I have also noticed, that the CR123 section in here is a bit quiet place.
CR123 used to be my favorite size.
Had RC-C6, iTP A1, L2 4,2-8,4V... L2m.
The thing is: CR123 for me is an EDC size. Somehow AA and AAA fit the EDC-purpose better. No need for absolute power or runtime, usually have some heavier equipment in jacket pocket at dark times (18650).
RC-C6 is now abandoned as toilet light for teeth checking etc, iTP A1 is in car with 16340 & CR123 for backup.
CR123 is nice but the lights are mostly quite bulky or twisty. Slim clicky & Budget CR123 light is what I would need, if any.
Editing:
But I have to add, I like L2m a lot. It is a big light for CR123 but somehow I like it.
Just remembered, I ordered recently an Ultrafire 501a host.
light that can take both are best - course advantage of cr123 is they have primaries and can host a powerful and small package light in a single batt setup . As for (2)x cr123 config or (1) 18650 why take the lesser capacity ?? i do look for something that can take two rcr123s in addition to an 18650 ( not too many out there ).
Also cr123s have been in use for much longer and are more common. But other than that fact and that a lot of good lights still use them, IF there were primary 18650s, for emergencies etc, that would erode any advantage of cr123 IMO.
think its time to get a 19-20mm reamer and open up those cr123 lights
side note: what are some good decent quality, good price rcr123s. my old tenergy's are getting old
lifepo4 has a safe chemistry thats safe to stack, cheapish, and rechargeable 100s of times. i think they are rated for like 1000x. and the nominal voltage is 3v, so thy are safe for anything that uses cr123a unlike 16340s
One theory might be that they're very similar in output and size to a 14500 capable light but with the 14500 you can also use a standard AA cell; it's more versatile. It's hard to adopt a CR123 when the 14500 does the same with more versatility. However, by themselves I think a CR123 light is still fantastic because you can also utilize lithium-ion relatively inexpensively without buying expensive rechargeable cells. For a flashaholic it's practically a definitive conclusion that BOTH formats should be owned :)
2. If the stuff ever DOES hit the fan, I'm not going to go scrounging for cr123s. I can find AAs in a multitude of devices and even 18650s would be easier to find since every laptop has them.
3. This one is just personal preference for me: The way I carry my lights (clipped to the inside of my pants pocket) a few mm of increased diameter is more noticeable than 15mm of length. (that's what she said)
4. I use my lights. They aren't put in a drawer for emergencies. If I used primaries I'd go though 1 at least every other day. That $$ adds up.
5. And since I use Li-ons, again, 16340 have less capacity than their 14500 counterparts. Why would I choose a light with less power/runtime?
CR123s are a relic of the past. They were used in flashlights because the "high-powered" bulbs needed to feed on 6 or 9v. LEDs don't need multiple high voltage cells. In fact its less efficient.
You can get AA sized cells in any chemistry/voltage you want (including 3v lithium), but you're not going to find a cr123 in your TV remote.
Lots of people talk about the "high" cost, but as far as I know, cr123's are still the cheapest lithium primaries if you buy the bulk Panasonics online.
Also, while an 18650 holds more energy than 2 cr123's, a light designed specifically for 2 cr123's can be significantly smaller than one designed for an 18650.
The iTP A4 is a great example. It is not my favorite EDC, but I can leave it in the boat with a couple cr123's in it and know that it will work next summer (or the one after) if I need it.
I have an ITP E50 in my cars glovebox and I filled it with 2x cr123s and a pair spare. I found 17670 sized batteries work well in this kind of lights if designed this way. And ITP e50 is a good example that regulates well on both.
Long in short, I still prefer cr123 lights in my ‘to forget’ lights. I planned to use AA lights for this purpose but alkalines were more dangerous and lithium AA batteries were just too rare. I still use Eneloops and rcr123’s in my Edc’s, an ITP A3 and a Steel ITP A1.
well for me rcr123a is a necessity. i go threw a charged pair a day in my ecig. the 6v is nice with a 2 ohm dual coil. plus, the inova stashed in the car lasts me forever on a set of primaries. but i usually have 2 in the car, and the inova is my change a bulb, add fluids, change a tire, get around a strange dark driveway light.
Ok lets not confuse the 3 volt CR123a's and the 3.7 volt 16340.
