Australia - Panasonic CR123A

[Telemeister]

Hi there,

Just an interesting observation with some batteries. I have a number of Surefire flashlights, and primarily use an M4 and a C3 as main lights with a Fenix P3D as a backup. These are all new torchs, which get regular maintenance. Once the original Surefire batteries were flat, I replaced them with Panasonic CR123A batteries. I purchased them from a reputable dealer online, for a pretty good price. In Australia, CR123As can be difficult to find, and I have seen them for $12 each.

I noticed, however, that these batteries go flat incredibly quickly, with run times being much less than the specs. Even the Fenix seems to chew through these batteries. I expect the batteries in my M4 to die fairly rapidly, but the C3 with the LOLA doesn't last even close to an hour, and I have probably got abou 30 minutes out of my P3D on Turbo mode (these are total run times, not all at once). Additionally, I had a set of these batteries explode in my C3! This annoyed me on one hand, but on the other, I was really impressed that the C3 didn't have so much as a mark on it, and when I cleaned it and replaced the batteries, it was good as new.

Just my observation....anyone else have any comments?

 

[M@elstrom]

Re: Interesting Observations - Panasonic CR123A

I haven't had the opportunity to replace my SF123As yet (the W/E Cree 6P hasn't chewed them up yet), but those Panasonics are spec'd @ 1550mAh within the 'better range' (1300-1600mAh) of what's available, you'd think they'd be okay, suprisingly the vague reference I found to Surefire 3v lithiums quoted a 1400mAh capacity

FWIW Varta actually market a CR123A lithium cell with a 1600mAh capacity rating SWEET! :thumbsup:

 

[jirik_cz]

Re: Interesting Observations - Panasonic CR123A

How do they look like? Maybe you have fake panasonic batteries? http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showpost.php?p=2442417&postcount=15

 

[Citivolus]

Australia CR123A pricing and availability querry

I am wondering what Australians are doing for their CR123 torches, as far as brands of batteries and what they are paying for them. I was talking to the Sanyo distributor last week and their wholesale prices on CR123A are not too bad, but most dealers sell them at a hefty mark up. I know that some of my customers use primary batteries when they are off the grid, and I am considering carrying them for this reason.

So, what brand of CR123A primary batteries are you using (if primary at all), and how much are you paying (no need to say where you purchase from if you don't want to)? I'm trying to decide if I should carry the Sanyo batteries or if there would be no demand at the price point I would achieve. As an extension of my question, I know that there are some inexpensive brands on the Australian market but I'm wondering how high consumer confidence is in these brands.

Regards,
Eric

 

[Telemeister]

Re: Interesting Observations - Panasonic CR123A

How do they look like? Maybe you have fake panasonic batteries? http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showpost.php?p=2442417&postcount=15

They're the real McCoy.

 

[kenzo]

Re: Australia CR123A pricing and availability querry

My CR123A primary = a bunch of taken apart CR-P2 kodak i managed to find for $2 each (at kmart!). Also a bunch of panasonic ones i found for cheap.


Australian prices for CR123A are ridiculous.
$10AVG for one?

 

[DM51]

Re: Australia CR123A pricing and availability querry

I'm merging this thread with another one discussing Australian CR123A prices.

 

[dom]

Re: Australia CR123A pricing and availability querry

I got 50 Energisers from the US for US$50 on special -should last forever.
I did get a couple Titanium brand from Torchworld for $3 a piece awhile ago -they are $2.50 now.Good price for in Australia.

I use mainly rechargeables but would use the primaries for some situations.

Cheers
Dom

 

[Hitthespot]

Re: Interesting Observations - Panasonic CR123A

I haven't had the opportunity to replace my SF123As yet (the W/E Cree 6P hasn't chewed them up yet), but those Panasonics are spec'd @ 1550mAh within the 'better range' (1300-1600mAh) of what's available, you'd think they'd be okay, suprisingly the vague reference I found to Surefire 3v lithiums quoted a 1400mAh capacity

FWIW Varta actually market a CR123A lithium cell with a 1600mAh capacity rating SWEET! :thumbsup:

You must be very careful of manufacturers rated capacities. While you would think they are cast in concrete they are not. I bought some Ultralast CR123 batteries rated 1400mah. They lasted exactly 1/2 as long as some Streamlight CR123 batteries I purchased. I also highly recommend the Streamlights.

