I notice that the The Small Sun ZY-C1 indicates that it takes a 16340, but does not mention a CR 123. I have seen a few others that also show 16340, but not CR 123.
Will some light not operate on CR 123 batteries and require 16340s, or just indicating that they can run on 16340s?
Thanks,
Jerry
I am by no means an expert on any type of battery so any information I give will probably be corrected by someone.
16340 and cr123 are similar except that one is a rechargeable (16340). Like a lot of different batteries they can be different sizes and with protection circuits can be longer.
There are also the differences in voltage. Most cr123 are 3 volt while 16340 can reach 4.2 volt at full charge.
My advice from what I’ve managed to research is to watch voltage on the driver and the length and width of the batteries you’re using.
Some lights will be able to handle both cr123 and 16340 while others will only handle 123’s. The same can be said of different 16340’s some might handle one brand and not the other.
I hope my information is correct and can help you.
Typically, if it supports 16340 it will be fine with CR123A too, but not necessarily the other way around!
Li-ion 16340 are 3.7V, CR123 primaries are 3.0V. (LifePO4 are 3.2V)
If a light can take 3.7 it should be fine with 3.0… but a 3.0 light could be damaged by a 3.7 if it is not made for higher voltage.
There are a few lights made strictly for high voltage 3.7V that do not like lower voltage, but this is fairly uncommon.
Yeah I have one of the exceptions. It is a Solarforce L2M clone that operates on cr123 primarys but sporatically. One time it will work great but the next time will not cycle through all of the modes. It is the same way with cheapy 16340’s. I put an AW IMR 16340 in it and it is very happy. All of the modes work every time and it is nice and bright. I haven’t tried name brand 16340’s but I am sure they would be fine also.
That’s not a must. A cr123 is 3v but a 16340 is 3-4.2v. Which means, you’ll need a step up converter for a cr123 light but you can go with an AMC7135 linear regulator driver for 16340. So if your 16340 has a single lithium ion driver it probably won’t work best with a cr123.
Thanks, All.
I figured that if they would work with 16340 it would work with CR 123s. However I realized that there might be those that would be poorer performers, if designed specifically for 16340s, and used with 123s. I’ll avoid the Solarforce L2M.
Jerry
Don’t avoid the solarforce anything. Remember mine is a clone , or copy of the L2m. You would have no problems with the real solarforce. I like my fake. It just is a little picky on batteries.
And I thought they were both the same name!
There are only a few drivers for Cr123 and LiIons out there. One issue was already mentioned by Kokopelli, the other one is the low voltage protection. A protection that kicks in at 3V or 2.8V won’t allow the light to be operated with Cr123s.