Certain flashlights not working with cr123s

So I have these four lights:

-Fenix PD32 (used infrequently and been sitting on the shelf for a few years)
-Fenix PD25 (used semi-frequently for the last few years)
-Nitecore MT1C (brand new, barely used)
-Nitecore P05 (brand new barely used)

I also have have about a dozen cr123 batteries, most have been unused sitting on the shelf for a few years, two tenergy recharchables and a bunch of assorted primaries from different manufacturers.
I was changing the battery on the P05 and noticed the first battery I tried didn't work, so tried another and eventually went through all of them and non of them were working. Tried all these batteries in these four lights (to see if it was the batteries or the light that was faulty). Sometimes I'll put a battery in and it will work, but if I take it out and put it back in it won't work, but later I'll try the same battery and it will work. Thinking it was the batteries that were faulty I went out and bought two new primaries and a Fenix brand rc123, same results with these. Tested all these batteries with a Surefire E1L, Maglite Magtac , Fenix PD35 and an Elzetta Alpha and they seems to work fine. I also tried the batteries in a brand new P05 that I had still in the package and they all worked except for two of them. They all worked in the Elzetta. Which left me even more confused by all this.

Is it possible that these four lights all crapped out on me at he same time?

digidude said:

So I have these four lights:

-Fenix PD32 (used infrequently and been sitting on the shelf for a few years)
-Fenix PD25 (used semi-frequently for the last few years)
-Nitecore MT1C (brand new, barely used)
-Nitecore P05 (brand new barely used)

I also have have about a dozen cr123 batteries, most have been unused sitting on the shelf for a few years

Is it possible that these four lights all crapped out on me at he same time?

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Gosh - sounds interesting. I'd be testing the batteries and cleaning connections to see if you can spot anything. Residue or corrosion for instance?

I'm still a newbie really, but I'm sure you'll get some good problem solving suggestions from this forum

Could be the batteries. I would use a volt meter to see how much juice is left in each battery.

A new CR123 should read between 3.2 and 3.3 volts on the multi meter. If they read below 3.0v, the problem is the battery. Since some lights are better than others at getting the last drop of juice out of a battery, it's hard to pinpoint the problem without more info. As suggested above, I'd also clean the contact points with rubbing alcohol.

When my CR123A lights don't fire, its always a connection problem, incomplete circuit, either a spring that is too squashed, or the head is not tight enough.

You know what guys, I noticed that the front end of the batteries seem to be kind of sticky, like there some residue on them and I inspected the lights and they seem to have the same stickiness on the contacts. Something from the batteries I'm assuming. Tomorrow I'm gonna wipe everything down with rubbing alcohol as suggested and I'll report back. I hope its as simple a fix as that.

If there is something on the batteries that could be preventing a good contact. Like an electrical Barrier I do not believe lithium batteries can leak.

Yeah, unlike alkaline batteries, lithium cells don't leak. Can you post a couple of photos? It might help us get to the bottom of it.

Perhaps it is excess thread lubrication? Or maybe it could be ectoplasmic residue, but that would mean your flashlights are haunted. Better get a sample.

I will try to get some pictures up on the weekend, but its kinda of hard to see.

night.hoodie said:

Or maybe it could be ectoplasmic residue, but that would mean your flashlights are haunted.

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LOL - that has to be the best line of the night on this forum! Bwa ha haaa...

So a bit of an update guys, I cleaned the gunk off the contacts on the lights as well as the batteries and everything seems to be working fine now. Noticed the same gunk on my charger (a fenix 4 battery charger) cleaned that as well. The only light thats not working is the fenix pd32, no matter how much I clean up the contacts which makes me think theres something else wrong with it.