VIP Battery Question

Can the VIP be ran on non-protected cr123's ? I thought I read to use NO rechargeables. Has anyone used these without blowing their light up ?

All I've heard is NO rechargeables, except with the 2 AA tube. I think JS Burly has (or had) some 3 V rechargeable 123's but I never heard anyone using them in the VIP.

I wouldn't try /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yellowlaugh.gif

Thanks after the LH with the pilas came out. The VIP has not left my desk. Thanks !

I bought a couple of the VIP driver chips, and have emailed george about using it and the law is 3.0V max.. no-go on the R123. There is a version of the R123 that has a voltage regulator built in that drops the internal voltage down to 3.0 in use.. but you lose a lot in capacity with such a battery and i hear there is a risk that if the vreg. fails it' sends the full voltage through which would mean disaster for the VIP in this case.

Thanks andrewwynn.

I've wondered about using some sort of small switching regulator "sandwich" with a R123 that would cut the voltage to 3V for the VIP, bit it sounds too complicated. It would also have to be inline with one of the R123 terminals.

A diode with the appropriate voltage drop might work, but that's really inefficient.

Well ya'll just gave me a really interesting thought.. seems i wrangled a VIP trade.. If it's possible to disassemble i'm thinking i'll make an infinitely variable VIP that is LDO driver from an R123 hmmm.. me thinks i like that idea a lot. it's unfortunate that the vip board is a strange size to complicate things. I'm only a fan of 'primary' batteries on lights that sit around a lot.. the VIP i expect to get regular use.

Based on my* LDO driver i made for the CNC123.. i can get a full 1A if i wanted but i don't really see much improvement with that whole law of diminishing returns so 3W is my favorite goal.. or about 830mA... with the ability to dial that down, possibly in steps...

Maybe if it's successful enough a replacement board could be developed for VIP owners that would like to have LiON powered VIP.

*initial design by MrAl..