Maglite 2D much dimmer vs 4C

I just received a new Maglite 2D and 4C. Never ever have Maglite before so this is new to me. I placed four 1.2V AA Ni Mh into four C adaptors and then inserted them into the 4C Maglite. It lights up fairly well. Quite acceptable brightness.

I then placed those same 1.2V AA into D adaptors and placed two into the Maglite 2D. To my surprise the beam is fairly dim. It is probably not even 25% of the brightness of the 4C.

Is this normal?

Thanks.

yes this is normal, Really low voltage bulbs tend to be on the low end of the efficiency spectrum for incans. The 4 cell bulb is about double the wattage compared to the 2 cell bulb, but at the same time, is probably 30-50% more efficient.

Ok, if that is the case what can I do to increase the luminal output of the 2D?

Can I increase the voltage supply to the bulb (without blowing it) and hopefully increase the light output? If this is the way to go any suggestion on how to increase the voltage? Maybe get those 3 AA to D adaptor that produce 3.6V plus a blank D cell ?

6AA cells in series in an adapter/s, running a 6 cell mag xenon bulb. Will be brighter than your 4C in stock form

Or upgrade to a glass lens, aluminum reflector, and run a Pelican Big D spotlight bulb. (it drops right into the stock mag switch tower). This is called the "ROP" (roar of the pelican)... There is a link in the "threads of interest" for ROP building with more information.

There are MANY other potential mods to increase the output of a 2D mag light, some are expensive, some not too bad. Really just depends on how bright you want, in contrast with how much runtime you want...

A 6AA adapter, series wired, will run a 6 cell mag bulb just as long as 2AA cells in AA>D adapters will run a 2 cell bulb, but will just be WAY brighter.

It would be a nice entry into incandescent mag modifications.

Cheap blaster: two Kaidomain 3AA-D adapters and a Magnum Star 6D bulb. This will put you comfortably into the lumen range of Surefire's pocket-rockets. You'll spend $3 on the adapters, and $2.50 on the bulb.

However, the ROP will be like holding the Sun in your hands compared to even the cheap blaster mod. If you've never held a hotwire (sounds like you haven't), consider it as a pocket-sized car headlight. Nice thing about this mod is it comes with two bulbs, a low-beam and a high-beam that gives it a lot of flexibility for things in its class.

kirby said:

Ok, if that is the case what can I do to increase the luminal output of the 2D?

Can I increase the voltage supply to the bulb (without blowing it) and hopefully increase the light output? If this is the way to go any suggestion on how to increase the voltage? Maybe get those 3 AA to D adaptor that produce 3.6V plus a blank D cell ?

Click to expand...

I love 6AA>2D; there are many possibilities. My 2D Maglite hosts 6AA with an overdriven 5-cell krypton, which produces the same output as a 6-cell xenon. Xenon is a newer type, krypton is installed in Maglite by default.

The target was roughly 1.5m taken by Canon PowerShot S3 IS 1/320s F2.7 ISO200 daylight.





The target was roughly 40m taken by Canon PowerShot S3 IS 1.6s F3.5 ISO800 daylight.

You can flip that tailspring over and put 3 C cells into the 2D. Then buy the right bulb. The super cheap skate option!

Sgt. LED said:

You can flip that tailspring over and put 3 C cells into the 2D. Then buy the right bulb. The super cheap skate option!

Click to expand...

3 C cells won't fit in at all even with the tail spring flip over. The current bulb seems to be able to run on three 1.2V batteries but I am not sure how long it would last. It ran on one 18650 at 4.1 V too. I have only lit it for a few second.