123 batteries

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Catswithguns

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I want to buy some rechargeable 123 batteries for flashlites, NV, Thermals, etc. Can anyone recommend a good brand along with possibly a usb charger for charging them with a small portable solar panel? They don’t have to be cheap, but long lasting and lots of recharging cycles. Thanks. Philip.
 

Shadowrider

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FYI, rechargeable bats are not going to last as long per charge as regular but for certain applications they are good. Eneloop is pretty much the king of rechargeable. I've been looking at rechargeables a lot lately and I find that any of the Japanese bats are generally superior to Chinese batteries. I did just buy some Amazon Basic AAA rechargeables since what I'm using them in isn't real critical.

Also stay away from quick chargers and make sure your charger charges each cell individually as a lot of them don't. Some will also charge for a set time regardless and that will kill your batterie's service life. If your charger claims to fully charge a battery in 30 minutes, pass on that one. Your bats will be much happier being charged over several hours.

As for non-rechargeable 123s I won't be buying any Energizers again. They come with less voltage right from the jump and the flashlight I use them in is noticeably dimmer and has less runtime by a lot! I figured they would be the same as Surefire or Streamlight, Nope...So back to Panasonics I go.

You can study this stuff until you' are cross eyed. I run standard 123s in my lights. For security cameras or outdoor solar charged accent lighting a quality rechargeable is probably just fine, especially if you have a number of devices to feed, but for other high load devices the standard 123s will win out every time.
 

Catswithguns

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FYI, rechargeable bats are not going to last as long per charge as regular but for certain applications they are good. Eneloop is pretty much the king of rechargeable. I've been looking at rechargeables a lot lately and I find that any of the Japanese bats are generally superior to Chinese batteries. I did just buy some Amazon Basic AAA rechargeables since what I'm using them in isn't real critical.

Also stay away from quick chargers and make sure your charger charges each cell individually as a lot of them don't. Some will also charge for a set time regardless and that will kill your batterie's service life. If your charger claims to fully charge a battery in 30 minutes, pass on that one. Your bats will be much happier being charged over several hours.

As for non-rechargeable 123s I won't be buying any Energizers again. They come with less voltage right from the jump and the flashlight I use them in is noticeably dimmer and has less runtime by a lot! I figured they would be the same as Surefire or Streamlight, Nope...So back to Panasonics I go.

You can study this stuff until you' are cross eyed. I run standard 123s in my lights. For security cameras or outdoor solar charged accent lighting a quality rechargeable is probably just fine, especially if you have a number of devices to feed, but for other high load devices the standard 123s will win out every time.

I have s couple of clip ons, stream light flashlights, that will light up the whole yard. Very hard on batteries.. I’ve gotten some Watson brand ones from b & h photo. They last about 10 or 15 loading, then captured. I’ll look for the Eneloop to see what they have. Thanks a great deal for you’re help.
 

Shadowrider

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I generally buy in bulk from Amazon. I like the Panasonics just as well as Surefire or Streamlight which have always worked well and the Panasonics are a bit cheaper usually.

With 123s the options for rechargeable are pretty limited to Chinese from what I've seen. EBL gets some decent reviews. Tenergy brand is another option.
 

El Pablo

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To start with cr123a is not the same battery as rcr123 aka 16340. They are basically the same size. They are not the same voltage, so be careful. Cr123a are 3 volts and rcr123 are 3.6 or 3.7 volts. This may or may not matter in your devices, so you better check. Note the big warning at the bottom: https://www.orbtronic.com/16340-battery-rechargeable-best-li-ion

I use an xstar charger and only use rcr123 with protection circuits. I use olight branded batteries. I’d also use orbtronic batteries. Olights were just less money when I made my purchase.
 
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Oklahomabassin

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I generally buy in bulk from Amazon. I like the Panasonics just as well as Surefire or Streamlight which have always worked well and the Panasonics are a bit cheaper usually.

With 123s the options for rechargeable are pretty limited to Chinese from what I've seen. EBL gets some decent reviews. Tenergy brand is another option.
Have you ever had some on Amazon that you thought were counterfit? I had a box of 12 that I was suspicious because it seemed that they didn't last as long.
 

HoLeChit

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With the shelf life of CR123a batteries, I never really looked at rechargable ones. The Surefire/Streamlight batteries are the best of course, followed by the Panasonic. Don't use them much, I had a weapons light in Afghanistan made by surefire that took 3 CR123a's and only had a battery life of 1-1.5 hours. Talk about burning money.

if your devices can handle the 3.6v batteries I suggest Fenix. I like their lights, and their rechargable batteries treat me well.
https://www.fenixlighting.com/produ...jJl-lFVHlHqTHJS2tAhNzmiXJW2qvfhEaArYdEALw_wcB
 

HoLeChit

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Have you ever had some on Amazon that you thought were counterfit? I had a box of 12 that I was suspicious because it seemed that they didn't last as long.
I've seen a lot of that. They're also selling a lot of counterfeit streamlights and surefires. Its gotten to where i only buy the name brand stuff from retail stores.
 

Shadowrider

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Have you ever had some on Amazon that you thought were counterfit? I had a box of 12 that I was suspicious because it seemed that they didn't last as long.

No but that doesn’t mean I haven’t gotten any either as counterfeits have gotten very “good”. But so far I believe the batteries I’ve got have been legit. The Energizer 123s were 3.0v which I overlooked when ordering.

I did get a counterfeit flashlight from Amazon once. The outside of the light was a dead ringer but the inside gave many clues. The packaging was basically a perfect reproduction with the exception that it had no batteries which Streamlight always provided at that time and maybe still does.


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