I have used Panasonics with good results, I would also wonder about fakes. I guess it's not out of the question.

Bill

 

[Fusion_m8]

I purchased 50 Golston CR123s from ebay for about $80 and they performed terrible. I felt ripped off and learnt my lesson to stick with proven brands from then on, so I purchased a box of 20 Energizer CR123s also from ebay at the cost of about $2.50ea. I've been relying more and more on Li-Ons now so only use the CR123s as backup.

These TITANIUM cells available from torchworld.com.au have been tested and found to be as good as Energizer and Surefire. There are dealers on ebay who sell the same cells for US$1.00ea excluding shipping, but if you include shipping costs, purchasing from torchworld might make more sense than buying from overseas.

 

[jirik_cz]

Re: Interesting Observations - Panasonic CR123A

They're the real McCoy.

Then that's really strange. I've tested runtimes in TK10 with these batteries:

There are only small differences between brand batteries. The best are USA made batteries (black panasonic, energizer), Japan made batteries are just slightly worse (3-7%) and the worst are GPs made in China (GPs made-in-Japan are fine). Btw Varta CR123 rated as 1600mAh have the same performance as other made-in-Japan batteries which are usually rated as 1400mAh.

 

[Citivolus]

These TITANIUM cells available from torchworld.com.au have been tested and found to be as good as Energizer and Surefire. There are dealers on ebay who sell the same cells for US$1.00ea excluding shipping, but if you include shipping costs, purchasing from torchworld might make more sense than buying from overseas.

If I did stock the Sanyo batteries, the price would be higher than either of the brands that David currently sells, so if the Titanium brand is reliable and well thought of (which it sounds like it is), I may just end up keeping a low stock of the Sanyo batteries as a service to customers, or pick up a few of the Titanium's from David. I'm still trying to figure out if the Sanyo's would be worth the premium.

Regards,
Eric

 

[jayflash]

The six Panasonics in my M6 lasted about 20 min. which is normal RT with the MN21 lamp. That's a stressful load. Could the problem be a bad manufacturing batch or extreme warehouse storage problem?

 

[Grox]

Re: Australia CR123A pricing and availability querry

I am wondering what Australians are doing for their CR123 torches, as far as brands of batteries and what they are paying for them. I was talking to the Sanyo distributor last week and their wholesale prices on CR123A are not too bad, but most dealers sell them at a hefty mark up. I know that some of my customers use primary batteries when they are off the grid, and I am considering carrying them for this reason.

So, what brand of CR123A primary batteries are you using (if primary at all), and how much are you paying (no need to say where you purchase from if you don't want to)? I'm trying to decide if I should carry the Sanyo batteries or if there would be no demand at the price point I would achieve. As an extension of my question, I know that there are some inexpensive brands on the Australian market but I'm wondering how high consumer confidence is in these brands.

Regards,
Eric

I have been using energizer, rayovac and new batterystation batteries, all purchased in trays of 50. I also have some SF that I'm going through at the moment. I have tried a few panasonic with good results.

I haven't had good results with made in china batteries so I'm steering away from them.

I generally pay $1.00 USD for all of the above batteries before shipping, which usually takes it to about $1.14 usd each per cell.

Where possible I've been using rechargeables in an attempt to keep costs down.

 

[Grox]

Hi there,

Just an interesting observation with some batteries. I have a number of Surefire flashlights, and primarily use an M4 and a C3 as main lights with a Fenix P3D as a backup. These are all new torchs, which get regular maintenance. Once the original Surefire batteries were flat, I replaced them with Panasonic CR123A batteries. I purchased them from a reputable dealer online, for a pretty good price. In Australia, CR123As can be difficult to find, and I have seen them for $12 each.

