# can 3xcr123 fully power a pelican 3854 bulb -610 lumens?



## bxstylez (Oct 7, 2006)

can 3xcr123 fully power a pelican 3854 bulb -610 lumens?

or should i simply get:
mag2d
8aa-2d adapter
mop reflector
mineral glass lens
and 8 high-quality rechargeables

to fully take advantage of the 610-lumens bulb?


----------



## LumenHound (Oct 10, 2006)

You could use 3 disposable CR123A cells to safely power the 3854 LOW bulb (the bulb with the rounded tip glass envelope) but not the pointy tipped HI bulb.

If you choose to go with the 8 cell carrier then you will need to get a dummy cell and run 7 batteries and 1 dummy cell. 8 cells will instaflash the ROP bulbs and even on 7 cells, it wouldn't hurt to rest fully charged cells a bit before use with the ROP HI bulb.

If you are using a Mag 2D host then you will have to choose your cells carefully because many of the higher capacity cells are too fat to fit 4 wide in an unbored 2D Mag.


----------



## molite (Oct 10, 2006)

The best/simplest/compact set up for a the 3854 high power pelican bulb is a 2C mag Host running 2x18650 LI's. great runtime. 

You will have to remove spring and use entire tailcap. you will have a 1/4" area to invent your own spring. get dsd charger.

For longer runtimes you will need to get fivemega's metal cammed reflector and a boro lens. 
This is one of my favorite lights. I'm always grabbing it over my other high power Mod's.
PM me if you want more info or you can't find it on this site.


----------



## cmacclel (Oct 10, 2006)

It would not be safe running 3x CR123 cells running any 3854 lamp. The Low lamp draws 2+ amps the high 4+ amps. You should not push CR123 cells past 1 amp safely. Also these are 6v lamps which people overdrive to 7.2v 3x Cr123 = 9v.


Mac


----------



## LumenHound (Oct 11, 2006)

The 2 new 3854 LOW bulbs I just tested both drew 1.9 amps from 3 Battery Station primary CR123A cells. The voltage on the batteries sags down to a nice safe 7.15 volts with the LOW bulb. No danger of instaflash there.

I was under the impression that many brands of primary CR123A were able to put up with a continuous 1.9 amp load. If I recall correctly, only the Surefire branded batteries that Silverfox tested in his CR123A shoot out testing thread were deemed unsafe for prolonged 2 amp loads because of the excessive battery heating. 
Amondo Tech's Titanium branded CR123A cells and the Tenergy branded cells looked good at a 2.0 amp draw.
I think SilverFox said the Titaniums only heated up to 85 degress during the 2 amp test.


----------



## cmacclel (Oct 14, 2006)

Yes statements are true and you will be OK if this was a single cell application. The dangers of a multi-cell application drawing around 2 amps is what worries me. If one cell is significantly lower capacity you risk detonation / explosion of cells. It has happened a few times lately which is why I would highy NOT recommend it.


Mac




LumenHound said:


> The 2 new 3854 LOW bulbs I just tested both drew 1.9 amps from 3 Battery Station primary CR123A cells. The voltage on the batteries sags down to a nice safe 7.15 volts with the LOW bulb. No danger of instaflash there.
> 
> I was under the impression that many brands of primary CR123A were able to put up with a continuous 1.9 amp load. If I recall correctly, only the Surefire branded batteries that Silverfox tested in his CR123A shoot out testing thread were deemed unsafe for prolonged 2 amp loads because of the excessive battery heating.
> Amondo Tech's Titanium branded CR123A cells and the Tenergy branded cells looked good at a 2.0 amp draw.
> I think SilverFox said the Titaniums only heated up to 85 degress during the 2 amp test.


----------



## Mags (Oct 16, 2006)

molite said:


> For longer runtimes you will need to get fivemega's metal cammed reflector and a boro lens.



How does this increase runtime? I hope you mean the fact that they are more heat resistant than stock Mag parts.


----------



## molite (Oct 28, 2006)

Mags said:


> How does this increase runtime? I hope you mean the fact that they are more heat resistant than stock Mag parts.


 
Yes, for longer run times, to keep from melting things, upgrade the lens and reflector. From what I've read is up to 10watt bulbs (rop low)
are good with all stock stuff. The rop high I think is around 24watts and you would need to start upgrading parts to keep out the eeewy gooies.


