Battery Life of Maglite 2D and 3D

Hello,

I'm a Newbie and have much questions. Could you tell me the real Battery Life of Maglite 2D and 3D?
I think 15h (2D) and 17h (3D) on the Productinformation-Site are not realistic.

Merowin,
Welcome to CPF. The answer to your question will vary a little depending on what type of batteries you use. Lithiums and rechargable NiMH batteries will give you brighter light for longer amounts of time-maybe 10-12 hours? Alkalines will light up the bulb for that long, but they have so much internal resistance that the bulb will be a dim brownish light for the majority of the battery life.

The runtime also depends on how one uses the light. If the light is used everyday, once a month, once a year. Whether it has been sitting overnight in a truck in subzero temperatures, etc. All these things effect battery life and performance. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Also remember that the voltage of Alkalines declines as they are used so the last part of the battery life produces light that seems pretty dim and orange.

Actually, I think Mag rates all their D cell lights at 9-10 hours and all their C cell lights at 4-5 hours.

I think on fresh Energizer Max cells, 10 hours is about right plus or minus. I don't think it's like 2 or 3 hours or anything like that but it's hard to tell unless you just run the light non-stop. Plus, in my 3D Mags, I've been running 4 C cells on a 3 cell bulb for so long, I can't even remember the last time I went through a set of batteries just running 3 D cells.

You might be surprised at the answer I got from Maglight in Nov 2003, when I asked them "How long will it take a 4D maglight to with new batteries to drop to 50% of it's original brightness?"

I have cut and pasted the entire email exchange, except Maglight did not quote my orginal question in their reply. I was quite surprised so I rephrased the question to clarify.

You need to read from the bottom up. At the bottom is their response to my first question. Above that is my second question to them asking them to confirm their response to my first. Does that make sense?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Greg:

Our test show that the voltage decreases from 30-50% within the first
30 minutes of on time.

Don

---------- ORIGINAL MESSAGE ----------
TO : Mag Instrument, Inc. Web Site (www.magmail.com)
FROM : [email protected]
RECEIVED: 11/18/2003 11:32:56 AM EST

Re: Maglite.com Website Visit - Your Feedback - Control Number F-101119

Thank you for your quick reply concerning my query on runtime of a
set of batteries to 50% of initial brightness.

I was surprised however by your reply that it took only 20-30 minutes
to drop to 50% of initial brightness.

Although I did not specify, can you confirm this is correct? With
fresh alkaline batteries?

GregR



----- Original Message -----
From: [email protected]
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2003 14:25:53 -0800
To: [email protected]
Subject: Maglite.com Website Visit - Your Feedback - Control Number F-101119

Re:
Re: Greg:
Re:
Re: Approx. 20-30 minutes, it varies with each set of batteries,
Re:
Re: Don
Re: -

Just use the Nimh batteries. I'm sure you'll get a longer time to 50% brightness.