Where do you get your 123 batteries?

[Optik49]

I have been buying 123 batteries from Surefire for awhile (box of 12 for $21.00) . Are there better deals out there? Same or better quality?



Thanks

 

[barkingmad]

Why not use R-CR123 batteries instead...?

 

[powernoodle]

Titanium brand batteries are $1.00 each here, plus shipping. Quality batteries, IMO. You would need to order a fairly large quantity to make the shipping cost effective.

cheers

 

[County]

+1 on the Titanium batteries, & powernoodle's comments. As he said, the shipping does seem to be on the high side, but if you order in volume, your avg. cost per battery will definitely be less than the Surfires you've been buying. Play with the online shopping cart/shipping calculator at amondotech.com to see what works for you.

 

[defusion]

+1 on buying in bulk
I just buy whereever they are cheapest or when i buy something else from a store selling them at good prices so i don't pay shipping just for the batteries.

 

[parnass]

I bought a dozen Streamlight CR123a batteries from DLS Enterprises, a CPF dealer. The current price is $17:

http://www.dlsenterprises.citymax.com/catalog/item/1728840/1206018.htm

 

[Sub_Umbra]

Mine are all from Battery Station. ($1) I find them nice to deal with. (the people) I'm not huge consumer of 123s so I don't really wring them out like those who may go through lots of them. I don't use them in any high voltage or high current lights. I do keep quite a few on hand and I've had no problems with them.

I was kind of put off higher priced 123s by a comment Henry from HDS posted a couple years back:

...You should always test new batteries for a few seconds on the maximum setting to ensure the batteries are good. We have seen about 1% of our brand new Duracell batteries fail to work at full power.

If that's all the better Duracell can do for their price I'll stick with BS's dollar cells for my applications -- which are actually pretty whimpy.

 

[Icer]

I recently bought a 50 pack (Panasonic CR123A 3 Volt Photo Lithium Battery 1550mah) from here.


http://batteryjunction.com/20encr3vophl.html

 

[powernoodle]

I use rechargeables almost exclusively these days, though I do have a stash of CR123s for extended power outages. If my generator dies, that is, and I can't recharge.

 

[DM51]

One problem is that there is variation in batches. Someone can recommend a good manufacturer, but you might get yours from an inferior batch and then think the guy who recommended them gave you bad advice. Or a wholesaler might have stored them badly for a while (inappropriate temperature or humidity etc).

If you bulk-buy, test a couple straight away. If they're OK, you've probably got a good batch. If the performance is even slightly below what you expect, return the whole lot and get some more somewhere else.

 

[X Racer]

I buy the Energizer batteries in bulk from Lighthound...

 

[jayb79]

I bought a dozen Streamlight CR123a batteries from DLS Enterprises, a CPF dealer. The current price is $17:

http://www.dlsenterprises.citymax.com/catalog/item/1728840/1206018.htm

+1

 

[abvidledUK]

WF from Ledshoppe, very poor, don't buy.

$1 each.

 

[TORCH_BOY]

I get mine on ebay as I don't have many 123 lights,
123's are very costly and not easy to get here in AUST
Most of my small lights are AA's and AAA"s

 

[greenLED]

Either BatteryStation or AmondoTech - but check the links in the CPF Specials thread (link in sigline), a few other dealers offer good quality 123's for $1 or so.

 

[2jzpower]

i like battery station cells... they are ALL ZTS tested for 100% capacity and mismatches are clearly sold as such at a very discounted price

 

[DiCEMAN]

For Me, 123A's are like toilet paper.... If you have heaps and heaps of them.... Not a problem. They last 10 years on the shelf, you'll always use them up at some stage.
In Bunnings (AUS hardware store) the energizers ate $11.82 EACH !!!! Yes, each.
My last batch was a bulk buy from Lighthound also. Buy 20 or more and they are $1.85 AUD$ each.... I Got....LOTS !!!!!!