Rechargeable R123a's - preference?

[Buffalohump]

hey guys,

I'm at long last getting a recharging set-up for R123a cells. I have the recharger nailed down but not sure which cells to go with.

I'm getting protected ones cos I don't want to take a chance and blow my rather expensive lights, but which brand is recommended?

I can choose between AW and Ultrafire (who also make the recharger kit).

The AW is described as a 750 mAh and the Ultrafire as 880 mAh. Are they both 3,6 volts then?

Is there anything that makes one 'better' than the other?

Thanks

 

[Crenshaw]

The Ultrafire Chargers seem to be the best...

Protected Cells have extra cicuitary, so they are longer then regular Cr123As, and may not fit well in some lights, and may not fit at all in others. I just sold two protected Ultrafires on BST because of that.

Protected cells mean they shut of when the Mah left in the battery gets too low, so that you dont over discharge damage the Battery. Similarly, they shut of when its too high, so you cant over charge. With a smart charger that wouldnt be a problem. I dont think they would help in anyway to "not blow" lights..i think...:thinking:

also, you can top off Li-ons every night(day) when you get home because its actually better to top off a mildy discharged Li-on then to fully discharge it then fully charge it. So over dishcharging them shouldnt be much of a problem unless you need constant light for a few hours at a time

Generally AWs would be a better choice because he is a reputable member on CPF, but i have been running ultrafires i bought in Hong Kong so far, and no problems.

Ultrafire also tends to over rate thier capacity ratings, so thier both more the likley to be 750mah

Also, not a good idea to be using them in Surefires, because we dont generally know the Vin range for them, and you could blow something. If you want strictly 3v rechargables, you will have to go with LiFeP04 batteries, and even then the Peak Voltage is 3.6 when hot off the charger, and you will also need a 3v charger..

Crenshaw

 

[Buffalohump]

Hi,

Thanks for the run-down. The lights I want to use them in only take one cell - my HDS 42XR and Peak Caribbean. How do I know if they will fit or not?

I know the HDS lights were designed to accept rechargeables so I assume they will fit but not so sure about the Peak...

 

[Crenshaw]

hmmm, protected cells are maybe, half a cm longer then regular cells?

depending on the light, it makes a difference whether they fit or not. For example, my SF C2 has some extra space at the back, so 2x protected RCR123As will fit, but very tightly...while my Fenix T1 has no extra space at the back.

Another thing to worry about is the width, AW's cells seem to be slightly thicker, maybe a hair's width worth, but it makes a difference. :O

I just bought 4 non protected RCR123As from dealextreme for $6 incl shipping. I figure theres no harm in trying them out, for $6 thier pretty cheap, and have gotten good-ish reviews so far. :thumbsup:

Crenshaw

 

[Wolf359]

surefire lituim 123 primary cells 34.26mm tall / 16.55mm Diameter
ultrafire Lo-ion Rcr123 cell 34.07mm tall / 16.69mm Diameter
trustfire Lo-ion Rcr123 cell 35.48mm tall / 16.80mm Diameter

these are the measurements of the X123 cells i have

Ultrafire 3.6V 880mAh LC 16340 Protected CR123A Battery pair $5.08
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.3273

TrustFire Protected 3.6V 880mAh 16340/CR123A Batteries pair $4.90
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.8683

niether is 880mah closer to 650mah.
i bought 10 packs of the trustfire cells and all worked fine.
i bought 5 packs of the ultrafire cells and had 1 dud.
i have been happy with both the types i bought and protection has worked perfectly for both.

UltraFire 3.0V/3.6V CR123A Charger $11.54
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1236

is the charger i use. just make sure the charger is set to the correct voltage before you use it mine arrived set for 3v cells.

i recommend read this thread
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=106242

 

[Buffalohump]

The charger I am looking at can do both 3 volt and 3.6 volt.

I just checked out my Peak Caribbean which I have on me. It looks like it could take a slightly larger and longer cell.

Pretty sure the HDS can - I know they were designed to take rechargeables.

 

[generic808]

Maybe it's just my luck, but I don't seem to ever have good luck with UF goods. I ordered 3 sets of cells (123 and 17670) on seperate ocassions, and of the 6 cells, three went bad. It may be coincidence, but I will never by their products again. Trustfire cells on the other hand, have been nothing but good to me.

 

[Wolf359]

thanks for the tip generic808 maybe i have been lucky with my cells but i will avoid the ultrafire cels in future

 

[Buffalohump]

well I hope their chargers are better than their cells...

 

[Crenshaw]

i think, like thier flashlights, ultrafire (and trustfire) batteries are lotteries...you can get good ones, but also bad ones...

Crenshaw

 

[kramer5150]

I have Trustfire protected and Ultrafire unprotected cells from DX. So far, they are both good for the $$$. I have about 25 re-charges on the unprotected cells and roughly half that on the protecteds. I NEVER fully discharge any of them. I run them for about 30-40 minutes in my 6P, knowing that over discharging can lead to cell-reversal and . I did take a gamble once and ran some cells till' the Cree LED turned yellow-ish, just to get a MAX run-time figure (50 minutes). I carry at least 4 extra cells with me at work.

My charger is that gray DX-ultrafire, that cuts charge at 4.2 Volts for each cell independently. Its a great charger IMHO, it will not attempt to charge a cell that has been over-discharged and can't nominalize back up over about +2.7V. This is an added safety feature I think. I also have a 3.6 Volt NON-peak detect charger that I use only if I get a cell that can't nominalize back up to the lower threshold of the charger. Its only used for a minute, to get the cell past that lower point. So far I have only had to use it once, with one of the trustfire protecteds.

