Replacing a Nexxtech “Xenon” rubber flashlight (#6119014) light bulb (Philips HPX42,

FlashLightUser

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Some years ago, I picked up this tough looking flashlight at "The Source by Circuit City" in Canada:

nY4Zg.jpg


I dropped it, and it no longer works. I am assuming that the bulb is not working, even though there does not *appear* to be a break in the filament:

EY0mj.jpg


However, store no longer carries the bulb. I contacted them through their online chat service to find this out. Googling the bulb manufacturer and model doesn't yield anything. It looks like I have to throw out the flashlight. What an environmental crime. Can anyone suggest how to source down the appropriate bulb? It doesn't seem like flashlight bulbs are standardized.
 

bykfixer

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Welcome to CPF.

Bulbs can be found at bulb town dot com or top bulb dot com.

Figure each aa, C or D cell puts out 1.2 volts (1.5 when resting, 1.2 under load). A 2D for example would be 2.4-3.0 volt bulbs.

Without knowing how many of what kind of battery that light has, I would be guessing at the bulb model number. But it would be for example PR2 (2 cell), PR 3 etc. Bulbs called KPR would be krypton bulbs. HPR, halogen (which that bulb kinda looks like).

Another option is an LED in that kind of base. Nite Ize, Rayovac and others make LED upgrades called drop-ins where you install the LED same as replacing the light bulb but you get a bunch more hours from your batteries.
 
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FlashLightUser

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I just copied and pasted the subject line from my text editor, and did not realize that it was truncated. It should have specified the bulb information (on the stem) as "light bulb (Philips HPX42, 4.7V 0.4A)". I thought this as odd, since the flashlight takes four AA batteries at 1.5V each (6V total). But you said 1.2V under load, which makes it 4.8V, so just about right. I will look at the sites you provided. Hard to imagine delivering a single bulb in the mail, though why not. It's probably more environmentally friendly than going to various bricks-and-mortar stores searching for the bulb (with low probability of success).

I do not know if flashlight bulbs have standard form factors, and am hoping to find this out at the sites you mentioned.

Thanks.
 

x8353

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Googling "hpx42 bulb" turns up a lot of sources for different bulbs with that base and rated 4.7 or 4.8v - the filament and glass may not match shape and appearance, but any of them should substitute for the Philips version. Check the bulb you've got with a multimeter to see if it is the problem - a drop can affect the switch or connections inside the flashlight as well. Those can also be checked with a multimeter.
 

FlashLightUser

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Replace Nexxtech Xenon rubber flashlight (#6119014) bulb (Philips HPX42)

I thought that HPX42 was a Philips model number, so I searched for "HPX42 Philips" without quotes. I didn't notice anything relevant, but I must have missed a link. Here is a *very* helpful link: http://onninen.procus.fi/documents/original/13061/7/0/5021.pdf. Googling your search term without quotes yields a table with nearly the same kind of info in this very forum: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...bulb-ratings&p=3814026&viewfull=1#post3814026. Both show HPX42 as 4.7V, base P13.5s. One has to be careful, as local hardware stores have identical looking bulbs that require approximately half the voltage (Krypton, I think). Having searched around locally, I think it might be wise to just search Amazon, as I probably burn up many times the cost of gas just to find a suitable bricks-and-mortar source.

As a fallback plan, the last place I visited suggested a local establishment, "Buchanan Lighting".

Based on the opinions of staff at the 1st last place I visited, I might be better off finding an LED with the same base and voltage. They are brighter and the batteries will last longer. Being an electrical engineer by training however, I was initially concerned that the right voltages might be hard to find. My flashlight serializes 4 AAA batteries, yielding 6V unloaded, and 4.8V loaded (the latter from an earlier respondent on this thread). I would need a LED bulb that accepts this kind of voltage source and loads it in a similar manner. I'm naive about batteries and flashlight bulbs, but if a bulb is designed for a 4-cell, then its loading effect should take into account the output resistance of the batteries, so the only important parameter is number of cells it was designed for. The exact loaded voltage will depend on the bulb design, and whether that yields the right operating voltage is the bulb designer's problem.

The take-away is that I only have to match the cell-count and the base specification. I then have the freedom to choose things like LED rather than xenon or krypton. I took the above candlepowerforums table and dumped it into a spreadsheet to filter by cell-count. I found that the options are all gas-filled. Again, I'm new to the standards in flashlight bulbs, but I assume that these are all incandescent. So I have some searching ahead of me. Before doing so, I'll check the bulb with a multimeter, as suggested, to make sure that it is indeed the bulb rather than the flashlight. Otherwise, I'm just wasting my time (though it has been educational).

By the way, can anyone comment on how normal it is for LED bulbs to be designed with compatible bases and unloaded voltages as incandescent bulbs?

AFTERNOTE: Darn, ohmeter test shows that the filament in the bulb is not broken. It's essentially a short, which jives with my understanding of incandescent bulbs. The filament only increases in resistance when it heats up. So this means that the problem is elsewhere. A voltmeter test of the 4-cell batter assembly shows 5.88 V, which is right. So the problem is the pushbutton switch or the conductors connecting the battery assembly to the bulb. If I can't find the problem and fix it, I will graduate to an LED flashlight. Thank you all for educating me thus far.

