# Converting an old military FL to LED



## Wolvee (Aug 1, 2010)

Can someone point me into the right direction for an LED conversion for this? I was issued this my first day of boot camp. Some of you will recognize. Since it's plastic I am worried about the heat from an LED that's to bright/hot.

Also, I'd like to see about replacing the plastic clear lens with glass.






























Great site:twothumbs

I lurked on this site till I found my perfect FL. The Quark AA2. I just got it in mail yesterday.


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## angelofwar (Aug 2, 2010)

:welcome:...do a search on "Fulton LED" or "Fulton Angle-head", and you'll find plenty. No matter how outdated these things are, with an LED, they are the perfect hurricane light. Waterproof (to an extent), can be stood up to shine on areas during blackouts, or hung upside down, and have pretty good runtime with an LED drop-in. I have 4-5 (maybe 6?) of these things, all loaded with LED drop-in's for "area lighting" during a black out, so my Surefires aren't tied up, and can do more important things.

Here's a few and there pluses/minuses (these are for off the shelf/readily available drop-ins...more unique one's can be built/found online):

Nite-Ize 10mm: Long runtime, but crappy beam...fixed by usign a diffused lens
Nite-Ize 1-watt: Decent beam (best "off the shelf" actually), but less runtime than the 10mm
Craftsman 3-watt: Bright, beam is not as good as the nite-ize 1-watt, and mine have been known to overheat very easily (melted sodder, melted reflector, etc.)

Hope this helps, and again, the search bar is your best freind...welcome to CPF...a WEALTH of knowledge here!


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## LEDninja (Aug 2, 2010)

Dorcy 41-1643 30 Lumen 3V Replacement Bulb
$6.99 from their website, $3.99 at Sears Canada.
-
Sandwich Shoppe 2-Cell PR Bulb
Sandwich shoppe ships in cute rugged boxes which increases shipping costs.
-
TerraLUX TLE-1F
also here
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TerralUX TLE-6EXB
also here
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Nite Ize L.E.D. Upgrade Kit

There were a couple of recent threads on this topic. Search Fulton.


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## kosPap (Aug 2, 2010)

oh man! there are several threads on this...
you cna find them by serching....

teh mods range from drop-in bulbs to special dropin modules like mine.

The skinny is..for the price of the original flashlight one shoudl limit himslef to the Pr drop-in taht are on sale....


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## humblefan (Aug 2, 2010)

LEDninja said:


> Dorcy 41-1643 30 Lumen 3V Replacement Bulb
> $6.99 from their website, $3.99 at Sears Canada.
> -
> Sandwich Shoppe 2-Cell PR Bulb
> ...



Is there one of the above better than another or are they all roughly equal quality/output etc?


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## PCC (Aug 2, 2010)

angelofwar said:


> Nite-Ize 10mm: Long runtime, but crappy beam...fixed by usign a diffused lens
> Nite-Ize 1-watt: Decent beam (best "off the shelf" actually), but less runtime than the 10mm


I have two Fulton angle-heads and I use them with the 1-Watt bulb primarily but I have the 10mm bulb in the tail cap if things get really bad and I anticipate needing light for a long time. The 10mm bulb is about as bright as the original incan bulb but it will last a very long time on 2 D cells. I measured about half the amp draw from 2 D NiMH cells compared to the 1-Watt bulb. The 1-Watt bulb puts out an estimated 40 lumens and the 10mm one puts out around 20. I do notice that the head of the light gets warm to the touch if I run the 1-Watt bulb for half an hour or longer.

In addition to the two Nite-Ize bulbs I have created a set of battery adapters for my angle-heads that allow me to use 2 C cells in addition to 2 AA or 2 18650 Li-Ion cells. Those drop-ins can take the voltage from to Li-Ions!

I've heard of people drilling out the rivets to the clip and using the holes to screw down into a heatsink that is placed inside of the head to draw the heat out for a high-power setup. I've never done this but the idea intrigues me. I guess I'll need to buy another Fulton to experiment with this idea.


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## Vortus (Aug 2, 2010)

Elektrolumens has the Anglelux, though pretty sure its the whole light with an XP-G in it. Not sure if he has any left or not though.


