Rating Battery Performance, Also Favorite Vendors?

[JD Spydo]

This week I've finally gotten some time to replace some of the batteries for some of my flashlights and other electronic toys. I'm slowly going more for rechargeable batteries especially for my Surefire flashlights as much as I've been using them in the past 2 years. I just bought some "Nitecore" brand rechargeable 123a Lithium-ion batteries for a couple of my Surefire flashlights and I'm hoping I made a good selection. I had not ever heard of this brand but a friend of mine who does a lot with electronics said he's had great luck with their products ( he says their flashlights are great too). I was mind-blown today when I called Surefire and was told that Surefire was completely out of 123a rechargeable batteries :confused: so I took a chance on another brand.

I brought this subject up about all the available brands of batteries because over the years I've had a wide range of different results with different brands of batteries ( disposable and rechargeable both). Some of the old reliable brands I used to like aren't all that good anymore it seems. So I was just wanting to check with all of my Spyder-Brethren ( Sisters too :D ) to see how you all rate the different brands of batteries out there available on the market.

And we can talk about any type battery ( cell phones included). Most of my flashlights and other toys use 123a, AA, AAA, C, D>> and as I already said I'm going more and more to rechargeables. It was really tough finding a reputable vendor that had 123a rechargeable batteries. Also any vendors you all like to purchase batteries from would be helpful too. OK let's talk about BATTERIES shall we :)

[Cycletroll]

Surefire sent me an email a week ago or so saying their "new design" 123a rechargeable batteries and charger would be available soon. This note was due to an order (backordered) made by me 6 mo ago.
I can't say anything about Nitecore but Tenergy rechargeables don't work at high drain levels. Safety circuit shuts them down after 5 sec or so in my E2T-MV

[Naperville]

Vendors: Orbtronic, Illumn, RTD Vapors

[Knivesinedc]

I am running some cheap off brand rechargeable 18650's from Amazon called EBL. They say 3000mAh at 3.7v on the case. They work fine in my Fenix PD35 and I use the light frequently on duty. I suspect 3.7v is not enough to drive the diode at max output though because the 1000 lumen setting looks like 5-600 lumens haha. May upgrade them soon but the batteries, despite the perceived lower output, have been very reliable. The max run time is very consistent every charge and they do last a good while.

[Naperville]

The absolute best info on rechargeables is right here:

Mooch
https://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/blogs/mooch.256958/

[JD Spydo]

Surefire sent me an email a week ago or so saying their "new design" 123a rechargeable batteries and charger would be available soon. This note was due to an order (backordered) made by me 6 mo ago.
I can't say anything about Nitecore but Tenergy rechargeables don't work at high drain levels. Safety circuit shuts them down after 5 sec or so in my E2T-MV

The last flashlight I got from Surefire about 2 years ago is my 6PX Pro model>> It's been extremely dependable with those rechargeable 123a Lithium Ion batteries and I've used them almost daily in the past two years. . They sent the 6PX Pro model to me along with a set of rechargeable 123a Lithium Ion batteries along with a charger that worked great for the past two years but the batteries are finally starting to fade somewhat in the past two months.

The rechargeable Nitecore batteries I ordered were twice the price of those Tenergy rechargeable batteries you mentioned. In the past my common sense tells me that you get what you pay for in most instances. The tech on the phone that I bought them from said he used those Nitecore 123a rechargeable batteries in one of his Streamlight flashlights for the past 6 months or so and has got great overall performance from them. I'll know for sure when they arrive next week.

But I'm all ears and if any of you guys know of anything better please don't be hesitant to share it with us.

[ugaarguy]

Most Surefires are only rated for 6 to 6.5 volts max. The rechargeable CR123 batteries that Surefire sells are Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePo) chemistry that maxes out at 3.2 volts per battery with the protection circuit. The RCR123s from Nitecore and most other flashlight brands are Lithium Cobalt or Lithium Manganese. Even with a protection circuit, those batteries are 3.6 volts nominal, 4.2 volts hot off the charger. The pair of them in series will put out over 8 volts, and they'll probably mess up your Surefires. I'd email Surefire and see if they've changed the max voltage before using those Nitecore cells. A single 16650 battery, which is the same size as a pair of CR123 cells, but 4.2v max since its a single cell, would be a safer bet.

