Let's talk batteries!
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GordoJones88
Flashlight Enthusiast
I would use a 4D battery.
wrong insert (and wrong host light) for "BRIGHT" (in the sense of as "bright as possible")
(--> personally I think the 2.1 Amps max of the insert is a very, very good compromise of both almost as bright as possible as well as runtime)
BUT it is jokeless:
single level?
being able to do multiple level without compromises is the main advantage of led, so ...
and the host itself is more than overdue, it is sooo much of outdated.
--> get a 1*18650 host and a naiblender three level insert for small light, or
--> get a 2*18650 host (+ nailbender) to be in the runtime ballpark of the awfully big and heavy 4*D cell thing
sell the malkoff (+ host) as long as there is someone to purchase it and be much better off with a light You will like to bring along, and which is much more useful
(--> personally I think the 2.1 Amps max of the insert is a very, very good compromise of both almost as bright as possible as well as runtime)
BUT it is jokeless:
single level?
being able to do multiple level without compromises is the main advantage of led, so ...
and the host itself is more than overdue, it is sooo much of outdated.
--> get a 1*18650 host and a naiblender three level insert for small light, or
--> get a 2*18650 host (+ nailbender) to be in the runtime ballpark of the awfully big and heavy 4*D cell thing
sell the malkoff (+ host) as long as there is someone to purchase it and be much better off with a light You will like to bring along, and which is much more useful
StorminMatt
Flashlight Enthusiast
Get four Tenergy Premium or Centura NiMH D cells.
GeoBruin
Flashlight Enthusiast
The Malkoff drop in is regulated meaning it will never get brighter than it's max rated output no matter what batteries you use. With 4 D cells you're not going to suffer much voltage sag at the current the Malkoff draws so alkaline cells will probably give you about the longest run time possible. To get similar performance with the ability to recharge and eliminate the risk of leaky batteries, the cells recommended by Matt above are the best out there.
StorminMatt
Flashlight Enthusiast
Alkaline batteries WON'T give you the longest runtime possible. Alkaline batteries only give you a long runtime if the current draw is low. And with only one mode and a linear driver, current draw is going to be high with this drop-in - 2 to 3 amps, depending on the exact drop-in you have (Malkoff used a couple of different drivers on their XM-L2 drop-ins). At 2A, the capacity of an alkaline battery is going to be about 5.5AH. And at 3A, the capacity is going to be 3.8AH. This is down from about 17AH at .1A and about 11AH at .5A. To make matters worse, voltage will drop while in use and voltage sag will be TERRIBLE due to internal resistance. So while runtime might be better than these numbers suggest, you will be running a VERY dim light for most of the time. With NiMH, on the other hand, you will get good, bright light for a few hours. I find this VERY much preferable to using alkalines and having a light that is dying the second it is turned on.
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GeoBruin
Flashlight Enthusiast
I agree with most everything you said except I thought the Malkoff drops ins used a buck driver instead of a true linear regulator, meaning for a drop in that can run at full output on 3 cells, it won't be pulling as much current on 4 cells (also decreasing the effect of voltage sag) and in general lengthening the run time. Surely there's more waste as heat in the system but you're bound to get more run time as well. And since there's an entire cell worth of extra voltage in the 4D configuration, surely the driver won't be voltage starved in terms of being able to deliver current to the LED (thus reducing brightness?) I knew the NiMHs stood up to high current draw much better than the Alkaline cells and I've run those same Tenergy NiMHs in my extremely high current lights (Varapower Turbo 2.0 etc) but I didn't think the Malkoff drawing ~2 amps would have such an impact... especially on 4 cells.
Gene43
Enlightened
I would go with this suggestion. I have some Tenergy D's over 5 yrs old still going strong.
Timothybil
Flashlight Enthusiast
Another solution would be an AA to D adapter. I know there are a bunch of single AA to D ones out there, but you give up a lot of capacity that way. I have seen a couple of 3 AA to 1 D adapters, but can't tell you off the top of my head where right now. The thing to watch out for is that there are two types of 3AA to D adapters - parallel and serial. You want the parallel one so the output voltage remains 1.5 volts and the capacity triples over one AA. The serial has an output of 4.5 volts and the same capacity as a single AA - not what you want. The nice thing about going this way is that if you get caught out away from your charger, you can just buy some cheap alkalines to keep you going instead of having to lay out the big bucks for some emergency D cells.
StorminMatt
Flashlight Enthusiast
The main problem with 3AA to D adaptors is that the adaptors alone cost more than Tenergy D cells.
WalkIntoTheLight
Flashlight Enthusiast
How much extra?
Is it significant enough to be a concern in a 4-D light? That's probably going to draw something around 1 amp from 4 cells. A hundred milliohms (total) is likely okay.
