Maglite 4 D cell ML300L

[xxo]

Recently got one and it seems pretty nice, a little brighter/longer throwing than the other ML300's with crazy long run time on "eco" mode. I do wish that Mag offered a hard ano'd grenade gripped LX version of the 4D ML300 like they do for the 2 and 3 cell variety.

Now I have to find a way to feed it. Alkalines are what it was designed to use, but they leak and generally suck when it comes to performance. Alkalines do allow the extended run times on the lowest mode but they generally can't power thee light at full power once they are run down a bit, plus they are heavy and kind of wasteful/ expensive if you use the light a lot because they are single use. And did I mention that alkalines leak?

Full capacity (generally listed at 8000-11000 mAh) NiMH's are an option. Run times in high mode are good and they can handle the current draw. Most of the better ones are low self discharge-ish and will hold a charge for up to about 6 months before they are due for a recharge. These big D cell NiMH need a charger that is built to fit them and pushes enough current to charge them in a reasonable amount of time.

AA Eneloops in 3 AA to D cell parallel adapters are another option – better when it comes to low self discharge but the loading and unloading the adapters can be a bit tedious and you are left with 12 AA cells to recharge.

Unfortunately, being a 4 cell light, the 4D ML300 will over discharge NiMH's even when discharged well below 1 Volt the light will still run fairly bright.

I tried a single 26650 in an adapter and it was unable to power the light at full brightness because of the lower Voltage.

Next up was two protected 26650's in a 3D printed adapter. The Voltage with two Li-ions is about 2 Volts more than 4 alkaline D's so there was some potential risk of blowing the LED, but luckily it did not and my light seems to run them just fine.

Anyone have a 4D ML300? And what are you feeding it?

 

[ampdude]

I would go with the NIMH D cells. Quality version of course, not re-wrapped AA's like certain manufactures are known to do. I'm sure there are some cheap chargers that can fit the D cells. I'd keep some lithium AA's in 3 cell adapters for backup when you need longer runtime.

 

[hsa]

These batteries

Tenergy 10100 D-cell (4PK) 10000mAh 1.2V Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) Button Top Batteries - Shrink Pack of 4

Each cell can be recharged up to 1,000 times, saving you 999 batteries worth of costs down the line.Designed for high-drain devices, making it ideal for powering radios, boom boxes, remote control cars, and more.NiMH chemistry suffers no bad memory effect so you can charge whenever, however...

www.batteryjunction.com

With this charger

Nitecore Intellicharge i2 2-Channel Smart Charger for Li-ion, Ni-Cd, & NiMH Batteries - 2016 Edition

2-bay charger that can refuel two different batteries simultaneouslySmart technology automatically detects chemistry and voltage and displays on an easy-to-read LED screenAutomatic current selection based on battery capacity to avoid overchargingCompatible with Li-ion, Ni-Cd, and NiMH chemistries

www.batteryjunction.com

is all I can come up with so far.

 

[The Hawk]

I bought a 4D ML300 last year. I bought it mainly as a light for traveling. I keep the Duracell Alkaline D cell batteries out of it until I need it in case they were to leak. I have used it a couple times and am very impressed with it. Even in Eco mode it has enough light to illuminate a good size room. Earlier this year our power was out for five days. It was nice to know that I had this in my inventory.

 

[M@elstrom]

I would go with the NIMH D cells. Quality version of course

+1 on the NiMH D cells, best investment I ever made for my modded P7 Maglite, I use an older 4 bay NiCD/NiMH charger as my Nitecore Intelli-charger overheated my AA NiMHs so I never risked the D cells...

 

[ampdude]

+1 on the NiMH D cells, best investment I ever made for my modded P7 Maglite, I use an older 4 bay NiCD/NiMH charger as my Nitecore Intelli-charger overheated my AA NiMHs so I never risked the D cells...

Was going to mention that I've never been a fan of Nightcore anything myself.

 

[M@elstrom]

Was going to mention that I've never been a fan of Nightcore anything myself.

I can understand that, their intelli-charger works well for conventional Li-ion and IMR cells but I suspect the severely reduce capacity of the AA's resulted from being overheated (although to be fair they were old) YMMV

 

[Sjvalleydave]

These batteries

Tenergy 10100 D-cell (4PK) 10000mAh 1.2V Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) Button Top Batteries - Shrink Pack of 4

Each cell can be recharged up to 1,000 times, saving you 999 batteries worth of costs down the line.Designed for high-drain devices, making it ideal for powering radios, boom boxes, remote control cars, and more.NiMH chemistry suffers no bad memory effect so you can charge whenever, however...

www.batteryjunction.com

With this charger

Nitecore Intellicharge i2 2-Channel Smart Charger for Li-ion, Ni-Cd, & NiMH Batteries - 2016 Edition

2-bay charger that can refuel two different batteries simultaneouslySmart technology automatically detects chemistry and voltage and displays on an easy-to-read LED screenAutomatic current selection based on battery capacity to avoid overchargingCompatible with Li-ion, Ni-Cd, and NiMH chemistries

www.batteryjunction.com

is all I can come up with so far.

Amazon carries the Tenergy lineup and at a better price....fyi

 

[xxo]

Thanks for all of the feedback. I think I will stick with the 2X protected 26650 set up, I don't like the risk of over discharging NiMH's at least the 26650's have low Voltage protection.

 

[hsa]

Well, Maglite doesn't seem to be bothered by overvolting their own ML 25 so I guess it will be all right. Good luck and keep us informed.

