rechargeable or reg batteries ? 4 my new Fenix PD 32 lite

F

froggy

Joined
Nov 17, 2005
Messages
161
Greetings,
I have decided on a Fenix PD 32 but, before I purchase it I am hoping some knowledgeable person can recommend a battery type and brand. I prefer rechargeable batteries but I have read some poor reviews on the rechargeable "ultra fire" brand that sells on Amazon so I am wondering if I should stay away from rechargeable batteries altogether? (I hope not to) The PD 32 spec calls for two 3V CR123A batteries or one 18650 rechargeable battery. ..Any thoughts on batt type and/or brand?

UPDATE...movin off the Fenix and onto the Olight M20 X...like the interface, has the cree xm-l, it is a little larger than I wanted but I will make room. Anybody have this light or know anything about OLight?
 
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protected 18650 aw's and a pila, sysmax i4 or xtar charger

i use aw brand batteries exclusively with the i4 chargers :)
 
Rechargeables can be great, but like anything else, you get what you pay for. Ultrafire and Trustfire range from "meh" to absolute crap. The previously mentioned AW cells are good. I run them in my PD31 and a couple of high-draw lasers, and I've never had a problem.

Also, with the cheaper cells, manufactures have been known to drastically overstate the numbers regarding the capacity of their cells. When you see a 4000mAh cell for 20 bucks, know that realistically it's about half to a third of that, if not less. And the internal resistance would likely suck as well. Buy good stuff one time.
 
for 18650 - aw and eagle tac cells are tops [eagle tacs are built cleaner according to a cpf guru who has done serious long term tests on multitude of battery types]... get the 3100mah and they're both protected.... and nothing beats a pila charger for these cells...

also, the 18650 li-ion cells are incredibly powerful for their size but please read a little on these batteries on a cpf forum, etc... they can be dangerous and explode therefore you probably don't want to carry spares on ya if there's a possibility of them getting damp or be in a high temp environment... and they should breathe so no air-tight storage tubes/containers.... that's also why a best/safest charger should be used with them and the 'pila ic' is generally agreed upon, by flashlight folks who are far more knowledgable than me, to be the best one... lastly, never leave charging batteries unattended.... some folks who did, had their houses burned down... murphy's law 101....

[EDIT] - besides the eagle tac and aw, i also have a set of jet beam's proprietary 18650 cells which i've ordered with one of my jetbeam's light but i generally rarely use them and rotate between the eagle tacs and aw.... since you're in the market for a small but powerful 1x18650 light, may i suggest to check out zebralight's sc600 as well as 2 lights by jetbeam - the bc25 and the jet iii m 3m... the latter one was designed for military and is super rugged, i bought it after seeing a torture test of it on youtube... it was turned on while frozen in a block of ice, boiled, set on fire, thrown, etc... i own all 3 and dig all 3...
the bc25 starts at an amazing 650 lumens on high setting then cycles down to around 430 lm after 5 minutes.... that's spotlight power in a pocket light and it only has 2 settings - high/low for kiss simplicity....
the zl sc600 is likely the most compact of all pocket rocket lights yet a screamer at 750 lumens on high [it cycles down to 500 lm after 5 minutes, still very bright] and has a bunch of custom settings.... i carry my bc25 everywhere along with my two edc 1xaa lights in my waistpack, keep the jet iii 3m at my bedside and have the zl sc600 mounted in a fenix ab02 swivel holder to my wheelchair's armrest... at night, all my lights get attention everywhere whenever i turn them on, because they're so bloody bright for their size... it can actually get tiresome hehe...
 
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I put Sanyo Eneloops in my 4Sevens MiniQuark (AA) the first one lasted me close to an entire year (!!) before I had to recharge it, and I prob used the flashlight on at least a daily basis, although briefly each day. :thumbup:
 
Great info on 18650's. I'm really not minding the CR123A's in my PD32, so I'm sticking with em. Plus my Streamlight TLR1s takes one, so I'm kinda' stuck with em.
 
Im like JES600, i have 6 or 7 different weapon lights that use 123's so i just stick with them in my flashlights aswell.

I was lucky enough to buy 12 packs of 12 Streamlight 123s from a dealer a couple years ago for dirt cheap so im still pretty set with them. Once i run out i might consider other options.
 
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