Nitecore is a reputable Chinese company that usually uses Japanese or South Korean made cells, adds a protection circuit, and wraps the package with their branding as a complete battery. LG, Sony, Panasonic/Sanyo, and Samsung are the biggest manufacturers of high quality lithium cells. Seiko is a big supplier of the protection circuits. You can buy the plain, unprotected, flat top cells directly from vendors like Illumn.

Keeppower is a great brand that uses cells from the reputable brands, and rewraps them with protection circuits. Illlumn also stocks these.

For rechargeable AA and AAA batteries Panasonic Eneloops are still the safest bet for high quality batteries.

[JD Spydo]

Most Surefires are only rated for 6 to 6.5 volts max. The rechargeable CR123 batteries that Surefire sells are Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePo) chemistry that maxes out at 3.2 volts per battery with the protection circuit. The RCR123s from Nitecore and most other flashlight brands are Lithium Cobalt or Lithium Manganese. Even with a protection circuit, those batteries are 3.6 volts nominal, 4.2 volts hot off the charger. The pair of them in series will put out over 8 volts, and they'll probably mess up your Surefires. I'd email Surefire and see if they've changed the max voltage before using those Nitecore cells. A single 16650 battery, which is the same size as a pair of CR123 cells, but 4.2v max since its a single cell, would be a safer bet.

Nitecore is a reputable Chinese company that usually uses Japanese or South Korean made cells, adds a protection circuit, and wraps the package with their branding as a complete battery. LG, Sony, Panasonic/Sanyo, and Samsung are the biggest manufacturers of high quality lithium cells. Seiko is a big supplier of the protection circuits. You can buy the plain, unprotected, flat top cells directly from vendors like Illumn.

Keeppower is a great brand that uses cells from the reputable brands, and rewraps them with protection circuits. Illlumn also stocks these.

For rechargeable AA and AAA batteries Panasonic Eneloops are still the safest bet for high quality batteries.

Thanks for the heads up on the Nitecore batteries "Ugaarguy". I'll sure contact Surefire and see what they say about that. Heck I thought that most all of those 123a batteries were similar in voltage. When it comes to disposable 123a batteries I've used about 8 to 10 different brands in 4 of my Surefire flashlights I currently own and I've never yet had any noticeable trouble with any of the disposable 123a batteries.

Again I was just blown away that Surefire was out of their own rechargeable 123a batteries when I contacted them this morning>> especially with as many of their models that use that battery. I'm even now wondering if the charger I got from Surefire would be the right one as well to use on these Nitecore batteries. Also this vendor also sells "Olight" rechargeable 123a batteries and I'm wondering if they might be better being that Olight is also a flashlight company? I might have time to change the order because they don't ship till Thursday they said. But I will sure take your advice and contact them ASAP.

[ugaarguy]

Most Surefires are only rated for 6 to 6.5 volts max. The rechargeable CR123 batteries that Surefire sells are Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePo) chemistry that maxes out at 3.2 volts per battery with the protection circuit. The RCR123s from Nitecore and most other flashlight brands are Lithium Cobalt or Lithium Manganese. Even with a protection circuit, those batteries are 3.6 volts nominal, 4.2 volts hot off the charger. The pair of them in series will put out over 8 volts, and they'll probably mess up your Surefires. I'd email Surefire and see if they've changed the max voltage before using those Nitecore cells. A single 16650 battery, which is the same size as a pair of CR123 cells, but 4.2v max since its a single cell, would be a safer bet.

Nitecore is a reputable Chinese company that usually uses Japanese or South Korean made cells, adds a protection circuit, and wraps the package with their branding as a complete battery. LG, Sony, Panasonic/Sanyo, and Samsung are the biggest manufacturers of high quality lithium cells. Seiko is a big supplier of the protection circuits. You can buy the plain, unprotected, flat top cells directly from vendors like Illumn.

Keeppower is a great brand that uses cells from the reputable brands, and rewraps them with protection circuits. Illlumn also stocks these.

For rechargeable AA and AAA batteries Panasonic Eneloops are still the safest bet for high quality batteries.

Thanks for the heads up on the Nitecore batteries "Ugaarguy". I'll sure contact Surefire and see what they say about that. Heck I thought that most all of those 123a batteries were similar in voltage. When it comes to disposable 123a batteries I've used about 8 to 10 different brands in 4 of my Surefire flashlights I currently own and I've never yet had any noticeable trouble with any of the disposable 123a batteries.

