Ultrafire 16340 left me in the dark at work!!!!!

Ok I LOVE my high cri 123 quark but It (or should i say ULTRAfire) left me in the dark at work the other night. I work for the RR and was in the middle of nowhere walking my train, I bring out the quark with ultrafire (just charged it before my shift) and put it on bright (not turbo) I get a WHOPPING 10 minutes before It goes out. I turn it off and back on and put it on the 3rd setting which buys me another 2 minutes then the battery is completely dead, No problem. i pull out the spare in my pocket and put it on 3 and it TOO goes dead after minutes. SO now i am in complete darkness. I ended up using the flashlight app on my phone to get back to the head end. PLEASE tell me the AW batteries are better as I am getting ready to order a couple. What kind of run time on a Quark 123 am i looking at on bright? ALSO when the protection kicks in, can u turn it off and wait a few mins and get a LITTLE more light??

dieselducy said:

Ok I LOVE my high cri 123 quark but It (or should i say ULTRAfire) left me in the dark at work the other night. I work for the RR and was in the middle of nowhere walking my train, I bring out the quark with ultrafire (just charged it before my shift) and put it on bright (not turbo) I get a WHOPPING 10 minutes before It goes out. I turn it off and back on and put it on the 3rd setting which buys me another 2 minutes then the battery is completely dead, No problem. i pull out the spare in my pocket and put it on 3 and it TOO goes dead after minutes. SO now i am in complete darkness. I ended up using the flashlight app on my phone to get back to the head end. PLEASE tell me the AW batteries are better as I am getting ready to order a couple. What kind of run time on a Quark 123 am i looking at on bright?

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I don't know why people read about cells and so forth here, and then buy BlankFire crap.

AW's ARE better, and if you get them from Wonderlite in CONUS, you'll get them fast...as opposed to waiting for them to arrive from China. (VERY Slow from China....)

So sad to hear your history, you must had backup lights... Well, I dont own any AW but their are the best out there, although you will have more runtime with primaries, this is the reason why I almost dont use my CR123 lights, just at home, if I go outside, camping or a remote site I carry my 18650`s based

is there a GOOD neutral white or HIGH CRI 18650 light available? I heard zebralight's is good.

A bored 6P with an 18650 cell (like an AW 3100 or AW 2900 mAh cell) or a Malkoff MD2 with the hi-lo ring and a Malkoff Nichia M61 219 light up front would give you 200+ lumens out the front with a nice beam, high CRI, for more than 2 hours at full output and high output for a good deal longer, and for many hours on low output.

Yes it's a bigger light than a 1xCR123 Quark but runtime and output are excellent for those who work in the night.

Look for the "Malkoff 92 CRI 4500K Nichia Dropin" thread by csshih / Illumination Supply in Dealers Corner on CPF Marketplace. I'm pretty sure you can pick up a two-speed MD2 with the Nichia drop in from him for delivery real-soon-now.

dieselducy said:

is there a GOOD neutral white or HIGH CRI 18650 light available? I heard zebralight's is good.

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I would recommend the Zebralight SC60w for an 18650 EDC. It's a great light with great tint (in my experience), and is small enough to carry everyday. My SC600w is a bit large for true EDC, IMO. (Ok, for some clothes but not for others.)

Lucky they didn't go

I would have thrown them as far as I could at that point

I always have a primary cell as a backup, and a second light.

AW cells are better, but still carry a backup!

Sorry to hear your experience

XXXX Fire :thumbsdow

Yes, please get AW's battery, and a spare one too.

I have to agree with the rest, long runtime > go 18650.

I got an AA Xeno E03 as my primary EDC with a backup Klarus XT2C, spare battery case consists of an AW 14500 & 18650.

Beamshots of two high CRI lights against others: Third light from the left is the Nichia 219 LED in a new Malkoff M61 drop-in for SureFire and Malkoff bodies that I was referring to. It's a new product following in the footsteps Malkoff's long line of well regarded lights.

The Nichia light will have somewhat less throw than the standard XP-G based M61 but should be great for inspection work at night.

They've confirmed the current draw is the same as the M61 so with a Panasonic 18650 3100 mAh cell I expect to see a solid 2 hours of light at or near fully regulated full output followed by a long taper as the cell voltage drops. In a 1x18650 configuration a Malkoff won't just cut out on you - it will drain the cell completely if need be, which is what I want in an emergency and I'm on my last cell. This is one of the reasons I thought immediately of this sort of light after the original poster's story.

If placed in a Malkoff MD2 body with the 2-level twist ring in the head, you get high/low and can easily run the light all night on low. It can also run 2xCR123, 3xCR123 (in the appropriate body), 2xRCR123, 2x18650 or 2x18500 (in the appropriate body) or even 2xAA in an emergency but at reduced output.

This isn't an advertisement... I'm just using the Malkoff as a good example of a light that responds to the need for longer runtime, high CRI, and reliability. Other lights will do the job too.

