The pa40 is pretty good for self-discharging nimh since it has a built-in low voltage warning.
Getting a MagLite won’t ever be a bad thing, they are well made quality lights and I doubt you’d be disappointed. That said there are a lot of other great lights out there too if you fancy something different.
With the Mag it’s more a focus than an adjustable beam. This means you can optomise it for different situations.
e.g. if you point a Mag at an object 50 feet away and get the spot perfect, now point it at something only 8 inches away and you’ll get a big donut hole in the beam. With the Mag you can refocus it to remove the donut.
Non focusable lights suffer this but can’t re-focus. To get around this they often compromise on the optimal beam at distance to then make it better close up. With the Mag it gives you the freedom to make more of it’s available output. It’s for this reason than a Mag will throw as far as they do, with the focus you can get a really tight beam and concentrate most of the light output to throw. Non focusing lights then to opt for a less tightly focused beam and thus tend to throw less for the same given output.
If you look on ebay or places like DX you can get AA to D cell adapters. Most take 2AA’s and convert into a D cell size case.
This means you could run a MagLite on AA’s too.
Hopefully you’ll find this helpful.
Alkaline cells have a voltage of 1.5v, so in a 2D Mag you have 3.0v in total (2 batteries in series).
The trouble with alkaline is it’s prone to leaking and performs very badly in cold conditions. But a more major issue with them in flashlight use is voltage sag. While under load their voltage drops quickly and significantly which means the light gets dim quick.
In D cell size batteries alkaline is the most obvious choice. You can get NiMh rechargeable ones but they are expensive as is a charger for them. But D cell alkaline cells are plentiful to buy.
The biggest advantage of a D cell is it’s capacity, while it’s only 1.5v they have 12,000 - 15,000mAh of capacity which is many times more than an alkaline AA (AA’s are also 1.5v).
options:
NiMh is you’re best bet. But as you’ve said they go flat when left. But there is an answer, what you need are LSD (low self discharge) NiMH batteries. The best and most well known are Sanyo Eneloops. These will hold 70% of their charge for 3 years vs normal NiMH cells which tend to lose 70% of their charge in a week or so.
Eneloops are currently only available in AA and AAA sizes. But this isn’t a problem as you can either use the 2AA adapters mentioned above or Eneloop offer a 1AA to D cell adapter too.
Eneloops as are all NiMH cells are 1.2v, so lower than alkaline. But the key difference is they have a much flatter discharge curve and don’t suffer voltage sag. The reality of this is a more stable output for longer (although ultimate runtimes would be less).
So in a 2D Mag you could run 4 Eneloops AA’s in two 2AA adapters. This would mean 2.6v in total and 4000mAh. An alkaline D cell would provide light for longer, but it’ll be dimmer, this setup is rechargeable and will offer better output.
ChickenDrumstick
I agree with everything you said, but I should point out that the Maglite 2D LED has a driver circuit for the LED. It will adjust current levels depending on voltage. If you add a third cell, the current drops by exactly a third. This means as alkalines sag, the brightness stays pretty much the same. In fact, my experience with it is that the brightness pretty much “falls off the cliff” as it discharges. I also tested current draw with fresh Duracell Alkaline, Cheap Dollar Tree D cells (3 for a $1) and EverReady NiMH. Same initial current draw for all three types. Of course the alkalines last much longer that the cheap D Cells.
The adapters function but feel really cheap and many/most don’t work well with large mag springs since the end plate is too small, and the 1AA -> D don’t work at all the since AA end is way too small.
Really the best value 4AA light is the Frogman D14 diving clones for only $10 or so. Excellent ergonomics and big magnetic side switch.
Perhaps that would be 8-10,000mAh for 4 depending on which model Eneloops are used?
He's describing 2 series, 2 parallel, so it would be 2.4v nominal and 4000mAh.
4 Eneloop would provide 8000mAh only if you wired them all in parallel.
I have a 3D and a 2D Magled and I can say they are great throwers. With 3D cells inside a 3D is a baton. 2D is much sizable. However, even though I don’t know the exact circuitry in these lights the runtime specifications on them say that a 3D Magled should last at least twice the time of a 2D Magled. Well, I haven’t counted hours nor have exhausted a set of batteries in any of these. This can be due to the rather inefficient booster circuit in the 2D and the linear or buck circuit in a 3D.
All in all, I still don’t think either of these lights are the best choices as general purpose lights. With a 2XAA light plus a spare 4xAA batteries you usually get the same runtime at similar lumen values and even longer if you switch to a lower brightness mode, like 50 lm etc, which is still plenty for many work. I would pick a Fenix E21 or E25 if you still want some throw in a 2xAA body or a E40 (4XAA) if you are after longer throw and runtime. If you only need a general purpose beam profile with a broad light you can have a PA40 or an Olight S65 for a bit more money.
I have over 90 lights and I still get excited when I get my ~135lm E21 in my hands.
Ps, my latest find is that I can put in 4xC batteries in a 3x26650 light. If you can find one with a 4-12v driver you may have a giant XML light out of NiMH chemistry.
^ doesn’t the tr-j12 (i think its this one) fall into this category?
It seems to be c cells rather than d, but the topic may make interesting reading any way.
Me? Well, I’ve got a 3d incan Maglite, its getting an xm-l, two cell driver and spacer/ cut down the sucker, my dad has a 3d that I also want to convert for him, but it has to run on regular cells (I’m still working on this, will probably go for eneloops and some old lumens inspiration) I’m lucky as dad can machine the heatsinks if I do the elastictrickery.
My advice would be to buy the Maglite, their the go to brand for a reason. Or stick around, do some reading, join the lithium game and have some real fun. :bigsmile:
I’ll attest to that. The Mag 2D and 3D XP-E are well regulated. Before I got a 2AA Pro I used the 2D pill in an 2AA MiniMagLED (originally Rebel multimode). It regulates output (no dimming whatsoever) down to V-in = 1.9V IIRC. You can tell when the light drops out of regulation (output falls off a cliff). I wasn’t aware that the 2D was buck-boost, though.
The 3D I tested regulated input power up to V-batt=7.2v, but then I fried the module when I tried adding another cell : /
From Maglites warranty with some emphasis added and some bits omitted:
It’s not a complete disaster if there is a leak from one of the three brands listed. The light’s out of service for a while. It’s getting into the realm of getting a good sale on a new light to replace an off brand light though ($12 plus tax and shipping).