problems with Trustfire RCR123 gray

[mannnu81]

Sorry about that, I posted in the wrong section. i didnt see a battery section, so since its related to LED ill post here (if not feel free to move it to right section, please)

i bought 8x RCR123 gray 880mAh from DX, along with 8 x18650 both rechargeable and protected. the 18650 seem to work just fine and charge well in the dx charger. I'm having problems with the CR123

1. 3 of them worked in my Fenix P1 for a day well, then would only work at certain small instant as i was working the twistie head. screw in too much and wouldnt work
2. most of them didnt work at all
3. i put them in the rominsen K4 and they only worked fine with the cap half unscrewed. when screwed in all the way,as it should be, only a small glow of the LED appeared.
4. they dont work in the Gladius, Aurora, Fenix P1

P.S. ive tried them prior and after charging them, to make sure.

anyone esle have any problems like this?
P.P.S. anyone have experiance with the RCRs123 from bugout, are they good quality? can anyone recommend some good quality RCR123s?
thanx for help

 

[DM51]

I posted in the wrong section. i didnt see a battery section, so since its related to LED ill post here

There IS a Batteries section. I'll move it there.

 

[mannnu81]

noone has an opinion? should i throw them away then?

 

[xpea]

feel sorry about your story but Trustfire is everything but trustable company :shakehead

Their products are usually sub par quality and they outsource the same model from many suppliers. So consistency is not their strong point. it seems you lost at their lottery...

 

[mdocod]

I have some ideas for you:

The TrustFire cells are known for being over-sized. Several mm longer than regular CR123s and this has been known to cause contact problems in many flashlights, Fenix included, this may be the issue with your other lights as well, the behavior you describe with your K4 has this issue written all over it IMO...

The Trustfire cells you have there are 3.7V cells, they come off the charger at 4.20V. Fenix 1xCR123 size cell lights are not rated for use with 3.7V cells, the circuitry isn't designed for it and there have been a few limited reports of circuit damage when used with 3.7V cells. You might check that your P1 still works with a CR123. Hopefully you didn't do any permanent damage.

Going to throw in a quote from opticsplanet's FAQ on the Gladius:

Q: What type of batteries should I use?
A:Select and use batteries from a high quality manufacturer of 3-volt CR123A lithium batteries. Poorly manufactured batteries can cause catastrophic damage to the light.
The Glaidus has not been specifically designed to accept rechargeable batteries, nor have BlackHawk adequately tested rechargeable batteries in this light. If you put rechargeable batteries into the light that exceed it's maximum voltage load, you do so at your own risk. You will void your warrantee. You can quite possibly damage the circuit thereby rending the light inoperable.

You might check that your Gladius even still works on CR123s... you may have fried it if the cells did make contact.

-----------------

On a side note, The PCBs in the off-brands are known for being very hit and miss.

try AW brand protected RCR123s for lights that are designed for use with 3.7V cells, as for your lights that are not, you kind of have to make the call between going with buck regulated 3.7V cells, or LiFePO4 cells, which each have advantages and disadvantages, but will each require their own dedicated charging method.

 

[tgbydesign]

I have the same battery problems as you do with the trustfire. I can use them in my nitecore extreme but not it the nitecore ex10 and so on. They do not make proper contact because they are to long in length. Mine are actually crooked at the bottom the metal is actually on a slight degree instead of being flat.

:thumbsdow

 

[mannnu81]

i had no idea. thanx for the heads up. all my lights work properly with the CR123 primaries, including the Gladius and the Fenixes, so thank God no damage. ill just toss them, i didnt know they were bad. ill stick to primaries then, theyre reasonable enough in price.

i have my eyes on

1. streamlights from pilice gear website
2. titanium innovation from batery Junction
3 powerizer
4 tenergy

any of these primaries known to be problematic? or can you reccomend some good ones

P.S. - found the battery performance thread. got lots of info there

 

[mdocod]

BatteryStation brand CR123s are going to be your best bet. They are reasonably priced and made in the USA. The Titanium brand isn't bad and has had some improvements over the years, the powerizer and Tenergy brands are somewhere half-way between garage and decent, the biggest problem with them is they seem to be more apt to explode.

We have more reported CR123 explosions on this forum than all other cell types combined. There seems to be a trend that the cheaper cells made in china (read: powerizer/tenergy) have a higher failure rate in this department.

You don't necessarily have to give up on rechargeable options all-together, you might just need to re-think how to go about it.. IMO, maybe you'll find a happy medium between some rechargeable cells and some primary cells each at home in certain lights with particular applications. My suggestion would be to try to standardize on the 18650 size li-ion cell for your rechargeable lights. A good quality protected 18650 is, as you know, about the same size as a pair of CR123s, packs a similar amount of stored energy, and actually tends to be safer than CR123s by quite a bit. The AW brand protected cells are very popular and have a very good track record, the only reported issues tend to be an occasional dud PCB circuit, no explosions to date that I am aware of.

Eric