rechargeable 123s instaflashed P60!! HELP!

Sorry for the barrage of questions but I am a newbie to lights and a newly discovered flashaholic

I've tried putting rechargeable CR123s in my G&P M3 weaponlight (which uses the same voltage xenon lamp as a Surefire 6P) and turned it on -- instantly blowing up my bulb.

This is the first time I've ever used rechargeable 123s and learned my lesson in hindsight.. rechargeable L-ion 123s hot off the charger have much more voltage than 3V each..

The batteries and charger I used were from here - http://tinyurl.com/2v9rb2 - has anyone ever seen/used them before?

I could have sworn I saw somewhere that these cells (green, says L-ion, 1000mah and 3V on it) were protected-circuit.

*****************************

I am going to buy a Surefire 6P Defender and want to use rechargeable 123s in it (but of course do not want to instaflash ever again!). I was looking at some drop-in CREE bulbs - would this work - http://tinyurl.com/38ow9m ?

It could raise the lumens from 65 to 200 and according to the description, quite tolerant of varying voltages (4.5V to 9V). I should be safe even with freshly charged CR123s right?

thanks so much, everyone!!!

Use rechargeable lamp assemblies for rechargeable batteries. They may start out with approximately the same open circuit voltage (3.2V or so), but any rechargeable 3V batteries, though regulated, will have less voltage sag under load than primary batteries, so your lamps will be likely to blow. The runtime is not very good with 3.0V regulated batteries anyways because of a couple factors. If you're going to go rechargeable, might as well go the right way.

going to copy/paste this from the conversion guide.

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Avoid 3.0V lithium Ion rechargables


Very often, someone asks a question about using a "special" type of Li-Ion rechargeable battery that is supposedly 3.0V. They usually want to use a pair of these to run their 6V lamps. This is my response to anyone considering this setup...


either:
1. The cells will have protection circuits and won't power up the P60.
2. The cells won't have large enough voltage regulators to handle the current and the will go bad after a few cycles.
3. The P60 will burn out, instantly, or after a few cycles because the Li-Ion 3.0V does not sag under a load as much as the primary cells the lamp was designed for do.
4. The cells will not live up to their capacity rating at the level of power you demand from them, giving poor runtime (10-20 minutes)
5. The voltage regulator in the cell will overheat, in conjunction with the heat from the lamp, and the cell, you will be at high risk of vent-with-flame.
6. You wish you had just started with the 9V configuration to begin with.

choose one of the following configurations:
1. a 3.7V bulb powered by 1 Lithium-Ion Cell.
2. a 9V bulb powered by 2 Lithium-Ion Cells.
3. a 13V bulb powered by 3 Lithium-Ion Cells.

This response is in reference to cells that have voltage regulators built in to step down the voltage.

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this sums up the issues with using supposed "3.0V" rechargables.... but before pursuing more rechargable options, please read the rest of the guide, if you have further questions, I'm always more than happy to clarify more. Below the guide is a compatibility chart, showing what lamps and what cells and what flashlight bodies are compatible for going to a rechargable solution.

the link is in my sig-line. prepare for a long read, enjoy!

mdocod = great asset to CPF :twothumbs

mdt1007 said:

Sorry for the barrage of questions but I am a newbie to lights and a newly discovered flashaholic

I've tried putting rechargeable CR123s in my G&P M3 weaponlight (which uses the same voltage xenon lamp as a Surefire 6P) and turned it on -- instantly blowing up my bulb.

This is the first time I've ever used rechargeable 123s and learned my lesson in hindsight.. rechargeable L-ion 123s hot off the charger have much more voltage than 3V each..

The batteries and charger I used were from here - http://tinyurl.com/2v9rb2 - has anyone ever seen/used them before?

I could have sworn I saw somewhere that these cells (green, says L-ion, 1000mah and 3V on it) were protected-circuit.

*****************************

I am going to buy a Surefire 6P Defender and want to use rechargeable 123s in it (but of course do not want to instaflash ever again!). I was looking at some drop-in CREE bulbs - would this work - http://tinyurl.com/38ow9m ?

It could raise the lumens from 65 to 200 and according to the description, quite tolerant of varying voltages (4.5V to 9V). I should be safe even with freshly charged CR123s right?

thanks so much, everyone!!!

Click to expand...

Yup, same thing just happened to me. I should have known to come to CPF and ask before I had any more bright ideas <g>