Anyone using the Olight i1 with RCR123a 3.7v batteries?

I have a stainless steel Olight i1, and was wondering if I could use it with 3.7v RCR123a's.

I've been using my i1 Aluminum model with RCR123s for quite some time. I've very conservative on my use of high though, no more than a couple minutes tops as it heats up quite fast. I use the low and medium modes the most anyway.

Love my i1, it's a great light! The hotspot is huge.

Only run it on RCR since I have it (about 1 month). No problem at all, crazy bright but gets hot quickly. Don't run it on high for more than 1 minute.

okay.. I tried about two weeks ago toreply as as a new user to this candle power forums. But to no avail and no new replies. If someone could reply to this (as i am on the other side of the world deployed) that would be great. On the subject of the Olight i1 eos, i have one on order from batteryjunction and i would hope it to be every bit as bright and good as what you all say it is to include marshall from goinggear. To tell you the truth though, most average joes dont care or have the same passion about the newest in LED technology and would rather buy something easy at the store even the tried and true incandescent lights of old. And what further blows me away is that i am looked at as somewhat of a nut for having spent the time to discover and research different lights out there. Like i know that little olight i1 is going to blow away all other lights that my fellow MP's use. but anyway what are you fellow cpfer's comments on this little light for all uses.

Thanks, SPC Smith

spc smith said:

Like i know that little olight i1 is going to blow away all other lights that my fellow MP's use. but anyway what are you fellow cpfer's comments on this little light for all uses.

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The Olight i1 is a great light, however for MP type duties, you might consider something a little more tactical, read something that turns on to high really fast. With the Olight i1 you've gotta twist through a few modes to get to high. Although I could see it as a good little backup light that sits in your pocket. If you want to read more about the i1 hit this thread. There's also a few review threads out there. And thank you for your service.

Back to the topic: My understanding is this i1 utilizes the same circuit as the 4Sevens Mini's and Preon's but without the additional hidden blinky modes. I think we have pretty good data of people running Li-Ion in these lights. Olight specifically states in the manual that 16340's are "not recommended" due to heat build up, but they stop short of saying it's forbidden like Fenix does on the E15.

SPC Smith: First off, I thank you for your service to our Country!

If you are into Olight, you may be better served with an Olight M-series light. They are tried and true, and are geared toward law enforcement and military. The M-series with an XM-L should do you just fine.

Stay safe, and again, thank you for your service to our Country!

US SOLDIERS APPRECIATE THE GOOD CITIZENS BACK HOME THAT UPHOLD OUR VALUES AND RECOGNIZE THE TRUE PRICE OF FREEDOM. I appreciate all of your comments and advice! I got a chance to actually get wifi at the MWR so i wasnt able to reply back to pinetree89 and RI Chevy... thanks for the advice about the Olight M20X. if anyone else actually has this light i would to hear what you think of it. again i appreciate all of you CPF'ers knowledgeable advice and expertise=)

US SOLDIERS APPRECIATE THE GOOD CITIZENS BACK HOME THAT UPHOLD OUR VALUES AND RECOGNIZE THE TRUE PRICE OF FREEDOM. I appreciate all of your comments and advice! I got a chance to actually get wifi at the MWR so i wasnt able to reply back to pinetree89 and RI Chevy... thanks for the advice about the Olight M20X. if anyone else actually has this light i would to hear what you think of it. again i appreciate all of you CPF'ers knowledgeable advice and expertise=)

Just to follow up, I have been running my Olight i1 for a week now on 3.7v RCR123a batteries and it works great. It gets super bright now! Low and medium modes are unaffected, only high is significantly brighter. It gets a little warm, but there seems to be some kind of thermal regulation that keeps the temperature in check. It decreases the light output a bit to keep the temps in line.

I've had the i1 for about a week. Wear it around my neck constantly. It's amazing how handy the lil bugger is now that I have it 24/7. I just bought a Pila charger to charge my 18650's and was wondering about snagging some rcr123's to power my lil i1. Great to see I can run them. I'll pick a couple up when my supply of crf123's run out. Thanks for the info, fella's, and thanks for your service, Smith.

I just got the i1 eos as well! Only I havent yet joined the RCR 123 club.. Its already pretty stinkin bright with regular CR123 batts. I can only wonder how much brighter it will be with RCRs. STAYING ON TOPIC.. whats the best recommended RCR 123 battery for the job. ive looked at the tenergy green and blue batteries.. one having slightly more output than the other. what do you guys personally use?

I received my RCR123 3.7v batteries for my I1 today. After a full charge, I compared the output with my two other major lights: A LED Lenser P7 (220 Lumens) and an Olight M21-X (600 Lumens).

The output with a standard CR123 is close to - but not quite as high as the LED Lenser

With RCR123, the output is significantly higher - to the point that I feel that the rather wide beam of the I1 is brighter than the LED Lenser even when the LED Lenser is focused to a very narrow beam. The light is more white on the I1 - the LED Lenser is with a blue tint in comparison.

The M21-x is again significantly brighter than the I1 (no surprise). The I1 appear to somewhere between the 220 Lumens LED Lenser and the 600 Lumens of the M21-x - a rough estimate perhaps around the 350 lumens mark with a very un-scientific observation.

Pointed at my white ceiling in 'candle mode', the I1 nicely lights up a 8 person dinner table

The I1 does get hot rather quickly as noted in a previous post. After a 3 minute run, the light was starting to feel a bit too hot for comfort, and the output might have dimmed a bit.

As a keychain light this is close to perfect, I really appreciate, that I don't have to go through strobe/SOS modes when cycling through modes.

Only downside: The light does not remember the latest mode - it always starts in low, but switching mode is fast.

I am considering buying a 500 lumens JetBeam PC-10, but with the added output of the RCR123, I am now in doubt if the difference is worth the investment - and reduced runtime.

Regards
Michael

What are the lumen ratings and run times for each modes when using a RCR123 battery? If I can get 200 lms on medium with an hour runtime on RCR I'd be happy with that.

To my eyes the Low and Medium modes remain unchanged. I think this has to do with the light using PWM on these modes and how the circuit is set up. Only the high seems to be affected with RCR123s as I think the light runs direct drive in this mode.

I really love my i1, it's size and sheer floodiness of the XML make for a great package, I've however resigned to just running CR123s only it though as I'd like to be able to use the high mode for extended periods of time and not worry about it overheating. It's a great price too with around $15-$20US savings over the 4Sevens MiniX, although it doesn't have the blinky modes but I can live with that.