123 Battery Shoot Out

[InfidelCastro]

I heard somebody mention in another thread that Titaniums have a higher discharge rate as well. They never mention where they heard that though. I wonder where they got that idea from?

Anyways, here's a couple of brands I would like to see tested that I don't seem to hear anything about:

DigiLight 123's:

http://www.digilightusa.com/Catalog/product-detail.asp?pid=28

And these I just found out about today:

PentagonLight 123's:

http://www.pentagonlight.com/accessories.cfm__id.10

 

[SilverFox]

Hello InfidelCastro,

I am not sure if there have been any long term tests done on CPF to determine the actual self discharge rate of lithium cells. I have some with dates on them and plan to check them in 10 years or so. Check back with me then...

If you would like to donate some of those cells you indicated for testing, PM me and I will provide you with my shipping address.

Tom

 

[InfidelCastro]

Hello InfidelCastro,

I am not sure if there have been any long term tests done on CPF to determine the actual self discharge rate of lithium cells. I have some with dates on them and plan to check them in 10 years or so. Check back with me then...

If you would like to donate some of those cells you indicated for testing, PM me and I will provide you with my shipping address.

Tom

Would love to if I had some. Unfortunately I only have a few Titaniums that I can barely afford to feed my 123 lights with. So I'm really looking for the best value. I read in another thread that somebody had a bad experience with the pentagonlight batteries and had to send them back for different ones.

 

[proFeign]

So is the consensus that E2 Energizer 123s are not good? Or not consistent? Lighthound has the e2's for less than SureFires! I don't know why. I have a bunch of e2s and some SureFires left from an old box so I'm flush for a while, but I was wondering if Duracell (were price no object) was better. I've purchased a number of nice lights in my day and they all always ship with Duracell Ultra batteries (HDS, ARC, Inova), and I was wondering if they were better than the e2s and I'm more confused now after reading this thread than i was before... :scratches head after reading runtime plots:

 

[InfidelCastro]

Maybe I missed something? It looked like the Energizer's were one of the best? I thought the E2's were the AA batteries?

 

[SilverFox]

Hello proFeign,

The Energizer e2 CR123 cells seem to perform very consistently, but they are not the best for high current draw lights.

I would not consider them for the SureFire M6, for example.

Other lights should run just fine with them, and the only problem will be that they will run a few minutes less that some of the other cells.

Tom

 

[SilverFox]

Hello InfidelCastro,

The Energizer CR123 cells are also called e2.

Tom

 

[proFeign]

Hello InfidelCastro,

The Energizer CR123 cells are also called e2.

Tom

Thanks, Tom!

"e2" is Energizer's premium designation for alkaline and lithium batteries of the "cylindrical" type (or anything other than a button cell, I guess). For instance their CR2023 button cells would not be called e2 but their premium alkaline AAA/AA and lithium AA/AAA/123/etc. cells that are cylinders would be e2. The e2 alkalines are confusingly named and I don't know how much better they are than the stock AA/AAA batteries. If you don't really use a light all that much lithiums rule because they weigh less than half as much as their alkaline equivalents, which is mighty noticeable on a keychain.

 

[junior]

So, i got a SF G2 and 6P with a P60. Would i be good with just buying batterystations 123's ?

How about if i upgraded to a P61?

Thanks

 

[nuggett]

I am one who was disappointed with Pentagonlight batts. They exchanged them for a new batch and these are working great so far in my M6. I ran the light for about 5 minutes and check them on a ZTS tester. They all still measured 100%! So far so good.

 

[InfidelCastro]

Really? Hmm, that's good. Maybe they had a bad batch or something..

I'd really like to see a runtime test of these, since they're a bit less than Surefires.

 

[seery]

Above it stated the Energizers may not fair well in high drain apps like the M6/HOLA.

Anybody have thoughts/experience on the BatteryStations for high drain lights
such as the M3/M4/M6?

Thanks.

 

[chevrofreak]

Silverfox, have you tested any of the Sanyo 123's made in China? I bought 20 from Botach Tactical but am not seeing the performance I was expecting from some of my regulated lights.

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Chevrofreak,

I have tested some, and am checking the results. My first impression was that they did not perform as well as the others, but in some cases they seemed to do better.

I will try to get a graph up shortly.

Tom

 

[Flash_Gordon]

Hi Tom-

I bought a batch of these Sanyos from Botac when they were $.99. Seemed like an excellent deal as the Sanyos have been my battery of choice.

I was quite surprised to see the made in China markings. I posted that news immediately, but a number of CPF members had already bought a bunch of these at that great price.

Made in China is not necessarily bad news, but it depends on Sanyos control of production and QC.

It would be great to see a graph of the new Chinese made cells overlaid on your original Sanyo results.

If you need more of these cells for test , PM me and I can send you some.

Mark

 

[chevrofreak]

 

[gravelpit]

Just ordered 20 Battery Station CR123As from their CPF discount page, after all the rave reviews I've found here. Gonna be quite a task waiting for them to come in... :rock:

 

[europium]

I first want to extend thanks to all the testers and kudos especially to Silverfox.

I am wondering if there have been any recent tests of the 123s that Surefire are shipping. SF cannot have been unaware of its batteries previously reaching such high temperatures that they would shut down in high-drain applications. Although mention has been made that the BS batteries have been improved, I wonder if SF hasn't also made improvements to their cells, given the obvious self-interest in insuring consistent performance of their own lights which have current requirements from small to great to everything in between.

When was the last time anyone tested SF 123s at high currents?

 

[soffiler]

I first want to extend thanks to all the testers and kudos especially to Silverfox.

I am wondering if there have been any recent tests of the 123s that Surefire are shipping. SF cannot have been unaware of its batteries previously reaching such high temperatures that they would shut down in high-drain applications. Although mention has been made that the BS batteries have been improved, I wonder if SF hasn't also made improvements to their cells, given the obvious self-interest in insuring consistent performance of their own lights which have current requirements from small to great to everything in between.

When was the last time anyone tested SF 123s at high currents?

It's not especially high current, but I just finished testing six SF cells to death on a WMR CBA-II at 900mA. They performed admirably. In fact they are indistinguishable performance-wise from either Energizer or Duracell (also at 900mA). Incidentally I bought them online straight from SF, and paid $21 (before shipping) for a dozen.

Steve Offiler
VP of Engineering
Central Tools, Inc.

 

[SilverFox]

Update:

VWTim picked up some Everlast Go Power cells and I finally have posted the test results. Thanks for your help Tim.

I have noticed that my combined graphs are getting a bit cluttered. I will add additional testing as individual graphs and you will have to compare Ah, Wh, and M figures.

If I get inspired, I may put the 1.0 amp data into a table...

Tom