Brightest possible Maglite 6D mod with 1,2V cells?

Swedpat · Sep 20, 2009

A while ago I ordered a Malkoff P7 dropin to my Maglite 6D and became very satisfied with the performance. This light is quite a beast to carry around however, so I placed the dropin in a 3D using 6V MagCharger battery instead.

Therefore the 6D stands again "unarmed", and I don't know what to do with it. I wonder about what is the brightest possible mod, LED or incan, which can be used with 1,2V NiMh cells. I make the demand of at least one hour steady output.
Apologize if my specific desire is answered before in another thread, but it's just too much for me to read through everything to find out.

Regards, Patric

The Dane · Sep 20, 2009

Something like 5 x MCE/P-7 or 6V-35W (64430)

bretti_kivi · Sep 20, 2009

hmmm.... 7.2V @ 11000mAh --> yummy runtimes.

4 x MC-E running series - 1.4A output @ 13.2V, meaning 3A input (this is the difficult bit); either a blue shark x 2 or a maxflex x 2 (which I think might be difficult to control).
Maybe there's more info on this elsewhere. Doesn't really matter, you would get 2h + at max (and that would also work nicely as a handwarmer) and it would be seriously damned bright.

Bret

Swedpat · Sep 21, 2009

Thanks for the replies,

I will consider your proposals. But I still have hard to understand all these technical/electrical values...
Any link with information to help me understanding how to count out these things?

Regards, Patric

bretti_kivi · Sep 21, 2009

some maths:

your D cells in the mag. 13000mAh are good ones. So, 1.3A for 1 hour, 2.6A for 0.5h...I think you get the theme.

MC-E: run in parallel and you get 2.8A (4x700mA) @ 3.2V (forward voltage)
run in series and you get 0.7A @ 12.8V. Which is "better" depends on how many you want to run and how much current your driver can cope with.

Problem with lots of big emitter hitters is getting electronics that can deal with it. A Fatman (from taskled.com) can deal with 2A or so input. A Maxflex with losses of around 1.5W. That means you need to do some serious calculations to make sure that you're not going to fry something.

Thinking about it, get 12 1/2D cells. Wait for download's HID "screwon".

That's going to hit more lumens than the LEDs....

Bret

Swedpat · Sep 21, 2009

Thanks for the example Bret!

When you mentioned 13000mAh cells I think you mean 12000mAh, because I think that is the highest available today?

The reason I want common NiMh D cells is that I have a lot of them to use. 1/2D cells will demand spacers to charge. Also I wonder about the number of 1/2D cells you mention. Five 1/2D cells takes the same place as three D cells. Therefore I think twelve of them will not fit in the 6D. But ten of them would provide 12V, which also would be enough for some great lumens I think...
The drawback with ten 1/2D cells is that they (in the best case with 3,5Ah) would contain only half of the energy of six 12Ah D cells.

Regards, Patric

jar3ds · Sep 21, 2009

george says you can't do a 2xMaxFlex... FYI

gswitter · Sep 21, 2009

bretti_kivi said:
your D cells in the mag. 13000mAh are good ones. So, 1.3A for 1 hour, 2.6A for 0.5h...I think you get the theme.

Might want to double-check that math.

Thinking about it, get 12 1/2D cells.

1/2D cells are a little longer than half a D cell. IIRC, you can fit 10x 1/2D cells in a 6D.

bretti_kivi · Sep 21, 2009

:thinking:
:huh:

:thanks:

Coming back to topic: yep, 3500mAh is about it. The alternative is silly long runtimes on an MC-E or three. If you can't run Maxflex in parallel, then it would need to be a blue shark. See also https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/212822.

Bret

Swedpat · Oct 18, 2009

Hi again!

I have tried to make some calculations.
To make it as simple as possible I want to go with the 12Ah D cells. 6x1,2V=7,2V. Can I just put in a bulb with around 7,2V and make the light shine?

For example THIS Philips 5761 Lamp.
Watts: 30W
Volts: 6V
Base G4
Average Life: 100 Hours
Filament: CF-6
Lumens: 765
Color Temperature: 3200°K
Glass: Clear

Calculating with 5xD cells for 6V:
The description says that the average life is 100 hours with 6V. 30W/6V means that the current will be 5A. Right?

5x1,2V cells with 12Ah will provide 14,4x5=72Wh. The runtime of this light would be 72Wh/30W=2,4hours.
This is the case for using the bulb in a 5D. Right?

If I then use this bulb in a 6D and voltage of 7,2V the brightness will be higher than 765lumens, but the lifetime of the bulb will be shortened. Right?

I also understand that there is a limit of the current the batteries can provide, and this varies of different kinds. Is there any list of the possible current of different batteries?

Thanks for help and inputs.

Regards, Patric

waddup · Oct 18, 2009

if the 6 x D was too big before to carry, it is still too big

i keep mine in the house as an emergency light with a terralux dropin.

Swedpat · Oct 18, 2009

waddup said:
if the 6 x D was too big before to carry, it is still too big

You are propably right...

I am just trying to justify the use of this beast, and think that if I use a bright incan bulb I need the large amount of energy of six D-cells to get decent runtime. I know that I can get the same brightness or even higher with several AA (or why not AAA) but I am not interested in a runtime of a few minutes or so.
Undependent of the light I want to have an hour or at least half an hour runtime.

Regards, Patric

N10 · Oct 18, 2009

there was a 35W 6V westing house bulb that has been tested before that could be overdriven to a fairly high level by 8 NIMH cells..that would probably run very well with 6D cells...the bulb is bi-pin though..but u still get ove 2 hr runtimes with the Ds..might have to do some research.

Swedpat · Oct 21, 2009

Swedpat said:
Hi again!

I have tried to make some calculations.
To make it as simple as possible I want to go with the 12Ah D cells. 6x1,2V=7,2V. Can I just put in a bulb with around 7,2V and make the light shine?

For example THIS Philips 5761 Lamp.
Watts: 30W
Volts: 6V
Base G4
Average Life: 100 Hours
Filament: CF-6
Lumens: 765
Color Temperature: 3200°K
Glass: Clear

Calculating with 5xD cells for 6V:
The description says that the average life is 100 hours with 6V. 30W/6V means that the current will be 5A. Right?

5x1,2V cells with 12Ah will provide 14,4x5=72Wh. The runtime of this light would be 72Wh/30W=2,4hours.
This is the case for using the bulb in a 5D. Right?

If I then use this bulb in a 6D and voltage of 7,2V the brightness will be higher than 765lumens, but the lifetime of the bulb will be shortened. Right?

I also understand that there is a limit of the current the batteries can provide, and this varies of different kinds. Is there any list of the possible current of different batteries?

Thanks for help and inputs.

Regards, Patric

Anyone who can comment my calculations, are they correct? Did I get this right? :anyone:

Regards, Patric

Brightest possible Maglite 6D mod with 1,2V cells?

Swedpat

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The Dane

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bretti_kivi

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Swedpat

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bretti_kivi

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gswitter

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