D/C cell LED lights?

Please forgive my ignorance, but I was wondering -- how come there are very few LED lights that utilize D and C cell batteries? Why haven't Fenix/4sevens/Olight/Surefire/etc started making lights that use these sort of batteries? Don't they have larger capacities and in turn, longer run times? In fact, wouldn't a giant 6-volt battery give the greatest run time?

I did a search for the keywords "D cell battery", and nothing came up.

Thanks in advance for enlightening me...

Aside from Mags and the almost endless Mag mods, there is Lambdalights, and Elektrolumens off the top of my head.

I believe the issue with C and D cells being used in high performance LED lights is that they don't provide the same voltage and current that lithium cells do, and even if you do get enough voltage and current out of a C or D cell array, you get the same (if not more) from a much smaller lithium ion cell.

Please correct me if I'm wrong. As I've mentioned elsewhere lately, I am still learening as far as flashlight electronics go! That includes Li-ion batteries.

Most flashaholics want the most bright in the smallest light.

Li-ion batteries give you the power needed for high power leds in a small package. There are drawbacks with this though...

You don't get anywhere near the runtime from li-ion as opposed to lithium primaries (about half) in the CR123 range, but the voltage is higher and a lot of lights will respond to that higher voltage with more output.

An 18650 li-ion comes off the charger at around 4.2v and have capacities of around 2200 to 3000mah. A ni-mh D cell will only give you 1.4v fresh off the charger but up to 12000mah. So if you put enough D's together to get the required voltage to run your led and associated electronics, you have much, much longer runtimes, with the drawback being the size.

One advantage of C-D lights (mags) is you can get bigger heatsinks into them and in turn drive the LED a lot harder to get the maximum output from it.

If you're after some decent C and D lights, mag mods are the way to go. You have a wide variety of emitter and power options that means you can basically build the light YOU want and not have to settle for what the manufacturers are selling (yes I do want a single mode 4D pumping 1000+ lumens).

For an inexpensive but bright light, get yourself a 3-4 C or D mag, get one of these and some batteries of your choice. It's not the greatest drop-in but it is bright and will give you 400+ lumens from alkalines for quite a few hours. Will cost you about $50 all up and there's no other light that will give that kind of performance for less and be brand new.

Wayne from Elektrolumens will build a 3D SSC P7 for about $150 and his work is awesome. Or for $299 you can get a Blaster NG .

Chris of Mac's Customs is working on an MC-E drop-in for a mag that will be just awesome once it's made.

Wayne also has the Anglelux, converted 2D 90 degree military light to an XPG led. Bright enough and big on run time.

Ask yourself this, why make a large D or C cell flashlight when a tiny AA or 123 light can smaller and brighter and better? That's the view from a manufacturers point of view, as well as flashaholics.

I have a Pelican LED flashlight. It takes 3 c-cells and will run for approx 50 hours (it's on/off, no modes) at 65 lumens. They have quite a few c and d-cell lights. Also, on their website, they list run-time and lumens of each light in such a way that it is very easy to compare them.

I don't mind the size of D & C size lights but I'm not to crazy about the weight. I load them up with AA rechargeables. Easy to do with C cell lights and a little tough with D.

ebow86 said:

Ask yourself this, why make a large D or C cell flashlight when a tiny AA or 123 light can smaller and brighter and better? That's the view from a manufacturers point of view, as well as flashaholics.

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may want to change that to some, maybe even most flashaholics.

If for no other reason than the fact that my wife calls alot of the smaller/brighter lights "cute". That alone is reason enough for me not to carry one. :nana:

I see these new bright small lights, and I wonder how many of those would fit in a D mag, how hot would it get and how long would it run.

I am in complete agreement that we are long overdue for a high-quality, performance and feature rich D-cell light... I would like the flexibility of a 6 level 3 D-Cell light.

I really am pleased with Zebralights single button UI and I think that the levels are quite nice as well; they would translate pretty nicely into a larger light.

I would love a light in the form factor of a 3 D-Cell Mag with a McGizmo 45 mm LOP reflector and multiple levels... heck, I would take this in a 2 level configuration with a low of 10 lumens and a high of around 220 or 230 lumens.

Great runtimes, nice reach because of the large reflector and commonly used alkaline or NiMH batteries.

I think it would be a winner.

Sometimes, you don't need a pocket light, you need a work light and this serves that purpose.

:)> said:

I would like the flexibility of a 6 level 3 D-Cell light.
Great runtimes, nice reach because of the large reflector and commonly used alkaline or NiMH batteries.

.

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you mean like my p7 3xD mag with its d2flex driver?

i agree

Carbon footprint:nana:

Less metal used in a smaller light,joking aside the little lights use a far cheaper battery source,look at your average battery seller like Tesco etc,loads of different AA +AAA cells to choose from but C+D choice is far more limited,in the UK it is.

waddup said:

you mean like my p7 3xD mag with its d2flex driver?

i agree

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Sounds about right! Where can I find pictures and a review???

So there doesn't exist an LED flashlight whose body just stores a ton of CR123s? Perhaps a cluster of 3 to fit the inside diameter. Stack them at least 6 high on an internal holder, so that's 18 of them. At the center gap you could route them all fancy so there's 9 pairs you could keep cycling through once a pair is expended. Then you'd get high brightness and high runtime (at a high price, explosive potential, and carry weight) :devil:

Why D? Because you can get 10Ah batteries.

Well, an D Nimh cell contains 1.2*10 = 12 Whr. An 18650 sits at 3.7* 2.6 = 9.62 Whr.

But they are cheaper and have more impact weight, haha.

My Mag 3D P7 (DD) contains 36 Whr of battery capacity.

My EDC, a Fenix L1T, only has 2.4 Whr of capacity with 1 AA (1.2x2). That 15 times less. :huh:

But two 18650's contain more around as much energy as three C cells. But the size (stacked) is only 18x130 while the three Nimh C cells are 25x150

I would ask another question: Why don't we have high-quality C / D lithium cells?

I'd gladly buy a decent C Cell sized light (up to 3 cells) if it meant more output and/or run time.

These are the lights you grab when you know you need a light. My 123 Mini is my EDC, just in case, light. If I know I'm going to be needing one I don't mind having to carry it.

Not a huge fan of D size though, just a little big for a comfortable grip. Having said that I'd be surprised if I don't have one of those angle heads before the end of the year damn you Jash

LumaPower Mentor and Mentor MT-E address this market quite nicely - C cell lights, modern emitters, great UI, fit/finish are excellent.

:)> said:

Sounds about right! Where can I find pictures and a review???

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i never did a review, it has a beam like any other p7 mag, runs on 3 x D nimh 3+ hours on high, days on low) with a d2flex driver 5 or more levels depending on programming.

http://www.taskled.com/d2flex.html

MattK said:

LumaPower Mentor and Mentor MT-E address this market quite nicely - C cell lights, modern emitters, great UI, fit/finish are excellent.

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You missed regulation... if I recall correctly I didn't consider them an option as they're not regulated?