D-cell Alkalines... no longer worth it? Obsolete vs. other batteries?

[Lark Hunter]

4D to 6D Maglites make a good club.

The one that I always kept behind the seat in my truck is now only useful as a club. I'm not sure what it is about Maglites that makes alkaline batteries want to vomit- at least one of them develops bulimia shortly after I screw the tailcap on. every. single. time.

 

[MidnightDistortions]

I picked up a bunch of EBL NiMH D cells several years ago (along with a few C's) and am still using them happily. I think one has died in that time but the rest are going strong.

Still have a stock of alkaline D's that I'm keeping around... guess I'm hedging my bets in case there is a massive power outage plus months of cloudy weather for the solar plus no gas available plus burning through the 20 gallons of stabilized gas I keep in reserve.

Statistically it seems more likely that the alkalines will all leak and die before something like that happens.

Oh that's good. I don't use my D cells often enough but I try to check on them from time to time, run them in the Maglites, toss them in the charger then toss back to the Mags at least once a year.

I got a few D alkalines around. Seems ok they're the Wallgreen brand. I got spare AA NiMHs and the adapters so if I need to, I can toss them in a Mag. I got several of the AA goal zero charger units, I can plug into either of my cars to recharge any AA or AAA batteries as well but that's if i ever experience a power outage longer than 2 weeks. Though if the weather is hot I'll be charging the AAs regularly.

 

[Dave_H]

I do the same thing. Though I don't use many alkalines in my own stuff, a number of the large commercial facilities I've worked at use them in large quantities. It's not too uncommon to find, say, one bad cell in a device that takes three, so you've actually got two that are still usable. I'll match these by voltage, set them aside... I use the ~1.4v ones in low draw stuff like remote controls, and the ~1.5v ones as new.

OK, I figured there are some others out there who do this, just nobody I find locally.

People who work in hospitals have mentioned a rule than alkalines can only be used once, whatever that means; one session of a particular device, or certain number of continuous hours. The cells then must be discarded. Often they are only lightly used. Not sure what uses alkalines in hospitals or care homes these days and how much D's get used; devices I've seen use Li-ion.

Dave

 

[TPA]

On one of the aircraft I fly, the "emergency power supply" is a pack loaded with 28 Duracell AA batteries. Very user-serviceable, but by law (certification) I can only use Duracells in there. Thankfully with the latest panel upgrade, that emergency system is no-more. The idea of being up-the-creek and only 28 AA batteries powering my artificial horizon indicator and minimal lighting seemed quite dodgy to me.

 

[Scotty321]

OK, I figured there are some others out there who do this, just nobody I find locally.

People who work in hospitals have mentioned a rule than alkalines can only be used once, whatever that means; one session of a particular device, or certain number of continuous hours. The cells then must be discarded. Often they are only lightly used. Not sure what uses alkalines in hospitals or care homes these days and how much D's get used; devices I've seen use Li-ion.

Dave

The medical facility where I work uses D cells for paper towel dispensers and hand sanitizer dispensers.

Batteries in general (not just alkaline) in a hospital setting could be anything. Batteries are used from anything from soap dispensers, digital thermometers, portable translator devices, to portable ventricular assist devices (patients waiting for a heart transplant).

Generally speaking, in the medical field batteries are considered hazardous and have protocols for their use, storage, and disposal.

 

[Monocrom]

Generally speaking, in the medical field batteries are considered hazardous and have protocols for their use, storage, and disposal.

Wish other industries treated batteries the same way.

 

[N8N]

there are holders 3AA to D, 3 cells will give you plenty of current, even more than 1D can do, the only limit is resistance of the adapter, capacity wise it will be about 70-80% of a D.
Or use rechargeable, either nimh, or 1.5v li ion, thou they are about 6-10 bucks a piece.
you can get D for 1,5-2 bucks a piece if you buy large quantities, mcmaster sells a case of 72 for $111, however shipping is not free.

That's what I do as well. I have some semi-vintage flashlights that I've used these adapters in and used drop-in LED "bulbs" with NiMH cells. I hang them near doors as emergency lights, and also they make handy containers for charged up AA (D size) or AAA (C size) cells. I posted about them years ago when you had to order them direct from China; today you can get them from Amazon.

 

[gurdygurds]

I keep these handy.

Eveready General Purpose LED Flashlight 2 Pack EVEL152S - The Home Depot

The Eveready General Purpose LED Flashlight is a great lighting solution for basic needs. With bright, energy-efficient LED technology that is up to 5X brighter than ordinary LED technology, users receive

www.homedepot.com

Along with Maglite's.

And US made Rayovac C and D cells from WalMart or Home Depot

Anyone tried 3xaa eneloops via adapters in these lights? Curious what the runtime would be vs D cell alkaline. I just came across prob 15 of them in a box at work that no one seems to care about.

 

[bykfixer]

Anyone tried 3xaa eneloops via adapters in these lights? Curious what the runtime would be vs D cell alkaline. I just came across prob 15 of them in a box at work that no one seems to care about.

Those are 1D lights. Three eneloops would probably fry it.

 

[idleprocess]

Those are 1D lights. Three eneloops would probably fry it.

The common 3xAA parallel adapter (first hit - can offer neither up or down recommendation) should be fine.

 

[orbital]

+

yep, you can get either parallel or series adapters.

With the series ones, you can get a higher voltage/higher Watt led drop-in for a Mag.
series= one batt up, 2 batts down in the adapter

 

[orbital]

+

fyi:

had to go test because I forgot,, the 3AA~D series adapter is 4.5V
So, for a 2D mag you can get a high output 9V drop-in using 2x series adapters

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lumencraft.com