Rechargeable CR123 Recommendations Wanted

[dryhten]

I am looking for recommendations for a charger and batteries that will work with a Surefire 6P running a P60L or Malkoff M60.

I have this light set up or similiar on both my patrol rifle and tertiary light.

If it exists, I would like a battery and charger combo that I can leave charging in my locker from overnight to a few days without causing damage to the batteries.

If that is not possible, are there rechargeable batteries that can be store for up to a week or two and hold a charge. What I don't want is to comeback after the weekend or vacation and have all my batteries drained.

Also, a single battery the size of two CR123s would be prefered but not required.

Thanks for you help!

 

[mdocod]

I don't think the P60L OR the Malkoff will run in regulation on a single li-ion (it would be a 17670 size).. so if you don't mind a steadily diminishing output, a 17670 would work. But to stay in regulation you will want to use a pair of 3.7V RCR123s. I can recommend AWs RCR123s, and I think the BatteryStation brand RCR123s are pretty decent as well (just what I have heard, I usually suggest the AW brand, but the BS have tested pretty well also). As I understand it, both the Surefire P60L and the Malkoff are compatible with up to 9V input, so the 4.2V fresh off the charger X2 from a pair of li-ion will be fine (8.4V). Do please get confirmation on this voltage compatibility before proceeding.

As far as self discharge goes, you have nothing to worry about, li-ion might loose a few percent per MONTH and sometimes slower than that. protected cells self-discharge ever so slightly faster, but it's still very slow, to be honest, you would still have the majority of the charge after a YEAR.

Now the tricky part is going to be the charger, as almost ALL loose cell li-ion chargers are really bad as far as charge termination, almost all of them will slowly trickle charge after the charge should be stopped, which will destroy cells quickly if left on the charger too long. The Pila ICB is a nice charger that terminates properly, but I think the charge rate is a little too fast for RCR123s.

There are some RCR123 specific chargers out there (smaller cradle for the smaller cells) but I don't know the track record of any of them. We need some CPFers out there who own some of these chargers to speak up with their experiences with them to help you out.

 

[Bullzeyebill]

As stated, RCR123's will hold their charge. Battery Station has a decent RCR123 charger that will not overcharge your cells. This is the Battery Station CPF page http://www.batterystation.com/cpf6.htm I personally use unprotected Powerizer RCR123's 3.6-4.2 volts for all of my RCR applications. I do monitor the cells, and change them out when light starts to dim. Protected RCR123's are ok, but will not give you decent runtime. See sticky threads of interest in the battery forum for SilverFox's LiIon Shoot Out.

Bill