Again I was just blown away that Surefire was out of their own rechargeable 123a batteries when I contacted them this morning>> especially with as many of their models that use that battery. I'm even now wondering if the charger I got from Surefire would be the right one as well to use on these Nitecore batteries. Also this vendor also sells "Olight" rechargeable 123a batteries and I'm wondering if they might be better being that Olight is also a flashlight company? I might have time to change the order because they don't ship till Thursday they said. But I will sure take your advice and contact them ASAP.

Olight uses the same 3.6 volt nominal / 4.2 volt hot off the charger lithium batteries as Nitecore. Surefire is the oddball that uses the lower voltage LiFePo batteries. The Surefire charger probably won't charge the higher voltage chemistries. Surefire has very recently started to offer some of their lights with 18mm battery tubes so they can use a single 3.6 volt IC or IMR 18650 battery. Surefire doesn't make their own batteries. They 3.2v RCR123s they used to sell were from a company called K2 battery, and Surefire didn't even rebrand those. The Surefire branded lithium primary (disposable) batteries are made by Panasonic. You're correct that the disposable CR123 batteries are all 3 volt, outside of some very oddball specialty batteries you probably won't run into from most retailers. Nitecore is also a flashlight company that's been around longer than Olight.

There are some chargers from Nitecore and others that can be switched to stop charging at 3.2 volts so they can charge either the higher voltage chemistries or the lower voltage lithium chemistry. Most of these will also automatically detect the 1.2 volt NiMH chemistry used in the Eneloop and similar alkaline replacements, and can charge them as well.

[JD Spydo]

Most Surefires are only rated for 6 to 6.5 volts max. The rechargeable CR123 batteries that Surefire sells are Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePo) chemistry that maxes out at 3.2 volts per battery with the protection circuit. The RCR123s from Nitecore and most other flashlight brands are Lithium Cobalt or Lithium Manganese. Even with a protection circuit, those batteries are 3.6 volts nominal, 4.2 volts hot off the charger. The pair of them in series will put out over 8 volts, and they'll probably mess up your Surefires. I'd email Surefire and see if they've changed the max voltage before using those Nitecore cells. A single 16650 battery, which is the same size as a pair of CR123 cells, but 4.2v max since its a single cell, would be a safer bet.

Nitecore is a reputable Chinese company that usually uses Japanese or South Korean made cells, adds a protection circuit, and wraps the package with their branding as a complete battery. LG, Sony, Panasonic/Sanyo, and Samsung are the biggest manufacturers of high quality lithium cells. Seiko is a big supplier of the protection circuits. You can buy the plain, unprotected, flat top cells directly from vendors like Illumn.

Keeppower is a great brand that uses cells from the reputable brands, and rewraps them with protection circuits. Illlumn also stocks these.

For rechargeable AA and AAA batteries Panasonic Eneloops are still the safest bet for high quality batteries.

Thanks for the heads up on the Nitecore batteries "Ugaarguy". I'll sure contact Surefire and see what they say about that. Heck I thought that most all of those 123a batteries were similar in voltage. When it comes to disposable 123a batteries I've used about 8 to 10 different brands in 4 of my Surefire flashlights I currently own and I've never yet had any noticeable trouble with any of the disposable 123a batteries.

Again I was just blown away that Surefire was out of their own rechargeable 123a batteries when I contacted them this morning>> especially with as many of their models that use that battery. I'm even now wondering if the charger I got from Surefire would be the right one as well to use on these Nitecore batteries. Also this vendor also sells "Olight" rechargeable 123a batteries and I'm wondering if they might be better being that Olight is also a flashlight company? I might have time to change the order because they don't ship till Thursday they said. But I will sure take your advice and contact them ASAP.

Olight uses the same 3.6 volt rechargeable lithium batteries as Nitecore. Surefire is the oddball that uses the lower voltage LiFePo batteries. The Surefire charger probably won't charge the higher voltage chemistries. Surefire has very recently started to offer some of their lights with 18mm battery tubes so they can use a single 3.6 volt IC or IMR 18650 battery. There are some chargers from Nitecore and others that can be switched to stop charging at 3.2 volts so they can charge either the higher voltage chemistries or the lower voltage lithium chemistry. Most of these will also automatically detect the 1.2 volt NiMH chemistry used in the Eneloop and similar alkaline replacements, and can charge them as well.

