led lenser F1R problem with rechargeable cr123 batteries !!!

hi everybody!

my knoledge about batteries is very limited. i wonder if somebody can enlighten me a bit here !!!!!!!

i tried using my led lenser F1R with two rechargeable watson cr123 batteries instead of the normal 18650 battery , and guess what: in the first attempt, after a quick stong light burst , the light power faded and became very low.
there are no more three levels of light power , just a very dim light coming from the led...
most probably some internal circuit is dead i imagine .... with regular surefire cr123 batteries it worked properly.... the recahargeable watson did the service.

probably just lost 80 dollars here ....

can someone explain to me if i was unlucky or if in fact these rechargeable cr123 batteries are out of the correct specifications .....


thanks in advance !

regards from brazil...

Li-ion cells are 4.2v and CR123 primaries are 3v. So if it works on one 18650 or 2 CR123 then it probably takes a voltage range up to 6v. Two rechargeable cells would be 8.4v and may very well have cooked it.

thanks for the reply NBP .

just checked: the rechargeable cr 123 watson batteries were 3v each ( 400 mAh each ) , pretty much the same as the regular surefire cr123 batteries...

but now i understand that the two RCR123 in series cooked my led ... each of them delivering 3,7V as my voltimeter reads , higher then the 3,1 of regular CR123 i have ....

learning in the hard way ..... :sigh:

There are 3v li-ion cells but they are pretty rare. The vast majority of them are 4.2v hot off the charger. If they are 3v then they should work if the light is designed for 2xCR123 but my guess based on your story is that those RCR123s are 4.2v fully charged and two of them overloaded the circuit.

agreed!!!!!!!!
thanks for your input !

reichmann88 said:

i tried using my led lenser F1R with two rechargeable watson cr123 batteries
...
can someone explain to me if i was unlucky or if in fact these rechargeable cr123 batteries are out of the correct specifications .....

Click to expand...

yes, you were unlucky,
no the Watson are not out of specification for your light

the Watson batteries are 3v rechargeable, they should not have damaged the light

sorry they did

Glad you found that jon. Man that is some confusing labeling. They call them CR123 though they are rechargeable so usually sellers will call them RCR123, or16340. Then they also link at the bottom another cell with virtually identical labeling also called "CR123" that is 3.7v. Those are typical li-ion voltage. Who's idea was this dumpster fire of a labeling scheme? Maybe there's a reason I've never heard of Watson.

I agree the different types and similar labeling is very confusing

apparently a lot of photo cameras and security cameras use 3V Primaries
that seems to be the market for the 3V batteries such as Watson

This info came up for me because the Nitecore EX11.2 goes into overdrive on 3.7V LiIon. I briefly considered buying 3V rechargeable instead.. The light prefers 3V Primaries, to operate without overheating.

Similar info comes up when peoplle start talking about some of the CR2 powered lights, such as muyshondt.. they take 3V primaries, and some people try to figure out the hoops to jump, and end up in the 3V rechargeable conversation

Tenergy caters to the same 3V rechargeable market that Watson serves.

this one IS rechargeable:


This one is NOT rechargeable:


I agree, it is easy to confuse them...

jon_slider said:

yes, you were unlucky,
no the Watson are not out of specification for your light

the Watson batteries are 3v rechargeable, they should not have damaged the light

sorry they did

Click to expand...

hey , that link shows my batteries !!!!!! the same that burned my led lenser

well, just got a nitecore mh12 series ( best way to forget a dead flashlight is getting a new one !!!!!!! )

thanks for the input.

There is nothing wrong with any battery mentionned; may be CR123, or CR123a!
! ! !
The light is built to be powered by ONE (rechargeable) battery and using TWO in series simply was DOUBLE than should have been used
.
No wrong labeling or whatever - plain user error - an thus
That it survived 2 * cr123 simply was plain luck (and that they were too weak to give the current needed to )

I am courious: what did You plan to achieve with the 2 small cells instead oft the original 18650?
The big one is thus more powerful in (almost) the same package ...
:thinking:

the flashlight is designed to use one 18650 or alternatively 2 cr123a batteries . worked this way for two years or so with no problems , in both ways. the problem happened when using two rechargable ( rcr123a ) batteries.

in my mind two rechargable rcr123 baterries would work in the same way as two regular cr123 batteries. ( now i know thatsome have higher voltage ... )

contrary to your statement , this flashlight works normally with two regular cr123 batteries