CR123's have a long shelf life and have high capacity of about 1500mAh. 16340s contain 800mAh at best and are generally much less and a 14500 contains maybe just maybe 1000mAh. So the CR123 definitively contains more power than the 14500.
Two bucks for the CR123 isn't too bad but I don't use them but I do have three torches that can use them but I use the 16340's.
I do like 16340 based torches for deep pocket carry but the lower capacity of the 16340 is definitively felt versus a 2000mAh eneloop and the lower voltage CR123 does effect brightness in some torches...as a matter of fact some 16340 torches will not hardly run at all off the CR123A. But I must say that 16340 based torches pack a mean punch in a small package!
I carry a 16340 torch deep pocket and I carry a Eneloop AA torch as well so I am covered!! I do think I lean a little more toward a AA based torch though
What you're missing is that the fantastic longetivity is mostly an urban legend unless your manufacturer specifically guarantees it for your explicit cells. There's lots of threads on CPF about CR123's beeing dead (with some chance of partly reviving them) after a few years, including Surefire cells.
Your logic is based on the assumption that FandyFire has the same R&D budget, QA staff, Japanese factories and reputation at stake as Canon or SONY.
Zero confusion here. You fail to mention lithium AA cells. A CR123 is 1500mah @ 3ish volts. AA Lithium cells are 3000mAh @ 1.5ish volts. So, the power is a wash. In a single cell light that will ONLY use primaries, the CR123 light has the edge because the voltage doesn’t need to be boosted as much, but that is the only scenario where it does.
A great 14500 has maybe 800mAh. A great 16340 has maybe 700mAh. The only problem is that those great 700mAh 16340s aren't actually 16mm x 34mm. The ones that have that high of a capacity (Solarforce, some *fires) are too big to fit in many lights. The normal sized ones are 550mAh at best.
I think that covers it: https://www.google.com/#hl=en&cp=21&gs_id=5&xhr=t&q=laptop+battery+recall&tok=Z-I1YLODxqc-BOa-rAa5sQ&pf=p&sclient=psy-ab&site=&source=hp&pbx=1&oq=laptop+battery+recall&aq=0&aqi=g3g-v1&aql=&gs_sm=&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=4b3c420078196b39&biw=1399&bih=847
And this means what exactly? That it doesn't matter if a sony battery - for example - blows up on my face because if many sony batteries explode on faces, sony will make a recall?
I think I proved the point that ANY Lion battery can explode and they sometimes do. ANY! So, why fear one or two carefully manually user matched cells and not six or eight cells electronically matched by a not always bug free electronic system? I don't see the logic in that.
I had a panasonic mobile battery swell while sleeping and charging my phone about four years ago... Also, a compaq laptop I had about ten years ago, was overcharging and destroying the batteries (thankfully without explosions), it destroyed two batteries (about 80 euros each)... But I never had a Trustfire fail, just two 16340 pairs stopped matching after a year's abuse on my ecig and I don't use them as pairs anymore. Does it mean that Trustfires are of better quality? No, it means that "good quality" batteries can also fail...
Great questions, Bob. The watt hours of a quality CR123 and a lithium AA (Energizer Ultimate) is essentially the same. Everybody is saying that if you buy in bulk you can get CR123s cheaper. What If I don’t need that many? And how many constitutes “bulk”?
Primaries are for lights I DON'T use. For me, they're for emergencies, and for an emergency I want a cell that I can trust is consistent from batch to batch. That means I'm only going to buy name brands, so I just hopped over to ebay to take a look at some prices and the first listing for Energizer Ultimate AAs was $1.375/each (shipped - 16 cells). The cheapest Panasonic CR123As were $1.50 each PLUS $7 shipping (for 12 of them). Those are the quantities that I'd typically be buying. If I needed more than that, that means I might as well be using rechargeables and saving myself money. Then we get back to the 16340 vs. 14500 issue.
This a trivial thing I feel strongly about and everyone needs a cause regardless of whether its worthy or not. :) CR123s just make NO sense to me.
Having larger hands, the single 123-sized lights are more comfortable to operate and hold than the AAA or AA variants.
I agree that lithium primaries are more for the lights I'm less likely to use on a daily basis, more due to their chemistry than cost. The last thing you want out of an emergency torch is no light.
