Difference with batteries?

[DC AFG]

Hi,
I am new to this forum. From the brief look tonight I am staggered at the variety of acronyms being thrown about. Very difficult to pick up on what is what at times. First question, an easy one I think. I look at battery junction and a number of sites and see the price of 123a batteries vary greatly. Any advice or information on what is best and why? Is it just a matter of price?
cheers
DC

PS: I should mention I have about 10 Surefires, 6 streamlights, 3 or 4 Fenix's and I think one nitecore. MTF

 

[45/70]

Hi DC AFG and welcome to CPF!:thumbsup:

When it comes to CR123A cells (which are primary lithium cells), there is a big difference, not just in price, but in quality and safety, as well. The best recommendation is to only buy name brand cells made in either Japan, or the U.S. (in which all brands are actually manufactured by Panasonic U.S.A. ie. Panasonic, Surefire, Battery Station etc.).

"Off brand" cells from other origins (eg. China) may, or may not have certain safety features, and often suffer from poor quality control, ingredients, or components used in their manufacture. Not only is this important as far as value is concerned, but the poor quality components used in other cells can have a major effect on safety, as well.

You may find the threads of interest "sticky" located at the top of this Forum helpful, if you haven't checked it out already. Also, concerning rechargeable batteries and cells, Battery University is a commonly referenced site, when rechargeable batteries, or cells are being discussed.

Dave

 

[ShineOnYouCrazyDiamond]

Lots of threads on this if you search. and some great shootouts comparing them all. Do a search for "cr123 shootout" and you'll find a few. SilverFox and SelfBuilt have done really good ones.

I have been very impressed with Rayovac AA alkalines lately - cheaper and last just as long as Energizer or Duracell. So when Battery junction had a sale a few weeks back on Rayovac I picked up a few dozen Rayovac CR123s. I ran a side by side comparing the Rayovac vs. Surefire and the Rayovac lasted consistently about 15 minutes longer than the Surefire. The test light was a McGizmo Ti PD modded to a XP-G running at 525mA. Current at the tail is approx 700mA.

I believe from the reviews I've read, the Surefire holds up better in high current applications.

 

[DC AFG]

Thanks for the advice, I will try to score some surefire batteries locally. There is the possibility of some at a good price. What does modified to an XP-G mean? Is this a new LED assembly? Almost everything I read from some of the retain sites talk of cree LEDs.
Thanks again. Oh, and I will check out the sticky's.
DC

 

[ShineOnYouCrazyDiamond]

LOL - sorry, I just threw a pile of acronyms at you there.

McGizmo makes some really nice custom Titanium based lights. He has his own sub-forum, check it out. The lights he make are very easy to work on because they break-down into simple to mod parts. The Ti PD lights were built at a time when the Seoul P4 based LEDs were the most popular to be used for hand held lights because they produced a very nicely distributed beam pattern, but they also have only a moderate luminous flux (the brightness an LED will produce for any given level of current input - most lower current LEDs are rated at their output for a 350mA input, my only guess as to why would be that LEDs work at approx 3-3.5 volts and that level of V x A = approx 1W so it is like rating their output at approx 1 watt of power)

Cree has become more popular with their release of the XP-G model of LED because it has a luminous flux which can be easily 40-50 more lumens higher @350mA than the P4. The XP-G can also be driven to 1.5A whereas the P4 maxed out around ~1A. Don't quote my number exactly but basically the P4 was limited to around 200-250 bulb lumens and the XP-G can push out over 400 depending on the luminous flux rating.

That being said, when I say I modded the Ti-PD light to a XP-G, I basically mean I took it apart, removed the P4 LED and installed a XP-G shimmed just right (this is all trial and error, took me a while to get it just right - but I've got the perfect height setting right now when the XP-G used with a McR20S reflector gives a great looking beam) and put everything back together. With the XP-G running I now get more light for the same amount of current draw and a better looking beam.

Hope that helps a bit. :)