Specific question about rechargeable batteries in SureFire lights

lateralus180

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Mar 11, 2011
Messages
144
Location
In the dark
I looked through the battery section but couldn't quite find what I was looking for. May I hi-jack the LED light section in hopes of finding good advice regarding these specific lights? I have asked this question once before CPF crashed and got no responses in the battery section. My questions are regarding specific lights and rechargeable options. :popcorn:


I know there are many common rechargeable batteries that won't work with surefire lights, so what are my best options for rechargeable batteries in the following lights? I would like to keep the output as close to or better than CR123's as possible, with a similar or greater run time.

Surefire G2 LED [80 lumen model]
Surefire G2X Pro
Surefire T1A Titan

Nitecore EX11
 

Mikellen

Enlightened
Joined
Sep 16, 2008
Messages
496
Location
TX, USA
Re: Specific question about rechargeable batteries

17670 rechargeable lithium battery will work in the G2 LED (80 lumen model). If its an AW protected battery then the label might need to be peeled off though. If the inner diameter of the body of the G2X Pro is the same size as the G2 LED then the 17670 should fit in it as well.
 

DM51

Flashaholic
Joined
Oct 31, 2006
Messages
13,338
Location
Borg cube #51
Re: Specific question about rechargeable batteries

May I hi-jack the LED light section in hopes of finding good advice regarding these specific lights? I have asked this question once before CPF crashed and got no responses in the battery section. My questions are regarding specific lights and rechargeable options.
Yes, that's perfectly OK, as your question is indeed about rechargeable options for specific lights. :)

Sometimes there are threads that could fit in more than one section. We move threads only if they are definitely in the wrong one. If anything, I think this thread is more at home here than in the Batteries section, which is more for discussions about cell types and characteristics than the lights that use them.
 

Kestrel

Flashaholic
Joined
Oct 31, 2007
Messages
7,358
Location
Willamette Valley, OR
Re: Specific question about rechargeable batteries

Surefire G2 LED [80 lumen model]
Surefire G2X Pro
Surefire T1A Titan
SF G2 LED: A single AW 17670 should be a nearly perfect fit. Many of our modern high-performance LED dropins will function very well from a single 3.7V LiIon such as this one, however the original SF P60LED dropin that came in the G2 LED will not provide nearly enough output for your liking. Trust me on this - I love AW 17670's (compared to 2xRCR123 or even primaries), but dislike the SF P60LED dropin for this reason (among others).

SF G2X Pro: Although I don't have one, IIRC (from reading the master G2X thread), you will have something like a 50-50 chance of having an AW protected 17670 fit in the battery tube after taking off the label. It sounds like some of the cheaper 17670's will fit, although I'm a big fan of AW cells in general.

SF T1A: I think that folks have had some success in using RCR123's and/or IMR123's in this light, but it's not something I know a lot about. Try reading the long T1A thread posted by Sean for more information. I have a T1A but I run CR123s in it - I like using old CR123's in this light since I don't have to worry about mismatched cells like in my longer SureFires. In fact, I greatly prefer my multi-cell SF's with rechargeable cells, but all of my single-cell SF's still use CR123 primaries.

Hope this helps and welcome to CPF. Always happy to answer battery questions on SureFires.
Kestrel

Edit: BTW, with regards to runtimes in the two-cell SureFires, you should enjoy slightly more runtime on 1x17670 than on 2xCR123, and both will have substantially more runtime than 2xRCR123. For the single cell lights, the runtime from 1xRCR123 might be something like half that from a 1xCR123 primary.

(I've renamed your thread slightly to better reflect your question.)
 
Last edited:

Mikellen

Enlightened
Joined
Sep 16, 2008
Messages
496
Location
TX, USA
Re: Specific question about rechargeable batteries

Oh yeah, what Kestrel said about reduced output in using an 17670 lithium rechargeable battery with the P60L is definitely correct.
I use an 17670 battery in my G2 but replaced the P60L with a Malkoff M61WL. This set up works wonderful for me. The M61WL will be more expensive but you will have a greater output and a more runtime than the P60L.
 

pinetree89

Enlightened
Joined
Mar 10, 2011
Messages
212
I have a couple year old G2L in OD that came with a P60L head. I just recently purchased (a few days ago) a couple AW 17670 cells from the thread over in CPM. The cells slide in and out perfectly with little to no drag without having to remove the label. Not sure if perhaps AW sized them down a bit over time, or if I got lucky with the Surefire, or if it's only the G2X affected, but it does work well.

