Rechargeable D Cells and Charger for Mag Lite LED

Doxiedad

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jul 3, 2009
Messages
55
Hi,
After doing a lot of reading on here I decided to get a Mag Lite 2D LED (the newer one with the Cree XP-E LED). I was able to score a pair from Lowes for $17.95 each.

I'd like to get about 4 decent rechargeable NiMh D cell batteries for it along with a charger. Don't need top of the line since I've only got ~$40 in the pair of flashlights.

I'd prefer a peak charger. Will not use a timed charger (old habits from my RC car days)

Ideally I'd like to spend about $60 on the set, or get 2 batteries and a decent charger, get the other 2 later.

For now I'm using whatever alkaline D cells I have, and I'm impressed. It does what I need it to do, afraid it's a gateway to bigger and better LOL.

I thought I liked my Romison RC-G2 II Q5 and Romison RC-N3 II Q5 that I got a couple of years ago after I discovered this site. The Mag has a much better quality feel and lots of light :)

Thanks for any input.
 

Chrisdm

Enlightened
Joined
Mar 10, 2011
Messages
917
The titanium innovations nimh charger is great, but its about $40 bucks. Battery junction was sold out last week, but i found one on amazon... battery junction has a good selection of nihm d cells. The accuevolution are the priciest but hold a charge the longest. Tenerys are much more affordable and have great capacity.
 

Robin24k

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Sep 8, 2009
Messages
2,029
Location
Washington, USA
I would say get a couple AA to D adapters and just use Eneloop AA's instead. It won't have as much capacity as a NiMH D cell, but it will be lighter, cost less, and be more useful (you can use AA's elsewhere too).

No matter what type of battery you choose, make sure they are quality low self-discharge NiMH cells. Regular NiMH cells will self-discharge within a couple months.
 

357mag1

Enlightened
Joined
Nov 21, 2009
Messages
677
Location
Chesapeake, VA
The titanium innovations nimh charger is great, but its about $40 bucks. Battery junction was sold out last week, but i found one on amazon... battery junction has a good selection of nihm d cells. The accuevolution are the priciest but hold a charge the longest. Tenerys are much more affordable and have great capacity.

Actually I would avoid the AccuEvolution D cells at all cost. They are quite pricey and the quality is gone. This has been confirmed by myself and several others.
The Tenergy cells seem to be about the best D option out there at this time. I've tested a bunch of D cells lately and none of the expensive cells can match the reasonably priced Tenergys.
 

Chrisdm

Enlightened
Joined
Mar 10, 2011
Messages
917
Actually I would avoid the AccuEvolution D cells at all cost. They are quite pricey and the quality is gone. This has been confirmed by myself and several others.
The Tenergy cells seem to be about the best D option out there at this time. I've tested a bunch of D cells lately and none of the expensive cells can match the reasonably priced Tenergys.

Well poop, I just bought a bunch of them... :(
 

Doxiedad

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jul 3, 2009
Messages
55
I would say get a couple AA to D adapters and just use Eneloop AA's instead. It won't have as much capacity as a NiMH D cell, but it will be lighter, cost less, and be more useful (you can use AA's elsewhere too).

No matter what type of battery you choose, make sure they are quality low self-discharge NiMH cells. Regular NiMH cells will self-discharge within a couple months.

I've got some eneloop AA. Just gotta find the adapters. I had some just gotta figure out where input them.

Are the tenergy LSD d cells pretty good then? How about the tenergy charger?
 

Doxiedad

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jul 3, 2009
Messages
55
The Tenergy cells seem to be about the best D option out there at this time. I've tested a bunch of D cells lately and none of the expensive cells can match the reasonably priced Tenergys.

Would that be the regular, premium, or LSD ones?
 

SamSpade

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Dec 19, 2011
Messages
3
I would say get a couple AA to D adapters and just use Eneloop AA's instead. It won't have as much capacity as a NiMH D cell, but it will be lighter, cost less, and be more useful (you can use AA's elsewhere too) ...

I do this now on my Maglite 2D LEDs. From about 8 hours runtime on D alkalines it's now down to 2-3 hrs on AA NiMH, but that just translates to 6 months and 2 months on my normal usage. Not bad considering I have lots of NiMH AA, and the NiMH D are 8x the price of Eneloops in my part of the world. Also got fed up with alkalines after a Duracell leaked in one.
 

357mag1

Enlightened
Joined
Nov 21, 2009
Messages
677
Location
Chesapeake, VA
Would that be the regular, premium, or LSD ones?

If they are going to set and not be used for months on end then you might want to get the LSD (Centura). All-Battery usually has them at a good price.

The Premium Tenergy D cells would be my choice for the highest capacity and maintaining higher voltage under load. I have some set for three months and they didn't seem to lose any more capacity than my good (Older batch) AccuEvolutions D cells.

You really can't go wrong with any of the Tenergy D cells.
 
Last edited:

Doxiedad

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jul 3, 2009
Messages
55
If they are going to set and not be used for months on end then you might want to get the LSD (Centura). All-Battery usually has them at a good price.

The Premium Tenergy D cells would be my choice for the highest capacity and maintaining higher voltage under load. I have some set for three months and they didn't seem to lose any more capacity than my good (Older batch) AccuEvolutions D cells.

You really can't go wrong with any of the Tenergy D cells.


Ok thanks, for some reason the premium are more than the Centura. Is that normal?
Looking at the 9688 tenergy charger to go with it.
 

357mag1

Enlightened
Joined
Nov 21, 2009
Messages
677
Location
Chesapeake, VA
Ok thanks, for some reason the premium are more than the Centura. Is that normal?
Looking at the 9688 tenergy charger to go with it.


If you buy the Premiums one at a time they have always been more expensive to my knowledge. If you get a bundle of four the Premiums end up being slighty less than two 2 packs of Centura.
I've tested the Centura quite extensively and even at 2amps draw they beat their stated capacity. The older AccuEvolutions didn't have as much capacity as the Centura though they claimed 10000mah and the new AccuEvolutions have about the same capacity as the Centura despite their claim.
Where the new AccuEvolutions fall short is under any kind of current draw their voltage falls dramatically lower than almost any other cell on the market. In a regulated light like the TK70 it causes the current draw to be about 1.5amps higher to maintain the same current to the LED which means your batteries don't last as long. Any Ican light will be noticeably dimmer if you use the new AccuEvolution cells in place of any other D cell. Their inability to maintain voltage under any kind of load provides less current to the bulb and a dimmer light.
 

Doxiedad

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jul 3, 2009
Messages
55
I'll probably go with the Centura. My eneloops have spoiled me to loving LSD batteries.
I can't imagine they would have trouble with my maglite.

Thanks for help
 

357mag1

Enlightened
Joined
Nov 21, 2009
Messages
677
Location
Chesapeake, VA
I'll probably go with the Centura. My eneloops have spoiled me to loving LSD batteries.
I can't imagine they would have trouble with my maglite.

Thanks for help

No problem, always glad to share what I have learned.
No D nimh cell on the market will have any trouble with your Maglite, not even the new AccuEvolutions as bad as they are.

I have one of the new 2D (134 Lumens) Maglite LEDs in front of me. Using two Centura cells that have been setting around for a week after being charged the current draw is 1120ma which equates to a runtime of over 7.5 hours using 8600mah as the capacity. I use 8600mah because that is what six of the Cetura D cells averaged when I tested them under a 2amp load.
 
Top