tenergy rechargable batteries won't light a p91 lamp in a c3??

[quantico]

I am kind of puzzled as I just purchased 8 tenergy lithium rechargeable cr123a's and they won't work fully charged in a surefire C3 with the optional p91 high output lamp. They work fine in P6's with lamps or led's... and they work fine with the p90 surefire bulb. The batteries are new and fully charged one cycle.

Is the high current bulb too much drain for the batteries ??? they won't even give me light output for a minute. I don't believe that the flashlight has any regulation or circuit ... just contacts and power and resistive load. The batteries might have some sort of current limiting circuit inside, but there can't be much room inside the cells... I even tried two primary batteries and one rechargeable... still no go. The flashlight works fine with different batteries. The batteries work fine in several other surefire lights with bulbs or led modules.

Any insight would be appreciated.

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Quantico,

Welcome to CPF.

I believe those cells have a protection circuit that limits the amount of current that can be drawn from them. It sounds like the initial start up of that light is exceeding that value.

Tom

 

[quantico]

Thanks much, I guess I will run the brighter bulb with standard batteries and use it in a defensive role in a gun bag as I had orig purchased a pair of the c-3's to do so. One of them now resides with my girlfriend in her home in the same function... Few hours , but bright and reliable are critical.

I have purchased four of the surefire 6p"s in non LED trim and have 8 rechargeable batteries, so I guess I have a set for each now... I have replaced two of the standard lamps with the surefire led lamp for my lights to use at work and around the house / and boat... I will likely experiment with some p60 drop in's at some time when the checkbook cools off.

Thanks for the info... Scott

 

[mdocod]

I'm going to get in here and see if I can help alleviate some confusion a little more here... Or... as it often turns out, add more confusion to the pile, and then try to clear it up later...

I assume these cells?
http://www.all-battery.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=520

3.0V rechargeable cells should be avoided as direct replacements for CR123s in incandescent flashlights. They tend to fall far short of their label capacity, which means that even on mediocre loads, they are often operating above the maximum safe discharge rate for the cells. The other issue is that incandescent flashlights that use CR123 cells, have been designed around the characteristics of those CR123 cells. A CR123 under a load does not deliver 3V, at ~1.2A, a common load for a LOLA SF lamp, a CR123 actually holds up around 2.5V, which means that a P90 is actually designed to operate at about 7.5V... Rechargeable 3.0V li-ion cells do not always follow the same discharge behavior as a CR123, they often hold 3.0V or higher under that load, (since the cell within is often actually 3.7V cell that has been regulated down). So when used in a non-regulated direct drive light that is designed with 2.5V per cell in mind, you can end up blowing bulbs prematurely.


Anyways... There are some Li-Ion rechargeable solutions that are very practical for incandescent bulbs like the P91, there's a link in my sig line that goes through the whole break down of what works and why... You might have a look, if you have more questions I'll try to help out

Eric