looking for a light that will completely drain 123

Rogue_monkey

Enlightened
Joined
Nov 29, 2004
Messages
222
Location
Ontario, Can
I'm looking for a light that will completely drain CR123 batteries. The cheaper the better but still a decent light.
Any suggestions would be great.
 

Stanley

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 10, 2003
Messages
1,531
Location
Canberra, Australia
I use the TekTite Splashlite Led. I tried a 'dead' cell just the other night, in a KL1/E1e and Arc LSL no light at all. But on the Splashlite, it gave surprisingly decent amount of light. Ran it till the output was dimmer than an Arc AAA, measured the batt at 2.22V! Pop it back in again and it still gives out enough light to navigate by in a room. I don't think the X5 would be able to suck it that dry...
 

HarryN

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jan 22, 2004
Messages
3,977
Location
Pleasanton (Bay Area), CA, USA
The "dryest" battery sucker upper I have heard of is from the modder "milkyspit" and his "milky candle", which leaves very few electrons in the 123. I think he is considering another run of these. - not really a flashlight.

IMHO, the best way find a light which really drains the 123, is to buy one with at least 3 cells, and ideally 4 in series. The reasons are:
- It is very hard for electronics to work with voltages < 1 volt, and especially under 0.7 V
- It is easier to obtain maximum overall efficiency from a buck converter than a boost converter. Even these, often require the V bat > Vf LED + 1 volt.
- At 1 volt, a 123 is effectively completely dead (some will argue this point, but you are really close to drained). 4 cells x 1 volt = just enough to drive an LED with a little margin.

I think that there are only a few lights in this category due to the length. Surefire makes some, and I think the Aleph (see the sandwich shoppe) also comes in a 4 x length.
 

StoneDog

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 21, 2002
Messages
1,591
Location
Suwanee, GA
A CNC-123 with a Mad-Max Lite sammich will pull just about all of the energy out of a 123 battery...

Jon
 

Rogue_monkey

Enlightened
Joined
Nov 29, 2004
Messages
222
Location
Ontario, Can
So it seems that a modded light will work. But are there any stock lights that will do the job, again I'm looking at a price range of under $50 US.
 

stockae92

Enlightened
Joined
Mar 8, 2004
Messages
855
Location
SoCal
i don't know how good is the Inova 24/7 but it seems like a good choice

i also have the X5T HA
 

this_is_nascar

Flashaholic
Joined
Mar 29, 2002
Messages
8,340
Location
Gloucester, New Jersey
[ QUOTE ]
StoneDog said:
A CNC-123 with a Mad-Max Lite sammich will pull just about all of the energy out of a 123 battery...

Jon

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree Jon and a very good choice by the way.
 
Top