I am a bit retentive with battery maintenance. Its a carry-over from my involvement with RC car racing. so a bit of a warning from this point on. heres my procedure for unprotected cells...

When the cells are new, I give them a full charge to 4.2 Volts.
I connect my DX 6090 module to each raw cell and monitor the voltage with a digital multi meter. (**edit** I have also used a 6-cell maglight krypton bulb to do this, thats actually my preference, they are cheap and easily replaced.) When voltage drops to 2.8 Volts I disconnect the battery, wait a half day, recharge and repeat the cycle, carefully monitoring battery voltage the whole time and cutting the discharge at 2.8V.

On about the 4th cycle, I time it with my stopwatch. I jot down the time in seconds it takes each cell to reach 2.8V. Cells are matched based on discharge time, and used in numbered pairs in my 6P.

I don't even bother with new protected cells, I just use them worry-free. I do sometimes monitor voltage when they are charging though.

So far, I have 8 cells in total and no duds... knock on wood.

Disregard the mAH ratings on any DX battery when RCR123 battery shopping, for the most part they are over-rated.

 

[Brigadier]

I have Trustfire protected and Ultrafire unprotected cells from DX. So far, they are both good for the $$$. I have about 25 re-charges on the unprotected cells and roughly half that on the protecteds. I NEVER fully discharge any of them. I run them for about 30-40 minutes in my 6P, knowing that over discharging can lead to cell-reversal and . I did take a gamble once and ran some cells till' the Cree LED turned yellow-ish, just to get a MAX run-time figure (50 minutes). I carry at least 4 extra cells with me at work.

My charger is that gray DX-ultrafire, that cuts charge at 4.2 Volts for each cell independently. Its a great charger IMHO, it will not attempt to charge a cell that has been over-discharged and can't nominalize back up over about +2.7V. This is an added safety feature I think. I also have a 3.6 Volt NON-peak detect charger that I use only if I get a cell that can't nominalize back up to the lower threshold of the charger. Its only used for a minute, to get the cell past that lower point. So far I have only had to use it once, with one of the trustfire protecteds.

I am a bit retentive with battery maintenance. Its a carry-over from my involvement with RC car racing. so a bit of a warning from this point on. heres my procedure for unprotected cells...

When the cells are new, I give them a full charge to 4.2 Volts.
I connect my DX 6090 module to each raw cell and monitor the voltage with a digital multi meter. When voltage drops to 2.8 Volts I disconnect the battery, wait a half day, recharge and repeat the cycle, carefully monitoring battery voltage the whole time and cutting the discharge at 2.8V.

On about the 4th cycle, I time it with my stopwatch. I jot down the time in seconds it takes each cell to reach 2.8V. Cells are matched based on discharge time, and used in numbered pairs in my 6P.

I don't even bother with new protected cells, I just use them worry-free. I do sometimes monitor voltage when they are charging though.

So far, I have 8 cells in total and no duds... knock on wood.

Disregard the mAH ratings on any DX battery when RCR123 battery shopping, for the most part they are over-rated.

Since I use alot of CR123 powered lights, I have been looking at using rechargeable 123 batteries. But with a post like that, and with affordable primaries available online, I don't think I will bother. It is not worth it to have to worry about your light explolding just to save a few pennies.....

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Buffalohump,

This topic is better suited in the batteries and electronics section of the forum. I will move it over there.

Carry on.

Tom

 

[kramer5150]

Since I use alot of CR123 powered lights, I have been looking at using rechargeable 123 batteries. But with a post like that, and with affordable primaries available online, I don't think I will bother. It is not worth it to have to worry about your light explolding just to save a few pennies.....

Thats a very wise decision. I don't really think there is a real win-win scenario all around. Primaries are certainly lower maintenance. A lot of my "training" comes from my involvement racing RC cars... where battery maintenance is a HUGE part of the hobby. So I have been pre-conditioned to this kind of thing already:twothumbs. In RC racing Its not uncommon to completely discharge a ~3000mAh - 7.2V battery in 5 minutes. Its as close to a dead-short as I have come across in any hobby, batteries can be pretty HOT after a race... darn near abusive discharge conditions. You have to be very disciplined in your battery practices to get any life/longevity out of the cells.

 

[Fallingwater]

Do not buy Ultrafire cells - their quality is generally considered inferior.

Buy AW if you don't mind paying quite a bit for top quality, otherwise get Trustfire cells.

 

[Brigadier]

Do not buy Ultrafire cells - their quality is generally considered inferior.

Buy AW if you don't mind paying quite a bit for top quality, otherwise get Trustfire cells.

I think I'll be sticking to Rayovac 1550 mAh primaries for about $1.50 each.

 

[NigelBond]

I recently got some trustfire's from dx, not the gray ones but the newer white ones. The white ones are much too tall to fit in my p3d. With the two cells inserted, the tail cap does not thread. I normally use AW cells and primarys in this p3d. The AW cells are a very good size.
Anyway, the white trustfires do fit in my solarforce l2 which is what I bought them for. The solarforce has springs in the head and the tailcap which allows it to fit slightly longer cells. You should consider the fit before you buy some protected cells. Some are way bigger, like my white trustfires.