can 123 survive the heat in a car?

[DHCrocks]

I know they have a 10 year shelf life, but can they take the constant cycling of high heat if they are stored in a glove box in my car. I would love to just leave a flashlight in there for emergencies and not have to worry about it. I used to put in a alkaline light, but after a year or so the batteries were almost dead even though I didn't use them. And I am especially concerned about them leaking and ruining a $75 light.

 

[ChrisA]

as long as you can touch the light without burning yourself the cells should be just fine... lithium-chemistry is much more resistant against 'extreme' temperature changes than alkaline (operating temperature is rated at -40 to 140 F° for most cells).

chris

edit: i have a scorpion and a x5 plus some spare 123s in my car just in case... these are in the trunk, shielded from direct sunlight and show no signs of depletion caused by the constant temperature changes during the last year.

 

[JohnK]

I keep a SF 9P in my Cherokee for emergency use. It's been there for about seven years (without much use) with the original batteries. I recently obtained a couple of dozen of the reduced price Surefire 123's, so thought I'd change the batteries for the heck of it. I ran the 9P with the old batteries for about 15 minutes; it stayed at full brightnes for that period. Changed the batteries and tossed the old ones.

 

[bucken]

FWIW, The coolest place in a car is under the seat.

 

[Blackbeagle]

I always use Maglites for this. You can get the mount brackets, flashlight, traffic wand, and a couple of years worth of batteries for the price of an X5 or a Scorpion, or any other 123 flashlight.

What is really nice is that I don't worry about the Mag - bumps, scratches, dropping it, using it as a hammer...nothing worries me - it's expendable. Don't even worry about corrosion or battery leakage. Just change the batteries once a year about christmas time.

Worst case, you can even use it to pursuade annoying people to be a little more reasonable - works much better than any 2x123.

 

[carbonsparky]

I have used Photo Liths in My mini mag with great success. You get a brighter whiter light less weight and batteries that will last for years, even in the glove box.

 

[Monsters_Inc]

Depending on where you live, the inside of a car can get much MUCH hotter than 140 farenheit.

I have personally experienced reduced capacities from newly bought Lithium cells just by transporting them home in 40+ degree (celcius) heat. Estimated cell life reduction of roughly 5-10% from a 40 minute trip home/exposure to heat. I would imagine prolonged heat exposure would degrade capacity even more.