Rechargeable possibilities for a Pentagonlight L2 3W

[Flymo]

I'm new on this CPF forum and I like it !
Is it possible to use a 18650 battery on a Pentagonlight L2, 3watt and what is your experience with this LEDlight?
My opinion is that it is a good light and built like tank (what I really like

).

 

[Willabbott]

I've wondered about this as well...18650's will NOT fit, and 17670's are a little tight but work.

I can't see any reason an 17670 wouldn't work, or would cause damage to the light.. It will light mine up, I'm guessing its no longer in regulation, and is in direct drive mode.. since a LuxIII would be around a 3.4 ish Voltage... the regulation in the light has to be a step down... what I really want to know is whether 2 RCR123's will work... I emailed Pentagon about rechargeable batteries, as I want to write a review on the light for another forum... They don't seem to be really good at getting back to people, I called them several weeks ago regarding becoming a dealer, and they said they would get some information out to me, 2 weeks or so later I have not seen the information, and we are only one state away.

I like my L2 quite a bit, for the price I paid (wholesale) it's a very high quality light, cost me only a little more than a Surefire 6P (which I also have) and puts out very comparable light output, much more runtime, similar size, and is in HAIII instead of HAII, it also came with a clicky tail cap I like.

 

[Flymo]

Here you can find my question and answer (1 day later

) from PentagonLight:

Q: Is the Pentagon Light L2-3W, beside the normal CR123A batteries, suitable for recharchable batteries like the 18650's and is it upgradable (in the
future) for a XR Cree LED?

A: We do not have information on using rechargeables on our lights, therefore, we do not recommend nor suggest using them.

Currently, there is no upgrade plan yet, but we always attempt to ensure there is migration path available for all of our products to make them forward compatible.

PentagonLight
151 Mitchell Avenue
South San Francisco, CA 94080 USA
Tel: (650) 877-1555
Fax: (650) 877-9555
[email protected]
www.pentagonlight.com

 

[Willabbott]

Hmm odd... I should try them again...

I specifically asked them what the max input voltage the regulation circuit could handle was, and got no response... they should EASILY be able to go ask an engineer what voltages it can handle.

Well, anyways, I would feel safe running a 17670, which is the cell that fits... it's not going to overdrive the circuit, no way, no how... it's designed to run on 6V after all. It will not likely go into regulation, unless it's a boost as well as a buck circuit, but very likely to direct drive the LED, I saw no noticeable difference in light output with my 17670. I do not have any rechargeable 123's laying around... not sure what the mAh rating of 123primaryies are, but the 17670 is definitely a higher capacity cell then the RCR123's I find on Light hound.

From the tail cap I got around .5A draw on my 17670 lighting up my L2 which is under spec for a Lux3, and get around .9A with the 123's primaries. So it would appear the 17670 is direct driving the LED likely underspec

I can't find a way to get to the LED contacts to test for Voltage and Current at the LED, but I'd feel pretty safe running it off an 17670, since it's not pulling enough current at the battery to over power the LED, It's likely just on the edge off falling out of regulation, just as if the primary 123's were dying, or is going right into direct drive.

Thats too bad though, i was hoping Pentagon would have responded with a Yes or No with a positive answer, sounds like they don't even fully understand what's being asked and that a 17670 will not provide the same voltage as 2 cr123's

Interesting on the upgrade, they do seem to try and make things compatible, since you can buy any of the 6V heads, either Xenon or the multi-Led's such as the UV (might be on my list of heads to add) all can go on the L2 assembly.

I didn't see anything in the online warranty/garantee about the use of rechargables voiding the warranty or anything, in fact there was something about wether rechargables were covered, but I see no rechargable lights in the product line.

 

[Willabbott]

Accidental double post