What Batteries do I choose!

Hey guys, I have just gotten into some high tech flashlights. I now need batteries for these. I am looking at rechargeable and need your help with it. I know there are disposable cr123, and AA and lithium AA, but I need to know what rechargeable batteries are the best for the fenix tk45, 4sevens 123^2 and AA^2.

Thanks

Welcome to CPF, NCT1.

I'll move your enquiry to our Batteries section.

Eneloop, AW protected, Eneloop.

For your AA powered lights, stick to the tried, true, and proven Sanyo Eneloops or the relabeled Durcell Eneloops, commonly referred to as "Duraloops" here on CPF. Just do a search for "Duraloop" and you'll find threads and photos of the right Duracell NiMh AAs to look for and how to spot them on the store shelf.

Once you get Ene/Dura-loops and a good charger, you'll wonder how you ever used alkaline batteries in the past. Don't even think about using alkaline AAs in your TK45 or AA^2. Once those things leak in your nice lights, you'll go crazy!

yep, AA eneloops or duraloop (they are duracell cells, you wont find word duraloop anywhere on them).
if your alkalines leak, no big deal, hydrogen peroxide will remove it easy.

Hi CPF'ers

will AW protected RCR123 3.7v work fine in 4sevens 123^2? what is the expected run time? will they give any indication like light dimming when they are about to be ready for recharging?

Thanks

Hi NCT1

I don't own a Fenix tk45, but from what I have been able to find online, the discharge power is ~10W, or ~1.25W per cell.

Once you know the per cell discharge power, you can use the AA Ragone plot here.

Here is a quick summary of runtimes based on a 1.25W per cell discharge:

Alkaline: ~45 minutes
Energizer e2 Advanced Lithium: ~90 minutes
PowerGenix NiZn: ~105 minutes
Eneloop: ~110 minutes
Sanyo 2500 mAh: ~130 minutes
Energizer e2 Ultimate Lithium: ~170 minutes

If you use the flashlight relatively frequently, then I would say go with Eneloops and recharge as needed. If you use the light infrequently, and/or keep it in your car where it will be exposed to high temps, then go with the Energizer e2 Ultimate lithium because they have almost no self discharge rate even at high temps.

Hope this helps!

Cheers,
Battery Guy

qandeel said:

Hi CPF'ers

will AW protected RCR123 3.7v work fine in 4sevens 123^2? what is the expected run time? will they give any indication like light dimming when they are about to be ready for recharging?

Thanks

Click to expand...

:candle:

qandeel said:

:candle:

Click to expand...

runtime. This wasn't easy to find by search, and the other part of your question involves Li-Ion mechanics. The Quark 123^2 is regulated at 3-9v. Protected RCR123s cutoff at 2.5v- and this isn't good for the battery, really...especially on lower modes, which push the recovery voltage even lower. So two RCR123s in series will, hopefully, activate their protection circuits at 5v - the Quark could stay on Turbo until the batteries cut it off. But Turbo is really quite bright...

Conclusion: You'll be happier with the 17670 - it's a single Li-Ion cell that is twice as long as a CR123. This chart: click gives the runtime on 17670, over an hour before dropping out of regulation - then a dimming tail to tell you to recharge the poor battery. That's giving you about the runtime of primary CR123s with a rechargeable cell. If the 17670 won't fit in your charger, you can always get clever with jumper wires tied around magnets.

qandeel said:

Hi CPF'ers

will AW protected RCR123 3.7v work fine in 4sevens 123^2? what is the expected run time? will they give any indication like light dimming when they are about to be ready for recharging?

Thanks

Click to expand...

Okay, il try to answer this on for you...

If im not mistaken the 123^2 has the 3.0~9.0 volts head, so voltage wise running two li-ions wouldn't be a problem (they would give 8.5 volts at best).

Heres a copy on the runtimes from 4sevens website for you....

Moonlight: 0.2 OTF lumens for 30 days, (1ma)
Low: 4 OTF lumens for 5 days (10ma)
Medium: 22 OTF lumens for 20 hours (50ma)
High: 85 OTF lumens for 4.5 hours (250ma)
Max: 230 OTF lumens for 1.8 hours (990ma)
Strobe: 230 OTF lumens for 3 hours
Beacon:0-230 OTF lumens pulse for 23 hours


There will probably be no dimming, the protection circuit will probably kick in before the light gets out of regulation so at that point youre basically too late......