In your opinion which rechargable have you had the most success with. I dont know weather to use rechargable cr123 or 18650. They will be used in my T1 and DBS and probaly some of surefires new lights like the invikis and optomis. Im looking into getting some and a charger, but i dont know where to start. Ive heard alot of dangerous things about them too, if they arnt taken care of right. Are they worth it? and how do they compare (performance) to surefire or panisonic cr123? I know i keep posting this topic up, but no one seems to give me a straight answer.
I think many would say that AW's rechargeable 18650 and RCR123's are the way to go and I agree. Check out his sales thread here:
http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=173892, they are also available at Lighthound.com and Fenix-Store.com.
You should also check out this mdocod's thread; lot's of info on rechargeable Li-Ion's but very useful:
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=161536.
As for your questions about dangers and whether to use 18650's or RCR123's; do a search on 18650 and RCR123 in this section and read some of the thread's as there is a wealth of info on this.... I'll try to give you a headstart:
- Dangers: generally speaking, Li-Ion's are less stable than your average NiMh / NiCAD batteries (someone else will have to explain the technical side of things). There have been many documented cases of primary CR123s venting or exploding. I haven't seen any cases about exploding rechargeable 18650's though but I could be wrong. If used properly, rechargeable Li-Ion's are safe - it is recommended that you don't leave them unattended in the charger overnight and you should remove them as soon as they are charged (ie. with most chargers, remove as soon as light is green on charger).
- Are they worth it? In my opinion, yes. I have some primary SF, Panasonic, Duracell CR123's but they are backup. I prefer rechargeable since they can be recharged many times and I have guilt-free lumens, which is a common comment on CPF.
As for using 18650 or CR123's: that really depends on the lights that you are thinking of purchasing, runtimes, convenience and your preference. 18650's are 3.6v or 3.7v nominal and 4.2v fresh off the charger while using 2xRCR123 gives you 7.2v nominal and 8.4v off the charger. Basically, some lights are made to work more efficiently with 18650's while others may not.
Personally, I have several lights that take 1xRCR123's and others that could use either 2xRCR123 or 1x18650 so I have both types of rechargeable batteries - you may choose to standardize with one type of battery. For the lights that accept either, I like using 18650 in those lights (ie. Dereelight CL1H) since they were designed primarily to work with that battery and also have longer runtimes (more capacity in 1x18650 then 2xRCR123) and it's also easier to charge and carry just 1 battery.
Check out the above threads and do a bit more research and you'll eventually make a personal decision on how to go. Hope that gets you started and good luck!
