New 4 D Cell Maglite ML 300

[CelticCross74]

The new XML2 full sized Mags are specifically designed to run on ALKALINES! Yes you can use rechargeables but guess what? Output will actually drop and so will run times. As for heat sinking the SIZE of the C and D Mags alone is GREAT heat sinking! Yes it is! Sure it is not perfect but better than average. I will wait for the "up-armored" ML300LX 4D version of this light. This new 4D is like the ONLY one I do not have yet lol. Looks great to me! Yes I have the redonkulous 6D cell ML300L. Runtime is a very very long time. Wish there was an ML300LX version of that one as well. The LX variants actually are that much better in my opinion. A touch more output, awesome grenade grip texturing on the thicker aluminum body and awesome thick anodizing to boot.

The new XML2 C and D cell Mags are still the BEST value high output LED lights ever in my opinion despite their size. Even WITH new custom ground glass in all of mine the value factor is still through the roof..

 

[Lynx_Arc]

NiMH cells carry a max of 1.2 volts while alkaline have 1.5. No big deal or a 2D light, you're only talking .6 volts. Go up to a 4D and you're talking 1.2v. This may or may not be outside the range of the driver on the light.

Actually off the charger Nimh are about 1.4v or slightly higher and measure about 1.34 or so after sitting for a month and under a load sometimes hold higher voltage than alkalines. The main reason Nimh tend to not run as long is because of initial capacity and lights that the current demand drops to very low as the light slowly dims over time. Regulated lights using high amperage loads can actually favor nimh batteries. Thus off the charger the difference may only be about 0.2v. The huge advantage Nimh have over alkalines is cost in use over time and NO leakage damage risks. IMO it doesn't matter what brand of alkalines and how you handle and treat them they still have a chance of leaking on you. There is no "trick" in avoiding alkalines leaking the only "trick" is to be vigilant in checking on them in devices such that the damage from them leaking is minimized.

 

[CelticCross74]

Alright! Very well said Lynx Arc!

Most modern day Duracell and Energizer D cells are in my opinion FAR better than alkaline Ds have really ever been. But of course they are indeed still alkaline. DO keep an eye on them. Of course one can always get some cheap AA to D cell adapters and a pack of Energizer L91 Ultimate Lithium cells which I have had nothing but amazing experience with. NO you are not going to get anywhere NEAR the run time of 4 15,000mah(on average per alkaline D cell)out of 4 3,000mah AA L91's but you will pretty much get a very good and cheap way to crank this new big Mag up pretty much "all the way" for a night or 3 of use. I have actually had L91's come out of the package up to a ridiculous 1.7volts. These L91 lithiums pretty much crank all out until they just are flat out.

 

[LEDAdd1ct]

I would love to see (have wished for this for some time) an L91 chemistry lithium in the "D" size.

That would be killer!

 

[CelticCross74]

LEDAddict so would I! It would also be EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE. Wow let us see here hmm...4xL91's is D size(I think)that is still only 12,000mah vs 15,000 per D cell for an alkaline. It would CRANK though! Unfortunately they would also be like TEN DOLLARS per CELL. There ARE 4xAA to D adapters out there. Kind of hard to find vs the 1,2 and 3xAA adapters but I have seen them for sale before.

That HUGE of a lithium cell? Energizer would really have to roll up their sleeves and come up with a flawless sefety venting system.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

I have actually had L91's come out of the package up to a ridiculous 1.7volts. These L91 lithiums pretty much crank all out until they just are flat out.

I've measured them up to 1.81v myself but meters vary.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

LEDAddict so would I! It would also be EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE. Wow let us see here hmm...4xL91's is D size(I think)that is still only 12,000mah vs 15,000 per D cell for an alkaline. It would CRANK though! Unfortunately they would also be like TEN DOLLARS per CELL. There ARE 4xAA to D adapters out there. Kind of hard to find vs the 1,2 and 3xAA adapters but I have seen them for sale before.

That HUGE of a lithium cell? Energizer would really have to roll up their sleeves and come up with a flawless sefety venting system.

If Sam's club can sell L91's for $1.11 in bulk I figure a D sized lithium primary would be about 5 L91s in capacity for about $6 which IMO too closely approaches the cost of LSD NIMH D cells.

 

[CelticCross74]

Interesting. I thought Sams Club went out of business? They sure did here. A D sized Energizer Ultimate Lithium cell. There may actually be some legal red tape preventing such a thing maybe. Yes I believe you are correct a D sized L91 would be 5 AA's I think. Very expensive for non rechargeable though. I have had a LOT of fun with AA to D adapters with L91's that is for sure. They have made many of my old big Mags do things I did not know they could do lol...

 

[etc]

Output might drop due to lower voltage but NiMH better sustain heavy loads than Alkalines. IMO these 10,000 mAh cells are nice.

I doubt runtime would drop.

 

[night.hoodie]

Actually off the charger Nimh are about 1.4v or slightly higher ... Thus off the charger the difference may only be about 0.2v.

This is right, but it is cell abuse, very hard on the cell. Using NiMH (and Li-ion) immediately hot off the charger with no rest period vastly reduces cell life, stealing its ability to retain capacity or provide their typical amps. Please think of the children! Give your cells 10 minutes of rest after charging and before use, and after use and before charging. The self-discharge during a short rest period will be negligible, and your cells will last far longer through recharge and use cycles.

