123 Battery Shoot Out

[Cool Lumens]

Just found CPF! Great Thread. I look forward to spending many hours around here!

 

[Frankiarmz]

Great job! Anything like this but for rechargeable 123's?

Thanks

george

I hope you get a reply to your question, but my vote for a good 123 rechargeable would be the Tenergy 900MAH . I got mine from Batteryjunction.com. They've worked very well and charge evenly. Saved a ton of money.

 

[guiri]

Frank, what's a good mAh rating on a regular, non rechargeable 123?

Thanks and welcome to the new guy. This is a killer forum

 

[SilverFox]

Hello Guiri,

If you go to the first post in this thread you will find the capacities of several brands of CR123 cells at different loads.

Tom

 

[dano]

This is interesting. I tried to do some research on these a few days ago. Ended up finding the Panasonic spec sheet (have no idea where it is now, sorry). But what appeared to be the very same yellow wrapped Panasonics were selling on numerious other web stores, mostly for around $10 each. It looked like they were mostly marketed as computer memory cells. The spec sheet said they were 1200 mAh and were ever-so-slightly shorter than a Panasonic 123A.

Has anyone tried these in a torch yet? On the linked site, you could get 'em for $0.50 each if you got 400.

bezel

Just to clarify, those cells are BR-2/3A size, NOT 123 size. They can only handle small current loads. Not applicable to most lights.

 

[guiri]

Silverfox, thanks but they are sorted by .5, 1 and 2 amps which I don't understand

Also, what's the comment below yours about the size of the batteries?

Thanks guys

George

 

[SilverFox]

Hello George,

A batteries capacity is directly related to the load you put on it. I run tests at 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 amps to show how the battery responds to different loads.

If you happen to know the load your light puts on the battery, you can check the appropriate graph to get an idea of the performance of different brands.

I think Dan was pointing out that while the BR cells have more capacity, they are only capable of very low current loads. They don't work in most lights.

Tom

 

[4sevens]

Tom,

Did you every get to test those Panasonics I sent you?
They claim to be 1550mah.

 

[guiri]

Fox, then how do I know before buying WHICH battery to get? I have no idea what load my flashlight/s are going to subject them to?

 

[cdosrun]

Hi Guiri,

for a rough idea, take a look at the run-time advertised for the torch you are interested in, and at the brightness you intend to use most. For instance, if the run-time is around 1-1.5 hours on a single-celled light, the current draw may be in the region of 1A. If the torch has more cells but the run-time is the same, divide the above by the number of cells.

I think most single-celled LED torches will drain the cells at around 1A on max.

Andrew

 

[SilverFox]

Hello 4sevens,

I just found them. They were put away in a place that was not where they were supposed to be. I am planning on testing them in the very near future.

Tom

 

[guiri]

Alright but let's assume the normal person don't know this, what are they supposed to base purchases on? What's written on the battery or just stick with a good brand? It still gets complicated even if one has you guys to ask and CPF to look for answers because some lights have 20-50 hours on the lowest setting and several hours on max setting. I mean, can you not compare batteries BEFORE you RUN them so to speak?

Thanks

George

 

[cdosrun]

George,

I am afraid that I can't understand your frustration with this; most people find the cells that suit them best through trial and error. For some people, where cost is a primary factor, may appreciate cheaper cells and accept the sacrificed runtime whereas others may want runtime at all costs.

What SilverFox has done here, at the great expense of his time, effort and pocket is to provide information on cells so that people can make an informed choice prior to their initial purchase. I have bought both Fuji and Panasonic cells (without referencing this thread) and noticed very little difference between them in practical use, as would be the case for many users.

Otherwise what you are asking is not dissimilar to how a particular brand of fuel will work in a car you haven't decided upon yet. Use the list here to narrow down the better cells if you want maximum runtime and then try them to see what suits you best.

The short answer is that they will all work, the question is which will be 'best' and that depends on your use.

Andrew

 

[SilverFox]

Hello George,

A "normal" person would check out the battery performance data sheet from the manufacturer... and then come to a "wild" place like CPF to ask what it all means...

Tom

 

[soffiler]

Hello George,

A "normal" person would check out the battery performance data sheet from the manufacturer... and then come to a "wild" place like CPF to ask what it all means...

Tom

I read George's note and thought immediately... where did this "normal" person come into the picture? No normal people here; this is CPF!!



When I am asked to recommend a CR123A cell, I normally respond that my own testing has produced two VERY generalized observations:

- all cells labelled "Made in USA" perform very similarly
- the best cells labelled "Made in China" perform to about 85% of the capacity/runtime of a USA cell; the worst are quite bad.

 

[4sevens]

Hello 4sevens,

I just found them. They were put away in a place that was not where they were supposed to be. I am planning on testing them in the very near future.

Tom

Cool thanks! You've got lots of time to test 'em! (2017! )

 

[SilverFox]

Update:

I finally got the graphs up of the Panasonic CR123 1550 mAh cells. Wow, it sure took me long enough to get this data up...

At any rate, they are very strong at 0.5 and 1.0 amps, and fall off a little at 2.0 amps. At 0.5 amps then tested out higher than their rated capacity. This is very refreshing in this time when labeled capacity is often optimistic.

These cells are made in the US.

Tom

 

[seery]

Test results for the new BatteryStation 2007+ cells look very impressive across the board.

End run heating (although in line with the SF's and Sanyo's) looks to be the only possible
setback for high drain applications.

Seems the new BatteryStation cells are among the front runners in performance and quite
possibly "the" front runner for "most bang for the buck".

 

[guiri]

When I am asked to recommend a CR123A cell, I normally respond that my own testing has produced two VERY generalized observations:

- all cells labelled "Made in USA" perform very similarly
- the best cells labelled "Made in China" perform to about 85% of the capacity/runtime of a USA cell; the worst are quite bad.

Thanks, I'm sadly enough not really smart enough to understand most of the stuff posted here. I wish I were.

 

[Art Vandelay]

Many of the US brands are made by the same manufacturer and are virtually identical except for the label and price. That's the rumor I heard.