, the Maglite was considered a "state of the art" light, but obviously technological developments have made it a "me too" these days.
The old light was always resting on a shelf, next to my desk, in a place I could easily find, in case of a black out or other emergency. The role of "tactical light" (as if I do tactical work, LoL) was assigned some years ago, to a Surefire 6Z. The pathetic output of the Maglite didn't inspire enough confidence for any other role.
Juan enters the picture and he convinced me that he could turn my old Maglite into something useful. I accepted and very soon, Juan send me a small package, with everything needed to upgrade the Maglite to a serious light. Here are the essential parts:
The basic parts which are required for this conversion are shown in the picture above, with the exception of the lamp. These parts are:
- Two battery holders, which accept three AA size batteries and are of D-cell size.
- Six NiMH AA rechargeable batteries, 1.5 Volts each.
- A Maglite 5 D-cell or 6 D-cell lamp or a Xenon Magnum Star lamp.
Juan was kind enough to also send me some other parts, like a new switch, spare reflectors (read more below), tail cap springs, head glasses etc, just in case my old light was in bad shape. Fortunatelly, all those parts, in my light, were in top shape, even though the light is 20 years old. Juan also included the tail cap spacer, which ensures that the rear-most battery holder makes solid contact with the tail cap spring of the light.
Now, each one of the AA NiMH batteries are 1.5 Volts, which means that the total voltage of this setup is 9 Volts, exactly the same as the voltage of 6 Alkaline D-cells. Get it? You use the lamp from a 5 or 6 D-cell light, using two battery holders and 6 AA batteries! Neat or what?
Want to see the results of this conversion? OK, here we go. All pictures were taken under the same conditions with the camera set at an aperture opening of f/3.5 and a shutter speed of 1/30 sec.
First picture is with the unaltered Maglite with fresh batteries.
The second picture was taken with the upgraded Maglite, with the Xenon lamp.
The zooming of the head cap was adjusted at the same exact spot, i.e. to give the tightest possible beam.
And the third picture is with the Surfire 6Z.
As you can see from the pictures, the upgraded light has significantly more output than the original one. Its beam is comparable with that of the Surefire in diameter, and appears to be a little less bright. However this is due more to the focusing characteristics of the reflector, than anything else.
I did some long range tests (by aiming the lights at some buildings around my house), and noticed that under certain circumstances, the Maglite offers some advantages compared to the more powerful 6Z. For example, if you want to light an object at a certain distance, let's say 100 meters, but between you and that object, on your left and on your right, there are a couple of buildings, the beam of the 6Z being uniform and non-focusable, is thrown around on the buildings, with not enough light reaching the distant object you are trying to light. Additionally, the beam reflection from the beam is enough to reduce your vision. With the Maglite, you can focus the beam in a very tight one, thus throwing all the available light, on the distant object you want to light, without any side effects. In these situations, the Maglite is much more useful than the Surefire.
I have to clarify one more thing. The NiMH batteries used in this test, have not been recharged by me. In other words, they had been recharged by Juan, about one month ago, when he shipped those items to Hawkmoon, who then forwarded them to me. I imagine that if I recharge them now, the output would be slightly better.
I do not know the exact cost of the items above (two battery holders, six AA NiMH batteries and the lamp), but I do not think they are expesive. Juan can give you some idea about that. Keep in mind, that if you want to do the same modification to your light, you will also need a battery charger for the batteries, which costs about 40 Euros here (about 50 US$), but this cost is a once-off, so it doesn't count in the upgrade.
Overall, I am pretty satisfied with my revived Maglite. Plenty of output, enough to compare it with the 6Z. Loosing the battle in close-up situations, but winning hands-down in longer distances, due to the focusable beam.
Thanks Juan, I appreciate it.
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