rechargeable batteries for an 6p

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James Hamon

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Hi i'm going to be purchasing a m60 dropin for my sureifre 6p. It runs on 2 123 batteries and I was just wondering what a good charger/battery combo would be if I cand find a good one at fry's even better I want to spend $30 or less if possible.Thanks in advance for any advice given.

Update changed the light i will be using to a 6p.
 
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Re: rechargeable batteries(123) for an m60 dropin

I was wondering if the ultralast 3.0 v cr-123 rechargeable photo batteries withac charger at fry's was a good product.Even if used with an incan light.
 
Re: rechargeable batteries(123) for an m60 dropin

I have some of those UltraLast ones from FRY's. They've worked fine for me but have a fairly low capacity. I have a DereeLight drop-in in my SF 6P and with standard CR123a batteries, I get nearly an hour and fifteen minutes. With the UltraLasts, I get about 35 minutes and then it starts to dim.

The extra cells are fairly cheap too, It was something like $40-45 for the charger/2 cell combo pack and 2 extra cells.
 
Re: rechargeable batteries(123) for an m60 dropin

you won't find any RCR123s that have *good* runtime compared with CR123s.

To come closer, I suggest using 3.7V RCR123s. You'll get slightly better runtime than most 3.0V RCR123s. (assuming you are talking about the malkoff M60 here)
 
Re: rechargeable batteries(123) for an m60 dropin

Thanks yeah i was thinking about the m60 dropin in a surefire 6p or 9p.With some good rechargeable 123's or some tenergy or titanium one's from batteryjunction.
 
Re: rechargeable batteries(123) for an m60 dropin

AW and BatteryStation brand 3.7V RCR123s have been around for a long time and have a very reasonable track record. They are also some of the only protected cells on the market that are really close to the normal size of a CR123 primary, many other brands can be over by about a mm, enough to cause problems in some lights, but if the longer length cells will fit, some of them have slightly better capacity.

check here for more information:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?p=2532646#post2532646
 
Re: rechargeable batteries(123) for an m60 dropin

would there be another type of rechargeable battery not 123 that would work better and still fit in an surefire 6p.
 
Re: rechargeable batteries(123) for an m60 dropin

James Hamon said:
would there be another type of rechargeable battery not 123 that would work better and still fit in an surefire 6p.
Click to expand...
Yes, the AW protected rechargeable 17670 4.2v Li-ion fits in a SF 6P - I currently use a 17670 with my M60 dropin and it works great. I have yet to run a proper runtime test though, so I don't have any runtimes for this setup.

Some more enterprising CPF'ers have also bored out their P6 to fit an 18650, which would be ideal, but that's beyond my capabilities.
 
Re: rechargeable batteries(123) for an m60 dropin

James-
the best rechargeable solution for a 2xCR123 size flashlight utilizing the MalkOff M60 drop-in is a pair of protected 3.7V RCR123s.

Both of the links you have there are 3.0V cells, the "900mAH" 3.0V cell is a voltage regulated 3.7V cell, and the other is a LIFeP04 cell, while they both have their purpose, they both suffer from having less watt-hours when compared to a regular 3.7V cell. The M60 drop-in is designed to handle up to 9V, so go ahead and take advantage of that and use the pair of 3.7V cells..

Here's some links to what in my humble opinion is your best rechargeable solution to a 2xRCR123 powered malkoff M60:
http://www.lighthound.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1155
http://www.lighthound.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2190

Keep in mind that every RCR123 size rechargeable cell, regardless of brand, is heavily overrated on label capacity. 3.7V RCR123s all have about 500-650 true mAH capacity, all 3.0V "voltage regulated" cells (like those tenergy 900mAH you linked to) will also be around 500-600mAH but with less voltage delivered, so more wasted power in the delivery, and all 3.0V LiFeP04 cells are going to be around 250-400mAH true capacity.

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

RGB LED-
While the Malkoff will operate on a single li-ion cell, it is a buck style regulator and will not maintain full brightness through the run. It probably starts off really close to full brightness on a freshly charged cell, but will dim down through the run, providing extended efficient runtime. This is acceptable behavior for some, but others may prefer it to stay at full brightness all the time.


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

Eric
 
Re: rechargeable batteries(123) for an m60 dropin

mdocod said:
RGB LED-
While the Malkoff will operate on a single li-ion cell, it is a buck style regulator and will not maintain full brightness through the run. It probably starts off really close to full brightness on a freshly charged cell, but will dim down through the run, providing extended efficient runtime. This is acceptable behavior for some, but others may prefer it to stay at full brightness all the time.
------------------------
Eric
Click to expand...
Eric, thanks for highlighting that information... I've run my M60 off both 2xRCR123's and 1x17670 but I haven't yet had the need for long runtimes with my 6P (max run is about 30 min) so I haven't noticed the drop in output. Still, what you said makes sense since the M60 drops out of regulation and runs in direct drive below 3.8v and the 17670 is 4.2v off the charger but quickly drops to its nominal voltage of 3.6-3.7v.

Hmm... maybe it's time to pick up Gene's M30 drop-in since it's voltage range is optimized for one-cell 4.2v li-ions and is regulated from... [correction: just found the link to the thread, the input voltage for the M30 is apparently 1-4.5v]. :huh::grin2:

Sorry for the hijacking of this thread but, Eric, any thoughts on whether this would damage the 17670 cell by going down to 1.0v?

Cheers,
Larry
 
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Re: rechargeable batteries(123) for an m60 dropin

yes, anything below 3V is pretty hard on a LiCoO2 cell. Stick with protected cells to prevent this from happening. Wouldn't hurt to have a mental running note of how much runtime has been used and roughly how much is available from a full charge, and try not to use more than 80% of the available discharge on each cycle. (discharging to the point that the protection kicks it off is still technically a little bit over-discharged and should be avoided whenever possible.)
 
Newb and first post (!) question; sorry if off topic. Found this forum now (finally) I bought some asian **** rechargable CR123S on EBAY long time ago , mostly fire and forget when installed, and the lighthead (SF KL6) went dead on me. On the old LED conversion head for my SF M2 they work perfectly. I think they were 3.6V 750 mah CR123 size batteries. Anyone experienced the same?

I am interested in a rechagable pack, both for the M2 and M4 if possible.

Best regards, Stephan, Norway
 
After a few quick searches, found out almost everything and even more.
Great forum!

/st :-D
 
Yes James!

2 17500s is the correct arrangement for that configuration :)

The WF-139 will work with those, but I suggest the Pila IBC for safety and reliability reasons.


Eric
 
James, if you already have a 6P, I'd recommend that you get an SF A19 extender (don't go cheap here) or get this one made by Leef from Lighthound. I believe it also comes in black. Then do what Eric (mdocod) is recommending... 2 x 17500 (get AW li-ion). Very good setup to drive the M60. This will give you double the capacity of the RCR123's... so you'll get more runtime. But, 2 x RCR123's will work just fine in your 6P without an extenion but give shorter runtime.

Using 2 x RCR123's (6v) is preferrable to a single 17670 (3.7v) to me.

The Pila charger is one of the best but the WF-139 will do if you want something cheaper.
 
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