New Rayovac CR123's

ebow86

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Alright guys, I know there are countless threads here on CR123 batteries, I can't seem to find a solid anwser to my question.

An online retailer, who is very respectable and highly regarded, is selling 12 packs of Rayovac CR123's for $15 dollars. Rayovac has seemed to have changed the wrapper on their batteries, at least these CR123's that is, as the wrapping looks to be a newer style than the typical black with silver and light blue. Here are the specs they are listing

Battery Technology: Lithium (Single Use)
Nominal Capacity: 1400mAh (when discharged at 100 Ohm To 2.0V)
Current: 0.5000A
Diameter: 17.0mm
Height: 33.4mm
Voltage: 3.00V
Weight: 17.0g

As you can see the capacity is listed a little bit lower than your typical Surefire or Duracell's, which I believe typically list a capicity of 1550mAh. The page also states that the cells are Made in USA.

Does anyone have any direct experince with these newer style Rayovac's? I have checked out Silverfox's 123 battery shootout but quite a few years have passed since that was done, and these new Rayovac's may be different now. I wonder if it's just the wrapper that has changed? This pricing almost seems too good to be true. I'm wondering if the price difference between Duracell's, Panasonic's ect, is worth it?
 

jasonck08

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Unless something has changed recently, I believe Panasonic has been making these cells for Duracell, Rayovac, SureFire etc.
 

ebow86

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Unless something has changed recently, I believe Panasonic has been making these cells for Duracell, Rayovac, SureFire etc.

I have heard that before, but if that's the case then what gives in regards to the smaller capacity rating and much cheaper price tag? Although these cells are Made in USA, their low price tag is what's making me a little nervous, especially considering the fact that they would be powering some of my 3 and 4 cell, and soon to be 6 cell high powered incandescents.
 

drillbit

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I recently bought some of these, and so far they seem like the older ones in terms of performance. Mind you, I'm using them mostly in my Surefire A2, not really pushing them very hard.
 

oldways

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Get the Battery Station. Same battery as SureFire. 60 dollars for50 delivered. Malkoff provides them with his lights.

I could tell no difference in them and SF in the M6/MN21
 

ecrbattery

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Unless something has changed recently, I believe Panasonic has been making these cells for Duracell, Rayovac, SureFire etc.

They may be made by the same company but they don't perform all the same when you test them.

From my experience at 0.5A and 1.5A constant current load, the Duracell, Panasonic, SureFire cells consistently have 50mAh to 100mAh more capacity than cells from BatteryStation, Energizer, Rayovac, Streamlight.

Most people don't notice this slight capacity different during normal usage. If you want maximum capacity then go with Duracell, Panasonic, SureFire. I personally like the Panasonic cells since you can find them at good price in bulk.

The cells from BatteryStation, Energizer, Rayovac, Streamlight are better deal since you always find them at a lower price. The capacity is a tad lower but the quality is there. Cells from the same batch have very little variation in voltage an internal resistance. I would take these over any mystery "Made in China" cells (Ternergy, Powerizer) with no date code and huge IR variation.

How much current are you pulling from the battery in your high powered incandescent?
 

ebow86

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They may be made by the same company but they don't perform all the same when you test them.

From my experience at 0.5A and 1.5A constant current load, the Duracell, Panasonic, SureFire cells consistently have 50mAh to 100mAh more capacity than cells from BatteryStation, Energizer, Rayovac, Streamlight.

Most people don't notice this slight capacity different during normal usage. If you want maximum capacity then go with Duracell, Panasonic, SureFire. I personally like the Panasonic cells since you can find them at good price in bulk.

The cells from BatteryStation, Energizer, Rayovac, Streamlight are better deal since you always find them at a lower price. The capacity is a tad lower but the quality is there. Cells from the same batch have very little variation in voltage an internal resistance. I would take these over any mystery "Made in China" cells (Ternergy, Powerizer) with no date code and huge IR variation.

How much current are you pulling from the battery in your high powered incandescent?

How much current? I don't have a clue, but I will be running the following lights- Surefire M6, Surefire M4, M3, G3, Aviator, and such.

I think I will give these Rayovac's a go, you see I'm not worried that they are less in performance than other cells, I just wanted to have the peace of mind that they are indeed safe USA made cells with the protection circuits and such, and although lesser in performance than other leading brands like Duracell and surefire, they are not going to explode on me like other PROC cells are known to do, Would that be an accurate assessment?
 

jasonck08

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It could be that some companies (such as Rayovac) buy the slightly lower quality batteries with slightly higher resistance and less capacity. But my guess is they are all still made by Panasonic. Would be interesting to see some comparison discharge tests.
 

ebow86

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Performance isn't that much of a concern to me, safe cells with good QA is what's important to me.
 

ebow86

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I think I remember reading a thread in the past, where there was a large manufacturer, maybe it was panasonic, that makes their CR123 cells in Japan, but someone discovered a few panasonic cells that were actually being manufactured in China. This was a long time ago, so maybe my mind is playing tricks on me. Has anyone ever heard of Rayovac CR123 cells being manufactured in China and not the US?
 

rivardj

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I have not had very good luck with Rayovac in general, I have not had any experience with their CR123 cells.

