dumb newbie here!

Hi there guys! I've been fascinated by flashlights ever since I was a kid, and just recently I stumbled upon this website and what great timing coz I just had this big time boo boo that happened to me.

I have been using my favorite flashlight, the Surefire G2 Nitrolon, for about 2 years now, (I'm into mountaing climbing) and because of the high cost of batteries here in my country ($3 per piece - Philippines)I have been searching for rechargeable ones. Lo and behold when I saw one being sold at a local photography shop, I did't hesitate to buy one. I cannot make out the brand of the battery, actually there is no brand on the package, all it says is "Rechargeable Photo Camera" and "CR123A", not even the voltage of the battery and it is made in China. Obvously cheap generic batteries. But it still cost me $35 for the charger and 2 batteries. Anyway, when I got home, I charge the batteries, one at a time for 12 hours each, then the next day, when both of the batts where charged, I tried them on and it just lit up for maybe half a second, then nothing. Fearing for the worse, I got my regular 123a's and when I turned it on...nothing happened...to make it short, my lamp is now busted.

Now I dont have a bulb and I think I'm stuck with a $35 P.O.S. But reading thru these forums, I learned that rechargeable 123A's are 3.6volts, and the G2 uses only 6v bulb, hence the busted lamp of my G2, and also I saw this website, www.jsburlys.com here in the forums and he is selling a Pila 3.7V Lamp Assembly, and it says there that you can use this lamp assembly for the G2. So can I buy this lamp and use it with my rechargeable 123A's? Assuming that it can take the charge my batteries gives out?

Sorry if this is a long one, hope you have the time of answering a newbie in need!

Thanks and more power.

You can use the Pila lamp assembly with the Pila batteries. Which is a stick the size of 2 123's and is 3.7v.

With your CR123's you need a lamp that can handle 7.2v

Do you have access to a voltmeter? That would be the safest way of finding out the voltage of your batteries. If that is the voltage those are, then you should be able to run the Pila lamps without damage.

Welcome to cpf and hold on to your wallet.

You flashed your bulb. an expensive lesson. I wish those people selling li-ion R123 would disclose real voltages of li-ion. and the dangers of using bare li-ion in a series.

3V fully discharged, 4.2V fully charged

until you get fully versed in li-ion safety. stick to primary CR123 cells.

Thanks for the welcome Cy!

I finally found out the manufacturer of the rechargeable 123A's, I found it on the charger itself. It's www.advan-tec.com.uk

And based on the info on the website, what I bought was the "Rechargeable Lithium-ion CR123 Battery 3.6V 600mAh"

Unicorn - So with this kind of battery, can I use this on the Pila 3.7V Lamp Assembly? I will try to get a hold of a voltmeter just to be really sure.

Thanks Guys

[ QUOTE ]
quartz said:

Unicorn - So with this kind of battery, can I use this on the Pila 3.7V Lamp Assembly? I will try to get a hold of a voltmeter just to be really sure.

Thanks Guys

[/ QUOTE ]

You could use it with one of the cells. Two in series will put out double the voltage and again blow the lamp. As said before, the Pila Lamps are designed for their own 3.7V cells. Those are bigger (1.5xcr123 size or 2xcr123 size).
Like cy suggested, you should do a lot of reading on the whole li-ion topic before using those cells again. Blowing lamps is not the worst that could happen. Your cells are most likely not protected against overdischarging or reverse charging. Overdischarging is bad for the cell, reverse charging could be bad for you! Again: Read and learn about the topic. A lot has been written about the various variations of those cells, by people who know a lot more than I do.

Oh, and welcome to cpf!

Chrisse /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Hello again guys! I have here some pics of the said battery, maybe some of you guys have seen this...

thanks
(sorry for the fuzy pic)

I'd step in and recommend a bulb that would actually suit your application......BUT for one thing:

You are using unprotected lithium ion cells and these can be very dangerous. I suggest you cut your losses and move on, treat it as price that unfortunately you've had to pay to learn (we all have, some more expensive than others, some more adrenalin-inducing than others).

I highly recommend the official Surefire KR2 rechargeable kit for your G2. I know some say it's Nicad, it's old technology, blah blah.. but one thing I can say is that Surefire has a better engineering lab than most of us, better QA, more knowledge, and they will stand behind their product should anything go wrong.

I have finally made a solution for my problem. All thanks to KevinL!!! What I did was bought a Surefire P90 Lamp Assembly and used it with the Rechargeable 123A's and it SURE IS BRIGHT!

A word of caution though, if you plan to do the same, I am using unprotected 123A's so be carefull when using these, if left uncheck they might overdisharge and might destroy the batteries and when charged again, might explode!
And also the P90 might melt some parts of the G2, it sure is hot after a minute!

Again I would like to say thanks to KevinL and all CPFer's for your input and suggestions.

More power to CPF!

ey! Where'd you buy your "Digital Photo Camera Lithium Rechargeable" Batteries?

I want one for myself too. I am currently waiting for my C2 Combatlight to arrive and will be using the p91 lamp assembly.

If you can PM me please, that would be much appreciated!

quartz: congratulations on your new light.. the G2-90 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif glad I could be of some help.

flare: Please use protected cells..(Unfortunately protected cells will not run the P91, only the P90.). Apart from that, I love the C2 - one of my favorite housings. Good call!

KevinL,

Do you mean Unprotected cells? Is the "Digital Lithium Rechargeable Battery" posted earlier Protected?

No, those batteries are not protected. They will run a P91, but they can potentially be dangerous.

Protected cells will not run a P91, only a P90, and are available from http://www.jsburlys.com. If you didn't buy them there, chances are, they are not protected.