Optimizing Tactical Flashlights With 16340 & 18650 Batteries
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- Опубліковано 4 лис 2021
- A brief discussion about the benefits of using rechargeable & higher voltage batteries with your Surefire, Streamlight, Olight, and other tactical flashlights.
Ready Up Gear 16340s: readyupgear.com/product/16340...
Ready Up Gear 18650s: readyupgear.com/product/18650... - Розваги
I’m glad this video exists
Sneaky sneaky! I like it! *Off to Amazon to order 16340s* Thanks man! My SFs have been bleeding me dry for way too long. To the point where they've spent too much time in a drawer without batteries in them over the years. This is awesome!
I'm not trying to talk trash, but it never once crossed your mind to get rechargeable batteries?
If you're going to get some might I suggest lights that use one 18650 instead of 2 of the CR123. You basically get the same pocket-friendly EDC form-factor but way more battery and performance at the lumen ranges people tend to use lights in wichbis full power or 1 down from full power. You can get 2 spare high capacity batteries that are high drain that can rly crank out some power and just have 2 batteries charged full for back up at all times in each battery will have a run time of about 4 to 20 hours depending on the intensity you run your light at. I genuinely don't think you can beat the 18 650 for an EDC light it's just about as big as a battery you can get that's rechargeable but also doesn't make your light un-pocket friendly.
Happy hunting my friend.
16650 will often fit and work where an 18650 is too big.
surefire g2x, tactician, fury, elzetta bravo.
streamlight 2lx is nice and can take a wide variety of batteries.
keeppower and orbtronic make great 16650 batteries.
a 14500 is a 3.7v aa.
too high of voltage can blow your light and it does get hot fast. good luck
You forgot to mention the 16650ies. In flashlights that need 2 CR123 ies in most cases they fit and work .
i have a strong laser pointer and i have a question. will 2x 16340 perform better than 1x 18650? im asking because if u add 2 16340 u get 7.4V where as if u add 1x 1650 u get 3.7V
I have a large maglite type flashlight that is billet aluminum that ran on D batteries and doesn't work. I have a new knock off laptop battery, an led headlight buld, a type c rechargable+disposable, vape. I don't want to throw them away they are in my junk drawer. Thinking about building this and if I have enough parts.
My Browning VXT takes 3-123a’s. I love it, but the batteries discharge when the light is off...?
What lights do not run on these batteries ?
16340 can use at Surefire EDCL1-T
16340 batteries will not work in my Surefire 6V Scout or my Airasaka 300. Airasaka specifically says the 16340 is incomparable with the 300 series light. Surefire said 16340 were compatible with their lights but I haven't found it to be true with all of their lights.
not sure how your last recommendation works. Two 123As or two 16340s stacked would be supplying 6V or 7.4V respectively, to your light. Replacing them with a single 18650 would knock supply voltage down to 3.7V. A 3.7V supply seems like, if your light worked, it would be running at half power. Sure that would increase the longevity of the charge and even the life but at the cost of lumens, which seems to be what this video keeps referring to.
Ive taken all my surefire weapon lights and bored them out on my lathe to fit 18650's soooo much more convenient.
So wait it seems like the Olight baldr pro has 2X cr123a batteries and they are in series, that's 6v won't the 7.4v of the 16340 batteries fry it?
Idk if I’d put those in my eotech
18650 is the original laptop battery cells, and its what are in teslas (until recently). they are the most mass manufacutred li-pol battery form factor and have the cheapest economies of scale (btw, tsla batteries are actually panisonic in the us).
thats why most flashlights are 18650 based. all Li-pol batterys can be assumed to be ~3.7 volts per cell, yes they charge to 4.2v but its kind of like a spring that can get stretched out past its full length and not become damaged/yield. 18350 (35mm long, 18mm fat) are the correct versions of "half" 18650 (65mm long, 18mm fat). this is because most mfg have to take into accout the redundant protection chips people add to their 18650s now which can bring them up to ~75mm long).
all LED's need a specific voltage to be run efficiently, and then you can usually crank up the amperage pretty high as long as they dont burn up. most led's used in flashlights are all made to be most efficient at ~3.7v. most flashlights that cost more than 10$ however, this doesnt matter. many use a built in computer chip called a micro controller that uses a buck regulator loop inorder to keep the voltage the LED's see constant. this looses ~5% capacity and adds a tiny slow discharge, but is preceived by consumers as higher quality or something. because of this, many flashlights that take 18650s can actually be ran with 2x 18350's at double the voltage, even though the LED's are "rated at 3.7 volts." rated voltage is a made up number by the manufactures. if you want to know what a flashlight is actually rated for, find the part number of the microcontroller and look up the data sheet. example, sofarin 3.7v s25d, "rated at 3.7v", look up the attiny412 micro controller data sheet, it goes up to 6.5 volts, which means you can probably get away with overclocking it at 7.4v.
