Which RCR Batteries for NovaTac?

I have recently purchased some grey Trustfire protected RCR batteries (DX sku 08683) to use with my NovaTac 85T but they don't work - the light won't turn on at all. The batteries are charged to about 4.1V and work in other lights. I am aware that these batteries are 1-2mm longer than primaries but I thought the NovaTac could cope with that. I am also aware that NovaTac recomment non-protected RCR's since the light itself has a protection circuit, but my understanding was that protected batteries would still work. Does anyone have experience with this light/battery combination?

Make sure all the connections on the flashlight are tight. The battery should work. I use AW protected cells in my Novatac 120P all the time.

cabbynate said:

Make sure all the connections on the flashlight are tight. The battery should work. I use AW protected cells in my Novatac 120P all the time.

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The connections are tight and it works with primary CR123 batteries no problem. Could it have something to do with the length of the Trustfire RCR's? What about the fact that i haven't charged them since receiving them, even though they are at 4.1V?

spgrk said:

The connections are tight and it works with primary CR123 batteries no problem. Could it have something to do with the length of the Trustfire RCR's? What about the fact that i haven't charged them since receiving them, even though they are at 4.1V?

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You definitely need to charge them. The voltage drops to nothing as soon as you turn on the light. Also you need to do a soft reset to use rechargables but first, charge the battery....

Also remember that when you switch from primaries to RCRs you need to perform the battery recognition sequence on a Novatac (unlike the HDS) lights. I don't know if that would cause this problem or not but it's worth a try.

I've used AWs RCR123s protected cells with great results. The tailspring should permit a slight cell variation.

It's the length. The trustfires will only work if you crush them into the novatac (don't ask my how I know this :shakehead)

Please, just use a cell within spec as far as dimensions go.

alphazeta said:

It's the length. The trustfires will only work if you crush them into the novatac (don't ask my how I know this :shakehead)

Please, just use a cell within spec as far as dimensions go.

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I can testify that AWs protected cells work great!

I've charged up the Trustfire and it still doesn't work, so I guess the problem must be the length. Can someone explain the mechanism whereby this causes a problem, i.e. why doesn't the spring in the tailcap or leaving the tailcap untightened compensate for the extra 1-2mm length compared to primaries?

The question should be why don`t Trustfire make cells the right length???

I have just tried using a Trustfire Li-Ion and if definitely does not work
Whereas an AW will work. The TF cell is roughly 2mm longer than an AW.
Unscrewing the tubes does not help. I would guess that by unscrewing the
tubes slight breaks the electrical path.

I guess the answer is simply to buy AW batteries. I don't own any Trustfire batteries, but have never had issues with AW's. Wait, that's not true; they are too fat to fit in my Nitecore Extreme. Others say theirs fit, but even new ones don't fit in my light (they could be forced in, but I doubt they would come back out).