Can someone explain UF RCR123 question??

[geoff538]

I just received 4 UF RCR123s yesterday. As I went to throw them in my charger I realized that they are about 2mm shorter than my others I got about a month ago. I realized this because when I went to put them in my charger with my homemade spacers there was a huge gap. I pulled out my old one's and they are clearly the exact same model, voltage, etc... They are the standard grey and black Ultrafires that we all use. The one's I got that fit my charger better are silver on the bottom, the one's I got yesterday that are too small are Gold. Can anyone easily clear this issue for me? I'm confused......

 

[richardcpf]

Are the cells protected? if yes,

What SKU did you order?? or the product link?? Because I WANT THEM!!! I have been looking for a shorter RCR123 that fits in lights without having to crush them.

 

[geoff538]

Are the cells protected? if yes,

What SKU did you order?? or the product link?? Because I WANT THEM!!! I have been looking for a shorter RCR123 that fits in lights without having to crush them.

Yes, they are protected. I ordered them from Battery Junction. Here is the exact spec that was sent in my confirmation email, copy, & pasted. Here you go.....

Ultrafire 3.6V 880mah UF16340-36V 4 3.95
Protected Li-Ion
Rechargeable Battery
RCR123A CR123A 16340
CR16340

Here is the link... I just found it. Maybe shoot him an email to confirm before you hit the "buy" button.....

http://www.batteryjunction.com/uf16340.html

 

[geoff538]

Yes, they are protected. I ordered them from Battery Junction. Here is the exact spec that was sent in my confirmation email, copy, & pasted. Here you go.....

Ultrafire 3.6V 880mah UF16340-36V 4 3.95
Protected Li-Ion
Rechargeable Battery
RCR123A CR123A 16340
CR16340

Here is the link... I just found it. Maybe shoot him an email to confirm before you hit the "buy" button.....

http://www.batteryjunction.com/uf16340.html

Any idea on why, out of the blue they are smaller than the one's I ordered before? If these are more desirable due to fitting issues, I should order another dozen....

 

[richardcpf]

Well I ordered 2 pairs of that exact battery from DX and they measured 37mm, way too long for most of my single cell flashlights.

I dont think you should be worried, because those batteries are measuring real 16340 size (16mm diameter 34mm long) and thats a good thing. They only have 450-550mah anyways.

 

[DM51]

My guess, although obviously I cannot know for certain without seeing a photo, is that you have been sent the wrong cells and the ones you have are UNprotected. The protection circuit adds ~2 mm to the length.

You should be doubly careful with them because of this - and because UF cells are consistently the worst-performing and most unreliable cells you can get. Yes, they are cheap; but sooner or later (probably quite soon) they'll let you down badly.

BTW, you posted this in the wrong forum, so I'm moving it to the Batteries section for you.

 

[HKJ]

My guess, although obviously I cannot know for certain without seeing a photo, is that you have been sent the wrong cells and the ones you have are UNprotected. The protection circuit adds ~2 mm to the length.

The protection circuit add between 2 and 4 mm in length and it is usual possible to see if it is there. You can not use the length of the cell as a guideline, some cells start out shorter than 34 mm.
Take a look here: Anatomy of a Protected Battery to see of a protected battery looks.

 

[357mag1]

I have the same cells from Battery Junction and they are definitely protected as I triggered the protection circuit seeing how long they would run in my Nitecore Extreme.
They lasted 26 minutes compared to 36 for the AW cells and they are indeed a little shorter than the AW cells.

 

[andrewnewman]

Yup. Same experience. For some reason the grey protected UF RCR123 cells from Battery Junction were actually slightly *shorter* than Duracell 123 primaries. I know they are protected as one failed (big surprise) and I removed the protection circuitry. (Now it is WAY shorter!!)