Two batteries died at the same time? Sounds like a bad charger to me.

dieselducy said:

Ok I LOVE my high cri 123 quark but It (or should i say ULTRAfire) left me in the dark at work the other night. I work for the RR and was in the middle of nowhere walking my train, I bring out the quark with ultrafire (just charged it before my shift) and put it on bright (not turbo) I get a WHOPPING 10 minutes before It goes out. I turn it off and back on and put it on the 3rd setting which buys me another 2 minutes then the battery is completely dead, No problem. i pull out the spare in my pocket and put it on 3 and it TOO goes dead after minutes. SO now i am in complete darkness. I ended up using the flashlight app on my phone to get back to the head end. PLEASE tell me the AW batteries are better as I am getting ready to order a couple. What kind of run time on a Quark 123 am i looking at on bright? ALSO when the protection kicks in, can u turn it off and wait a few mins and get a LITTLE more light??

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There are a few good options here: With my BC-10 EDC light, I ONLY use CR123's. I DO NOT use rechargeable batteries in it. I buy the $1 apiece Titanium Innovations batteries, which have been great, or the $1.45 Energizers, both from batteryjunction.com. Thats a fail-proof option.

Next, buy only top quality rechargeable batteries for both your primary and backup lights.

Third, buy top quality rechargeable batts, but also keep a spare non-rechargeable CR123 with you in a case somewhere.

Lastly, keep a top quality rechargeable in your primary light, and a non-rechargeable CR123 in your backup light.

If you choose any of those options, you should not have a problem again.

I'd invest in AW cells and a quality charger (4sevens has both, BTW), which should alleviate any future problems. I would keep a spare CR123 on hand as well, that's excellent advice.

As an aside, it's exactly this issue that's kept me away from CR123 lights. 16340s don't have much capacity, and they can abruptly leave you in the dark!

I just realized that I answered your second question (about other high CRI lights) without answering your first two.

Diselducy said:

PLEASE tell me the AW batteries are better as I am getting ready to order a couple. What kind of run time on a Quark 123 am i looking at on bright?

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AW cells are much better than xxxxFire, but RCR123 are small cells so there's only so much capacity that can be baked into them Don't expect miracles, but you should at least receive predictable performance.

See Selfbuilt's review of the Quark 123 R2, Mini 123 R5 - this should give you some idea as to how much runtime you'll get. On CR123A primaries ~ 30 minutes at max output and then a taper down to nothing by 1 hour and a bit. With a RCR123 cell you are looking at just shy of 30 minutes and then instant cut off as protection gives in.

ALSO when the protection kicks in, can u turn it off and wait a few mins and get a LITTLE more light??

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If your light behave this way with the Ultrafire cells, it ought to do the same with the AW cells.

Sorry if this sounds harsh but this thread should really say "My own lack of preparation left me in the dark". Only a bad workman blames his tools.

I'm not saying there is nothing wrong with the RCR123s you were using, and can say with certainty that the AWs will be better (and you need a good charger as well), but the problem here was not the cells letting you down, but you going into a situation where the light is essential with no proper backup.

The adage "One is none, two is one" should be ringing in your head. (and three or more is better)


I am interested in the scenario:
Had you tested the Ultrafire cells before trying them in a critical situation?
Had you charged them properly?
What charger do you have?
Did you measure the voltage after charging (and after an off-charger rest period)?
Are they protected or not?
If not protected, have you over discharged them and so reduced their capacity?

Others have already advised on the backup. Personally my backup will always have a primary cell in it and be capable of low output for extended runtime. The backup is just that, a last ditch light. If I am working and need light I would also have two work lights with spare rechargeable cells that have been used before and are known to be good.

Purely on the basis of capacity, I would be running 18650s, not RCR123. Your Quark with a primary CR123 would be good as a backup, but then you will need to invest in some other lights. Remember that if you are working, a headlamp may be the best choice as you have both hands free.

When you are able to prepare, there really is no excuse for being left in the dark.


By the way, I have cells which are no-name totally unbranded, Ultrafire and all the way up to AWs. The AWs are the best, and the ones I would choose if I had to rely on them, but apart from one or two dud cells from the cheaper lot, they have all worked reliably and within realistic expected parameters. The duds were weeded out by checking the voltage of the cells through their first few charge/discharge cycles.

I'm not writing to scold...nor do I have any good advice. But, my experience (after many cycles) with a few pairs of white/black TrustFire (3.6v) RCR's has been quite good. I'd say they're pretty much on par...runtime wise, with the AW RCR's that I use. BTW, they're most often used in a 4Sevens Maelstrom G5! -- which usually behaves strangely when using a 18650. It gives much smoother operation with the RCR's.

I don't own, or plan to ever buy, any of the "other" Fire brands. :sick2:

Even if you get a quality Li-Ion, you might still be left in the dark because of PCB cut-off. You might want to look into LiFePO4 batteries (SureFire is selling a kit of two batteries and a charger for $29), which don't use such circuits.

i got some of the so called 880mah orange ones off of ebay recently.
they are next to useless.about 200mah at 1a.
have not left feedback yet till i see what the seller will do about this.
i figured they would be closer to 600mah at 1a like a few aw units i have here.
so as a heads up they are no better now than when the op got his.