Retro Eveready resurection- done right.

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
1

Some of you may remember a post with a similar name to this one where I modified a 2C vintage Eveready flashlight to LED. A friendly BLF member dropped me a PM essentially giving me an “attaboy” for that mod. While props are a welcome boost, this one made me remember that one mod I was never very happy with. The light worked well enough and was as bright as one would want a thin steel flashlight to be but I knew the insides were a hack job that would never stand up to use for very long. Time to do it right.

Several things were needed to make this an acceptable (to me) modification. I wanted a permanently situated and effective heatsink, a prettier reflector, a modern switch, and to be driven by a modern battery (18650). A little searching in the garage turned up a barbed fitting which perfectly fit an 18650 and also fit inside the host. A one inch copper plumbing union hack-sawed into lengths and then split formed fore and rear spacers to tightly fit the fitting into the host.

I used half a wine bottle cork and some 12 gauge solid copper wire to take up some space in the barbed fitting and to provide contact points. The threaded ring of a V8 drop in reflector was filed down and jb welded to the upper copper support ring. The pill from the same V8 drop in was filed down to meet space requirements and the driver ring re-cut.

Here you see the spacer in place with an 18650 laptop pull peeking out.

The pill was for a 20mm driver so I needed a contact plate for the 17 mm nanjg AK-47a driver I was using. I recycled the V8 drop in driver's lower half and used kapton tape for insulating from the pill.

The driver is in place and wired to an XM-L U2 of unknown tint.

I really don't have the pics I should of the switch but I just filed the housing of a cheap clicky switch to fit a drilled out hole in the top or the original sliding switch. Some JB weld secured the switch to the slider and solder electrically connected the switch to the stamped metal housing. A bit of small silicone wire connects the other pole of the switch to the negative of the driver. The slide is locked in the on position to cover the factory rivet hole in the switch housing.

I've shown the C8 reflector in enough pics above so it shouldn't be a surprise that the C8 reflector fits this light like it was made for it. A glass C8 lens works great as well. Finding adequate depth for its use was a bit of a chore.

And all done!

The beam looks rather like a 3 amp C8 on medium.

Thanks for looking,

Brian



2

A very creative mod. An oldie gets a new lease on life. I specially like the way you approached the switch issue.

The more I read up on your mods the more impressed I am.

Nicely done!

3

Nice mod ! i have a simmilar light in my collection but left it stock so far. this gets me thinking of doing somthing to mod it.

4

Nice .

Retro Tech .

5

Very clever and unique. A real sleeper. :slight_smile:

6

Nice job. Whenever I see an old light like this I get an itch to mod it

7

These are the type of mods I like the best: start with a nearly impossible host, using whatever is lying around and everything must be altered to fit :-)

Thanks for sharing!

8

Very cool and nicely done.

I keep seeing similar lights like this on evil-bay and plan on doing something with one someday soon. They just look cool and everyone my age remembers them rather fondly.

9

i have one of the large head versions of that light with a messed up reflector.
since getting a good one is not likely i wont feel bad about modding it.
its going to be a shocker to anyone who says hey an antique! and looks into it while turning it on to see if it works.
i will be using paralell 26650 setup in individual holders.this will also allow 18650 in sleeves.
now to see if the thin metal body is a good enough heatsink……iirc these are plated copper?

10

I love it. Good use of garage scavenged parts too! 8)

11

Nice mod :slight_smile:

12

its nice to see the old stuff get a new blood :slight_smile:

13

Great build, just wanted to say, if anyone needs a host, here’s a steal! (Yes, it’s my listing, but it’s still a great deal. Lol)

http://m.ebay.com/itm/ONE-Vintage-NOS-Eveready-5251-2-D-Cell-Commander-Flashlight-Light-1950-1960-/282225794146?hash=item41b5f7dc62%3Ag%3ARRQAAOSwzaJYB3R6&\_trkparms=pageci%253Af4a1a70c-ce32-11e6-bd51-74dbd180df63%257Cparentrq%253A4d6fd9741590a605b8379959ffcc7849%257Ciid%253A1