7D Cell Maglite???

[LiftdT4R]

I know this is a really old thread but just wanted to add mine to it. I got it just a week ago. It's an 8,000 serial from 1980 stamped "Paten Pending". I believe these lights were produced from 1979 to 1981 or 1982 and it looks lie there were around 18,000 made total. They were discontinued simply because they were slow sellers. In the early days Maglite did not have the manufacturing capacity they do now so from the folks I know there they would rather have produced lights that actually sold vs. lights like this. 7Cs continued until 1989 and sold marginally better but not well either. About 40,000 7Cs were produced from 1981 until 1989 so they are a lot less rare.

Also wanted to add that Maglite never made a light larger than a 7 cell in either C or D. Kel-Lite did though in their C cell baton lights. Maglite did very few special orders and I've covered a lot of them in the Rare Maglites thread and on my blog: http://maglitehistory.blogspot.com/ for those that are interested.

 

[FRITZHID]

I know this is a really old thread but just wanted to add mine to it. I got it just a week ago. It's an 8,000 serial from 1980 stamped "Paten Pending". I believe these lights were produced from 1979 to 1981 or 1982 and it looks lie there were around 18,000 made total. They were discontinued simply because they were slow sellers. In the early days Maglite did not have the manufacturing capacity they do now so from the folks I know there they would rather have produced lights that actually sold vs. lights like this. 7Cs continued until 1989 and sold marginally better but not well either. About 40,000 7Cs were produced from 1981 until 1989 so they are a lot less rare.

Also wanted to add that Maglite never made a light larger than a 7 cell in either C or D. Kel-Lite did though in their C cell baton lights. Maglite did very few special orders and I've covered a lot of them in the Rare Maglites thread and on my blog: http://maglitehistory.blogspot.com/ for those that are interested.

Oh that'd be a fun light to mod! Lol

 

[irongate]

Do a test run and see the run time on that baby

 

[LiftdT4R]

Oh that'd be a fun light to mod! Lol

Blasphemy!! oo: Actually if I had a second one I'd probably do the Adventure Sport Drop in and run it with NiMHs. I don't know where or when I'd use it but it would be fun.

Do a test run and see the run time on that baby

That's not a bad idea. I have enough batteries. I'm willing to bet it's at least 6 hours. It doesn't throw any light though. It's not any visibly brighter than a 3D incan.

 

[LeanBurn]

Interesting that it isn't much brighter than a 3D rated at 45L for 10hr.. a 6D is supposed to be 136L for 11hr..one would hope the 7D would be bright enough to notice...unless these extra vintage maglights only use weaker bulbs?

 

[LiftdT4R]

I should probably clarify my statement. The 3D I compared it to has a Krypton bulb rated for 45 lumens and the 7D has a PR20 argon bulb rated for 63 lumens. I don't believe Mag produces the 7D Krypton bulbs any more but the 6D produces 178 lumens and I believe the 7D krypton bulb was slightly less. A 6D Krypton bulb could be easily used though.

Depending on the condition of the batteries, lens clearness, etc etc. My 3D appears to be marginally brighter. Even at the rated lumens, 63 vs. 45 is gonna be tough to tell.

All in all I guess what I'm getting at is it's easy to see why Mag discontinued these lights. While they had out of this world run times they were only marginally brighter and it was a huge task to carry. Not really much of a benefit for the consumer. I think now they're mainly sought after because they're rare and sort of a novelty. I wanted one because my friend's dad was a copy and he had one when we were growing up but they had a house fire and lost the light among many other possessions.

 

[bykfixer]

If you look at the Maglite thread minimoog just did at the incan section, post #1 you'll see the 7cell bulb isn't as bright as the 6 cell bulb, nor 5 for that matter.

What you can do is add a pair of dummy cells and use a 5 cell bulb... or 1 and use a 6 cell bulb.

The introduction of the krypton bulb in smaller lights probably caused as much lack of enthusiasm for the fabled 7+ cell lights. With pre-krypton those 7, 8, 9+ cell search and rescue lights had big (4") reflectors in lightweight packages. Thin walled lights back then, some with shoulder straps were as bright as you could carry. But the thick walled Maglite only added to the burden of carrying some gigantic flashlight and when a 5 cell became brighter.... for less money... with pretty good runtimes...

I'm surprised the 6 cell wasn't a flat seller as well. Maybe folks bought them because batteries could be had in "packages of 6" denominations... I still buy 6 packs for my 3 cell lights and 8 packs for my 4 cell lights.

These lights are like less than a pound empty.
Nowhere near as sturdy as the Maglite, but their intended use was usually for searches, not riot control so they didn't need to be but so sturdy.

 

[broadgage]

LED PR base bulbs are now available for 7 cell lights, or for monsters like those pictured that use more than 7 cells.
Most LED bulbs are for a maximum of 9 volt or 6 alkaline cells.
Higher voltage lamps are now available, they are mainly marketed for power tool based flashlights, and for lights on electric cycles and mobility scooters.

 

[LiftdT4R]

I finally did a big old writeup on 7Ds on my blog at: http://maglitehistory.blogspot.com/2017/10/1980-7d-light.html

I think I was able to find out just about all of the information on them. Based on old sales literature I have there were about 19,000 produced from 1979 to April or so of 1982. That equates to about 6,000 per year making the 7D Maglite's slowest seller by far. The light also isn't any noticeably brighter than a 6D so the size along with that likely killed the light off. Very neat story for those who are interested.

 

[bykfixer]

Beer bug bump.

Long live the 7D Maglite