Do you use C or D size batteries?

[XTAR Light]

The C and D large batteries may not be as popular as AA or 18650/21700, but they still have a place in certain applications, such as some flashlights, lanterns, radios, portable radios, pet feeders, and industrial equipment. Do you still use C or D batteries often? What devices are they in, and have you switched any of them to rechargeable ones? Thanks for your comments below!

 

[dc38]

The C and D large batteries may not be as popular as AA or 18650/21700, but they still have a place in certain applications, such as some flashlights, lanterns, radios, portable radios, pet feeders, and industrial equipment. Do you still use C or D batteries often? What devices are they in, and have you switched any of them to rechargeable ones? Thanks for your comments below!

A good capacity D sized 1.5V LiIon would be nice, especially if it's backwards compatible with your existing 1.5v Liion chargers like the VX4.

 

[WarriorOfLight]

I do not use C and C cells very much. I have two Lanterens for D cells. I use D to 3xAA parallel Adapters. With white Eneloop cells the lantern works perfect and has a long runtrime.
The one and only C cell device is a radio in the bathroom. This radio will also be used with white Eneloops and a C to AA adapter that "changes the mechanical dimensions.

Oh did I mentioned the Xtar 1.5V AA cells are crap and waste of money? Better investing money in real great cells like white Eneloop.

 

[this_is_nascar]

I have a Malkoff modded C-Mag and D-Mag that use these cells.

 

[alpg88]

Very little C use, I use D a lot more often, camping lanterns, fans, pumps.....

 

[dc38]

I do not use C and C cells very much. I have two Lanterens for D cells. I use D to 3xAA parallel Adapters. With white Eneloop cells the lantern works perfect and has a long runtrime.
The one and only C cell device is a radio in the bathroom. This radio will also be used with white Eneloops and a C to AA adapter that "changes the mechanical dimensions.

Oh did I mentioned the Xtar 1.5V AA cells are crap and waste of money? Better investing money in real great cells like white Eneloop.

I've got the clr4300 (2700mAh) and they seem pretty good, charging up to 2689 from empty (cell cutoff), but mid 2500's from "low power"...which ones do you have?

 

[ghostguy6]

I have plenty of Pelican lights that use C cells. I also have Maglites and Brightstar lights that use D cells. Really I just keep them around for emergency lights or when I need something totally waterproof or intrinsically safe. I do use adapters and Nimh C cells but they are not always compatible. The pelican 2000 series will not work with Nimh "C" cells because of the special battery trays.

I would not buy a new light that uses these cells unless a lithium ion option became available.

I'm actually surprised a 1.5 volt cell has not been made in C or D sized lithium ion given that it should have a large capacity.

 

[WarriorOfLight]

I've got the clr4300 (2700mAh) and they seem pretty good, charging up to 2689 from empty (cell cutoff), but mid 2500's from "low power"...which ones do you have?

I have the 3300mWh AA and 1100mWh AAA (the ones with blue writing) and both types are empty after a few month without using it. That is for me crap and waste of money.
Btw. the same behavior I also have with some noname 1.5V AA rechargeable. Also crap and not worth one penny.

 

[orbital]

+

There will never be a product I'd buy that takes C & D batteries, simply never happen.
I own one C alkaline flashlight,,, I'll probably give it away before using the C batteries I have for it.
(no, I'm not going to buy C rechargeables)

Then there will be zero alkalines here

Guessing that answers the XTAR question

 

[RWT1405]

Yes, I have flashlights, and radios, that take C and D-cell batteries

I have "adapters" allowing use of "different" batteries for most

I do keep "Emergency/Backup" Alkaleak C and D-cell batteries for Emergency use

I have tried rechargeable C & D-cell batteries, I have yet to find any really good ones

 

[dc38]

I have the 3300mWh AA and 1100mWh AAA (the ones with blue writing) and both types are empty after a few month without using it. That is for me crap and waste of money.
Btw. the same behavior I also have with some noname 1.5V AA rechargeable. Also crap and not worth one penny.

I think the issue might be that the 1.5V LiIon might always be on standby...I use mine regularly enough that I'm getting decent runtime out of them, but if you intend to store cells for a long time without use, I can see why the LSD NiMH would be the best use case for you...

These 1.5V really do have longer sustained runtimes, though, especially for devices that are constantly being used, like trail cams etc.

I find that a good mix of chemistries tends to complement each other quite well, so while eneloops will "always" be on my roster, they'll be more on standby duty while the 1.5V get more regular daily use

 

[alpg88]

These cells are not to be stored indefinitely for emergencies, as you would with alkaline or lithium, they will self discharged to 0 and will not take charge no more, especially those with bms, it draws constantly, very little but it still does. Those 1.5v rechargeable are for active use, or short term storage.
I too find xtar AA to be far from rated capacity, I bought them from official store, so it is no fake. but other members tested his and they were very close to rated capacity, maybe those that I bought are inferior model, or maybe defective batch, and those types tested by others are made differently so they do perform. I can't say what exactly happend but real tests under load showed they leave a lot to be desired, I did not notice their lower capacity, cuz I used them in toys, so if I had to charge a bit sooner I would not think much about, but for some strange reason I decided to test them to see how they compare to other 1.5v li ion, I expected them to outperform those no names, but.........

