Tiablo A8/A9 and battery help

I was looking at the Tiablo a8 special edition and a9 from http://www.batteryjunction.com/tiledfla8a8s.html both are the same price and based on the website i don't see any difference between the two or is there something i don't see?

my second question is that what is the best battery for use in this light. based on the runtime/output graph on the tiablo a9 page. The cr123 gives good steady performance where a 18650 would be best for runtime.[FONT=arial, helvetica][/FONT]

I've been wondering the same thing. I've been thinking about getting another light. I have a Coast LED Lenser modded by Flash Crazy right now. I'd like another light also, preferably LED and with the most throw possible. I've been looking at a Tiablo and figured I'd just get an A9 since they look to be the same. :sigh:

As I understand it the A8 has a boost/buck regulator designed to work in full regulation on either 1 18650 or 2 CR123 primaries, it does not support anything higher than 6V input... The A9 on the other hand uses a buck regulator and runs in full regulation best when fed 2xCR123 or 2xRCR123, it will still run a single 18650, but drops out of regulation after the voltage of the li-ion cells drops below the Vf@1A for the LED.

So... if you are planning on running 18650 cells, the A8 is the preferred choice.

this is my understanding and I must provide a disclaimer: this could all be wrong.

The A8 works best with a 18650 battery and does not work with 2 RCR123 batteries. Keep it on low for a few minutes before using it on high if you are using 2 CR123 batteries.

The A9 will work with the CR123, RCR123 and the 18650 battery, best with 2 CR123s or 2 RCR123s.

That was the way I that I think it is according to the posts on this forum.

nMotion96 said:

I was looking at the Tiablo a8 special edition and a9 from http://www.batteryjunction.com/tiledfla8a8s.html both are the same price and based on the website i don't see any difference between the two or is there something i don't see?

my second question is that what is the best battery for use in this light. based on the runtime/output graph on the tiablo a9 page. The cr123 gives good steady performance where a 18650 would be best for runtime.

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You should also consider the Lumapower MRV-SE, it has none of these issues with batteries and will run on 18650's, RCR123's and CR123's.
Thats what put me off buying either of the Tiablo's and I plumped for the MRV-SE Q5.
So glad I did.

The only battery that the A8 will not work with is the RCR123A but in testing, we found that the run time using this type of battery is very poor. Our prefered battery to use in either the A8 or A9 is the 18650 if you are looking for a good run time and don't mind the illumination being slightly lower, or the CR123A if you want maximum illumination is you don't mind the cost of having to replace them as they run out.

We recommend using the rechargable 18650 for ordinary daily service as this is extremely acceptable and very economic and switching to CR123A when you need max performance.

nMotion96 said:

I was looking at the Tiablo a8 special edition and a9 from http://www.batteryjunction.com/tiledfla8a8s.html both are the same price and based on the website i don't see any difference between the two or is there something i don't see?

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The fact that the two different lights appear identical is what adds to the confusion.
The primary difference is their driver boards and the voltage ranges in which they work.
It's for that reason alone that if you like using 18650 most of the time, then you will get the best runtime curve from the A8. You can use CR123's in it, but as has been said, you have to bleed down the voltage with the light on in high mode before you can use it on low mode.

Then if you prefer running CR123's most of the time, the A9 is the best choice, and you CAN use an 18650 in it if you like, but the regulation isn't as good as it is with CR123's.

The bottom line is that you can use CR123's OR 18650's with either model, but each is different in how they best use one of those types of batteries.

For my part, I bought the A9s for use only as a CR123 light, but I will also have the MRV-SE that uses both battery types, a DBS 3SD that uses only the 18650 but with a spare 2SM module for use with CR123's, and a CL1H 3SD that uses only the 18650. Plus, I'm about to pull the trigger on a Surefire A2 which uses CR123's only.

So if you're a typical CPF'er, you have more than one light, so pick the A8 or A9 based on just the one type of battery you want to use with it, and look to your other lights for battery type "overlap".
Or, just get both the A8 and A9 and quit worrying about the small stuff

Zenster said:

For my part, I bought the A9s for use only as a CR123 light, but I will also have the MRV-SE that uses both battery types, a DBS 3SD that uses only the 18650 but with a spare 2SM module for use with CR123's, and a CL1H 3SD that uses only the 18650. Plus, I'm about to pull the trigger on a Surefire A2 which uses CR123's only.

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I'm waiting on an MRV-SE also. Most of my work will involve 123 primaries. I still have a 2nd generation MRV, but wanted another with Q5. Interesting to watch the DBS stuff. Are the pills easy to install and use? Looks like a real flexible system that can be changed quickly. Hope the DBS does not have the <6.0v issues with primaries.

fieldops said:

Interesting to watch the DBS stuff. Are the pills easy to install and use? Looks like a real flexible system that can be changed quickly. Hope the DBS does not have the <6.0v issues with primaries.

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The pills change out quickly, so having an extra pill on hand is a great way to make the DBS a dual battery type flashlight.

Technically speaking, the DBS is similar to the Tiablo's, except that if you use a digital module in the DBS (2SD or 3SD), then you can (ONLY) use the 18650 battery with the digital module. The upshot of that is that the digital pills are perfectly matched for the 18650's voltage and provide great regulation and long runtimes.
With the non-digital DBS pill (2SM), you will want to use CR123's (but the 2SM can also run on the 18650), and the main reason I ordered the DBS w/3SD PLUS the extra 2SM pill is so that I can use 18650's exclusively for economy and throw, but on those occasions when I lose house power and can't recharge the 18650's, I can switch to the 2SM pill and carry on with my horded CR123's as backup.

It is that quick-change pill feature that makes the DBS a good way to go if you get both modules, but I can't say it's a better system than the Tiablos because even though either the A8 or A9 Tiablo is better run on their respective battery types, they BOTH can still use either type of battery which the DBS digitals can't.

What's great about all this is that we have so many choices among the brands, that if you end up with 4 or 5 different lights with different features, you will have covered virtually every conceiveable situation you can imagine.

I'm reasonably sure that having a MRV-SE/Epsilon, the DBS with both modules, and the Tiablo A9s, I think I'm done with accumulating any more lights in that "class".
Sure, there are others out there, but when I consider the various and different features of those three lights, I personally find that they (as a group) do everything I want in that class and more.

Zenster said:

What's great about all this is that we have so many choices among the brands, that if you end up with 4 or 5 different lights with different features, you will have covered virtually every conceiveable situation you can imagine.

I'm reasonably sure that having a MRV-SE/Epsilon, the DBS with both modules, and the Tiablo A9s, I think I'm done with accumulating any more lights in that "class".
Sure, there are others out there, but when I consider the various and different features of those three lights, I personally find that they (as a group) do everything I want in that class and more.

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Thanks for excellent info Zenster. I agree that having the 3 lights will definitely offer the maximum usage as far as performance and battery logistics is concerned. I'll likely get all three as well. With the MRV SE down: next light the Tiablo A9.

fieldops said:

Thanks for excellent info Zenster. I agree that having the 3 lights will definitely offer the maximum usage as far as performance and battery logistics is concerned. I'll likely get all three as well. With the MRV SE down: next light the Tiablo A9.

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Yea, I saw in the MarketPlace Lumipower forum where you put your order in at 2:AM. I was right behind you, but during normal waking hours.

Get some sleep, man. Get some sleep!

yeah, been burning the midnight oil lately.......need :sleepy:

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