Lantern battery type

[JohnW2]

I doubt said torch has diodes, but thanks for the tip

I don't think anyone has suggested that they do - I was merely responding to your reply to JBR's comment "Or two lots of 4, wired in parallel, of course." (although I don't think we've seen any evidence that any of the things being talked about are actually wired like that).

"two lots of 4, wired in parallel" would, without diodes, carry the risk that you mentioned.

Kind Regards, John

 

[AndyPRK]

I suspect he is right though.

It's the only thing that would make sense

 

[JohnW2]

I suspect he is right though. It's the only thing that would make sense

Yes - if all of ...

My father has a torch that will take either 8 D cells or a 996 I think. ... 6v bulb.

is correct, then it's one of the few things that would make sense.

In fact, rather than "two lots of 4 (in series), wired in parallel", it might be better to have "four lots of 2 (in parallel), wired in series", since the worst that would then happen is that one cell would discharge through a duff cell in which it was in parallel (rather than a whole string of 4 discharging through the other string, if that string contained a duff cell).

Kind Regards, John