Would you throw this flashlight away or not?

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I have a Rayovac Roughneck flashlight that is about 15 years old. It takes 2 AA's and has a reliable push button switch instead of a slider switch. It's made in the USA! It takes the same bulb as a AA cell Maglight. The cheapest bulb I've found is at a Batteries & Bulbs Plus at $3.99 plus tax. The flashlight has always killed batteries off fairly quick, but it takes cheap AA cells.

Would you replace it with a new flashlight that has an LED bulb or simply replace the bulb?

 
Never throw in the trash something that is useful to someone else. You can donate it, give it to a neighbor who has nothing, or you can repair it and continue to use it.

Waste not - want not. We've had enough of the cash-for-clunker mentality to last a lifetime. Every person should do their part to conserve.
 
My MIL's a nurse and she likes incandescent AA flashlights for checking pupils. Feels it's less harsh than the LEDs.

You can surely find a bulb for that on ebay for 50 cents including shipping from Malaychina.
 
Batteries are expensive. I just use the Walmart $1 mini-flash lights that come with 3 AAA batteries. They last a few months. It's not really cost effective to put new batteries in....cheaper to buy another one for $1.
 
i would bore out the ribs inside that center the aa s and drop in a 18650.
a spacer with a resistor to take up the space.
then plug a 5mm hi cri led into the bulb holder.
may have to drill the reflector hole to accommodate the led.
it will not only be twice the stock brightness but will run a week on a battery.
then you recharge it.
i did one that took a pr bulb and was able to use 3 leds and the resistor in the bulb base.
a friends son used it every night all night at a scout camp and didnt change the battery.
everyone else was chucking 2 d cells a night.
 
Put a small component LED in place of the bulb,

Less power draw, lasts forever.
Done lots of old Maglights this way...

Just remember, led's work one way, turn it around if it does not light...
 
I picked up a C8 from aliexpress recently. Has a Cree XP-L V5. It's pretty bright, a little over $16. They're always lying about how bright they really are as I had an XM-L2 U3 before and this is way brighter although they always claim that they're 2000 lumens. A regular 60 watt bulb is about 800 lumens. Anyway, that one is so bright it's almost painful to look at up close. Only does 18650's though.

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all the cheap chinese makers lie about lumens and mah.
i have a 12000 mah 18650 here that came with a $5 c8.
it struggles to make 1200.
chinese rating means divide by 10.
are you sure its an REAL CREE XP-L?
iirc there are already latticebright clones out there.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: kc8adu
all the cheap chinese makers lie about lumens and mah.
i have a 12000 mah 18650 here that came with a $5 c8.
it struggles to make 1200.
chinese rating means divide by 10.
are you sure its an REAL CREE XP-L?
iirc there are already latticebright clones out there.


Not really sure, but it's certainly a little brighter than the XP-L Hi V2 that I got last year. Oh yeah, those 12,000 mah batteries are always pretty funny. I think the only legit ones are in the 2000-3000 mah range. I got a nice set of Odec 2600 Mah ones on Amazon a while back. It was an intro price and now they've got back up again. They can't seem to help themselves and you see 4k, 6k, 8k all the time for 18650's.
 
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