123 Battery Shoot Out

[SilverFox]

Hello Glock22,

The SureFire cells are very good. There may be some variation from batch to batch, but I don't think you would see much of a difference by changing brands.

Tom

 

[rookiedaddy]

silverfox - what happened to the 4sevens graphs?

Hello David,
I don't believe I did any testing with 4sevens cells...
Tom

I think David was looking for selfbuilt's thread >>> CR123A Comparison Review: 4Sevens, Titanium Innovations, Tenergy, Surefire, Duracell

 

[4sevens]

^ thanks rookiedaddy!

Silverfox - if you ever want to review ours just let me know and I'll set you up

 

[Glock 22]

:thanks: Surefire is what I'll be sticking with.

Hello Glock22,

The SureFire cells are very good. There may be some variation from batch to batch, but I don't think you would see much of a difference by changing brands.

Tom

 

[jayflash]

Light Junction is selling two types of "Stellar" CR123 cells, and one has a jacket which looks similar to Titanium cells. Any clue about these. This thread was the only hit when searching. Should I start a new topic?

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Jayflash,

A new thread would probably be the way to go.

Tom

 

[HighlanderNorth]

Hello Jayflash,

A new thread would probably be the way to go.

Tom

In that 2004 test, the Titanium Innovations CR123's didnt seem to fare well in most tests. But this is the 1st time I've come across this thread, but I've read other CR123 test threads that seem to say that the Titanium CR123's are at least in with the 2nd tier of batteries with Ray-o-Vac, Energizer, etc., but that some batches actually test as well or better than the top tier batteries. So from what I read, the titanium CR123's now come out anywhere between the top 2 tiers of batteries consistently.

I've been using them more than any other brand for about 10 months now, and they seem to last as long as any other brand, and I've had no issues whatsoever, and I've bought like 4 different batches of them.

Is it possible that back in 2004 they were sub-par, but now they are consistently good?

 

[SilverFox]

Hello HighlanderNorth,

The formulations of batteries changes from time to time so that is a possibility. It may be time to do some additional testing to see how the current generation of cells performs. I am tied up right now, but will put it on the "wish" list.

Tom

 

[RobbW]

Thanks for all your work and sharing your expertise. There is nothing like real-world data to dispense marketing puffery. I appreciate review here and the alkaline battery review. You're not only helping us get the most for our money, you're helping us "vote" with our dollars to support those brands that are giving us the best performing batteries.

 

[xwing]

Hi, I have a question with regards to the amp drawn. I just bought myself a surefire fury and it say that with the sure fire batteries, it should last 1.5 hrs.
Would it be correct for me to assume that the amp draw is about 1a since the sure fire is about 1400mah?

So I should be using the chart on 1a when choosing the "longest lasting batteries?

 

[Lurveleven]

Hi, I have a question with regards to the amp drawn. I just bought myself a surefire fury and it say that with the sure fire batteries, it should last 1.5 hrs.
Would it be correct for me to assume that the amp draw is about 1a since the sure fire is about 1400mah?

So I should be using the chart on 1a when choosing the "longest lasting batteries?

The output is not 100% to 1.5 hrs, see runtime chart from this review, so I think it uses more than 1 A. The best thing is to measure the current your light is drawing using a multimeter.

 

[recDNA]

What is the maximum recommended sustained current for a Surefire CR123A? If you can please tell me a number rather than a multiple of C. Thanks.

 

[SilverFox]

Hello recDNA,

2000 mA.

Tom

 

[recDNA]

Thanks Tom. I always thought it was about 1 amp max sustained current. No idea where I got that figure. That means a primary can actually sustain a higher current than an RCR123 protected li ion. I know those are 1.5 amp max sustained current.

 

[hiuintahs]

I noticed that Battery Junction is using one of SilverFox's graphs promoting their Titanium Innovation CR123A battery. I was a little taken back with its performance at the top of the pack for a 2 amp discharge rate. Is this chart somewhere in this thread?
I know that the Titanium Innovation has been one of the top performing Chinese made batteries and when considering the price, it looks like a good value.

But is Battery Junction embellishing the facts a little (trying to sell a product) when the 0.5A and 1.0A discharge rates put the Titanium Innovation at the middle to lower of the pack (as noted in the tables in post #1)? Personally I would be using a CR123A at a discharge rate of 1.0A or lower. Just some thoughts.

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Hiuintahs,

That graph is not in this thread but it is one of my graphs. It has been touched up a little but the data is correct.

Keep in mind that my testing was done in 2006 - 2007 so I don't know how the current batch of cells is in comparison.

The Titanium cells held voltage as well as all the others at the lower test currents but they didn't have the capacity of some of the other brands. At the time the value compared price versus capacity and the Titanium cells were very competitive.

Tom