Nite-Ize module - regulated or not?

I tried the Nite-Ize module in both 3D and 4D mags to try to determine how much lumens varied. 4D was very marginally brighter.

But the point here is, I tried fresh Alkalines and also mostly-discharged NiMH and with the latter, the light was much dimmer than with the fresh Alkalines. And it's already dim to begin with, but the difference was obivous.

This raises the question, is Nite-Ize module for D mags not regulated like the MagLED? Or is that a bad conclusion?

Based on some current consumption measurements with 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 D-cells, I suspect that it's regulated - but only above about 4 volts. With 2 cells (3.6 volts), it's much dimmer, and consumes about 3 times as much current (yikes!) as with 3, 4 or 5 cells. The current consumption (and brightness) is roughly the same with 3, 4 or 5 cells - which implies that some sort of regulation is present.

Interestingly, it still produces some light with just one cell (considerably below the normal operating voltage of a white LED), so there is apparently some voltage increasing circuitry inside.

I'm surprised that nobody has torn one open yet to see what's actually inside...

How big is this gizmo? Less than 23mm diameter? Will it handle 9volts from 6xAAA?

It's advertised as working with 6 Ds so 6 AAAs should be fine. I've ran one off of 3 CR123s and it worked fine.

It's the size of a Maglite bulb.

That'd be this gizmo?

I'm looking for something for this flashlight I'm custom building. I'd prefer something in a simgle LED or module that can be focussed with a lens or other optics.

Yeah, that's the one.

With mine, something is loose in it when I shake it, but it appears to work just fine, meaning dim as usual for 150 hours. China's finest.