Question concerning Maglite 2AA

bucky beaver · Aug 27, 2012

I have a Maglite 2AA LED flashlight and had a question. I have done a search here and found multiple answers. In my paperwork for the Maglite it says not to use rechargeable batteries. There seems to be some variable opinions on here though. I had found some people saying they were able to use rechargeables. I would prefer to be able to use Eneloops or something rechargeable like that for the convenience of recharging, and also due to having less chance of an alkaline battery leaking and ruining the flashlight. If anyone has any experience and has done this before, help would be appreciated. Also, if you do use rechargeables, does that change the output at all?

Chicken Drumstick · Aug 27, 2012

NiMh rechargeables will be fine in it. They are slightly lower voltage, but it won't hurt anything. An alternative would be lithium primaries, more costly but longer run times and very good shelf life if its a backup light.

Swedpat · Aug 27, 2012

Chicken Drumstick said:
NiMh rechargeables will be fine in it. They are slightly lower voltage, but it won't hurt anything. An alternative would be lithium primaries, more costly but longer run times and very good shelf life if its a backup light.

And if I am not wrong that's only in the very beginning of the runtime. After a quite short while alkalines will drop to 1,2V and less, while NiMh stay longer time at 1,2V.

yellow · Aug 27, 2012

bucky beaver said:
some people saying they were able to use rechargeables.

You are mixing something up ...

Of course they will run with rechargeables and of course some ppl might have been able to use them ...
... but the maker does not allow it.
So if anything fails, there will be no guarantee

PS: alkis are not able to deliver good current, while rechargeables can. They can and will kill lights (when electronics are "bad" enought).
PPS: if I d use those jokey lights, I would also cram rechargeables in them. But I want more light output, multilevel, less unnecessary lenght, a clicky switch and way more power in the cell ... thats why I do recommend an 18650 Li-Ion light ...

bucky beaver · Aug 27, 2012

Thanks for the help guys. Much appreciated. :thumbsup:

Swedpat · Aug 27, 2012

bucky beaver said:
Thanks for the help guys. Much appreciated. :thumbsup:

At first I didn't notice you are new here. :welcome:

LowLumen · Aug 27, 2012

Looking at the current/voltage curve on the 'pictures' at Amazon, it's clear the Mag 2AA is not regulated. (at least not the one tested there....) So based on that data, I would say you are better off running it with something like Eneloop. You will have a much flatter light output for duration of the charge. Output from Alkaline will drop like a rock. Ff anything could possibly be a problem, I would think the higher voltage from AA lithium might be. If Mag says it's ok for lithium AA, Eneloops should not be a problem at all.

lwknight · Aug 27, 2012

Hmmm, I would have thought that by " don't use rechargeables " they meant don't try using 14500s
Mine that I just tested is the older single speed model and with eneloops did not burn any differently with than with lithium primaries or alkies.
I will try it on my 2 speed Minimag and if its worth reporting I will post it.

bucky beaver · Aug 27, 2012

lwknight said:
Hmmm, I would have thought that by " don't use rechargeables " they meant don't try using 14500s
Mine that I just tested is the older single speed model and with eneloops did not burn any differently with than with lithium primaries or alkies.
I will try it on my 2 speed Minimag and if its worth reporting I will post it.

Thanks. My model is the 4 speed model with high, low, blink, and SOS. I just got out the pamphlet again that the light came with to make sure I was not wrong with what I posted. It actually has 2 warnings. They are:
Use only alkaline batteries from a reputable manufacturer.
Do not use rechargeable or reuseable alkaline batteries.

As a flashlight newbie, I guess I was just more worried about doing something wrong that would cause some damage to the light. I had assumed the first warning meant to only use alkalines, and the second warning for them not to be rechargeable.

LowLumen · Aug 27, 2012

Mag lite has so many revs and versions of this light, it's hard to know what is where, but if you have the "Mag lite 2AA SP2201H" than look this up on Amazon and look at the pictures "NLee the engineer" has posted there. This will answer the question as to why they do not recommend Ni-MH batteries: The light is not regulated and output drops rapidly as battery voltage drops below 2.6 volts. This will not even drain the most out of Alkaline cells. If you use 1.25 volt rechargables, the light will be very dim. WoW!

Mr Floppy · Aug 27, 2012

bucky beaver said:
Do not use rechargeable or reuseable alkaline batteries.

When I first read that, it read to me that you shouldn't use rechargeable alkaline batteries, such as the rechargeable alkaline manganese ones. For a start, the internal resistance of those things are awful and they'll leak when you try and drain them too much or pop when you put them back in the charger.

Chicken Drumstick · Aug 28, 2012

LowLumen said:
Looking at the current/voltage curve on the 'pictures' at Amazon, it's clear the Mag 2AA is not regulated. (at least not the one tested there....) So based on that data, I would say you are better off running it with something like Eneloop. You will have a much flatter light output for duration of the charge. Output from Alkaline will drop like a rock. Ff anything could possibly be a problem, I would think the higher voltage from AA lithium might be. If Mag says it's ok for lithium AA, Eneloops should not be a problem at all.

