It's been 5+ years since I gave any thought to Li-ion cells, but I just ordered a Malkoff MD2 and I don't want to invest in a bunch of CR123 primaries.
Here's my current setup:
one 8-year-old Pila charger (highly recommended in 2010, probably nothing special now)
two 8-year-old protected AW RCR123's that I've been cycling through my HDS clicky for the last 8 years
six unprotected Sanyo 18650 cells that I salvaged from a laptop battery 9 years ago (probably 14+ years old at this point).
I lost my S-mini 4+ years ago and haven't used the 18650 cells since. They're super old and I don't want to worry about using them, so they're going in the recycle bin.
In theory I could use my two RCR123s to power the MD2, but there's no telling how many cycles I've put on these 2 cells over the last 8 years or what their actual capacity is now and so I'm totally unwilling to put them in series together.
My only safe option with what I've currently got is to use a single RCR123 with a spacer to power the MD2.
I figure I need to get two new 18650 cells, one for the light, one as a spare. I don't need large capacity. I don't need to sustain high current draw. The spare will be kept fully charged, so if a particular chemistry degrades less when charged or can sustain more charge cycles than another, that's a plus even if it's at the cost of capacity.
The cells will never be used in series, so there's no worry about matching cells. I've read that the M61 will drop into direct drive when the cell voltage gets below 3.4v, so I should never accidentally run the cell completely empty.
Basically, I want a cell that is least likely to give me any sort of headaches. I'll gladly trade capacity for peace of mind.
Thanks!
--flatline
Here's my current setup:
one 8-year-old Pila charger (highly recommended in 2010, probably nothing special now)
two 8-year-old protected AW RCR123's that I've been cycling through my HDS clicky for the last 8 years
six unprotected Sanyo 18650 cells that I salvaged from a laptop battery 9 years ago (probably 14+ years old at this point).
I lost my S-mini 4+ years ago and haven't used the 18650 cells since. They're super old and I don't want to worry about using them, so they're going in the recycle bin.
In theory I could use my two RCR123s to power the MD2, but there's no telling how many cycles I've put on these 2 cells over the last 8 years or what their actual capacity is now and so I'm totally unwilling to put them in series together.
My only safe option with what I've currently got is to use a single RCR123 with a spacer to power the MD2.
I figure I need to get two new 18650 cells, one for the light, one as a spare. I don't need large capacity. I don't need to sustain high current draw. The spare will be kept fully charged, so if a particular chemistry degrades less when charged or can sustain more charge cycles than another, that's a plus even if it's at the cost of capacity.
The cells will never be used in series, so there's no worry about matching cells. I've read that the M61 will drop into direct drive when the cell voltage gets below 3.4v, so I should never accidentally run the cell completely empty.
Basically, I want a cell that is least likely to give me any sort of headaches. I'll gladly trade capacity for peace of mind.
Thanks!
--flatline
Last edited: