A cautionary tale - I just installed an Orbtronic rechargeable in my brand new, never mounted TLR8AG, and, after one brief flash of light, the lamp assembly burned out. I'm now paying to ship my light back to Streamlight for repair...
This is like learning to shoot stock Glocks - I never had an issue with a TLR8AG before (have three of them now), but never used anything but CR123s in them.
TLR-7 is issued and mandated for agency weapons at my former employer for on and off-duty. Batteries are free so rechargeables aren't as important a concern.
Obviously, 500 lumen isn't the brightest light possible, but it's decent for most situations and can be carried comfortably in on and off duty holsters.
Yikes. Thanks for the post. My experiment with the Orbtronic rechargeables ended more happily. I'm sorry you had to do that.Originally Posted by psalms144.1
Now I'm conflicted about whether to keep using rechargeables in my lights... My guess is that some LEDs can handle the higher voltage and current and some can't. But is it worth the risk of the light failing when you most need it?
“There is no growth in the comfort zone.”--Jocko Willink
"You can never have too many knives." --Joe Ambercrombie
There's one more safe option for rechargeable CR123 now that Surefire is offering their Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) 450mAh 3.2V rechargeable cells. I'll be ordering a set to try out. https://www.surefire.com/products/pa...123-batteries/
kIV that lfp does have a different voltage than NMC and is not a drop in; and that it’s ‘safer,’ not safe. At high states of charge it burns just as hot as NMC.
Ignore Alien Orders
kIV? Surefire says it's a 3.2V battery like the regular CR123A batteries used in Surefire and Streamlight lights? I was of the impression that the 16340 batteries could damage lights like the TLR-7 and TLR-8 due to the significantly higher voltage of 4.2V after a full charge. Would you please clarify your statement and put it in layman's terms?
you bet — sorry for being too technical.
Keep In View (not that common an acronym, sorry)
If the cells that the appliance is designed for are 3.2V nominal (50% state of charge) they use LFP chemistry.
if the cells that the appliance is designed for are 3.6V nominal they are NMC.
4.2V is max (100%) for NMC and way over for LFP.
NmC and LFP are often packaged in the same format so you need to know what stuff is designed for.
CR123A are primary cells (not rechargeable, lithium metal chemistry) and are indeed also 3.2v nominal. In that sense an LFP cell is similar enough to use in appliance designed for CR123s. I don’t know the voltage curves for each so I don’t know if they’d give you a similar range, but they’ll work. They will give you way less duration and be more temperature sensitive. If I wasn’t wearing out flashlight batteries every couple of days I would always prefer a primary cell.
my comment about safety was a miss apprehension on my part. I thought you were making a common mistake in thinking that LFP is inherently safe in comparison to an MC. That wasn’t your point, and I apologize.
Ignore Alien Orders
Thread digression ahead...@shitmods, feel free to move it.
I had one of the original WPL's for a Glock...an M3 something or other? Never did figure out how I'd most effectively use it one handed. Then I got two X300's from a buddy that was "upgrading" to models with a laser. Both came with pressure switches, never gave it another thought and one's been on my bedside G19 for years.
Recently got a TLR7AH w/pressure switch from the same guy for the same reason as he's utterly convinced that his wife and son need lasers on their pistols and I long ago gave up debating anything "tactical" with someone that insists on condition 3 carry. I do, however, accept screaming deals that come my way.
I love how the TLR7 handles in comparison to the X300, made it my new bedside WML and ordered a JM#3 for it. (My son has discovered the joys of movie theaters and it occurred to me that this was a scenario where I'd specifically choose to carry my G19/TLR7.) It didn't occur to me that I needed to specify that my TLR7 has a pressure switch and with that, it won't fit in my new holster. Before ordering another holster, I decided to plumb PF for info on WPL activation and learned that much of the cognoscenti prefer the toggle switches...but I think the newest post was 2017, though I admittedly have weak shit search-fu.
I grok using the support hand for light activation, but I'm much more concerned with one handed operation. I'd really like to see a video of someone explaining the how/why's of one handed toggle switch manipulation. Anyone have a good link?
Oh yes, and Merry Christmas Eve to All!
I’m still using TLR1s.
@Cdub_NW, anything from your group or PFC on this?
“There is no growth in the comfort zone.”--Jocko Willink
"You can never have too many knives." --Joe Ambercrombie
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