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## SFG2Lman (Aug 2, 2010)

why go LED on this one? I'm a huge LED fanboy, but for the plastic and all its really not ideal, but someone made a mean hotwire out of it, i can't seem to find the thread now but it was pretty slick. He changed out the D batts for 6 AAs i believe, and ran a higher voltage bulb, it looked like quite the little sleeper. Though not as efficient, its gotta be fun to watch everyone stare at their lights and wonder why they are only 3% as bright as an "identical" model


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## saabgoblin (Aug 2, 2010)

Tektite also makes a replacement LED Bulb that has a side emitting luxeon similar to an Everled. I like the Terralux bulb in a Maglite but the side emitter seems to work better with different reflectors. The Everleds that I have used do get quite hot so they may not be the best at heat regulation with plastic parts and I have yet to try the Tektite bulb but it is another avenue to explore.


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## StarHalo (Aug 2, 2010)

There are probably many local stores around you that carry the Nite-ize LED upgrade that will fit your light, check nearby hardware and department stores. Nite-Ize makes two different upgrades, one has a small LED (very small compared to the socket) and one has a large one (that takes up the entire socket/looks like a bulb); the smaller one has decent output and runtime (compared to the bulb), the larger one is somewhat dim but will give you 90+ hours of runtime.

I personally find the Fulton too large to use as a carry-around light, if I use it at all it's usually just set in place to directly light a small area; the larger LED with its huge runtime is a better fit for this role.


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## alpg88 (Aug 2, 2010)

SFG2Lman said:


> why go LED on this one? I'm a huge LED fanboy, but for the plastic and all its really not ideal, but someone made a mean hotwire out of it, i can't seem to find the thread now but it was pretty slick. He changed out the D batts for 6 AAs i believe, and ran a higher voltage bulb, it looked like quite the little sleeper. Though not as efficient, its gotta be fun to watch everyone stare at their lights and wonder why they are only 3% as bright as an "identical" model


 
you will melt original bulb holder and lens, with anything half serious.




to o.p. simplest mod that would give you noticeable bump in output is either 6aa in holder as it was mentioned, or 2 18650\26650\18500\26500.
and 5 cell mag lite magnum star bulb. your light should take heat from that bulb no problem.


as for led, well i tried almost all led pr drop ins, honestly, all are crap, none brighter than original bulb. even rebel drop in is not as good when it is used with reflector meant for incandecen bulb.


Wait, is that metal reflector???


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## alpg88 (Aug 2, 2010)

kosPap said:


> The skinny is..for the price of the original flashlight one shoudl limit himslef to the Pr drop-in taht are on sale....


 idk man, mag is like $20 host, but we put in few hundreds $$ worth of parts, aw switch alone 4x of the host price, my halogen mag mod has lke $250 worth of parts in $20 light.


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## Wolvee (Aug 2, 2010)

Holy moly, I didn't think there was this much info on these lights. I didn't even know what kind they were, just that it was issued to me. Thanks for the info and the search criteria. I'll do some more research and let everyone know how it goes.

:wave:


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## Vortus (Aug 2, 2010)

http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=227663

from the market place. XP-G modded running on regular D cells.


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## LEDninja (Aug 3, 2010)

All the drop ins are "1 watt" which means they are fairly close in output. The TLE-6EXB (~60lm) is the brightest followed by the Dorcy (~30 lm). The TLE-1F & Sandwich Shoppe 2 cell with the Tectite LPR-2 are dimmer (~15-30 lm). The old Sino Union bulbs with a 5mm LED (~3 lm) I have are the dimmest.

The Dorcy and the Sandwich Shoppe 2 cell focus well. The TLE-1F is slightly off (donut hole close up, OK at a distance). The LPR-2 focus well but the side emitter makes for a ringy spill beam. Don't know about the others.


humblefan said:


> Is there one of the above better than another or are they all roughly equal quality/output etc?



The Tectite LPR-2 is not available at this time.


saabgoblin said:


> Tektite also makes a replacement LED Bulb that has a side emitting luxeon similar to an Everled. I like the Terralux bulb in a Maglite but the side emitter seems to work better with different reflectors. The Everleds that I have used do get quite hot so they may not be the best at heat regulation with plastic parts and I have yet to try the Tektite bulb but it is another avenue to explore.



Elektrolumens still offers this. But it is a whole flashlight.


Vortus said:


> http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=227663
> 
> from the market place. XP-G modded running on regular D cells.


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## humblefan (Aug 3, 2010)

I'm wanting to do a Cree P4 in one, what would be involved? (keep in mind i'm a newb, so any and all instructions would be nice). 

If that works out well would really like to do a Cree XP-G R5 with MC38 reflector with a heatsink just to see if I can push this old dog to the limit.