----------



## bxstylez (Nov 11, 2006)

molite:

how is 2x18650 LI's a better runtime, than say 7xAA nimh's, at 2300mah each

i figure 2x18650 LI's = 4400mah total
whereas 7xAA nimh's = 16100mah, at 2300mah each

..just curious....... because i'm running the 8aa-2d adapter, using 1 dummy spacer

then again, this original thread started by asking 3xcr123a at 1300mah each..
so i guess you're right...... its longer runtime using 2x18650 LI's than 3xcr123a (total of 3900mah)

i figured out my own answer just by typing...... lol


----------



## missionaryman (Nov 11, 2006)

someone else recently asked this and I said no but further down more knowledgeable people said yes so I tried it - see for yourself:

In the photo below both light running ROP bulbs from fresh batteries, Low on left with 3 x 123A (battery station), High on right with 2 x 18650






Same shot after less than 3 minutes - check out the voltage sag on the 123A's:





So in short it works but it's an expensive way to run the light, never really reached LiIon brightness and dropped to a yellow/orange beam in the first 2 minutes then to a useless amount of light after about 5 minutes.
Tried another set of fresh cells and got the same result.


----------



## missionaryman (Nov 12, 2006)

BX when you run cells in series you do not increase capacity only voltage, 2 x 18650 2400mah = 7.2v/2400mah. 7 x 2300mah AA = 8.4v/2300mah.

the 18650's will have the longer run time here but only just.


----------



## cmacclel (Nov 12, 2006)

I wonder how many times you can do that before you get an imbalanced set of cells and they explode  How hot where the cells after the light was ran for 3 minutes?

Mac


----------



## missionaryman (Nov 12, 2006)

cmacclel said:


> I wonder how many times you can do that before you get an imbalanced set of cells and they explode  How hot where the cells after the light was ran for 3 minutes?
> 
> Mac


 the one closest to the bulb was HOT, the other were warm, when it got that dim I turfed them for safety.
These Vintage lights are no good for Lithium as they have nothing to stop heat transfer down the tube, I have since changed the 2D to NIMH and the smaller one to 14500 running a 5 cell Numstar


----------



## bxstylez (Nov 12, 2006)

missionaryman:

.......i never knew that
i learn something new everyday

so yeah, i can definitely reduce weight slightly and longer runtimes with the li-ion
hmm.... i g0tta try that out

should i get the protected 2200mah?
or unprotected?
i've never seen the 2400mah li-ion before


----------



## missionaryman (Nov 12, 2006)

AW's protected 2200's will soon be capable of powering the ROP high on a double click and even though run time is reduced over the LG 2600's (the highest capacity 18650 on the market at the moment) it's a better solution for safety.

You'll need to mod the battery compartment slightly to fit 2 x 18650 in a 2C [email protected] (the smallest [email protected] iteration of the ROP) and the best way to do this is with a Magring from download - check out his thread called "mag of the ring"


----------



## missionaryman (Nov 12, 2006)

by the way the 3854 High is 610 lumens at 6v, when running with 6 or 7 NIMH or 2 LiIon at 7.2v it's 1150 lumens and white like an LED almost.


----------



## Owen (Nov 12, 2006)

I've got two of AWs new style protected 18650s, and 2 of the LG 2600mAh unprotected cells. 
The protected cells run the ROP Lo bulb fine, but don't light up the Hi. 
The Lo seems kind of pointless, to me. If I want less output, I go with a smaller light, and you can get similar brightness, and a better focused beam from other bulbs. The Hi always impresses me, though.


----------



## missionaryman (Nov 12, 2006)

Owen said:


> I've got two of AWs new style protected 18650s, and 2 of the LG 2600mAh unprotected cells.
> The protected cells run the ROP Lo bulb fine, but don't light up the Hi.
> The Lo seems kind of pointless, to me. If I want less output, I go with a smaller light, and you can get similar brightness, and a better focused beam from other bulbs. The Hi always impresses me, though.


 the new cell with the upgraded pcb that will do the 1185 in a single click and and ROP hi in two is not available until November 15th so you might have the new cell with the black & silver label but not the very new ones with the upgraded pcb


----------



## Owen (Nov 12, 2006)

Yeah it would be pretty hard for me to have the ones that aren't available yet
I have the ones that AW refers to as "new cell" in his Li-ion sale post, as opposed to the older style. 

I sure don't recommend stuff that I haven't tried myself, much less something that isn't even out yet.


----------



## molite (Nov 13, 2006)

I still stand behind the 2x18650 with 3854 HI being the *shizat*.
This thing is just plain ole’ bright.

I have never had to double click using the “LG2600mAh unprotected” 
I also prefer dealing with 2batteries vs 6 or 7 and the form factor of the 2C.

I guess total run time on a charge would be 50min’s. 

I’ve got some very bright and expensive lights and this is the one I’m always grabbing.


----------

