HDS leftover 123's partially discharged - what do you do with yours?

Gatsby

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Jul 20, 2006
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Charlotte, NC
I love my HDS B42XRGT (and will like it even more after I have my Seoul mod completed) - use it all the time and it was the catalyst for me selling off a number of other lights since it covered so many bases. I use the lowest setting and second to lowest setting a lot so I get a fair amount of runtime out of a battery, but once it won't make a power above primary I replace the cell with a fresh one - as I like to have the ability to have a little bit of boost when needed. Which leaves me with a growing collection of semi spent 123s that still have some juice (I'll have to measure them to know exactly, but they will still light up the HDS for example at minimum of secondary and primary on most) but aren't my choice for when I carry it around. I've kept them for power outage backups, etc... but at some point I'd have to have a pretty long blackout before I'd use them up so I've been trying to figure out a good use.

I've heard the Inova X5 will use a cell to the last drop but I don't want to mix two 123s with different residual voltages for the fear of a kaboom - any equivalent light in a 1x123 format? What does everyone else do?
 

Pax et Lux

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Jul 14, 2006
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Vancouver, BC, Canada
Red Inova X5.

It only uses one cell - despite most sites selling the light not making this fact clear (they use the same copy to describe both).

Personally, I'd have thought any non-regulated single cell light would do the job - although I swear by my X5 and would recommend this above anything else.
 

Gatsby

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Red Inova X5.

It only uses one cell - despite most sites selling the light not making this fact clear (they use the same copy to describe both).

Personally, I'd have thought any non-regulated single cell light would do the job - although I swear by my X5 and would recommend this above anything else.

That is great information - is it shorter or does it use some sort of dummy cell insert to shorten the battery compartment? I may very well get one of these...
 

GreySave

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+1 The red X5 is great for night navigation about the house and really drains those old batteries. It is the same size as the other X5s. It is built so that the battery compartment only holds one.
 

louie

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Have you considered going to LiIon rechargeables? That eliminates the problem! I just carry regular 123s for backup.

And I highly recommend the Seoul upgrade.
 

Gatsby

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Have you considered going to LiIon rechargeables? That eliminates the problem! I just carry regular 123s for backup.

And I highly recommend the Seoul upgrade.

I keep thinking about pulling the trigger on a pair of rechargeables and a smart charger - I've always been a fan of "free light" and liked the old 2xAA tube I had for my old Arc LSHP for that reason - and it's one reason my high powered incandescent is a Strion. I haven't spent the time to figure out which is the best value setup (and protected versus unprotected although in an HDS with it's circuitry it seems like unprotected is fine as long as I continue to do what I do now - change batteries once it won't make a leve above primary) and the best charger, etc... I only recently added another light to the mix, a Peak Pacific, and am getting a AA batter tube to take advantage of the numerous AA cells I have lying around.

And it seems like two Li-Ion rechargeables and a charger would be about the same price or less than another light (and I had consolidated nicely to only three lights for a long time - a photon microlight II, the HDS and a Strion ... well OK and a NiteIze Maglight for power outages and a 3D Mag with LED upgrade for power outages - I mean you have to have a little redundancy right?).
 

louie

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I've been very happy with the protected RCR123s from Battery Station. Charger and 2 batts for $24 with CPF discount. My B42GT with Seoul runs about 50 minutes on a charge at Max (about 100 eyeball lumens), then steps down. Runs about 5 hours on a charge at Primary. YMMV. No-guilt photons!

Or check Lighthound or DX.
 

jeremyison05

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Jun 11, 2007
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Get a Glo-toob lithium when they become available in the next few weeks, should be able to suck the life out of halfway spent cells with a Glo-Toob
 

Casual Flashlight User

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Jun 26, 2006
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Gatsby, I once felt that the initial outlay for a charger and some cells wasn't worth it...a few weeks after taking the plunge I realised just how wrong I was (like you, I had a bag of semi-depleted cells that could not sustain max output on my HDS U60GT).

Anyways, for around $30 you can get...


Ultrafire WF-139 Charger - http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=142521

and

2x MP700mAh RCR123's http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=76662


HDS themselves recommend the unprotected MP700's for his HDS lights, and as a user of the lights and the MP700 RCR123's I fully agree.

Once you enter the world of rechargables you will not look back.

Edit: I agree that it's nice to have a good stash of primaries for emergencies, I have 24 Panasonic CR123's for just this scenario, but, buying the rechargables allowed me to save some cash and buy that stash of primaries (instead of using them).


CFU
 
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Oddjob

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Mar 24, 2006
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London, Ontario, Canada
I also recommend Li-on RCR123's. The beauty of the HDS is it will tell you when to change batteries. As soon as you see any kind of step down just put another battery in. My problem with rechargeables has always been remembering how much juice is left in a battery. With protected Li-ons you do not want to wait until the protection circuit kicks in to recharge it because it shortens the life of the battery. With the HDS as soon as it steps down I change it.
 
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