Rechargeable CR123A?

[chinacat46]

Does any body use rechargeable CR123A with their dive light? Not your camera your dive light. How well do they perform?

[fishballer]

i'm actually looking for opinions about those too. any help?

[CompuDude]

I wasn't aware they exist. Do they? (I don't actually own any lights that use CR123As, but it's good info to know regardless!)

EDIT: Live and learn.

Thomas Distributing

Generally, though, the lights I would own that would take CR123A are backup lights where I would prefer the long (10 yr) shelf life of the regular ones. Perhaps if they comes out with low self-discharge versions. But other than those, I've not been a fan of rechargeables in a backup light. If I was using a light that took CR123As as a primary, though, absolutely.

[mitsuguy]

The problem with cr123's is that they aren't available everywhere, and although rechargeables are just fine, there is always that possibility that something can go wrong - forgot to charge them, charger stopped working, etc... They also don't have a whole lot of storage capacity, usually 900 maH or so, where as a decent rechargeable AA is around 2600 or better... Difference being AA rechargeable is 1.2 volts, CR123 is between 3.0 and 3.6 volts...

I use 123's in my Cree Q5 work light, and they are great... But if it stops working, or I forget to charge them, its no big deal, however, it would be a huge deal if I was halfway to south padre for a last minute dive, or on the boat, to find out they had sat too long and self discharged, or the charger had failed giving enough voltage to turn the light on, but only last 5 minutes...

[CompuDude]

Originally Posted by mitsuguy

The problem with cr123's is that they aren't available everywhere, and although rechargeables are just fine, there is always that possibility that something can go wrong - forgot to charge them, charger stopped working, etc... They also don't have a whole lot of storage capacity, usually 900 maH or so, where as a decent rechargeable AA is around 2600 or better... Difference being AA rechargeable is 1.2 volts, CR123 is between 3.0 and 3.6 volts...

I use 123's in my Cree Q5 work light, and they are great... But if it stops working, or I forget to charge them, its no big deal, however, it would be a huge deal if I was halfway to south padre for a last minute dive, or on the boat, to find out they had sat too long and self discharged, or the charger had failed giving enough voltage to turn the light on, but only last 5 minutes...

Really? Only 900 MaH in CR123As? That doesn't seem right. Those suckers last a long time in lights. (referring to the non-rechargeable variety) It doesn't make sense that a rechargeable version would have THAT much less capacity.

[mitsuguy]

Originally Posted by CompuDude

Really? Only 900 MaH in CR123As? That doesn't seem right. Those suckers last a long time in lights. (referring to the non-rechargeable variety) It doesn't make sense that a rechargeable version would have THAT much less capacity.

man, sorry its been so long, guess I overlooked your reply here...

My work light (my best reference) is 2x CR123's, 3.6 volt per cell, 880 mAh per cell... it lasts about an hour to hour and a half with a reallly bright Q5 Cree emitter (its been measured over 200 lumen, close to 225 with freshly charged batteries)

DealExtreme: Cool Gadgets at the Right Price - Site-Wide Free Shipping (Page 1)

DealExtreme: $28.29 TrustFire T1 Q5 Cree LED Flashlight with Clip (18650) is my light
and
DealExtreme: $5.50 TrustFire Protected 16340 880mAh 3.6V Rechargeable Li-Ion Batteries (2-Pack) are my batteries...

I've since bought and sold the same setup to 4 out of 5 guys at work as soon as they saw mine...

[mitsuguy]

keep in mind that they are run at higher voltage... it'd be almost the same as having one AA battery... a rechargeable AA is 1.2 volts, since V=IR, and 880 mAh is at 3.6 volts, do the math and you get 2640 mAh at 1.2 volts... rechargeable AA's are usually rated 2500-2600 mAh at 1.2 volts, so, in essence, you get the same amount of power, just at a different voltage...

with CR123's, it's easier to get higher voltages, and to get the same voltage as one CR123, you would need to run 3 AA's in series...

[hooligan]

Originally Posted by mitsuguy

The problem with cr123's is that they aren't available everywhere, and although rechargeables are just fine, there is always that possibility that something can go wrong - forgot to charge them, charger stopped working, etc... They also don't have a whole lot of storage capacity, usually 900 maH or so, where as a decent rechargeable AA is around 2600 or better... Difference being AA rechargeable is 1.2 volts, CR123 is between 3.0 and 3.6 volts...

I use 123's in my Cree Q5 work light, and they are great... But if it stops working, or I forget to charge them, its no big deal, however, it would be a huge deal if I was halfway to south padre for a last minute dive, or on the boat, to find out they had sat too long and self discharged, or the charger had failed giving enough voltage to turn the light on, but only last 5 minutes...

I've really come to like the CR123s. I was put off by the price at first, but if you buy in bulk online, they can be very reasonably priced. Plus, with a 10 year shelf life, you can just throw them in small waterproof pelican box (or similar) and keep them in the dive bag. Then on the boat when people are scrambling around for them, you can charge duracell prices of $5 each.

[mitsuguy]

Originally Posted by hooligan

I've really come to like the CR123s. I was put off by the price at first, but if you buy in bulk online, they can be very reasonably priced. Plus, with a 10 year shelf life, you can just throw them in small waterproof pelican box (or similar) and keep them in the dive bag. Then on the boat when people are scrambling around for them, you can charge duracell prices of $5 each.

good business idea

but, thats my thing against them - they cant be found everywhere...

[diver 85]

Originally Posted by fishballer

i'm actually looking for opinions about those too. any help?

Same here as a matter of fact........hope someone can help......