I completely see what you're saying in the different voltages of these rechargeable 123a batteries>> but I'm still perplexed that I ran so many different brands of 123A batteries ( disposable units) and I never once had any noticeable problems using them in 4 of my different Surefire models.

I would think that all of those different variants and different brands of 123a that I would have had encountered some type of problem in those 123a batteries as well. Also I read on one of the survival/prepper websites a few months back that some of those disposable 123a Lithium Ion batteries can be recharged on those chargers. Not sure how true that is because I never tried it. I didn't completely trust that advice. I think I will change my order to the "Olight" rechargeable batteries>> with those being mainly used in flashlights I would think they would work better >> at least it seems that common sense would lead in that direction. I hope :o

[ugaarguy]

I completely see what you're saying in the different voltages of these rechargeable 123a batteries>> but I'm still perplexed that I ran so many different brands of 123A batteries ( disposable units) and I never once had any noticeable problems using them in 4 of my different Surefire models.

I would think that all of those different variants and different brands of 123a that I would have had encountered some type of problem in those 123a batteries as well. Also I read on one of the survival/prepper websites a few months back that some of those disposable 123a Lithium Ion batteries can be recharged on those chargers. Not sure how true that is because I never tried it. I didn't completely trust that advice. I think I will change my order to the "Olight" rechargeable batteries>> with those being mainly used in flashlights I would think they would work better >> at least it seems that common sense would lead in that direction. I hope :o

Nitecore's batteries are mostly used in flashlights too. Nitecore manufacturers a wide variety of much nicer and more full featured chargers than the few chargers Olight offers. Nitecore is also one of the the only companies that offers a cold resistant 18650 battery. Seriously, Nitecore makes good stuff. But, for regular rechargeable lithium batteries, just get the Keeppower protected cells for lights that need protected batteries, or the plain Sanyo, Sony, etc plain batteries from a reputable dealer for lights that don't need protected cells.

Yeah, don't put disposable lithium batteries on a charger. That's just asking for a fiery explosion that's going to give off a bunch of toxic fumes.

[dsvirsky]

Something a little different: P312 Hearing Aid batteries (mercury free). Powerone are excellent. In the last three years, changing my batteries weekly (>300 batteries), I've had exactly one (1) die early and that one died about four hours before it was due to be replaced.

[JD Spydo]

Something a little different: P312 Hearing Aid batteries (mercury free). Powerone are excellent. In the last three years, changing my batteries weekly (>300 batteries), I've had exactly one (1) die early and that one died about four hours before it was due to be replaced.

Never heard of that brand but I'm always glad to know of companies that put out good quality products. Which is one reason I started this thread because it seems like a few of the main line battery companies have let their quality control go down the toilet in the past 2 to 3 years or so.

Also it seems rather ridiculous that myself living in a huge metropolitan area ( Kansas City MO & KS) found it has been extremely hard to find many specialty type items anymore. I had to order my 123a rechargeable batteries through a website which is ridiculous in a town this big >> and I checked out over 15 websites before I found what I needed :confused: Something is terribly wrong with our retail availability in this country especially for specialty type items >> if they end up giving it all to a behemoth like Am@#*Z^n everyone is soon going to be really sorry they let that happen. Which is why I try to patronize local businesses.

[ugaarguy]

Something a little different: P312 Hearing Aid batteries (mercury free). Powerone are excellent. In the last three years, changing my batteries weekly (>300 batteries), I've had exactly one (1) die early and that one died about four hours before it was due to be replaced.

Never heard of that brand but I'm always glad to know of companies that put out good quality products. Which is one reason I started this thread because it seems like a few of the main line battery companies have let their quality control go down the toilet in the past 2 to 3 years or so.

Also it seems rather ridiculous that myself living in a huge metropolitan area ( Kansas City MO & KS) found it has been extremely hard to find many specialty type items anymore. I had to order my 123a rechargeable batteries through a website which is ridiculous in a town this big >> and I checked out over 15 websites before I found what I needed :confused: Something is terribly wrong with our retail availability in this country especially for specialty type items >> if they end up giving it all to a behemoth like Am@#*Z^n everyone is soon going to be really sorry they let that happen. Which is why I try to patronize local businesses.

