# CR123A or DL123A, Whats the diff?



## travlingtexanman (Aug 27, 2007)

Ok, so prepare for a possibly a stupid question. The novatac is suposed to take CR123A batteries. My freind has some Surefire DL123A batteries that he says I can have. Are they the same thing? can i use one inplace of the other? In short, what is the significance of the two letters in the front of the names.


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## Daniel_sk (Aug 27, 2007)

These are the same, as far as I know - Surefire calls their new batteries SF123A (SF = Surefire), Surefire also used Duracell CR123A and these were probably called DL123A (DL = Duracell). They are all standard CR123A batteries and you can use them in your light..


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## travlingtexanman (Aug 27, 2007)

ok, well that was simple. Thanks for the info. feel kind of silly, but better to ask, than accidentally ruin a $150 light.


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## Daniel_sk (Aug 27, 2007)

No problem, this battery stuff is confusing and it's always better to ask as you did. And there is a real danger (for the light or for the person carrying the light) if wrong battery is used. Have fun with the free batteries .


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## MattK (Aug 27, 2007)

Don't feel bad we get that question via email like 5 X a day. I truly think that the companies using anything besides CR123A do it to confuse consumers into thinking the cells are brand specific.


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## jsr (Aug 29, 2007)

That's why I refer to the cells as 123A for primaries and R123A for Rechargeable Li-Ions. There's tons of other variations like EL123A from Energizer, etc.


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## brlwest (Apr 17, 2017)

travlingtexanman said:


> Ok, so prepare for a possibly a stupid question. The novatac is suposed to take CR123A batteries. My freind has some Surefire DL123A batteries that he says I can have. Are they the same thing? can i use one inplace of the other? In short, what is the significance of the two letters in the front of the names.


They are the same.
Duracell uses DL part numbers
Most other use CR


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## ChrisGarrett (Apr 17, 2017)

All the big names use Panasonic USA CR123As: Panasonic (duh), Energizer, Duracell, some Rayovacs, Streamlight, SureFire and Battery Station. They're roughly ~1500mAh in capacity.

There are also Panasonic Japan sourced cells and Sanyo Japan, but they're ~1400mAh.

Any of those brands, that are fresh and low in cost is the proper play.

Chris


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