I pulled the P60L out and am currently running a cheap single mode DealExtreme XP-E Q5 3.7-18v drop in with my AW 17670's. Seems much brighter than the P60L and has much better throw than any of my (not many) XP-G emitter lights. Just getting my feet wet with drop ins, and someday would like to upgrade to something better as funds allow.

Pick up a current production 17670 and do some experimenting, you might be surprised.
 
Last edited:

Vox Clamatis in Deserto

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 7, 2006
Messages
1,126
I've got two G2X Pro's and three AW 17670's that don't fit in any combination that I've tried. I've got three more G2X Pro's still in the blister pack that I plan to give away so I haven't experimented with them. A guy in Hong Kong here on CPF got a newer version of the G2X Pro that had some slight differences. I'm sitting here in Singapore at the moment, tempted to go over to Sheares and burn some Sing dollars to see if they have the new production G2X's. I'm on the way to Japan, they are in a state of emergency, so an extra flashlight can be justified, right? At least until my wife finds out.

My experience with other lights is that if the battery fits but is very snug, when the light heats up the battery may bind and cause reliability and mode change problems due to intermittent electrical contact.

I have two SF 6PX Pro's that take 17670's just fine.
 

Kilovolt

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Mar 1, 2007
Messages
2,400
Location
Lake Como, Italy
Hi lateralus and :welcome:


In my T1A I use 3.0V RCR123 cells and I've had no problems so far. Their voltage when fully charged is only slightly higher than the one of a new primary so the circuit will not be endangered. Their actual capacity is unfortunately rather low, say 40% of the one of a primary.
 

Tommygun45

Enlightened
Joined
Aug 26, 2010
Messages
438
The other important part to clarify here is that when people say to remove the label from the AW 17670's they mean remove the white part. There is a black wrapper that encases the metal battery. On this black wrapper is a white label with all of the text and information about the battery on it. That white label peels off of the black part. The first time I did it I actually removed the black label entirely and had the thing running in a Quark Turbo on Turbo for 2 hours. Could have been a bad day but I got lucky. Silly me. Anyways be sure to do that.

I have 2 6PX's and they fit my AW 17670's with labels just fine. Not sure about the G2X though.

Also, you can take the P60L out of the light and resell the drop in over on the marketplace for ~ $20-$23. That will help to offset the cost of a Malkoff. Also I would recommend buying from a Malkoff reseller. At Malkoffdevices.com they bumped the prices to about $75 but on most of the resellers sites they are around $65 still. Just check the Malkoff site where he lists his resellers.
 

lateralus180

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Mar 11, 2011
Messages
144
Location
In the dark
Thanks for the helpful info!

How about the Nitecore EX 11? RCR 123? Do you recommend a specific brand for any rechargeable?


Hi lateralus and :welcome:


In my T1A I use 3.0V RCR123 cells and I've had no problems so far. Their voltage when fully charged is only slightly higher than the one of a new primary so the circuit will not be endangered. Their actual capacity is unfortunately rather low, say 40% of the one of a primary.

Thanks! I have been a member since November or December of 2010 but my account was lost during the last crash.
 

Boss Hogg

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Oct 9, 2009
Messages
49
Location
Golden State
Re: Specific question about rechargeable batteries

Oh yeah, what Kestrel said about reduced output in using an 17670 lithium rechargeable battery with the P60L is definitely correct.
I use an 17670 battery in my G2 but replaced the P60L with a Malkoff M61WL. This set up works wonderful for me. The M61WL will be more expensive but you will have a greater output and a more runtime than the P60L.

Do you have the runtimes for the 17670 M61WL setup?
 
Top