900mAH vs 750mAH for a T1

I've been around here for the past week before I decided to join. My research led me to order the Fenix T1. I don't believe it comes with batteries, but after doing research on RCR123A cells, I noticed LightHound had 2 flavors: 750mAH, and 900mAH. They were 2 different brands. The 750 was AW which I know is a good brand, but I think the 900 was Battery Supply but not sure.

I assume the 900 would give more runtime, but many users here use the AW 750's, so I am not sure if the 900 is any better. It's protected, and costs the same as the 750. I can't seem to find the page I found last night on this 900mAH battery which I believe was at LightHound.

This T1 marks my venture into the world of bright lights (except for the 4 years of research I did at the UTSA laser lab some years ago; argon lasers are sweet).

No matter what they are rated about 650-750mah is the maximum capacity the physical size of the cell will hold. I would get the AW protected RCR123's. Lighthound is a great place to do buisness with. Happy Holidays!

+1 AW protected batteries fast shipment too.

+2 for AW RCR123's......I'm running them in my Fenix T1 and it is working great. Go to www.lighthound.com and pick some up there. Great guys over at the hound and excellent customer service.

:twothumbs

Thanks. My mother wants to go to a battery store close by to get some other unusual battery, so I may give it a few days to see if that store has the AW's. (I'm 30, and she lives with me; not the other way ).

Here is the battery I'm looking at: http://www.lighthound.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1155

They have 3 chargers at the bottom. Anyone know which is recommended (or perhaps another brand)? I do have a voltmeter, so I can do testing, but I would think they would have the safety circuitry fixed by now.

BTW, if the LION cells go to 4.4V, would they explode and leave a crater on my counter, or what? Also, mental note to keep them above 3V. I trust the T1 would do that, which is what I think they mean by flicker mode.

That is the right battery. I use the Ultafire WF-139 http://www.lighthound.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2566 with spacers(scroll down) to charge RCR123's,18650,17670,14500 with very good results. You don't want to charge above 4.2v. I would recommend charging before the protection circuit kicks in(~2.75v) no lower than 3.0v. Also charge on non flammable surface, monitor the charging, and pull the battery(s)when the charging indicator light turns green.

Ok, so I'll grab 2 of the 15mm charging spacers and that charger.

A couple of questions:
1) Do the spacers go on the + or the - side?
2) How long typically does the charging take of the batteries were taken down to 3V?
3) How long should I charge them right from the store?

1) Either side doesn't matter.
2) I don't have that charger but mine takes ~2 hours
3) They will probably have around 3.2v charge just charge them till the light indicates completion of charge. I have a DMM that I use to check the voltage while its charging, every half hour or so. Mine likes to overcharge to 4.26 its a DSD, but it could be the Radioshack DMM's error.

It's a 2 channel charger,(example) so you can charge a RCR123 and an 18650 at the same time. It's rated at 450ma per channel. How long it will take depends on the size(capacity) and state of charge(how depleted) of the battery. They should finish charging at ~4.2v.

My other question before was, if a cell does happen to go over, will it explode, or cause massive destruction? :thinking:

Update: I placed the order at LightHound as per Steve's recommendation, since I will want to have batteries when my T1 comes in.

nanoWatt said:

My other question before was, if a cell does happen to go over, will it explode, or cause massive destruction? :thinking:

Update: I placed the order at LightHound as per Steve's recommendation, since I will want to have batteries when my T1 comes in.

Click to expand...

There is a slight chance if the cells are charged to high they can vent with flame. But the charger shuts down at ~4.2v. The batteries are protected(only use protected LiON) by an IC to shut down ~4.2(4.25v max). You have two layers of protection. If you charge on a non flammable surface, monitor the charging and pull them when the charging indicator turns green. You should be fine(no 100% guarantee though), just don't charge them on oily rags and leave them unmonitored for days. Look in the Flashlights Electronics - Batteries Included section for a lot of information.