CR123A or DL123A, Whats the diff?

travlingtexanman

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Ok, so prepare for a possibly a stupid question. The novatac is suposed to take CR123A batteries. My freind has some Surefire DL123A batteries that he says I can have. Are they the same thing? can i use one inplace of the other? In short, what is the significance of the two letters in the front of the names.
 

Daniel_sk

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These are the same, as far as I know - Surefire calls their new batteries SF123A (SF = Surefire), Surefire also used Duracell CR123A and these were probably called DL123A (DL = Duracell). They are all standard CR123A batteries and you can use them in your light..
 

travlingtexanman

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ok, well that was simple. Thanks for the info. feel kind of silly, but better to ask, than accidentally ruin a $150 light.
 

Daniel_sk

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No problem, this battery stuff is confusing and it's always better to ask as you did. And there is a real danger (for the light or for the person carrying the light) if wrong battery is used. Have fun with the free batteries :).
 

MattK

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Don't feel bad we get that question via email like 5 X a day. I truly think that the companies using anything besides CR123A do it to confuse consumers into thinking the cells are brand specific.
 

jsr

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That's why I refer to the cells as 123A for primaries and R123A for Rechargeable Li-Ions. There's tons of other variations like EL123A from Energizer, etc.
 

brlwest

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Ok, so prepare for a possibly a stupid question. The novatac is suposed to take CR123A batteries. My freind has some Surefire DL123A batteries that he says I can have. Are they the same thing? can i use one inplace of the other? In short, what is the significance of the two letters in the front of the names.
They are the same.;)
Duracell uses DL part numbers
Most other use CR
 

ChrisGarrett

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All the big names use Panasonic USA CR123As: Panasonic (duh), Energizer, Duracell, some Rayovacs, Streamlight, SureFire and Battery Station. They're roughly ~1500mAh in capacity.

There are also Panasonic Japan sourced cells and Sanyo Japan, but they're ~1400mAh.

Any of those brands, that are fresh and low in cost is the proper play.

Chris
 
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