noob - battery question

[nakama]

I everyone,
Sorry for the stupid question.

I am have ordered my first flashlight with performance in mind but without breaking the bank. It's the Romisen Cree RC-N3.

I remember reading somewhere of someone using an alternative to the cr123a and had a 30% to 40% increase of brightness.

I was wondering a couple of things:
What kind a battery is this?
Is it safe - would this decrease lifetime of the flashlight or do any other harm?

Thanks for any info you can provide.

 

[DM51]

Welcome to CPF, nakama.

I'll move your thread to the Batteries section, as your question is asking about the batteries rather than the light.

 

[nakama]

thanks dm51.

ok I think I found the batt. type - rcr123

now my only question is, are there advantages/disadvantages to using this. Can any harm be done??

 

[DM51]

Fully charged, RCR123 cells are 4.20V each, giving you a total of 8.4V instead of the 6.0V you get from 2x non-rechargeable (primary) cells. If the light can take this extra voltage, it will be fine.

You should read up about the care and use of Li-Ion rechargeable cells before using them. Make sure you buy protected cells rather than unprotected ones, and only charge them in a dedicated Li-Ion charger of the correct specification.

 

[nakama]

How do I go about finding out if the light can take the extra voltage? and will it decrease the total life of the light itself?

Also I noticed you talked about 2 cells, the light I have ordered calls for 1 x cr123a - will i need 2 x rcr123 to supplement this?

thanks for all your help

 

[jgraham15]

This is a good review on the Romisen Cree RC-N3

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=202569


By looking at the review it looks like you can use a single RCR123 battery in this flashlight!


Oh and :welcome:

 

[yellow]

with a 2 cell light You had a buck driver inside, rule of thumb is, that most all of them can handle the higher Voltage of rechargeables compared to primary cells.

with a single cell light, its different.
possibly the rechargeable cell - better its higher voltage - leads to bypass the driver and pushing the led to work at direct drive.
Then the light would be brighter, as there is more power to the led. Also this puts more stress on the led and the light and also the driver (which could, or could not stand that voltage)

safest bet were to ask manuf. if rechargeable cell is allowed, or check the instructions if they mention anything.