LEDninja said:


> All the drop ins are "1 watt" which means they are fairly close in output. The TLE-6EXB (~60lm) is the brightest followed by the Dorcy (~30 lm). The TLE-1F & Sandwich Shoppe 2 cell with the Tectite LPR-2 are dimmer (~15-30 lm). The old Sino Union bulbs with a 5mm LED (~3 lm) I have are the dimmest.
> 
> The Dorcy and the Sandwich Shoppe 2 cell focus well. The TLE-1F is slightly off (donut hole close up, OK at a distance). The LPR-2 focus well but the side emitter makes for a ringy spill beam. Don't know about the others.
> 
> ...


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## TMedina (Aug 3, 2010)

The basic Fulton is a reliable workhorse - I bought a NiteIze LED upgrade and it works just fine.

It will never compete with an honest tactical light, but nine times out of ten, you don't need to blind low-flying aircraft. Especially when checking gear in the dark or emptying out the back of a HMMWV at two in the morning.

The other reason for upgrading is the occasional required use of the Fulton for military schools - you might have to use the light, but nobody said anything about keeping the same bulb.

-Trevor


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## humblefan (Aug 3, 2010)

TMedina said:


> The basic Fulton is a reliable workhorse - I bought a NiteIze LED upgrade and it works just fine.



Will the NiteIze give me compatible light with longer life? How significant of amount is the upgrade?


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## Kontour (Aug 5, 2010)

I just recieved an old Fulton the other day as I fell in love with the styling and practicality of the light. I modified it with a Terralux 6EXB drop in (which, on my model, sits nicely in the reflector without the need for the bulb retainer). Im really happy with it! Terralux claim the drop in puts out 140lm but I'd say the OTF is closer to 100lm. I'd be wary of putting anything much more powerful in it due to the aforementioned cooling issues. The beam is a really large spill with a small hotspot and is fantastic for wandering out to the car or around the house at night. Its probably my dimmest light but in the middle of the night when I'm groping around for something to find my way around with it's large, easy to find and I know it will work, the only light that in my mind I'd classify as more reliable is my TK40, which cost almost 100 times as much as the Fulton! There is definitely a reason the military has favored these for so long. The only real work I had to do to it was re-adjust the switch assembly which is a common problem on these lights, but that really only took me 30 or so minutes with help from an angle grinder and a screwdriver.


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## TMedina (Aug 5, 2010)

Any LED upgrade will give you a longer life over your incan run time.

The LED is likely to be brighter than the incan bulb as well.

In BCT, the bulbs in our Fultons shattered if you looked at them the wrong way. The durability of an LED upgrade alone makes it worth the cash for me.

I don't have specific numbers to give you - except that it will outperform your old bulbs in just about every way.

Just don't expect it to perform like a Surefire tactical light because of an LED upgrade. 

-Trevor


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## PCC (Aug 5, 2010)

humblefan said:


> Will the NiteIze give me compatible light with longer life? How significant of amount is the upgrade?


Let's just say that you will lose the ringy artifact filled beam and replace it with a nice round hotspot if you get the 1 Watt drop-in (not the cheaper one with the 10mm LED). In terms of brightness it's roughly twice as bright in the spill but slightly dimmer in the hotspot but the hotspot covers roughly twice the area. This is definitely not a thrower. You absolutely will gain in run time, probably on the order of two to four times. Conceivably, if you put a Nite Ize drop-in into the tail cap and run the stock bulb until the batteries die, you can then swap in the LED and get the same run time on dead batteries or more compared to the incan bulb on fresh batteries!


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## humblefan (Aug 27, 2010)

PCC said:


> Let's just say that you will lose the ringy artifact filled beam and replace it with a nice round hotspot if you get the 1 Watt drop-in (not the cheaper one with the 10mm LED). In terms of brightness it's roughly twice as bright in the spill but slightly dimmer in the hotspot but the hotspot covers roughly twice the area. This is definitely not a thrower. You absolutely will gain in run time, probably on the order of two to four times. Conceivably, if you put a Nite Ize drop-in into the tail cap and run the stock bulb until the batteries die, you can then swap in the LED and get the same run time on dead batteries or more compared to the incan bulb on fresh batteries!



I ended up getting a Nite Ize at walmart for all of $8 and been pretty happy with it.


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## PCC (Aug 27, 2010)

If you bought it at Walmart then you got the less bright 10mm version. It's a nice bulb and the batteries will last a really long time with it. The focus isn't all that great with it, though, so the hotspot is larger, making the beam seem even more dim than the better focused 1-Watt version. It's a perfect light with the 10mm bulb for close in work.


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