survival laser 1.25A driver + nitecore rcr123

Hi all, I have a question about my first build.

Some specs:
Diode: 450nm M140
Driver: Survival Laser 1.25A
Battery: 2x Nitecore 650 mAh RCR123A

I cannot get the driver to pump using these batteries. Bench power supply at 5V or more works just fine, so it's not the diode. When I test the bats with a 10 Ohm resistor load I get 0.38A current, which is also correct. However, I cannot get the full combination to work together. One more thing - if I try to test with higher resistor values (eg 500 Ohm) the bats don't give any current.

I know there is some sort of protection circuitry inside these Nitecores, but I have no idea of its specs.

Help?

It sounds like a battery problem. Did you charge those batteries before using them? What is the voltage you measure on those batteries? They should charge to 4.2v.

Alan

Yup, charged to 4.2V. They're should to be able to pump out ~1.5A at 3.7V, so if it's a protection mechanism going-off I don't understand why. These are supposed to be good bats...

What would be the best way to test the battery alone?