100 dollar flashlight for 10 dollars?

I made a variation using the same bulb but getting my 9 volts from 6 AA cells in a Radio Shack battery carrier instead of 3 lithium cells.

9 volts is 9 volts wherever you get it, and it will eat a 6 volt light, even a Surefire. This is well worth doing if only for a bit of fun. I posted about mine on this forum as well as on CPF -- when I get a minute I'll find the thread and post a link.

I'm sure running it continuously would cause heat problems with a plastic reflector and lens, but the way most people use a flashlight most of the time that's not a problem.
 
I wouldn't worry about safety with this setup. I really think the worst outcome of this DIY job is a melted reflector/lens, unless you really packed the light in insulation and left it on. Even then I don't think the result would be injury.

Most flashlight incidents have to do with mismatched cells, or with li-ion rather that lithium primaries. I also doubt this body would provide much of a seal if the batteries started outgassing (for whatever reason), so it's doubtful harmful pressures could build.

If anyone is so inclined, there is a good primer here. If that doesn't satisfy your intellectual curiosity, there is an endless supply of information out there on the 'net, particularly once CPF comes back up from its maintenance.
 
Does this mean I should leave the cap offa my Surefires so the gasses dont build up ?. :D
 
I have a light done up like the one in the link, but the 2c mag cougar mentions makes a much nicer light. Use a small piece of 3/4" CPVC with some tape wrapped around it as a battery spacer. Bend the spring down a little so it does not push so hard on the batteries. Change the bulb for a 6-7.2v bulb. The lower voltage bulb will be whiter, but less reliable. Order lith batteries from Fenix-store.com, so they do not cost so much. The Mag puts out a ton of light on the lith batteries. My 2c mod lights up the end of my 225' driveway easily. You will get maybe a little more than an hour of runtime. It's biggest strong point is the tight focus you can get w/ the mag style head for a long throwing light. Many of the 2AA lights have a floody beam that does not throw nearly as far.
 
"Most flashlight incidents have to do with mismatched cells, or with li-ion rather that lithium primaries. I also doubt this body would provide much of a seal if the batteries started outgassing (for whatever reason), so it's doubtful harmful pressures could build."

Yep, anytime with any light that you use high cap cells if they are mismatched you can have some nasty results. In fact with any of the Li ion cells you can get some nasty results if the cells fail, look at all the Macbooks and Dells that bloody well caught fire, I think the airlines almost banned laptops but decided not to. Anytime you get the kind of energy densities that modern cells are capable of you run the risk of disaster, anybody ever heard of a car battery exploding? And never use rechargeable 123s in a 2 cell light ( or anything that isn't made to use rechargeable cells)
 
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