I'm not so sure about the older LED Mini Mags, but the current Pro and Pro+ are regulated, but for maximum runtime vs performance on alkalines rather than flat regulation.

rambo180 · Aug 28, 2012

yellow said:
if I d use those jokey lights, I would also cram rechargeables in them. QUOTE]

dammit mate thats a pretty massive call. I'm pretty sure most people on this forum own/have owned Maglites, they were the biggest flashlight manufacturer in the world and they're still going strong. They're less than half the price of many of YOUR manufacturers and almost as high quality.

edpmis02 · Aug 28, 2012

I have two rebel based minimags, and performance is very spotty with NiMh (eneloops). They start to flicker (change modes) when I turn them on so I put the batteries back in the charger and they only take 300mAh. If they are charged and then turned on and just let them run.. they are fine.. I tried everything and cleaned them multiple times.. I now use alkalines in them!

peterkin101 · Aug 28, 2012

I can't speak for the Maglite AA LED torches as I've never used them in that.

However, I've used Sanyo LSD 2500mAh XX Eneloops in my modded Maglite 2 x AA torch.

They work PERFECTLY!

yellow · Aug 29, 2012

rambo180 said:
they were

They're less than half the price of many

correct on were

"less than half the price" :thinking: ... maybe the original Minimags, but not with the led models.
They cost the same than the typical Fenix here
(and I think one can bet on them being much more costy at Yours in AU, as there the prices for lights seem to be even higher than here in Europe)

PS: compare any 2*AA led model with something like f.e. a Fenix 2*AA.
Is there anything it can make better?
There simply is nothing, not in size, not in output, not in material/finishing(s), not in what cells are allowed to be used, not in switching action (reliability/safety from accidential switching on), ...

And - not to be forgotten and my personal main point - there have been statements for a led model the time Fenix entered and stomped the market. The real lights came years later and were made like the crappy led-lights that have been produced as first-time-tries from garage shops ...
... not what from such a longtime and reputable maker should have been offered! I expected much better

rambo180 · Aug 29, 2012

yellow said:
correct on were

"less than half the price" :thinking: ... maybe the original Minimags, but not with the led models.
They cost the same than the typical Fenix here
(and I think one can bet on them being much more costy at Yours in AU, as there the prices for lights seem to be even higher than here in Europe)

PS: compare any 2*AA led model with something like f.e. a Fenix 2*AA.
Is there anything it can make better?
There simply is nothing, not in size, not in output, not in material/finishing(s), not in what cells are allowed to be used, not in switching action (reliability/safety from accidential switching on), ...

And - not to be forgotten and my personal main point - there have been statements for a led model the time Fenix entered and stomped the market. The real lights came years later and were made like the crappy led-lights that have been produced as first-time-tries from garage shops ...
... not what from such a longtime and reputable maker should have been offered! I expected much better

Guess the price varies a lot per country. Fenix dual AA lights here would be 50-60, AA mags can be picked up for a little over 20.

MAGLITES HAVE FOCUS!!! there is DEFINATLEY something that differentiates them from FENIX. You're absolutley incorrect!!!

So to me they're much cheaper and have focus and I love AAs and the size is very comparible as well. Many of your comments are more subjective opinion rather than fact.

Yes Fenix may well be finished better and not accidentally switch on (whatever that means - don't get it since you would never accidentally TWIST ON the head of a maglite pro, but whatevs). Watch your mouth!

tickled · Aug 31, 2012

rambo180 said:
Guess the price varies a lot per country. Fenix dual AA lights here would be 50-60, AA mags can be picked up for a little over 20. MAGLITES HAVE FOCUS!!! there is DEFINATLEY something that differentiates them from FENIX. You're absolutley incorrect!!! So to me they're much cheaper and have focus and I love AAs and the size is very comparible as well. Many of your comments are more subjective opinion rather than fact. Yes Fenix may well be finished better and not accidentally switch on (whatever that means - don't get it since you would never accidentally TWIST ON the head of a maglite pro, but whatevs). Watch your mouth!

I wouldn't say my MiniMAG AA LED has focusability (?). It kind of just goes from horribly artifact laced beam to slightly less horribly artifact laced beam. I don't consider it a selling point or even useful. If it were me I'd probably compare it to cheap single AA Fenix lights like the E11 which has a higher high and low setting without the flashing modes and very reasonably price.

lwknight · Aug 31, 2012

I have one of the 4 speed minimags. The teeny tiny focused hot spot can match the candela of most 400-500 lumen lights.
So if batteries are very very difficult to obtain and you need a bit of throw , the mini mag can do that while being a battery miser at the same time.
Other than that I have a 2XAAA penlight that beats the minimag in every way except battery life and that little hot spot that can throw a few more feet.

rambo180 · Sep 3, 2012

lwknight said:
I have one of the 4 speed minimags. The teeny tiny focused hot spot can match the candela of most 400-500 lumen lights.
So if batteries are very very difficult to obtain and you need a bit of throw , the mini mag can do that while being a battery miser at the same time.
Other than that I have a 2XAAA penlight that beats the minimag in every way except battery life and that little hot spot that can throw a few more feet.

Interesting. Thankyou ticklet and lwknight.

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