Hasty buy of RCR123

I recently ordered a 2000+mW pointer from Blord in the 501B host. Having no Li-ion 16340s, I promptly went to Amazon and ordered:

Amazon: Tenergy 4 Pcs RCR123A 3.0V 900mAh Rechargeable Li-Ion Protected Batteries w/ Smart Charger


It arrived, today, and I realized I was too hasty and ordered RCR123s with a charger. Stinky. I think I goofed.

I want to return the item, because I suspect I will never want to use them, if I have 16340 lying around. But before I make haste and return them, can anyone confirm they're of lesser value compared to AW IMR 16340s?

Further, I bought this charger, a while back with some Ultrafire 18650s. Can anyone confirm this will charge the AW 16340s?


If not, I’m looking at the ever-popular Ultrafire WF-139 charger. But then I need to buy spacers (is that right?) so I can charge the 16340s in it? And the spacers cost about $5 a piece.

Derp. All I’m looking for, is to get started with batteries I can use in other pointers, as I look to acquire a few units.

Am I over complicating things, or is there something simpler I can do to get the batteries and charger I need to amp out >2W from Blord’s 445nm 501B build?
I think he made it clear he set the current for two 16340s, and I want to make sure I supply the best batteries I can for my buck.

I expect to order some AW IMR16340 batteries in the next couple of days. I just want to make sure I can charge them, too.

Hah, the real heart of the matter, is I want the best charged batteries waiting when BLord's shipment arrives!

I have a shipment of 16340's coming in the mail, as well as some spacers, we could arrange something if you're interested. And don't spend $5 on spacers, you can get 100 neodymium magnets on DX for $2. Buy some batteries from me and I'll throw in the spacers. Truthfully you can use a ball of aluminum foil or a couple nickels if you need to :tinfoil:

I don't think Tenergys are half bad, but those are the LiCo 3.7V with diode inline to drop voltage down to 3.0V. I'd wait for the AWs, and return those Tenergys. They'd be great if your device was meant to run on CR123a cells, but since the idea of using 2 16340 is to get the input voltage up past (Vf + driver dropout voltage), using 2 AW16340 fully charged would give you 8.4V, instead of the <7V you would get with 2 fully charged tenergy 3v.

Not to mention, you shouldn't charge other cells in the tenergy 3V RCR123 charger, because I think those overcharge by ~.7V, since the diode will drop voltage from the charging as well as discharging.

So, yeah, I'd say get AW 16340, and use a cut-down bolt or something as a spacer. You could even go so far as to make a dummy cell out of wood, put a thumbtack on each end, and solder the two thumbtacks together with a piece of wire.

Thanks, BS, I appreciate the follow up. I'll order better cells, today.

I just noticed your charger is one of those universal Li-Ion / NiMH chargers. If it charges your 18650's, it will probably charge the 16340s, but you might want to make sure that the charging current isn't too high. Most places generally recommend 0.5C-0.7C charge current, where C can be replaced with the capacity of the cell (i.e. for a 900mAh cell, 0.5C would be 0.5*900 = 450mA). You can check current by putting a meter in-line with the battery while it's charging, at the 10A setting on the meter.

I just picked up a WP2 II, but I've been using a WF-139 up till now. the 34mm charging slots are not connected, only the longer slider slots. Not to say that you can't just open it up and connect some wires ;-)