# Committed Vintage Flashlight Heresy



## wjv (Mar 15, 2017)

Yes I have committed vintage flashlight heresy!

But only for about 20 minutes!

A week or so ago I picked up a nice Eveready 2 Cell Vulcanite Baby Flashlight with Walleye Lens (circa 1914). Here is a picture from that thread.








With the help of bykfixer I was able to find some spare incan #14 bulbs for it. While looking online I noticed several LED bulbs in that size, but none had the proper voltage ranges. Then I found a site in the UK. It is www.bikeco.co.uk and they had this bulb:






So being an engineer I just had to try one to see what it would do. They also had a 1 watt, 140 lumen version, but I did not want to take any chances that I might damage my Eveready though over heating.

I swapped out the bulbs and this is the light with the LED in it.
Before and After











White wall shots: Before and After. (The Before is a bit grainy because I had to boost the Gamma on the picture to make it visible)











I have to give NICELITE credit. Their product is exactly as advertised, and it is a nice pure white LED without any Purples, Blues or Greens. However, this light was meant to put out a warm glow and not a pure white spotlight. So after the pictures were done I restored the Eveready back to its original format, and put the NICELITE bulb into the flashlight drawer. Maybe someday I will find a less classic light that I can put the LED into without feeling like I'm defacing a it. 

The bikeco site has a wide variety of LED bulbs for flashlights, including some E10s in red and green. They have a nice selection of bulbs for upgrading Maglites. It took about a week to get my bulb and it was $8.28 + shipping.

Just though I'd pass the info along. .

It's a shame that the Walleye lenses aren't being used anymore. I have several "floody" 1x18650 LED lights. NONE of them can do what this light can do in terms of a smooth and HUGE flood area!!

Sometimes New isn't better.


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## Timothybil (Mar 16, 2017)

Ok, I may be an old fart, but I am not one when it comes to flashlights. What is a Walleye lens?


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## bykfixer (Mar 16, 2017)

Nice job WJV. 
I found some "100" lumen e10's and tried 'em. Eh, like you I went back to the light bulb. 

But if you find some not so old Rayovacs, Energizer or that sort of plastic lights.. perhaps a lantern.. those that had the "screw bulb"... those "drop ins" make great up grades. Ones like the Rayovac Industrial for example. Most had PR bulbs but some used screw in type. And it aint 100 years old so no biggy if things go afoul. 

Yeah I really enjoy the waleye beam on a ceiling. Especially one where the glass had some air bubbles. It's like your own personal moon in your darkened den. 

In the 20's and 30's they flattened the lenses, but they protruded outside of the bezel about 1/16-1/8" providing a nifty ring around the beam.


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## wjv (Mar 16, 2017)

Timothybil said:


> Ok, I may be an old fart, but I am not one when it comes to flashlights. What is a Walleye
> lens?



A convex lens (like this)


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## wjv (Mar 16, 2017)

Just picked up a couple more lights:
- Brushed chrome Top-Light, was provided as a GM, Chevrolet, Ford Motors Accessories - 2x'D'
- Chrome Rayovac Sportsman - 2x'C'
- Chrome Ranger - 2x'D'
- Chrome Eveready Captain/Union Carbide Small 6" - 2x'C'

All in very nice condition


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## irongate (Mar 16, 2017)

You can sometimes find 13 or 14 bulbs at hardware stores for those old lights also. Have fun with those old lights. Another person to bid against on a certain site lol


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## bykfixer (Mar 16, 2017)

The Captain was a really nice, well made flashlight.

I do the buy it now fellas so this collector isn't bidding against you guys.


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## wjv (Mar 16, 2017)

bykfixer said:


> I do the buy it now fellas so this collector isn't bidding against you guys.



Same here. Might pay a few extra $$, but you don't have to wait 5d 7h 37m. . . . Only to lose in the last 7 seconds. . .


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## IlluminatedOne (Mar 16, 2017)

That really does work well in that light, i still have a few older lights that could do with some nice bulbs like that. 

This site also has a range of LED dropin PR bulbs i have the Maglite 220lumen dropin which is great.
http://www.thetorchsite.co.uk/Universal_led_upgrades.html


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## bykfixer (Mar 16, 2017)

wjv said:


> Same here. Might pay a few extra $$, but you don't have to wait 5d 7h 37m. . . . Only to lose in the last 7 seconds. . .



Exactly!

I've seen the clock count down to zero with me highest bidder and did not win. After 2 or 3 of those I would raise my max bid 2-3x what it was worth... yeah buddy, if you're gonna snag it from me you're gonna pay dearly! 
I had a,$10 poj up to $50 and lost it... some fool paid $50!!

And I found the same light in better shape for like $12.99 b.i.n. later on.

Now sometimes you get lucky and stumble onto one with the timer in red and, no watchers or no bids. I do usually win those. 
Minimoog did a thread about that. Called "rescuing" something or other...


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## broadgage (Mar 17, 2017)

Nothing wrong IMHO in fitting a modern LED bulb to a vintage light.
I consider it a pity to spoil a vintage light with any irreversible modification, but see no objection to a simple drop in bulb replacement.

One of my regularly used lights is 30? 40? years old and fitted with a modern LED bulb.


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## irongate (Mar 17, 2017)

bykfixer said:


> Exactly!
> 
> I've seen the clock count down to zero with me highest bidder and did not win. After 2 or 3 of those I would raise my max bid 2-3x what it was worth... yeah buddy, if you're gonna snag it from me you're gonna pay dearly!
> I had a,$10 poj up to $50 and lost it... some fool paid $50!!
> ...



I'll throw a bid out there to see what kind of action it brings, and it gives me a day or two -do i really need this or is it just a impulse buy. Yes sometimes it is just a buy right away. All about hunting in that way.


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## LeanBurn (Mar 17, 2017)

It may have felt like heresy, but I'll bet your run-time would have exponentially grew. 

I can run my "vintage" Maglite on incan/fresh batteries for about 7-8 hours...switch over to similar output LED and run time soars to well past the 200 hr mark. The tint/CRI suffers, but that kind of extension of usable light is nothing to sneeze at.


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## bykfixer (Mar 17, 2017)

irongate said:


> I'll throw a bid out there to see what kind of action it brings, and it gives me a day or two -do i really need this or is it just a impulse buy. Yes sometimes it is just a buy right away. All about hunting in that way.



Good point. 

Heck if I did that I'd probably have passed on many...many I don't regret owning, just didn't end up all excited about a couple days after they arrived. Quality vs quantity is always a wise choice in collecting things.


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## Minimoog (Mar 18, 2017)

Good to see the old Eveready here. Well experimenting is absolutely what makes Incan so versatile, unlike LED's with drivers and converters which must be contended with - with bulbs you can just see what works and have fun doing it. The LED upgrade you used is something I use in one of my vintage lights which when I fitted it, gave the absolute best beam I have seen that torch give so I lefty it in. I know I would get the blessing of the designer in this instance.

What sort of bulb is in the Eveready? Just that so few are on the originals still and the choice of bulb makes a real difference.

I have a Daylo - similar to what you show here and it is one of my favourite vintage lights. I like that it is warm to the touch (the Vulcanite body) and gives a beam like full moonlight on a really dark night. In fact I silhouetted my cat with it and the shadow looked just like a full moon with a crisp black cat shadow.


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## wjv (Mar 19, 2017)

Minimoog said:


> What sort of bulb is in the Eveready? Just that so few are on the originals still and the choice of bulb makes a real difference.



The original is a #14 bulb


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## wjv (Aug 3, 2017)

Links Restored


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