Batterystation's rechargeable 123s

[LEDagent]

Batterystation\'s rechargeable 123s

How are these batteries sold by Batterystation?

From the description it says it has a protect board and is 3.6V. Will these top off at 4.2 Volts and level off at 3.6V?

I'm looking for R123s that will power my KL4 using one cell. 4.2V would be nice as the KL4 will still be in regulation for a few minutes.

Are these good?....more importantly, are these safe?

 

[Haesslich]

Re: Batterystation\'s rechargeable 123s

Shouldn't this be in the Flashlight Electronics thread? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif And from what I've heard, they're fairly safe... though they level off at 3.6, IIRC. I know JSB's rechargables, at least the earlier models, did work at 4.2... but they died pretty quick, due to an aggressive cut-off.

 

[LEDagent]

Re: Batterystation\'s rechargeable 123s

Ahh...i see. I'll give them a try, they don't sound too expensive.

Where am i anyway? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/stupid.gif

 

[batterystation]

Re: Batterystation\'s rechargeable 123s

This battery has been in the works for almost a year. We started out with a goal of the 3V battery. Here is what happened and others will find out the hard way. The 3V versions regulator would pop or fry under heavy loads. I did this repeatedly in my U2 and a few other high drain lights. It does not ruin the battery, but renders the regulator useless.

So what you end up with is a 3.6V battery with VERY poor capacity because of the space being taken up by the regulator board. So we opted to go for the 3.6V one which settles out at 3.7-3.8 range and keep the capacity at about 700mAh rather than 300mAh with the regulator. The safety part is more important than the regulator part as long as you pay attention to what happens if you stack too many in series. Got to watch that voltage so you don't blow lamps.

I have several thousand more of these arriving in the next few days and will resume shipping. Also there will be some price drops in January on this. Pretty significant drops.
Watch the CPF page in the next week or so.

 

[LoneRebel]

Re: Batterystation\'s rechargeable 123s

LEDAgent:You should use a single lithium-ion 17670 cell that is the size of two cr123's. I bought mine a year or so ago and have been using it in my KL4 ever since. I believe they were around 1700-1800mah or so at the time. I believe others have reported the Kl4 stayed regulated for around an hour on a single 17670. Do a search on 17670 and you should find lots of information.

 

[cy]

Re: Batterystation\'s rechargeable 123s

kevin, when you state 3.7-3.8V. do you mean under load or voltage as measure off charger?

 

[ds]

Re: Batterystation\'s rechargeable 123s

Hi, I'm a newbie flashaholic (just got my first serious light - SF L2), and I'm reading all I can find on rechargeable 123's. I'm aware that Pilas don't fit the L2, what about the BatteryStation? Are they safe to use, assuming I don't run them down too much? I could buy two sets and change them every few days, before the voltage gets too low. Thanks, and have a Happy New Year everybody!

Dimitris

 

[LEDagent]

Re: Batterystation\'s rechargeable 123s

Kevin,

GREAT news. I'd be willing to try these out even at the current price you've got going. I plan on using these mostly on single cell applications...so i guess these batteries will work out great for me.

I'll probably ask around more, or even try out a set to see how it works in a TW4 or any other modded single cell flashlight like an Arc LS.

I'm excited....keep us posted.

 

[flash99dark]

Re: Batterystation\'s rechargeable 123s

Kevin,

Will 2x of these work in the Inova XO3
1x work in Inova T1 and finally the (2x) Nuwai 352L ALX 5 watt Led......William? (the ALX-352L is regulated)

 

[kj]

Re: Batterystation\'s rechargeable 123s

[ QUOTE ]
cy wrote:

kevin, when you state 3.7-3.8V. do you mean under load or voltage as measure off charger?

[/ QUOTE ]
...or maybe it's an average. I also want to know what the stated voltage means.

 

[LoneRebel]

Re: Batterystation\'s rechargeable 123s

batterystation:I noticed it says the batteries are not compatible with other chargers. Does it not charge the cells up to 4.2v like most other li-ion chargers? I have a cheap ebay 123 charger and two 580mah cells and the provided charger says the batteries are fully charged at 3.8v. I put the same battery on my lenmar mach 1 alpha charger and it comes off at 4.18v. So it appears to me the ebay charger isnt fully charging the cells.

I'm just curious if your charger acts similarly, because i'm interested in buying your higher capacity batteries and charger for my parents.

 

[LEDagent]

Re: Batterystation\'s rechargeable 123s

I'm not sure but i think the protection circuit limits the charge to about 3.6-3.8V.

 

[SilverFox]

Re: Batterystation\'s rechargeable 123s

Hello KJ,

Just as NiMh cells are rated at 1.2 volts and come off the charger at 1.4 volts, the LiIon cells are rated at 3.7 volts but come off the charger at 4.2 volts.

Tom

 

[SilverFox]

Re: Batterystation\'s rechargeable 123s

Hello LoneRebel,

There are a bunch of Li-Ion chargers out there that terminate the charge at 3.8 volts. You are correct in assuming that those chargers are not fully charging the cells.

I am not sure what Kevin (BatteryStation) means in his reference to the re-chargeable 123's, but in general if the cell is protected, it can be charged in a "stupid" charger, however, if the cell is not protected, you need to charge it in a smart charger.

Tom

 

[Lux Luthor]

Re: Batterystation\'s rechargeable 123s

Rechargeable Li-Ion 3.6v CR123A battery with smart charger (includes one battery) with protect board.
BC-RCR-123A..........................$15.00

Extra RCR-123A batteries............$9.00

These are NOT compatable with other chargers or non-rechargeable CR123A batteries. 700mAh
NOTE: These top off at 4.2V so watch the voltage and the device you are using them in carefully.

Do you mean that the "protect board" is in the charger, and that's what makes it smart? Or do you mean the cells have the protect board? If it's the former, you still have to be careful about short circuiting, regardless of how safely the charger works.

 

[cy]

Re: Batterystation\'s rechargeable 123s

WOW RCR-123 are 700 mah?

 

[Billson]

Re: Batterystation\'s rechargeable 123s

Kevin said that the chargers are smart chargers so I'm assuming the cells are bare cells.

 

[nonbox]

Re: Batterystation\'s rechargeable 123s

http://www.batterystation.com/cpf.htm

Prices have dropped:

Charger: BC-RCR-123A............$12.00

RCR-123A batteries............$6.00


How many recharge cycles will you get from the RCR-123A battery?

Will the charger automatically shut off or will the battery over heat?

I would like to hear from those who own this product.

 

[CroMAGnet]

Re: Batterystation\'s rechargeable 123s

[ QUOTE ]
LoneRebel said:
LEDAgent:You should use a single lithium-ion 17670 cell that is the size of two cr123's. I bought mine a year or so ago and have been using it in my KL4 ever since. I believe they were around 1700-1800mah or so at the time. I believe others have reported the Kl4 stayed regulated for around an hour on a single 17670. Do a search on 17670 and you should find lots of information.

[/ QUOTE ]

Very interested in this 17670 but when I do a search i come up with millions of irrelivant pages. Anyone know where the threads are for this rechargable lithium?

 

[beakman]

Re: Batterystation\'s rechargeable 123s

So did we ever get a final answer on whether it's the cells themselves that are protected, or just the charger that's protected?

the beakman