Post your incan 'secrets'

Minimoog

Enlightened
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Jan 13, 2005
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771
As I am working with bulbs almost every day I have found out a few lesser known things about bulbs that I thought I would share - do you have any to add too?

1. If the filament is over one side or too high in the envelope you will never get a good beam. Make sure your bulbs are not sloppy and out of whack.
2. The written rating of bulbs is rarely correct - you need to often try a few ratings and see what works best.
3. No point in overdriving vacuum bulbs - they end up blackened and you have wasted your money. Alkaline batteries almost always overdrive vintage bulbs.
4. If fitting pre-focus bulbs, Mag bulbs are a good upgrade to standard bulbs.
5. For MES type, try to get old stock bulbs from the 50's-70's - they are usually better quality than modern ones.

I'm sure I will think of more, but that's a start. Got any to share?
 

Illum

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Apr 29, 2006
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In the first days where LEDs first gained the attention of illumination over indication there were severe color rendition issues (*cough* tint lottery *cough*) that left the output somewhere between green-blue to blue-purple hues. For any application that requires an accurate color rendition LEDs are out of the ballgame from the get go. Most of that is changed now that "neutral white" came about and LED technology allowed outputs to be classified by color temperature.
 

bykfixer

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Dust in the Wind
If I post 'em they're no longer secret. :sssh:

Carbon zinc batteries work perfect in early flashlights, where alkaline casings are slightly too large. The yellow Rayovacs or black Eveready's.

The early vest pocket lights used double a cells. Early "cell packs" for C and D lights were double a cells wrapped in electrical tape and had a cardboard wrap. 2 length were simply a pair of double a cells stacked.

Focus beam'd lights began around 1920.
 
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snakebite

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dayton oh
not a secret per se but i used it as a secret weapon back when i was deep in archery.
we had what was called a coon shoot.
targets in trees placed to provide challenging shots and at night.
one of the rules was a flashlight could have no more than 2 d cells.
so i had some kpr141 2v lead acid krypton bulbs for a first alert rechargeable.
and some industrial 4ah d nicads.
this drove the bulb a bit above design voltage.anyone who understands bulb rerating knows that advantage.
coupled with a rayovac large head 2 d light i stayed within the letter of the rule and doubled throw and output over the $0.99 cheapies everyone else had.
its still a useful mod to pr base incans today.
esp ones you dont want to irreversibly mod.
that particular light is extinct now.
cant even find it on the flashlight museum.
 

bykfixer

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esp ones you dont want to irreversibly mod.
that particular light is extinct now.
cant even find it on the flashlight museum.

Was it a Sportsman Snakebite? I ask because I have a 2D with the large head and this sounds like a similar mod to what I had in mind. Being they contained parts that were used up to 7 cells I figured a 3x 123 (with a homemade sleeve) and a KPR118 would be ok... and still reversable later.
 

snakebite

Flashlight Enthusiast
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Mar 17, 2001
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2,721
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dayton oh
yes.
chrome,hex bezel,copper reflector,glass lens.
they were old stock in a mom and pop hardware store.
they had 6 and i bought them all once i knew the potential.
got some odd looks though.
till i told the owner why i cleaned them out of this particular light.
he thought i was some crazy teenager using them for some drug related thing.
i ratholed one and next time i am at Moms place i will dig it out of the attic.
Dads is likely still there too.
i didnt find it immediately when i brought his archery gear home.
 

bykfixer

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Dust in the Wind
Mine is a octogon that looks round unless you look directly facing the head assembly.
The kinder/gentler looking anti-roll device.

The mega-cell type were very popular at one point... the kind that came with a shoulder strap because it was nearly as long as a hunting rifle.

I suppose the 2 cell kind weren't very popular as a 3 or 4 cell was a ton brighter in stock form and that big ole head must've looked clumsy but...
Check out the dirty Harry movies sometime. The pre-Sandra whatserrface ones. You'll spot one used here n there.
 

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