smj led long running d cell emergency light

I've been looking for an extremely long running (and efficient with a modern led so i can have maximum brightness per mah output) d cell replacement bulb. i came across a no longer made smj led, i forget all the details about it, but i seem to remember it was just powered by something like a nichia gs led, so its a led made for a dim aaa light, but someone put it in a bulb made to go in a d cell maglite and it would literally take dead d cell batteries and run for a couple days, WEEKS on a fresh set. does anyone know where i can get basically an led bulb made for EXTREME runtime on d cells so i can feel set in the event we need a nightlight during an emergency type situation, even if not exactly what i described here. I've got stuff that will run 120 hours on 3 d cells like a magled, I'm talking next level stuff. thanks,

That's what I've been looking for for years, something like the Niteze dropins from way back that put out around 40 lumens and fantastic runtime, but with a premium LED and better durability/reliability.

Something like a XPL 5000k producing 50-60 lumens for as long as the cells can handle it will make me very happy, such a setup producing very little heat if any and tremendous runtime coupled with a tint that's easy on the eyes.
I'll put it in my 4D Mag with the stock reflector which I textured with clear acrylic spray and stock a dozen Duracell coppertops to go with it.

dont the new XML2 D cell Mags have multi modes the lowest of which last days?

jason,
I put a lot of time and thought into this response for you. No comment? :shakehead:

Don't waste your time IMO, the old SMJ LED was efficient long ago but I think even todays white LEDs are more efficient and for the price of one of them you can BUY a cheap D cell light in the stores. A few years ago I bought a few 1D energizer LED lights that had PR base bulbs in them and took one of them and put it in a 2D light and it could drain batteries very well and a 2 pack of these lights was about $5. If you "treasure" your maglight you won't want to drain alkaline batteries in it as sooner or later the insignificant savings in cost you gain will be an afterthought when they spew their guts and you have to use dynamite to get them out of the tube.

You can get Rayovac 30-40 lumen PR drop ins for around $4 at walmart, they will run for days on a set of alkaline D cells.

poppy, thanks so much for your information over in that thread. i only just read it. as i was digging and doing research i came across old threads of the smj led and wanted some more information about it, but it seems its an outdated led bulb that is no longer available and that no body really uses anymore.

robert,

i emailed nite ize about the runtimes and type of bulb they used and this is the reply i got.

Jason,
After doing some research with my engineering department, it looks like our bulb is a standard high intensity LED. Power is approximately .5W to .62W.

Average runtimes:
2D Cell: 65hr
D3 Cell: 85hr
4D Cell: 95hr
5D Cell: 100hr
6D Cell: 105hr

This is all the information I can give out. I hope this information is helpful. Please don't hesitate to contact me with any other questions or concerns.

jasonsmaglites said:

robert,

i emailed nite ize about the runtimes and type of bulb they used and this is the reply i got.

Jason,
After doing some research with my engineering department, it looks like our bulb is a standard high intensity LED. Power is approximately .5W to .62W.

Average runtimes:
2D Cell: 65hr
D3 Cell: 85hr
4D Cell: 95hr
5D Cell: 100hr
6D Cell: 105hr

This is all the information I can give out. I hope this information is helpful. Please don't hesitate to contact me with any other questions or concerns.

Click to expand...

I have a few of the niteize LEDs I picked up cheap when they discontinued carrying them at target many years ago. The ones I have are for mag D cell lights and they don't work on just any normal pr based light more often than not you need one that has the ability to focus otherwise you only have a flood and no beam at all. They do have one nice thing about them in that they will run off 1D cell for days upon days I've taken a paper clip and used it to clamp one to a D cell before. I'm not sure that the LEDs in them are "up to date" compared to the dropins at walmart which I think are made by dorcy and last walmart I was at doesn't carry them any more so if you are looking to get a few better do it quick if you find them.
I've been experimenting with these USB LED boards and USB power packs for lighting. I've got the boards that have 5 smd LEDs and a touch dimming circuit in them and they run forever on low mode the LEDs on them I think are 2835 series about 100 lumens per watt efficiency. You can't count on the 5mm LEDs and non name brand pr base drop ins to have the more efficient LEDs these days unless you find one with a series 2 cree (XPG-2, XPE-2,XML-2) or an XPL you can't expect them to be over 80 lumens/watt as they seem to use these 10mm LEDs in them which seem to no longer be popular these days. Even the smd LEDs aren't the most efficient the highest efficiency one I know of is the 2835 and at most it is 130 lumens/watt

Thank you all for your information. I have a TTS 180 lumen dropin which works fine in my 4D Mag, maybe I'll try to mod the tailcap spring with a resistor to get lower output and more runtime.
When the newest 625 lumen Mags with long running Eco modes and E-switches appear on B&M stores where I live I'll probably get them as well.

RobertMM said:

Thank you all for your information. I have a TTS 180 lumen dropin which works fine in my 4D Mag, maybe I'll try to mod the tailcap spring with a resistor to get lower output and more runtime.
When the newest 625 lumen Mags with long running Eco modes and E-switches appear on B&M stores where I live I'll probably get them as well.

Click to expand...

One way to increase runtime in some cases is to put in a dummy cell or two in a multiple cell flashlight. You could even perhaps buy a D cell adapter that has both ends on it (have to open to insert the other battery(s)) and then put your resistor inbetween the two plates/contacts. You could perhaps even mod an adapter to use a variable resistor even or a multiple resistor switch setup.