Titanium Innovations CR123, safe for high output incandescent?

[ebow86]

I just bought a light from batteryjunction.com and it's coming with these cells for free http://www.batteryjunction.com/tpen-tcr123a-.html

I've seen quite a few posts here about them but a direct anwser to my question would make me feel alot better. Would anyone be scared to run these in a Surefire M4? I know the lamp draws alot of power and because of my very limited knowledge of batteries I dont' know if running 4 of these in an M4 would be cause for any concern. I would also like to run them in a surefire G3 which is a 3 cell light. Should I have any concerns running them in this light as well? I'm not too worried about the 3 cells as much as I am the 4 cells in the m4. Any help is much appreciated.

 

[Kestrel]

Using the CPF/Google Search function with the keywords from your title ('Titanium Innovations CR123'), yields the following applicable threads:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=207590
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=172792
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=235213

 

[Quension]

One thing to watch out for when searching for these is that some of the threads are old and don't really apply to the current batteries, as they've been revised.

There are two older versions with the "PowPower" label, the oldest of which is not well-regarded in either performance or safety. The newer of those two has at least one report of an incident. You won't get any of these from Battery Junction, but beware of old stock from other sellers.

There was a label change in 2008. I'm not sure if there have been any design revisions since 2005, but they're now UL certified at least.

Anyway, aside from the unexplained venting incident I linked above, I can't recall seeing anything bad about this brand recently. Standard warnings about not mixing brands, age, or new/used status apply.

 

[ebow86]

Using the CPF/Google Search function with the keywords from your title ('Titanium Innovations CR123'), yields the following applicable threads:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=207590
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=172792
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=235213

Thank you for pointing out those threads kestrel, however I had already read them before i posted my question and I didn't see any refrences to running 4 of them in a parallel stack and didn't know if any caution should be used when using them in such a high output device. I appreciate you posting the links though. So running them in an M4 shouldn't be a problem?

 

[Kestrel]

Sorry they weren't of more help, in those threads there was some discussion in those with respect to cell quality, particularly the point that those china-mfg cells contain PTC's, so they are at least one step above the lower-end cells.

Often queries can be effective in already-existing threads on the topic of interest.

Edit: If I were doing it, I'd use the China-mfg cells only in single-celled lights and use US-mfg cells (SureFire, Streamlight, Panasonic, Energizer, Duracell, Rayovac, BatteryStation) for multiple-cell configs where capacity matching becomes important for safety considerations.

 

[ebow86]

Sorry they weren't of more help, in those threads there was some discussion in those with respect to cell quality, particularly the point that those china-mfg cells contain PTC's, so they are at least one step above the lower-end cells.

Often queries can be effective in already-existing threads on the topic of interest.

Edit: If I were doing it, I'd use the China-mfg cells only in single-celled lights and use US-mfg cells (SureFire, Streamlight, Panasonic, Energizer, Duracell, Rayovac, BatteryStation) for multiple-cell configs where capacity matching becomes important for safety considerations.

Yeah the titanium inovations seems to be the best CR123's that are coming out of china. But since their free you won't see me complaining. I've decided I might just use them in the 1 and 2 cell lights like you said, they would probably run ok in the M4 but it probably isn't worth the risk.

 

[Quension]

Edit: If I were doing it, I'd use the China-mfg cells only in single-celled lights and use US-mfg cells (SureFire, Streamlight, Panasonic, Energizer, Duracell, Rayovac, BatteryStation) for multiple-cell configs where capacity matching becomes important for safety considerations.

One of the interesting things about the Titanium batteries is that they're available in 2-cell and 3-cell sticks that are matched by production lot and internal resistance. In theory this is better than putting together individual cells yourself, regardless of the manufacturer.

So far I haven't heard of anyone else doing this, or any tests on the effectiveness of this approach.

 

[ebow86]

One of the interesting things about the Titanium batteries is that they're available in 2-cell and 3-cell sticks that are matched by production lot and internal resistance. In theory this is better than putting together individual cells yourself, regardless of the manufacturer.

So far I haven't heard of anyone else doing this, or any tests on the effectiveness of this approach.

So it seems if they are producing stacks of 3 cells then people are obviously using that configuration, what about 4 in a stack? Any increased danger?