this is all very complicated.... normally you cant use "milli amp hour" as a shortcut for capacity, but in the world of Li-Pol batterys, u can because theyre almost all 3.7 volts. also the lumen brightness will be proportional to the "power" output by the LED's, which you can approximate by multiplying volts x amps. theoretically an 18650 can produce the same power as 2x 18350's, but in practicality, the 2x 18350's will usually be brighter but drain the capcaity more quickly. this is because LED's tend to exponentially increase brightness with voltage but have diminishing returns or logorithmic relationship with current. but voltage is what zaps LED's right away, and amps is what cooks them with too high temp eventually.... but as i said before, most microcontrollers will prevent this because they have a boost circiut which would convert for example (2x 18350) 7.4 volts @ 10 amps, into 3.7 volts @ 20 amps, which would be brighter but as a side effect safer for most LED lights on the market over 10$.
cr123's and 16650's should go straight in the trash imo if u ask me. 16650s have like half the capcaity of 18350's lol, and they fit in the same flashlights
so what is better? 1x18650 or 2x123a??? for max output power
18650
@@kaleb-olson thanks
I need a power management solution for all the batteries that I carry for all of my tactical equipment. I would love the ability to recharge a single type of battery, either 18650 or 16340 I don;t care; but I need them to power my rifle light, pistol light and NVGs power pack. A single battery type that powers ALL my needs.
'One battery to rule them all"?
I can't get 18650 batteries to fit in my surefire that takes two 123As.
That happens. The 18650 is just a hair wider in diameter so That Surefire doesn't accept the 18650. But you can use 2x 16340.
But the 16340 are only 650 MAh. That's less than half the capacity of a traditional lithium battery.
Looking for a rechargeable for a smart lock (August 4th gen), and this looked promising, but not if it only lasts a few weeks instead of several months.
In flashlights that need 2 CR123 ies you can take a 16650. In most cases they fit and work and can have up to 2500mAh.
@@Gieszkanne mAh is not a measurment of battery capacity when compairing two different battery chemistrie which therefore inhearently have different voltage... you want to compare watts (power) which is approximately equal to mAH * voltage. this will also give you an estimate of which battery contains more lumens.... so to speak.
and 16650's are garbage, use 18650's or 2x 18350's, they have almost twice the capcaity of their equivilant 16mm form factors
@@vevenaneathna Red properly! I was talking about flashlights that run on 2 CR123 like many Surefire. 18650 dont fit in there but 16650. Its a cheap and good alternative to the expensive CR123.
@@Gieszkanne a lot of times 18350s will fit in lights that are advertised as 16650/cr123 was my point i guess
So i already have a fancy wall charger and i want rechargeable one that dont have that crappy little port so it can have a larger cell does anyone know any brand that are rechargeable and do not have the little ports
Agreed! The biggest problem I've experienced with "rechargeable" flashlights, tablets, smart phones, etc., has been charger port compatibility and durability. Even if they work initially, there is a tendency for the ports to start malfunctioning or become very picky as to which charge cord plug with which it will work. Batteries with built-in ports would probably experience the same problem. This is one reason I've bought Olight magnetic rechargeable flashlights and weapon lights. The only downside is that the Olight magnetic rechargeable, non-replaceable batteries appear to have lower capacity and hence shorter runtime. They work OK for occasional civilian use but would be highly problematic for full-time professional work or in a grid-down world. The manufacturer who develops an affordable rechargeable across-the-board interchangeable use battery line would get my business.
@calvinblumhorst3426 I'm sorry. I'm voicing this because I have a lot to say like your message. But you said it so incredibly well. Yes, I do have a magnetic rechargeable flashlight right now. It's just a little $20 Flashlight from Walmart. I forget the name of it, but it does seem to be very reliable. I haven't had it for very long so I don't know how reliable the battery is. And unfortunately, I am too impatient to l it the battery fully die and then recharge it. I will recharge it before it's dead. Which is probably damaging the internal battery. But I've picked up A123 powered light and already almost burned my house down trying to recharge the battery for it that said it was rechargable
the guy shining the light into the camera needs to watch the video
Brands like Surefire that still persist with outdated technology like CR123A batteries baffles me, I understand some workplaces guys get them for free, but CR123A's get burned through so quick and are an environmental waste, at least make the light come with a rechargeable 18650 with the CR123A option (some do). Imagine if Surefire with their reputation dipped their toe into rechargeable 21700 market with lights at 2000 lumens
You'll burn the circuitry real fast
Cr123 has no business in anything other than a weapon mounted light. There's just no logical reason to not use an 18 650 flashlight for pocket carry. Its alll pros and no cons with 18650 and the pocket carry edc segment of lights imo.
Umm…two AA batteries is 3 volts
None of the flashlights discussed in the video uses AA, so what's your point?
Only if wired in series.