Why 123s?

[Brock]

18,000 mA or 18 amps at 1.5v that is the capacity of a typical alkaline D cell. Or 18x1.5=27 or 27 watts of power. I think that is if you drain it over 20 hours?

 

[LightBright]

I looked at the Energizer PDF for an D size alkaline, it's about 7 hours at 1 amp and 2 hours at 2 amps, with the test ending when it's down to 0.8V.

WOW - at 3.5 amps, it only lasts 6 minutes down to 0.8V

 

[soloco]

Brock~ The L91 is a lithium AA that claims 2900mAh capacity at 1.5V down to 1.0V. This is because the voltage drops as the battery drains. Therefore, the power would also decrease as the voltage drops. If the max discharge is 2.0A, then the power would start at probably 3W and probably die at around 2W. Anyways, that time function needs to included in capacity calculations, because it is the measure of how much current is being pushed at what voltage over a length of time. I don't believe that anyone makes 1.5V primary batteries except for Energizer's AA. Companies like Tadiran make all sizes of lithium batteries with HUGE capacity (19,000Ah 2 3.6V!!), but as the max discharge is around 230Ma these are for really low draw applications like alarm panels.

 

[Unicorn]

I think that when SureFire first started making lights and using the 123's there were no lithium AA's being made. SureFire used what was the best available at the time. Since then the other flashlight makers started using the same batteries since they were already established by SureFire, and when the Scorpion was first made, I don't think that there were any AA's then either.
The lithium AA's might be a bit better, and have more potential, but since the majority of lights were made around the 123's there's a lot of momentum to overcome.

 

[soloco]

In the end, I guess it doesn't really matter. They both use the exact same chemistry, and therefore have the same positive and negative factors in terms of power and capacity. The only differences are form factor and voltage required by a flashlight designer.

(edit: Empath~ My bad. Li/MnO2 vs. Li/FeS2. Similar anyway. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Empath]

[ QUOTE ]
soloco said:
They both use the exact same chemistry.......

[/ QUOTE ]

They don't use the exact same chemistry.

 

[Unicorn]

What are the differences between Li 123's and Li AA?

 

[Empath]

The 123 cells chemistry is Lithium/Manganese Dioxide (Li/MnO2)

The AA or L91 cells chemistry is Lithium/Iron Disulfide (Li/FeS2)

The voltage is a property of their chemistry. One and half volts requires a different chemistry than three volts.