FINAL SCOOP: It was difficult poking the ohmeter probes down there, but the problem turns out to be a bad connection between the spring at the bottom and the metal strip that goes down there from the push-button switch. From visual inspection, the joint looks terrible, speaking from someone who has breathed in lots of solder flux in another life. Really badly made. An environmental crime. The makers are off-shore, but I'm thinking that the manufacturing *process* was not designed for robust construction.

Since I'm going to graduate to an LED flashlight, there isn't even any point in saving the bulb.
 
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broadgage

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Re: Replace Nexxtech Xenon rubber flashlight (#6119014) bulb (Philips HPX42)

If the flashlight is broken and of poor quality, chuck it out.
I would keep the bulb, they are not bulky and keep forever, you never know when you might want one.
 

FlashLightUser

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Re: Replace Nexxtech Xenon rubber flashlight (#6119014) bulb (Philips HPX42)

Other than a small maglite in the car, which takes a smaller bulb, I only own the broken flashlight above. And flashlights these days are mostly LED. I'll mull over the unbulkiness. Maybe throw it in the toolbox. Thanks.
 

snakebite

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Re: Replace Nexxtech Xenon rubber flashlight (#6119014) bulb (Philips HPX42)

i would have carefully poked my soldering iron and a bit of kester "44" 63/37 down in there and fixed it in 30 seconds or less.
but in my day job a live soldering/rework station is always in reach.
I thought that HPX42 was a Philips model number, so I searched for "HPX42 Philips" without quotes. I didn't notice anything relevant, but I must have missed a link. Here is a *very* helpful link: http://onninen.procus.fi/documents/original/13061/7/0/5021.pdf. Googling your search term without quotes yields a table with nearly the same kind of info in this very forum: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...bulb-ratings&p=3814026&viewfull=1#post3814026. Both show HPX42 as 4.7V, base P13.5s. One has to be careful, as local hardware stores have identical looking bulbs that require approximately half the voltage (Krypton, I think). Having searched around locally, I think it might be wise to just search Amazon, as I probably burn up many times the cost of gas just to find a suitable bricks-and-mortar source.

As a fallback plan, the last place I visited suggested a local establishment, "Buchanan Lighting".

Based on the opinions of staff at the 1st last place I visited, I might be better off finding an LED with the same base and voltage. They are brighter and the batteries will last longer. Being an electrical engineer by training however, I was initially concerned that the right voltages might be hard to find. My flashlight serializes 4 AAA batteries, yielding 6V unloaded, and 4.8V loaded (the latter from an earlier respondent on this thread). I would need a LED bulb that accepts this kind of voltage source and loads it in a similar manner. I'm naive about batteries and flashlight bulbs, but if a bulb is designed for a 4-cell, then its loading effect should take into account the output resistance of the batteries, so the only important parameter is number of cells it was designed for. The exact loaded voltage will depend on the bulb design, and whether that yields the right operating voltage is the bulb designer's problem.

The take-away is that I only have to match the cell-count and the base specification. I then have the freedom to choose things like LED rather than xenon or krypton. I took the above candlepowerforums table and dumped it into a spreadsheet to filter by cell-count. I found that the options are all gas-filled. Again, I'm new to the standards in flashlight bulbs, but I assume that these are all incandescent. So I have some searching ahead of me. Before doing so, I'll check the bulb with a multimeter, as suggested, to make sure that it is indeed the bulb rather than the flashlight. Otherwise, I'm just wasting my time (though it has been educational).

By the way, can anyone comment on how normal it is for LED bulbs to be designed with compatible bases and unloaded voltages as incandescent bulbs?

AFTERNOTE: Darn, ohmeter test shows that the filament in the bulb is not broken. It's essentially a short, which jives with my understanding of incandescent bulbs. The filament only increases in resistance when it heats up. So this means that the problem is elsewhere. A voltmeter test of the 4-cell batter assembly shows 5.88 V, which is right. So the problem is the pushbutton switch or the conductors connecting the battery assembly to the bulb. If I can't find the problem and fix it, I will graduate to an LED flashlight. Thank you all for educating me thus far.

FINAL SCOOP: It was difficult poking the ohmeter probes down there, but the problem turns out to be a bad connection between the spring at the bottom and the metal strip that goes down there from the push-button switch. From visual inspection, the joint looks terrible, speaking from someone who has breathed in lots of solder flux in another life. Really badly made. An environmental crime. The makers are off-shore, but I'm thinking that the manufacturing *process* was not designed for robust construction.

Since I'm going to graduate to an LED flashlight, there isn't even any point in saving the bulb.
 

FlashLightUser

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Re: Replace Nexxtech Xenon rubber flashlight (#6119014) bulb (Philips HPX42)

That might have worked. It would be challenging, as it's deeper than it looks in the photo. I had a hard time just poking the multimeter probes down there. But I no longer have to worry about this, as I now only use the flashlight body as a used AA cell storage case. :)
 
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