Modern Battery Options for Maglite Halogen MagCharger

[ampdude]

Never heard of them before.

I looked up and tenergy makes 1/2D nicd cells with 2500mah capacity. I used tenergy before, in general good cells, thout some are better then others, never tried their 1/2D cells, but if i had to fix MC i'd go with 5 eneloops, not only eneloops are proven, they would be lighter like 1/3 or the weight for the same capacity.

I wouldn't want a lighter MC. It's supposed to be a really bright club. I might have to look at shrinkwrapping a pack of tenergy's at some point. For now my OEM NICD stick that I recently received is good for me.

 

[ckfey2156]

nope, it will not. cheap batteries are garbage, another problem MC uses 1/2D cells, which are no longer made by any reputable manufacturer. 5 eneloops are probably the only decent option today, that would be reliable, and still charged by stock charger. black eneloops pro are same capacity as stock cells.
Li ion will work with different bulb, but you can not run them for long, unless you install aluminum reflector, borofloat lens, and ceramic bulb socket. all of it will probably cost you as much as new modern magcharger.

Eneloops can be charged inside the Magcharger using the stock charger you say?

 

[ampdude]

Eneloops can be charged inside the Magcharger using the stock charger you say?

That's important as well.. why I still like these lights.

 

[fivemega]

You can also use 5 of 3AA parallel adapter, 2D extension tube and 15 Eneloops in extended MC. This would be size of 5D M*g for LLLOOONNNGGG operation and LLLOOOWWW self discharge.
6V, 6Ah long run time that needs long charging time. With Eneloop PRO 6V, 7.5Ah

 

[ckfey2156]

Thanks for all the advice. I think at this point I've narrowed my options down to either getting a factory NiMh battery from Maglite, or using 5 Eneloop Pros in serial. I'm leaning toward Eneloops because the stock battery may not use low discharge cells. Does anyone know for sure?

Are there any concerns to be aware of when using the stock charging cradle to charge Eneloops inside the flashlight? My understanding is that the magcharger cradle uses a simple trickle charge, so risk of overcharging is basically non existent. Am I wrong?

 

[letschat7]

I'm using the Maglite stick battery with no issues. It is so cheap with a coupon and free ship order you might as well do the same.

 

[aginthelaw]

That NICD you sent me really did the trick like I thought it would. I was hoping to at least get the old NIMH stick limping around with the new charging base, and it did charge. But after a week it was dead already. I tossed the NIMH stick in the trash in disgust earlier today. I was tempted to charge the NICD earlier today as well. But I'm gonna be careful with it so it doesn't get a memory effect. I just use the Magcharger to check around the building most of the time anyways.

I recently came into possession of an old but new-in-box Halogen MagCharger circa 2005. It came with the charging cradle and cords, and a NiCD battery.

I called Maglite and asked them if it would be a good idea to replace the battery due to its age, and they said that the MagCharger rechargeable battery packs were only good for about 3-5 years and not to use it.

So, I'm looking for modern battery options to power this light and have found four options so far. I would love to hear some feedback and recommendations from people who have more experience. I don't expect to use this light often, only rarely when needed.

Option 1, is buying a new 6v NiMH 3.5ah battery from Maglite for about $30. This option would obviously work with the stock charger, and should provide long runtime between charges. However, I expect this battery pack would have a high self-discharge rate, and an overall short battery life since most of its time it would have to be left on the charger in order to be ready when needed.

Option 2, is buy an aftermarket NiCD battery, but I don't see any real advantage or disadvantage to this over an OEM NiMH battery (other than NiCD memory effect, which may or may-not exist depending on who you ask).

Option 3, is buy 3aa to D cell adapters and run the light off of Eneloops. Scouring the forums, I have found some differing opinions of how many Eneloop cells to use with a MagCharger. Some say use 5 cells to get exactly 6 volts, and others say use 6 cells for 7.2 volts and overdrive the bulb for more brightness. Some say this will shorten the bulb life or even cause an instaflash, others say it is perfectly safe? Any opinions? Other than figuring out the ideal number of cells to use, this setup has some apparent advantages. Mainly, Eneloops have a low self discharge rate, so the batteries stay charged and usable while off the charger and can be ready when they are needed. Also, they can be recharged thousands of times, which means long overall battery life. The downside I can foresee, is a limit of 2000mah, which means shorter runtimes between charges.

Option 4, two 32650 or 32700 LiFePO4 batteries. The only issue I am having with this, is finding a smart charger that charges batteries that large, AND supports LiFePO4 chemistry. Also, I cannot find protected LiFePO4 batteries, and wonder if that is as important as with Lithium Ion batteries?

That is all. I know it's a lot of questions, and I have tried to search the forums for answers before posting a new thread. A lot of the threads that cover this information as it pertains to the MagCharger are very old, and usually the links within them that claim to have all the answers I need don't work anymore.

Thanks again, cant wait to learn what others have found to work for them.

SL-20 uses the same battery as the mag charger

 

[letschat7]

It seems they aren't quite the same. The SL20 cell seems to use bigger spacers and is longer and the Magcharger battery has more AH.

 

[ABTOMAT]

Those NiMH packs are shorter than the NiCD packs I've seen. I don't have an original Magcharger battery here but from memory I think it was the same length as a Streamlight's. Also from year to year and brand to brand they tend to vary in length and construction.

 

[xxo]

I think I would go with the eneloops. The Intec batteries are high self discharge and only last about 5 years.

 

[ampdude]

Huh, that's weird about the 9AN/B90 because the sub-c cell is still a pretty common standard

SL-20 uses the same battery as the mag charger

I don't think a lot of the SL-20 batteries have the raised tab on the end that the Magcharger requires.

 

[letschat7]

I think the SL20X battery does. It is different than the latest SL20 battery.

 

[ABTOMAT]

All SL-20/20X batteries have a raised nub on the positive tip, but the length varies by year and manufacturer. I have a few OEM packs from the '80s that are all different. Streamlights aren't picky when it comes to battery shape. Magchargers are more complicated. Different years have different positive terminal depths that were never officially separated. Some work fine with short-tip batteries, some don't. So all the batteries should be interchangeable on paper but if a supplier didn't confirm they work in a Magcharger you don't know for sure.

I'm talking about the 1/2-D packs here. The current SL-20L uses a coaxial sub-C stick like the Ultra Stinger.

 

[ampdude]

I guess if it's too short, you could always add some solder to the raised tab.

 

[Lips]

View attachment 59142

This is the perfect replacment of the stock Nicad/NiMh battery.
Use stock Magcharger 6V halogen bulb (1.7A), over 3 hours of runtime.
If I need something more powerful / higer wattage bulb, I will go for other options instead of Magcharger.

Parts are in. Think I'm gonna skip the acorn nut and use a regular nut on the bolt & let it make contact to cut resistance... Aluminum vs Brass?

1.25 inch (31.75mm) Nylon Bar and 1 inch (25.4mm) Nylon Bar $17 for both

 

[aznsx]

Aluminum vs Brass?

I haven't followed this, but if it involves an electrical connection point of any kind, un-plated/(bare) Al should be avoided like the plague. Nickel plated anything is usually cool. Speaking of cool, and just by the way, if one ever has very hi-temp electrical hardware applications, nickel-plated steel has outperformed everything else I've used (although yours is hopefully not a hi-temp case;-)