2aa on 2D and 3aa to 3D Maglites

I have a 2D and a 3D Maglite flashlights both on their original leds, and I want to use them with 2aa and 3aa rechargeable batteries that I already have (I have found the appropriate adapters and spacers. Will they work normal? (I dont mind the less runtime, I just dont want to destroy them).

I've put Eneloops in adapters in my 3D mag and it definitely doesn't break the light. That being said I found that it was sort of a waste of 3 eneloops. I hardly use the mag cause it's giant and dim compared to say my 16340 V11R which is about 5 times brighter and can fit in in one of the D batteries (almost). And when I thought about the benefits of the mag I realized it doesn't benefit from smaller rechargeable cells. The lack of weight is an immediate difference in a bad way for me, the balance was very different. But all that being said it won't break the light.

Yes, I have done it and still do it with some Eneloops too. My lights have Malkoff drop ins and the run times are not that swell for some reason in comparison to Energizer D's. I haven't run a factory LED on AA's yet.

Str8stroke said:

Yes, I have done it and still do it with some Eneloops too. My lights have Malkoff drop ins and the run times are not that swell for some reason in comparison to Energizer D's. I haven't run a factory LED on AA's yet.

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The Eneloop is a pretty good AA. At reasonable current draws you'll get 2000mAh out of them. But that's about 30% of a D cell's capacity. A quality D cell Alkaline will give you about 5000-8000mAh, depending on the current draw. So you'd get about 2.5+ the runtime on Alkalines. You can easily fit 3 AA Eneloops in parallel in a D-size shell (6000mAh), and in some mags you can fit 4.

Thanks for the replies guys. The aa batteries I have are actually eneloops (1900mah I believe) and I understand that the runtime is way less than any D cell. Its gonna cost me nothing however since I will be eliminating the D's purchase forever. Pit56, I will take under consideration what you said about the difference in weight.. now that I think of it, the weight to size ratio will be kinda awkward to say at least. It is just I hate seeing my big maglites (2 2d and 2 3Ds - mostly gifts from family) sitting unused and having all the time the fear of leaking alkalines on them.

Thanks for all your words guys, you really helped me out a lot!

If you are going to use the one AA for one D adapter, no problem. If you are going to use the three AA to one D, make sure you get the PARALLEL adapter. There are also SERIAL adapters out there that would definitely blow your light's mind, no matter incan or LED. Three times the voltage tends to do that to lamp assemblies.

IIRC the 3D mag is rated to run about 80 hours of course with a continually diminishing lumen output.

I recently did a 72 hour runtime test on a single emitter XB-D lantern. I ran it on 3Ds, and then for comparison, on three single Duraloops.
You might find it interesting and of value to compare to the 3D maglight.

You're right about the 80 hour runtime Poppy, I tested at about 72 hours with 3 Duracell D's, ~9 hours with Eneloop XX's in AA to D Adapters, and ~7.5 hours with standard Eneloops in adapters. In case anybody wants that info.

There is also the option of using true D size NiMH in their high capacity versions which have 8,000 to 11,000 mAh capacity and are available in LSD versions. Best priced of the LSD high capacity batteries are Tenergy Centuras. By test they are also supposed to be the best larger than AA LSD NiMH batteries for current delivery and life expectancy. I have these and a number of three AA in parallel to D adapters which give quite reasonable capacity and run time when loaded with 3 high capacity AA LSD batteries. Two of those loaded in my Fenix TK50 give about 3 hours continuous run time at maximum output.

Generally speaking I avoid leaving alkaleak batteries in anything. They have lousy current delivery and life in high drain devices like the Fenix TK50 and TK60 lights and cannot even run the TK70 in Turbo mode normally. I would expect them to have very short lives in the new high output 500+ Lumens D cell Maglites until major output droop occurs plus they are notorious equipment destroyers due to leaking electrolyte which from Alkaline batteries is hygroscopic and very corrosive. To me they are obsolete technology for ANY high current draw device. In C and D sizes they are one of few choices as the alternatives are carbon zinc batteries, worse than alkalines in most respects, and NiMH batteries. AA Energizer Ultimate Lithiums in adapters are another possibility but too expensive for most people.

thepit56 said:

You're right about the 80 hour runtime Poppy, I tested at about 72 hours with 3 Duracell D's, ~9 hours with Eneloop XX's in AA to D Adapters, and ~7.5 hours with standard Eneloops in adapters. In case anybody wants that info.

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How bright was the light at the end of the 72 hours? Remember that ANSI run times are listed as to 10% of initial output at the 30 seconds of run time mark. I would expect the Eneloops to have shorter run time but to hold output brightness much better, particularly if run in multiple AA adapters rather than using the 1 AA for 1 D type adapters. AA to D adapters are available in 1, 2 or 3 AA into 1 D versions.

Richwouldnt said:

How bright was the light at the end of the 72 hours? Remember that ANSI run times are listed as to 10% of initial output at the 30 seconds of run time mark. I would expect the Eneloops to have shorter run time but to hold output brightness much better, particularly if run in multiple AA adapters rather than using the 1 AA for 1 D type adapters. AA to D adapters are available in 1, 2 or 3 AA into 1 D versions.

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The LED in the Ozark Trail 300 lumen lantern and the 3D Mag are both small die Cree LEDs, and should have similar output and run-times. IE, one will not be more than 10 more efficient that the other. Therefore, since both are NOT regulated, you should expect similar output and runtimes, especially since it has been noted that run-times are similar.

Here are the estimated outputs for the Ozark Trail lantern (pulled from the thread I linked to above.)

On 3D Alkalines:
Initially the lantern pulled 700 ma high, and 390 ma low. ~210 lumens, and 130 lumens.
At the end of the first hour it was down to about 175 lumens
And at the end of the fifth hour it was just above 120 lumens.
For the seventh through seventeenth hours it was between 100 and 110 lumens.
Hours 18-28 it was between 80-95 lumens.
Hours 29-40 were between 70-80 lumens.
Hours 40-55 were between 40-63 Lumens
I quit at 72 hours where it was still running and putting out (a guess of) 10-20 lumens.

On 3 single Duraloops:
See here for more information.
It was pretty steady @ about 128 lumens for the first three hours
by the end of the fifth, it was below 100
by the end of the 7th, it was DONE @ about 20 lumens

I finally got the 2AA-to-D adapters and all my D maglites are loaded with AA eneloops! Thanks for all the info!

I have another question to ask, so in order not to open another thread.. I have a 4Cell MagLED upgrade (official Maglite). Can I use that bulb in the 3D Maglite body running on 3 Cells? (actually 3 x 2AA Cells now). Will I damage the bulb or will it be operating undervolt with a dimmer light output with a prolonged runtime (can someone estimate the lumens at this setup - if of course it works this way)?

danny,
take a look at the packaging. I seem to recall that the maglight led upgrade for a four cell will run on 3 or four cells, maybe more. If so, it might run at the same or reduced brightness on three cells, but in either case it will run for a shorter period of time because there is an overall lower total capacity of the batteries.