Now I am looking for lamps, rechargeable batteries and a charger to order from Deal Extreme, but there are so MANY choices. What do I need? What brand, protected or unprotected, how many mah (whatever these are?) and which charger? I just need 2 batteries and a cheap charger to charge one at a time if possible!
I mostly ask because some of the battery reviews mention that certain ones don't fit SF or Solarforce lights! Shouldn't all 18650's be EXACTLY the same size? And if it will fit 2 CR123's, shouldn't the 18650 fit as well? Please enlighten me, and any advice or suggestions are welcome.
PS What is this stuff about batteries exploding? I don't want any batteries to explode.
Ultrafire wf-139 2 cell charger and Trustfire Flame 2400 mAh cells are probably the cheapest good bet. Any cheaper on the cells and you are taking your chances on getting relabeled laptop recycled cells. Chargers range from dirt cheap to ridiculously expensive. The Wf-139 is a good solid charger at a very reasonable rate. It has a car adapter that is sold separately but runs about $4-5 if you need it.
Oh and welcome to the obsession. I started with 1 light and I have more than I care to put in print as SWMBO might read this and then have proof that I know how many I have. I tell her I lost count.
Simple and easy to use and effective and wont overcharge your cells. Still place on a fireproof substance and dont leave unattended while in use. I Still own the Trustfire version as backup to my upgraded ones and have no hesitation is using it again.
I only own one SolarForce body which is an L2r and im putting a new drop-in in it and i just ordered a SolarForce L2 clone, But my Original is very high quality in its build.
You order only bodies - which drop-in will be built in?
For example: The XM-L is a good flooder (big spot, but not extrem distance). Other drop-Ins are better for distance but have smaller spots (for example the R2 Drop-Ins).
What do you prefer?
Do you want to use only 18650 (=3,7 Volt) or 2 CR123 (=6 Volt), too? Only 18650 would be better, because many drop-ins work fine with max. 4,2 Volt.
For 6 Volt you have to search.
What's mAh:
Short words: More mAh, longer runtime of the flashlight.
But don't buy cheap crap like 3600mAh or 4000mAh - that's fake mAh - they are much less.
Take a look at the battery data base of the forum:
The flame trustfire are good or the Hi-Max of ebay - both have a good Price/Quality.
You are a beginner - please take protected batteries. They are saver.
Your DX charger:
I do not have any information about it (have never seen a test of it).
You wrote: Deal Extreme. It's a good shop, but often shipping takes a long time (for about 4 weeks), Manafont is faster (I think most users of the forum get the items after 2-3 weeks).
I post the products of DX and if Manafont (they have a better charger, which DX not offer):