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DIY Repair/Upgrade: 6v Flashlight Repair and LED/LiFePO4 Upgrade
My spouse and I have had this old Lumilite Alkaline flashlight for at least 20 years. I believe it may have come from one of our parents’ — and it’s seen some abuse. The lens is cracked, and the halogen (or whatever it is) bulb is dim. For requiring a big/heavy Alkaline 6v latern battery — this thing has all the 80s horror movie tropes: It’s very dim for a flashlight, and the springs on the battery cause it to flicker when you move quickly, or worse — you have to smack it to get the connection to work properly since the connector has a little corrosion on it.
Going into the basement or attic with this thing makes me feel like Joel in Last of Us. This is not a good thing.
Even with a fresh battery, this thing just sits broken and ignored for years at a time, unless it’s the only option available. Its one saving grace is that it was originally waterproof — but that broken lens ruined that one good feature.
Flashlight, Deconstructed
From left to right we have the case, which includes the power switch, a 6v lantern battery, the reflector/LED/housing, a cracked “lens”, and the sealing ring. The lens had a little bit of a slope to it, but really was just a piece of 1mm thick acrylic. We’ll start with the lens.
Lens Replacement
When I measured, I originally read it as 120mm x 1mm, and cut out a piece of acrylic on my laser cutter. Makerstock.com was the first good source I found for 1.5mm acrylic. (No affiliation, I was just very happy with their service and how they packaged the acrylic when they sent it.) Of course, what I hadn’t thought to do was measure the reflector it sits on. Luckily I had enough 1.5mm acrylic to get to the final 117mm via trial and error. What…