 

[alpg88]

If you are getting tenergy, go for centura, or premiums, those in the first link seem to be a replacement for blue wrapped D, which I tried and did not have good experience, who knows how good their replacement is, the two i mentioned i tried, had no issues.

For a stock maglite that is made for alkalines cells, 2aa-D holder would work, i use them in 6d, saves a lot on weight, you can put alkaline AAs in there, even if they leak, they are sealed in the adapter. you'll just have to do someting about the spring it is too wide at the end and wont make a contact, you'll nee to either bend the end or use a smaller spring,

There is a way to use AA with no adapters, you can fit 4 side by side in a D maglite, but you will need to make contact discs, i did it before few times, it actually saves you on weight, 4AA are around 100 grams, 1D is 160. as far as capacity, in case of nimh, you are not losing much. it also solves leaking issue, thou it wont stop cells from leaking, there will be minimal damage to the light, and you will be able to remove cells, they wont fuse with the light like D cells do.

 

[hsa]

The new Eneloop AA to D adapters work in D cell Maglites. They changed the design. I use them in a 4D mag.

 

[MidnightDistortions]

I bought some Nimh Sunlabz 10,000mAh cells back in 2015. They still have over 85% from discharging them at 2 amps. I originally did a break in with the C9000 and the only trouble it gave me is I had to cycle one cell a few times to get them to work. They work just fine in my D Maglites.

 

[IMA SOL MAN]

I have a 4D ML300L. Just got from ML last week. Currently have an 8 pack of RAYOVACS from Walmart sitting next to it in my storm shelter, ready to load. I did play with it a bit before staging it, and was also wondering about rechargeables. But right now, I have other RC flashlights for everyday use. I figure if there is an emergency, alkaleaks will be trucked in for the general public, so I am not going to worry about rechargeables. Besides, if the power is out, recharging will be a problem.

 

[knucklegary]

In the event of prolonged outages you can charge using auto adapters, as long as you have plenty of gasoline.
I keep a good supply of Rayovac on hand. Some of the, blue/silver wrapper, cells are made in USA.. Knock on wood, so far I haven't had any leakage issues in storage or loaded in my Mags.

 

[ilikeguns40]

+1 for Rayovac. I've had excellent results with a 4 pack I bought from Walmart years ago. Still going strong and holding capacity in storage. I despise Amazon but unfortunately some things are hard to beat, like their rechargeable batteries. They are a great bang for your buck, been having great results with them so far.

 

[IMA SOL MAN]

Going through my stash of D cells, I found 5 Energizer brand NiMh cells. I popped four of them in an old Radio Shack Ni-Cad charger, and juiced them up. Surprisingly, they took a charge! Popped them in the 4D ML300L, and Bob's your uncle, it works! So, with no danger of leaking, I'm leaving them in the flashlight, with the cap backed off a bit, to avoid the parasitic drain the ML300's have. I may get some more NiMhs for it, but probably not more than one more set. Right now this light isn't my daily driver, so it won't get a lot of use unless there is a power outage or other emergency. I'll probably stock up on some more ROV alkaleaks though, since they are advertised as having a 10 year shelf life, and I have other devices that use them. I haven't set a target goal of how many sets to get yet. They aren't exactly cheap! I looked at the ROV run charts on ROV's website for these Walmart ROV alkaleaks vs their new Fusion, and the difference in performance is negligible-IMHO, not worth paying more for.

 

[bykfixer]

Back in the day the rechargeable Energizers didn't hold a charge very long. Don't know the chemistry but essentialy they were aa batteries in a D size shell. Before eneloops I used Sony batteries for cameras but again those didn't hold a charge very long either.

I keep US made WalMart or Home Depot bought Rayovac's stockpiled for my Maglites. But my ML25's keep eneloops in adapters or Power Ex cells.

Tenergy makes some D cell's. Power X and Imedian by Maha are good batteries but I don't see any D size available.

If I were going to depend on a 4D Mag ML300 I'd stash an 8 pack of Rayovac's next to it and a small 1 cell light like a Solitaire loaded with an L91 taped to the package so it could provide light to install batteries in darkness.

 

[IMA SOL MAN]

Back in the day the rechargeable Energizers didn't hold a charge very long. Don't know the chemistry but essentialy they were aa batteries in a D size shell. Before eneloops I used Sony batteries for cameras but again those didn't hold a charge very long either.

I keep US made WalMart or Home Depot bought Rayovac's stockpiled for my Maglites. But my ML25's keep eneloops in adapters or Power Ex cells.

Tenergy makes some D cell's. Power X and Imedian by Maha are good batteries but I don't see any D size available.

If I were going to depend on a 4D Mag ML300 I'd stash an 8 pack of Rayovac's next to it and a small 1 cell light like a Solitaire loaded with an L91 taped to the package so it could provide light to install batteries in darkness.

Yes, as light as these cells are, I figured they contained an AA cell inside. They are what they are--a sunk cost--I already had them.

As far as buying more NiMH D cells...I don't know. I'd like to find some that are made in the USA, but I doubt there are any, unless Panasonic opens an Eneloop plant here.

I already have an 8 pack of Walmart ROV D cells stored, with an old S&W LED/incan combo light next to it, loaded with L91's, and an extra set of L91's in the pouch on the side, so I have that covered. I would like to get Solitaries for my key chain and all the family members. Maybe later this summer.

bykfixer, I think we think alike!

 

[xxo]

NiMH Energizer D's usually have a sub-C battery inside - similar capacity to a AA eneloop Pro but with much worse self discharge.

rayovac and duracell use basically the same set up.