I noticed, however, that these batteries go flat incredibly quickly, with run times being much less than the specs. Even the Fenix seems to chew through these batteries. I expect the batteries in my M4 to die fairly rapidly, but the C3 with the LOLA doesn't last even close to an hour, and I have probably got abou 30 minutes out of my P3D on Turbo mode (these are total run times, not all at once). Additionally, I had a set of these batteries explode in my C3! This annoyed me on one hand, but on the other, I was really impressed that the C3 didn't have so much as a mark on it, and when I cleaned it and replaced the batteries, it was good as new.

Just my observation....anyone else have any comments?

I would be suspicious of your batteries for the following reasons:

1. Greatly decreased capacity
2. Explosions

Genuine panasonics are pretty good batteries. Both of the above problems do occur with good quality batteries but are exceedingly rare. In particular, explosions are vanishingly rare in good quality batteries.

My advice would be to get your batteries from somewhere like lighthound or batterystation (cpf specials).

 

[Haz]

I normally buy my batteries for US$2~$2.50 each.
Brands I used are Panasonic, Surefire, Energizer, Duracell. I try to purchase my batteries either made in Japan or the US. I'm not too sure or comfortable with using batteries made from China, and names i've never heard of before.

Although a battery with longer battery capacity would be preferred. My main priority concern is with safety. I've seen tests in the past by Newbie, Silverfox on mis-matched cells and batteries venting, and some safety mechanisms on certain batteries, either did not have this protection, or failed to prevent venting. Although the big name batteries may have problems, they seem to be more prevalent in those non-big name batteries more often than not.

my decision to purchase battery

1) Brand
2) Manufacture country
3) Price
4) Capacity

 

[Telemeister]

I would be suspicious of your batteries for the following reasons:

1. Greatly decreased capacity
2. Explosions

Genuine panasonics are pretty good batteries. Both of the above problems do occur with good quality batteries but are exceedingly rare. In particular, explosions are vanishingly rare in good quality batteries.

My advice would be to get your batteries from somewhere like lighthound or batterystation (cpf specials).

Yeah, I'm starting to get suspicious as well, the run times are just awful, and I was particularly surprised about the short runtime in the Fenix. I have ordered a couple of boxes of the Surefire batteries, they seemed, at least to my untrained mind, to be reasonably good.

 

[M@elstrom]

Re: Interesting Observations - Panasonic CR123A

You must be very careful of manufacturers rated capacities. While you would think they are cast in concrete they are not. I bought some Ultralast CR123 batteries rated 1400mah. They lasted exactly 1/2 as long as some Streamlight CR123 batteries I purchased. I also highly recommend the Streamlights.

I have used Panasonics with good results, I would also wonder about fakes. I guess it's not out of the question.

I've purchased Varta's before both rechargeable & primary cells and found their Alaklines as good as the Duracell/Energizer equivalents (perhaps even slightly better) whilst powering my 3D Maglite... I'd have no problem recommending this manufacturer :thumbsup:

 

[koala]

Re: Interesting Observations - Panasonic CR123A

Hi Telemiester,

Firstly, check out this CR123A shootout by Silverfox. The test is in the 2.5A graphs. I think it holds voltage very well. The Panasonic USA cell may not be the same as your Panasonics Japan? but I am sure they are not too far off. I also believe(visually) the Panasonics are same family as Sanyos. They seems identical in terms of construction, black plastic top and green ring bottom.

Like Grox, I import my SF cells for less than $1.4 each including shipping. I only buy a dozen or so at one time. They last for quite a while. Please avoid those ebay chinese. They work alright for LED lights but fails terribly when you need high omph. They are ok when fresh but after 1 or 2 years of storage they go bad. I have SF cells stored along side they still work properly.

So who is this "reputable online dealer" you purchase from? Care to share? Perhaps some of us can avoid buying from them next time.

 

[Glen C]

Telemeister, you are in Sydney, if you would like PM me your address and I can send you 3 Energisers for you as a reference to test against, the run times seem very short. No cost. In reality I would suggest running your C3 and M4 on rechargeables, the price of quality cr123s in Aus pay for a charger and a few sets of batteries quickly