Amazon is well known on the flashlight forums for having fake 18650s introduced into their supply chain. I buy from small vendors like Illumination Supply (Illumn.com), Illumination Gear, Killzone Flashlights, and some others. Vape shops are good place to get rechargeable lithium batteries locally. I know that many of the bigger Kroger and Walmart stores in the Indy metro area carry Energizer CR123 primaries at fairly reasonable prices.

[JD Spydo]

Something a little different: P312 Hearing Aid batteries (mercury free). Powerone are excellent. In the last three years, changing my batteries weekly (>300 batteries), I've had exactly one (1) die early and that one died about four hours before it was due to be replaced.

Never heard of that brand but I'm always glad to know of companies that put out good quality products. Which is one reason I started this thread because it seems like a few of the main line battery companies have let their quality control go down the toilet in the past 2 to 3 years or so.

Also it seems rather ridiculous that myself living in a huge metropolitan area ( Kansas City MO & KS) found it has been extremely hard to find many specialty type items anymore. I had to order my 123a rechargeable batteries through a website which is ridiculous in a town this big >> and I checked out over 15 websites before I found what I needed :confused: Something is terribly wrong with our retail availability in this country especially for specialty type items >> if they end up giving it all to a behemoth like Am@#*Z^n everyone is soon going to be really sorry they let that happen. Which is why I try to patronize local businesses.

Amazon is well known on the flashlight forums for having fake 18650s introduced into their supply chain. I buy from small vendors like Illumination Supply (Illumn.com), Illumination Gear, Killzone Flashlights, and some others. Vape shops are good place to get rechargeable lithium batteries locally. I know that many of the bigger Kroger and Walmart stores in the Indy metro area carry Energizer CR123 primaries at fairly reasonable prices.

I don't buy anything from "amazon" at all. I know many people label me as weird for not following the herd but have my reasons for not dealing them. But in this case I just prefer to deal with companies that specializes in flashlights, batteries and other electronic hardware.

Well the Nitecore rechargeable 123a batteries I ordered are on their way and I'll just see how they work out. I bought them from B.H. Photo & Video in NYC and they seemed to be knowledgeable when I spoke to them on the phone. They were one of the very few dealers that had sales people that spoke clear legible, discernable English. Plus the person on the phone seemed very knowledgeable and assured me they would stand behind the product as well if it didn't perform right. I'm still mind-blown that Surefire was out of stock :confused: . I guess the toilet paper frenzy extended to the flashlight sector as well :rolleyes:

But I'm still wide open to any suggestions and/or tips concerning my set of Surefire flashlights as far as batteries and chargers go. I know that there are at least a dozen highly regarded flashlights on the market for a lot less money than what Surefire charges for their units>> but dependability is huge for me and I've had super good luck with all my Surefire flashlights. Nothing ticks me off worse than when something doesn't work when I badly need it to.

[JD Spydo]

Well I got my NITECORE 123a rechargeable batteries this past Monday. I've used the heck out of my Surefire 6xP Pro flashlight running those batteries and they came already charged from the factory. If I would have used my old rechargeable batteries this much I would have had to recharge my old batteries at least twice by this much time and usage. I haven't even had to recharge these new NITECORE batteries yet and the light that my 6xP puts out is still enough to blind someone wearing really dark sunglasses. So far, So good is all I can say about these NITECORE 123a Rechargeable batteries.

But again I'm all ears and if there is anything I can do better I would love to know about it.

Also I'm going to look into rechargeable batteries for the items I run in D cell, C cell and AA cell. I do think it will save a bundle of money by the end of the year. I might change my mind in a month or so but again "So Far, So Good.

Also I'm wondering what might be out there in the line of using solar panels and other related technologies?

[JD Spydo]

To give you all an update on my new NITECORE 123A rechargeable batteries. They seem to be working great in both my EDC Surefire flashlights. But there is one very peculiar trait these batteries have. When they are about to lose their charge after a week's usage>> they don't just fade out like most other 123a batteries>> no they just go out completely with no warning. I've never had any battery do that before :confused:

But overall they hold a charge for an entire week and sometimes a little longer. I tried to get new batteries from Surefire but you can't even get in on their phone line at this time. And when I did get through once they told me that they were out of all their batteries. There sure was a lot panic in this recent virus scare.