R123s in 6P?

[fishx65]

I just saw some Ultralast R123s at a local store for 25 bucks with a charger. Some say that they will work while others say no. I have both the P60 and P61 lamps for my 6P. How many of you have blown lamps trying this? Would it work if I let the cells rest?

Thanks, FishX

 

[Glen C]

Fish, if they are 3.7V just use a 9V globe, I would suggest Lumens Factory, there is a thread here under manufacturers or their site is http://www.lumensfactory.com/

There are 3V R123 available, I am not familiar with the brand so don't know their rating (the majority are 3.7V)

 

[winston]

When I got to work on Sunday, I loaded up my 6P with freshly recharged e-lectronics 3.0v RCR123s. Kaput. The bulb hadn't exploded or anything, but it was definitely not working - not a big deal, because the bulb has lasted for a fair amount of time. I'm not entirely ready to blame the batteries, though.

I tried the P61 a few months ago with similar batteries and the bulb lasted for all of two days. Don't know if the batteries were to blame here either, although I'm certainly not going to try that combo again any time soon.

I've since ordered a CREE drop-in and a Lumens-factory D26 bulb, so maybe I'll find happiness with one of those.

-Winston

(Remember, the money you save by using rechargeable 123s isn't better spent on hourly replacement of burned out bulbs)

 

[nzgunnie]

Most important that you find out whether they are 3.7v or 3v rechargeables. Most are 3.7, and these work really well with the Surefire P90 lamp. I don't have any personal experience with the lamps listed in the lumansfactory link above, but I think the lower powered ones look very promising for use in a 6P with two 3.7v cells. You need to be carefull of the current draw, the RCR123s shouldn't be pushed too hard, and anything over about 1.5amps will not work with most protected RCR123 cells.

 

[FAAbUlights]

I tried the Ultralast R123's in my G2's P60 lamp assembly for a couple of days and it did just fine. The batteries are rated at 700ma so of course you wont get as much runtime as primaries. The batteries did fine in my G2 as well as my SL Scorpion incan. However I did notice that when I put the P61 in my G2, the light only lasted about 5 minutes until it started dimming very rapidly. These batteries are rated at 3.0 volts so they will be just fine in your 6P as long as you use them with the P60 unless you dont mind a very short runtime with the P61.

As I said I had no problems with the Ultralast brand but I did return them because of the shorter runtime they produced. The brightness however did not decrease in either of the Lamps on a full charge. I am just really waiting for the R123 technology to improve before I invest in this because I dont know of many brands of R123's that actually hold at 3.0 volts. Only time will tell...

 

[mdocod]

1. rechargable li-ion cells do not suffer as much voltage sag as regular primary cells.
2. Tactical lamp assemblies are specifically designed with the voltage sag of primary cells in mind.
3. a pair of 3.7V rechargeables is a perfect match for lamps that were originally intended for use with 3x3V primaries (9V).
4. Li-ion rechargable cells that are "3V" are still 3.7V internally, they have a voltage regulating circuit of sorts built into them to cut down the voltage, they still will run somewhat higher voltage than primaries at most loads.

I personally suggest, to everyone trying to make their 2 cell tactical flashlights rechargable, to switch to using 17670 size cells driving a 3.7V lamp. Wolf-Eyes, G&P, and Lumensfactory all make good 3.7V lamps that are comparable to 6V lamps in power and runtime.

 

[LEDcandle]

When I got to work on Sunday, I loaded up my 6P with freshly recharged e-lectronics 3.0v RCR123s. Kaput. The bulb hadn't exploded or anything, but it was definitely not working - not a big deal, because the bulb has lasted for a fair amount of time. I'm not entirely ready to blame the batteries, though.

I tried the P61 a few months ago with similar batteries and the bulb lasted for all of two days. Don't know if the batteries were to blame here either, although I'm certainly not going to try that combo again any time soon.

I've since ordered a CREE drop-in and a Lumens-factory D26 bulb, so maybe I'll find happiness with one of those.

-Winston

(Remember, the money you save by using rechargeable 123s isn't better spent on hourly replacement of burned out bulbs)

Are you sure your bulb has bitten the dust? Have you tried it with normal primaries again?

3v R123as worked for me, but takes a double or triple tap (rapid successive taps) to get it to light the first time (cold start), then double taps subsquently to get it to light. It didn't blow my bulb.

Never tried 2x 3.7v R123as with the P60, but I'm almost certain that will blow them up or shorten their lifespan to minutes.

I've used the 2 x 3.7v R123as with P90 and P91 before... works great with 30mins and 12 min runtimes respectively. A little short so if you want more, dump in an A19 extender into the equation, and run 2x17500s for about 55min/22min runtimes.

 

[woodasptim]

Killed my P60 and P61, but they work fine in my Brinkman Maxfire.