My issue with the Rayovac brand is leaking cells. I have had numerous devices destroyed or at least messed up by Rayovac cells. I will not use them.
 

ebow86

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I have not had very good luck with Rayovac in general, I have not had any experience with their CR123 cells.

My issue with the Rayovac brand is leaking cells. I have had numerous devices destroyed or at least messed up by Rayovac cells. I will not use them.

Your referring to alkaline cells, and any brand can leak. I appreciate the response, but Rayovac's CR123's can't be compared with the issues you experienced with their alkaline cells.
 

Battery Guy

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Unless something has changed recently, I believe Panasonic has been making these cells for Duracell, Rayovac, SureFire etc.

I don't know why one would see performance differences between US made CR123 cells since they are all made by Panasonic at the same plant in Columbus, Georgia. I suspect different date codes, or Panasonic might make different "grades" of cells for different customers. It is not uncommon for a battery manufacturer to make two grades of the same product that use different quality raw materials.

As far as I know, the only two companies making lithium-MnO2 cells in the US for consumer applications are Panasonic and Ultralife, and Ultralife only makes 9V batteries for consumer applications. Duracell used to manufacturer this chemistry, but closed the doors to its lithium battery division and sold off the equipment a few years ago. I would love to know if I am wrong on this.

Cheers,
BG
 

ShineOnYouCrazyDiamond

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As expected as I read this thread like every other one.... opinions are like (welll.... you know)... ;)

I have been using Surefires for about 2 years and they are great but expensive. I bought some Rayovac AAs and CR123s and they perform just as well as Energizer Alkaline AAs and Surefire CR123s (respectively). At their reduced cost I think they are a great alternative.
 

ebow86

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I don't doubt that Panasonic is making all these batteries for different people like Surefire and Energizer and such, but if the Rayovac's are indeed the same batteries, what gives with the smaller capacity rating and much cheaper price tag?
 

45/70

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My understanding is that the Panasonic plant in Georgia, custom tailors the formula used in the cells they produce, to each customers requirements. For example, cells intended for use in a camera (the original use for CR123A cells) may have different current delivery requirements that those used in Surefire's flashlights. I would imagine that this would apply to manufacturing plants in Japan, as well, or at least those that manufacture cells for other "brands".

So there may very well be differences in the performance characteristics between brands of cells, even though they are made in the same facility. Makes sense to me anyway.

Dave
 

Battery Guy

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My understanding is that the Panasonic plant in Georgia, custom tailors the formula used in the cells they produce, to each customers requirements. For example, cells intended for use in a camera (the original use for CR123A cells) may have different current delivery requirements that those used in Surefire's flashlights. I would imagine that this would apply to manufacturing plants in Japan, as well, or at least those that manufacture cells for other "brands".

So there may very well be differences in the performance characteristics between brands of cells, even though they are made in the same facility. Makes sense to me anyway.

Dave

Makes sense to me as well. A lot of the store brand alkaline batteries are made by Energizer, Duracell and Rayovac, but often the store brands do not have the same performance to the brand-label cells, especially at higher discharge currents. This is because all three of these companies have low cost formulations that they use for private label customers.
 

shadowjk

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Duracell has several varieties of alkalines, atleast in Europe, with the "Plus" variant testing to 1350mAh on Maha C-9000, and "Ultra" variant testing to 1900mAh... Same for Energizer..

As for things coming from a certain factory... Well, I work for a private label manufacturer myself (not making batteries), we're capable of an extremely wide range of "quality", and it's entirely up to the customer to decide the configuration of their product quality, pack sizes and how much to spend on packaging to lift the perceived value/quality of the product inside, and hopefully they can hit a point where their end product is of higher perceived value/uniqueness/quality than a similarily priced competitor's product (even if they were both made in the same factory on the same line).

So, I'd say that just because a thing comes from factory X doesn't really tell you much about the product itself, unless you happen to know that the best X can do isn't very good, in which case you can put an upper limit on it..
 

MorePower

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I don't doubt that Panasonic is making all these batteries for different people like Surefire and Energizer and such, but if the Rayovac's are indeed the same batteries, what gives with the smaller capacity rating and much cheaper price tag?

The cheaper price is because Rayovac doesn't do anywhere near the amount of advertising that Energizer does. As far a Surefire is concerned, I think they keep prices higher because a lot of people tend to think "more expensive" equals "better" and they have a certain image to uphold.
 

thospress

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Get the Battery Station. Same battery as SureFire. 60 dollars for 50 delivered. Malkoff provides them with his lights.

I could tell no difference in them and SF in the M6/MN21

That's been my experience as well.
 
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