This is a Fenix PD30 that I had for years and has always been my favorite flashlight. I have always run CR123 batteries as I had to buy them in bulk. I've used them all up and wanted to change to a rechargeable battery. I got the battery yesterday and charged it. I expected it to take 3 or 4 hours, but I think it took less than an hour. Put it in the flashlight and it died before I could get thru all the modes. I put the old but well used CR123 batteries back in the flashlight and had to struggle to get them to work. Last night they would not work, but now I can get them to work. The 16650 battery will not work. Bad battery? Photo of the light and battery below.
New 16650 Battery Kills Flashlight
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kerneldrop
Flashlight Enthusiast
Take off the tailcap. Insert the battery. Get a strand of wire or paperclip.... One end of the metal something touches the negative part of the battery. Take the other end of the metal and touch the uncoated part. See if the light works. Essentially you are bypassing the tailswitch.
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So, the wire goes from the negative part of the battery to the outside of the battery, and not the flashlight?
thermal guy
Flashaholic
From negative on battery to inside or bare metal on the battery tube. I do not think that light will work properly with a 3.7 cell
My knowledge of batteries and volts is zero. I decided to take a photo of the empty CR123 box as it says 3.0 volts. This may be a dumb question to some, which shows my ignorance of batteries, is why is the 3.0 battery stronger than the 3.7 volt rechargeable battery?
By the way, I emailed Fenix about this before I bought the rechargeable battery, and they said it should work.
So, a 3.7 volt battery will never work cause the flashlight needs a minimum of 6 volts?
Now I wonder if there exists a 16650 battery will work with this flashlight? The flashlight has not worked right since I first inserted the 16650 battery last night. I have to fiddle with it to come on at all now.
It says "KeepPower 16650 2100mAh 3.7V Rechargeable li-ion Protected Battery 7.77Wh (Replacement for 2 x CR123)" on the page where I bought it. Link to battery.
hsa
Flashlight Enthusiast
It should not have done any damage to the light. That is a good battery but it should have taken more than an hour to charge.
Can you check the voltage on the new battery? Fresh cr123 batteries should work. The new 16650 battery should be over 4 volts freshly charged.
Can you check the voltage on the new battery? Fresh cr123 batteries should work. The new 16650 battery should be over 4 volts freshly charged.
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@xxo is absolutely right. The light normally runs on 6 volts. Two lithium ion batteries in series would be too much voltage with a risk of damaging the light at 7.4 volts (3.7 x 2). If you're looking for rechargeable options, there are rechargeable CR123s, labeled as RCR123. Just make sure the output is 3.0 volts as many are labeled as such, but with different battery chemistries and output voltages.
It depends on the electronics of the light, some 2X CR123A lights, such as most LED Surefire and Streamlights, will run on 3.7 Volts, while others need around 4.5-6 Volts to run.
Check out SureFire CR123 size rechargables
www.batteryjunction.com
SureFire SFLFP123 RCR123A / 16340 450mAh 3.2V Protected Lithium Ion (LiFePO4) Button Top Battery - 2 Pack
<h2>SureFire SFLFP123 RCR123A / 16340 Battery</h2> <h3><em>3.2V | 450mAh | Lithium Ion with LiFePO<sub>4</sub> Sub-Chemistry</em></h3> <p><em>SureFire SFLFP123</em> batteries are RCR123A /
www.batteryjunction.com
I found some rechargeable RCR123 Surefire batteries and checked my charger to make sure it will charge them, and it will, so I will probably order some of those. I hope they have the same output that the normal CR123 batteries do.
Thanks for the link. I've ordered from Battery Junction before. I think I'll get those.Check out SureFire CR123 size rechargables
SureFire SFLFP123 RCR123A / 16340 450mAh 3.2V Protected Lithium Ion (LiFePO4) Button Top Battery - 2 Pack
<h2>SureFire SFLFP123 RCR123A / 16340 Battery</h2> <h3><em>3.2V | 450mAh | Lithium Ion with LiFePO<sub>4</sub> Sub-Chemistry</em></h3> <p><em>SureFire SFLFP123</em> batteries are RCR123A /
knucklegary
Flashlight Enthusiast
Fyi, if your current charger doesn't handle LifePo4 chemistry you'll need get one
I don't know that, and I can't find that on the box. My charger is a Nitecore Intelli Charger i4 that I bought in 2015. Yes, I keep it in the original box.
Yeah, that. This should do nicely.
SureFire SFLFP123 Charger Kit - Includes 2-Bay Smart Charger and 2 x RCR123A / 16340 Lithium Ion (LiFePO4) Button Top Batteries
<h2>SureFire SFLFP123 Charger Kit</h2> <p>The <em>SureFire SFLFP123 Charger Kit</em> is specially designed to recharge <a href="surefire-sflfp123-rcr123a-16340-450mah-3-2v-protected-lithium-iron-phosphate-lifepo4-button-to
www.batteryjunction.com
This all sounds very 'flaky' though. I'm wondering if there isn't an underlying problem with the light. I'd only go with the above solution after verifying the light works fine with known-good CR123A primaries, and it sounds like that hasn't really been verified. Otherwise, maybe a loose switch retaining ring or other fundamental root cause is to blame here. Not good to skip a step.
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knucklegary
Flashlight Enthusiast
Should say on box supports LiFePO4, then you're good to go 👍
