Blue Tenergy D Nimh Cells Update

[chewy78]

Well i have been using some of those blue Tenergy d nimh cells that i had. I consider them more like 8000mah than 10,000mah capacity batteries. Did a capacity test on them. They got charged on my Maha MH-C808 at 2 amps and discharged on 4 Opus BT-C3400s at 700 mah. I am getting mostly between 7400-7800 and a few just above 7000mah. I have almost a dozen of the blue batteries. With the the lower mah ones im going to cycle a little more to see what they get.

I have been using the best 6 of them in my adventure sport flashlight modded 6 d mag lite. 2500 lumen drop in that i got 1-2 years ago. they seam to work okay in it considering i got them on sale at a good price.

 

[CelticCross74]

Very interesting OP. I also have many of the blue 10000mah Tenergy D NiMHs as well as the 10000mah Tenergy Premium D NiMhs and I also have the very expensive Maha Powerex brand D NiMH's. There is zero performance difference between the blue Tenergy D NiMHs and the Premium D NiMHs. I looked up the PDF tech specs for both those cells and to my surprise the numbers for both are exactly the same. What you are paying extra for with the Premiums is the fancy glossy wrapper. The Maha Powerex D NiMHs are the best D NiMHs I have ever used. For some reason these Powerex cells weigh what feels like twice as much as either of the Tenergy cells and for some reason are also roughly 1-2mm thicker. I searched for the PDF tech specs for the Powerex cell but could never find one. I charge these cells on my big 8 bay Maha NiMH charger(cannot remember the model number). The Tenergys take 2-3 hours to fully charge from depletion. The Maha cells literally take 10-12 hours. When I first got the Powerex cells they took 30 HOURS to fully charge on the same charger. The Powerex D NiMHs are no joke. Maha has just released the latest version of their D NiMH with a 12000mah rating. Going by my own experience with Powerex cells these new cells are more likely just above 13000mah. The Powerex cells I have are rated 11000mah but after even more research I learned that Maha claimed those cells were in reality closer to 12000mah but listed them at 11000mah for marketing purposes. Listing them at for example 11762mah would just confuse people is their reasoning.

 

[fivemega]

Instead of using 6 "D" size, why not using 2x26650 in 2D body?
Less capacity but same voltage, LSD, much shorter and less weight for easy to carry.

 

[CelticCross74]

I have many many full size D Mags. Of course all of which are modified in some way or another. I use 2x26650 with custom cut PVC to fit the cells in a 4000 lumen 2xD size Mag it works out very well. It is very interesting that the new gen XML2 full size Mags are designed to run best off of alkaline cells specifically. They did an amazing job with the very basic but functional driver in the new gens. Full output for 15 hours with the 3xD new gen XML2? Mag knocked the new gen big sizers out of the park. Use alkalines in the new gens I have.

The 3 Malkoff full size Mag drop ins are designed to run best off of D NiMH's and they do. You can use alkalines but it likely will not last long. I recently got a new pair of FeiLong 32650 6000mah lithium ion cells. These things took just as long to charge as the bid D NiMH Powerex cells did which is a good thing.

 

[chewy78]

Instead of using 6 "D" size, why not using 2x26650 in 2D body?
Less capacity but same voltage, LSD, much shorter and less weight for easy to carry.

because im not going to buy more batteries just to use 26650s with this drop in once in a great while. plus this thread is about me using my nimh d cells and not any other batteries.

 

[chewy78]

I have many many full size D Mags. Of course all of which are modified in some way or another. I use 2x26650 with custom cut PVC to fit the cells in a 4000 lumen 2xD size Mag it works out very well. It is very interesting that the new gen XML2 full size Mags are designed to run best off of alkaline cells specifically. They did an amazing job with the very basic but functional driver in the new gens. Full output for 15 hours with the 3xD new gen XML2? Mag knocked the new gen big sizers out of the park. Use alkalines in the new gens I have.

The 3 Malkoff full size Mag drop ins are designed to run best off of D NiMH's and they do. You can use alkalines but it likely will not last long. I recently got a new pair of FeiLong 32650 6000mah lithium ion cells. These things took just as long to charge as the bid D NiMH Powerex cells did which is a good thing.

alkalines are a waist of money, seen them leak , not rechargable, and are not economical in the long run for me. if i ever get a 5000 lumen dropin i might get a second set of centura lsd cells for it that i can also use in my radio.

 

[fivemega]

I use 2x26650 with custom cut PVC to fit the cells in a 4000 lumen 2xD size Mag it works out very well.

Very smart choice. :twothumbs

 

[CelticCross74]

lol thanks Mega. I actually wanted to just use the new FeiLong 32650 cells I got. It took an awfully long time to find legit FeiLongs. Turns out the huge 32650's positive end which is a raised protrusion is actually just to big to correctly connect to the conducting surface at the bottom of the Mag switch. So...it uses said PVC pipe and 2x26650's lol....