Spark ST6-500CW Batteries

Hello all, this is my first post on CPF, so hopefully it's a good one!

I am fairly new to the whole headlamp/flashlight scene, so I figured that I would need a solid first headlamp. I decided to go with the Spark ST6-500CW due to the numerous positive reviews I've read about it. Now comes the slightly more complicated part. I need something to power it!

I read lots of positive things about AW's batteries, but when I searched around, I couldn't figure out if they were compatible with the Spark headlamp, so my question to the forums would be:

1) Are AW's rechargeable CR123s compatible with the Spark ST6-500CW?
2) Can I use 2 CR123s? If I am doing this correctly, two 3.7v CR123s in series would amount to 7.4v. Is that safe to do?
3) (slightly unrelated to post) How long does it take for AWs batteries to ship to the states?

Thanks guys, I hope to learn a lot and gain some experience from being here!

http://www.spark001.com/Products.aspx?ProductID=10
You should be fine using 2xcr123 batteries according to spark. Donno about the 18650 size? You might want to post to the Batteries/electroinics form and/or e mail spark.

1x18650 and 2xCR123 work fine. 2xRCR123 (Rechargeable CR123s) is too much voltage for the ST6. Max voltage is 6V. 2xRCR123 would be 8.4V off the charger.

jake25 said:

1x18650 and 2xCR123 work fine. 2xRCR123 (Rechargeable CR123s) is too much voltage for the ST6. Max voltage is 6V. 2xRCR123 would be 8.4V off the charger.

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So would a rechargeable 18650 be ok? I prefer to use rechargeables as my lights do tend to get a lot of use.

1x18650 is perfect w/ the ST6-500

Would you happen to know if LiFePO4 batteries would work? I believe the ones I am looking at put out 3.0V each, so 2 CR123a batteries would put out 6V which is the max voltage accepted by the ST6.

f22rapt02: LiFePO4s are slightly above 3.0V right off the charger. I don't have a definitive answer but I'll pass this along to Spark. It's best to stick with 18650 batteries.

Ok, so I guess my best/safest option at the moment would be to just acquire some 18650s. Thanks!