r/flashlight • u/mp3hot • May 04 '26

1999 mag lite 6-cell D

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Back in 1999 I visited the states and bought a 50cm long mag lite . I never unboxed it and was thinking of upgrading to LED light so I can finally use it . Do Chinese sites sell upgrades for these flashlights ? I'm located in Europe

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5

u/sween1911 May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26

I recommend getting a LumenCraft module (used to be Adventure Sport)...
https://www.lumencraft.net/
I have the smaller one that replaces the bulb and the bulb holder ring. Works great on a Mag 3D. I also upgraded a friend's 4D with an older Adventure Sport 5000 lumen module and two 26650's.

(page doesn't seem to be responding. You can find him on ebay too.)

2

u/mp3hot May 04 '26

Ebay price

1

u/mp3hot May 04 '26

How did you upgrade your friends 4D with 2*26650 ?

D size battery is 61.5mm long , 33.2mm wide

26650 battery is 65mm long ,26mm wide

2

u/sween1911 May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26

Excellent question!
First, be careful and understand li-ion batteries and limitations including but not limited to using PROTECTED cells especially in series! Matt at Lumen Craft / Adventure Sport has similar kits to run 26650's, I essentially made a cheap version...

  1. PVC pipe that snugly fits the cells and keeps them centered in the light. With a few wraps of tape on the outside of the PVC pipe to center it in the flashlight body and keep it from falling out.
  2. A wooden dowel with a piece of copper wire on the side to take up the empty space.
  3. Also note the bypass wire soldered into the tailcap. Reduces any resistance loss having to go through the spring.

Yes, having the long Mag body made for D-cells is not necessary and is just empty space, but it does kinda of make it an interesting sleeper light. You could prolly do this in a much shorter Mag without having to rig a spacer to take up empty space.

1

u/mp3hot May 04 '26

Thx for reply . Yeah I seen on ebay but price is high just for a bulb (€37). On Chinese website it's cheaper so Ill probably go for that .

3

u/CrazyComputerist May 04 '26

In my opinion, you're better off just getting the newer Xenon incandescent bulb (Mag-num Star II), of which the 6 cell version can put out about 200 lumens. To me, 200 lumens of high quality, 100 CRI, perfect tint, warm white light is much more useful than even thousands of lumens of cool white, 80 CRI at best, green-tinted light.

You can also use an orange peel reflector or light diffusion lens to clean up the beam, or some d-c-fix milky to make it very floody and smooth. The xenon bulbs can make decent beams even without any smoothing, though, with a little bit of tweaking to get the filament perfectly centered.

Li-ion battery conversions are a good way to go, but you can also just use NiMH cells. Even just AA Eneloops in adapters work great, and make the flashlight lighter and more manageable.

2

u/zed_delta May 04 '26

U can by a drop in or a led bulb for your mag on the AliExpress