 

[bykfixer]

I've had ZERO Rayovacs leak since joining CPF.
Zero.

I leave 'em in vintage lights going back to the 1910's because I trust them that much. Lights that live in my work truck year round? Zero leaks.

Tony Mag re-invented a heat sync method for those 1000 lumen Mag Chargers. I'd suppose that tech is in this 4D.

 

[Lynx_Arc]

I've had ZERO Rayovacs leak since joining CPF.
Zero.

I leave 'em in vintage lights going back to the 1910's because I trust them that much. Lights that live in my work truck year round? Zero leaks.

Tony Mag re-invented a heat sync method for those 1000 lumen Mag Chargers. I'd suppose that tech is in this 4D.

I've seen Rayovac alkalines leaking brand new in packages in the stores before.

 

[RWT1405]

Still leery of leaky D batteries after losing a Mag to them years ago.

Consider yourself lucky, if you only lost one!

 

[bykfixer]

I've seen Rayovac alkalines leaking brand new in packages in the stores before.

Really?
I use the e-cells in lights made for ultimate lithiums with no issue beyond the shorter run time. My vintage lights use the carbon zinc kind for the slightly narrower girth. The new colored wrapping type of alkalines are in my AA EDC ensemble and some 3-4 year old gray wrapped ones in lights I've acquired in the last few years.

Oh and all my big Mags get them too along with a couple dozen California Cop Lights from the 70's and 80's. No leaks, nada, zilch in dozens of lights in each size available.

Now I've had lousy luck with copper tops and bunny's. Especially the ones supplied with Maglites. Horrible, those are.

 

[xxo]

Really?
I use the e-cells in lights made for ultimate lithiums with no issue beyond the shorter run time. My vintage lights use the carbon zinc kind for the slightly narrower girth. The new colored wrapping type of alkalines are in my AA EDC ensemble and some 3-4 year old gray wrapped ones in lights I've acquired in the last few years.

Oh and all my big Mags get them too along with a couple dozen California Cop Lights from the 70's and 80's. No leaks, nada, zilch in dozens of lights in each size available.

Now I've had lousy luck with copper tops and bunny's. Especially the ones supplied with Maglites. Horrible, those are.

I've had them all leak, Duracell, Energizer and Rayovac too, including a bunch or Rayovacac AA's that leaked in a unopened 24 or 30 cell multipack. Anything I don't want to get leaked on gets stored empty or with quality NiMH's or lithium cells.

 

[xxo]

LEDAddict so would I! It would also be EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE. Wow let us see here hmm...4xL91's is D size(I think)that is still only 12,000mah vs 15,000 per D cell for an alkaline. It would CRANK though! Unfortunately they would also be like TEN DOLLARS per CELL. There ARE 4xAA to D adapters out there. Kind of hard to find vs the 1,2 and 3xAA adapters but I have seen them for sale before.

That HUGE of a lithium cell? Energizer would really have to roll up their sleeves and come up with a flawless sefety venting system.

Prices on the L91 Energizers seem to have been coming down some of late and hopefully will come down some more whenever their patent runs out. If they could get the cost of lithium D'd down to around $4-$5 a piece it would be great!

But the market for D cells is not near as large as the market for AA's and AAA's and I am sure the battery manufactures make much more on the smaller cells than they do on D's. Alkaline D cells are not a bad deal compared to alkaline AA's: the D's have about 6X the capacity of AA's but usually don't cost 6X as much within the same brand. D's also do a little better under load than alkaline AA's, just because they are bigger, but all alkalines suck under higher loads, quickly losing capacity as the current draw goes up.

 

[lwknight]

I've had ZERO Rayovacs leak since joining CPF.
Zero.

I leave 'em in vintage lights going back to the 1910's because I trust them that much. Lights that live in my work truck year round? Zero leaks.

Tony Mag re-invented a heat sync method for those 1000 lumen Mag Chargers. I'd suppose that tech is in this 4D.

You Sir, are living on borrowed luck. I have put new batteries in a headlight and within 5 minutes seen the blue-grey acrid smoke coming out. Even that few seconds of exposure started corrosion on the contacts.

 

[gurdygurds]

Bykfixer has good flashlight karma 👍🏼

 

[bykfixer]

You Sir, are living on borrowed luck. I have put new batteries in a headlight and within 5 minutes seen the blue-grey acrid smoke coming out. Even that few seconds of exposure started corrosion on the contacts.

I've been playing with flashlights and other battery operated items since the 1960's. My first Johnny Lightning race track with a battery operated launcher got ruined by leaking C cells in about 1967 or so. I stopped counting the number of items lost to leaking alkalines decades ago. So I skoffed at a claim that modern Rayovacs don't leak. I bought some, tried them in a variety of items in adverse conditions and after a few months tossed any other brands I had laying around and installed Rayovacs.

To date none have leaked.

Meanwhile back to the 4D Maglite.....

 

[michiganstud]

Can someone please explain why maglite can build a 4 cell to use 4 D batteries to get 1,000 lumens, but won't upgrade the full size magcharger to be higher than 600 lumens!?