 

[Schokokeks]

I don't currently have anything that takes C-cells, but I have a few Maglites that take D-cells. Maybe at the next major sale on the Maglite site, I might grab and incan C-cell light.

I usually used the AA->D Eneloop adapters, because it makes everything lightweight, but I did acquire some Maha Powerex 10,000 mAh NiMH cells to use in a 2D Maglite with the Malkoff adapter and my M31WLL.

D-cells are interesting in that they're very large, pretty heavy, but also have insane capacities. Fun fact is that the D-cell was made for flashlights.

I was just joking here the other day that I wish single D-cell flashlights were a thing. It's be fun walking around with a light that gets bright enough, but has 10 amps of reserve power on a good NiMH.

The biggest downside is that charging them can take a long time because of that insane capacity, and multi-cell chargers that do D-cells are MASSIVE.
I've been casually considering getting a bunch of those Amazon NiMH cells because they're cheap (though the capacity isn't as good as the Powerex ones), and it seems like it'd be hilariously fun to extend my 2D Maglite out to 5 cells, and run my Malkoff adapter at 6V with some M61 drop-ins. But, that's one big, heavy light, haha. Plus, charging 5 D-cells would take a good while, because I currently use my VX2 Pro (great charger), but that only does two cells at a time, and I'm not sure if I'd want to have to store any kind of 4-8 D-cell charger...That thing would be the size of a compact keyboard, haha.

I have tried rechargeable C & D-cell batteries, I have yet to find any really good ones

This might actually be the biggest problem. The Maha Powerex D-cells are great, but they're not the easiest to find, and when you DO find them, they're ridiculously expensive. The 2-pack I got was about $30 + expensive shipping, whereas I can get FOUR Amazon NiMH D-cells for like $25-30. Everything else is pretty much...not good.

If Xtar could release a reliable, decent, affordable NiMH C and D cell, it wouldn't be hard to dominate the market. I think, right now, most people deal with the Tenergy or Amazon cells, though neither has anywhere near their stated capacity. While a 10,000 mAh NiMH D-cell would be awesome, I think many of use would be happy with a 7500-9000 mAh cell that was HONEST about it's capacity, and not ridiculously expensive, especially if that lower capacity meant it had a higher number of recharge cycles.

 

[alpg88]

Premium and Centura Tenergy are very close to capacity rated, almost dead on, but the trick is to charge them fully, I tried several smart chargers , and all terminated charge too soon, at about 1/3-1/2 capacity, IDK what is the deal with them but chargers can not properly detect deltaV. When I used simple power supply and timed it properly, they pushed out their rated capacity with no issues.

 

[RWT1405]

This might actually be the biggest problem. The Maha Powerex D-cells are great, but they're not the easiest to find, and when you DO find them, they're ridiculously expensive. The 2-pack I got was about $30 + expensive shipping, whereas I can get FOUR Amazon NiMH D-cells for like $25-30. Everything else is pretty much...not good.

If Xtar could release a reliable, decent, affordable NiMH C and D cell, it wouldn't be hard to dominate the market. I think, right now, most people deal with the Tenergy or Amazon cells, though neither has anywhere near their stated capacity. While a 10,000 mAh NiMH D-cell would be awesome, I think many of use would be happy with a 7500-9000 mAh cell that was HONEST about it's capacity, and not ridiculously expensive, especially if that lower capacity meant it had a higher number of recharge cycles.

Agreed

If Xtar had reliable, affordable 1.5 volt (NOT 1.2) C & D-cells, they could OWN the market!

I'd be more than happy if they were 7500-9000 mAh , as long as they were reliable and as advertised!

I'd start with 10 each (1.5 volt C-cell and D-cells) if they were reliable, affordable, and as advertised!

 

[F89]

I use 4xD batteries in an (excellent) radio.
Was using Varta NiMH that were rated at 3000mAh. Very light weight as you’d expect.
Got some Amazon basics that are rated at 10,000mAh hours, much heavier.
Haven’t tested them but I believe both perform close to rated capacity.
Both very cheap and worthy options.
I’m only interested in NiMH for rechargeable options.
I’d also consider using eneloop AA to D adapters but I’m very happy with what I’m using currently.

 

[ABTOMAT]

Not really. Maybe two LED flashlights with C-cells and a couple random older electronics. I have more D/C cell lights than I can count but I haven't had a practical use for one since about 2004.

 

[TPA]

The Mr Beams MB530 motion lights use 3xC batteries each. And I have a ton of these lights. They have a dim glow in the dark and go to full brightness upon motion. Battery life is ~1 year usually.

As for D-Cells, the Costco / Duracell lanterns and my Sony ICF-19 radios. Those Sonys get ~300-450 HOURS on 3 D cell batteries.

 

[bladesmith3]

i have about a dozen old high quality MAG_MODS that use C & D cells. i also have adaptors for them but they maintain duel cell usage.
its just the nostalgia at this point in time. people are still amazed when they see how much output these old mods have.

 

[The Hawk]

My ML300L Maglite uses 4 D batteries. The extended run time as well as the 1000 lumen are the reasons I bought it. I take it with me when I travel. If the electric goes out or if I need to really light something up, that is what I reach for.