RCR123 Batteries - Pairing, Stacking?

[Agrion]

Hi all,

I purchased my first mod, a GLV2, and I have a couple of questions about batteries.

The GLV2 takes RCR123s so I purchased a few pair of AW RCR123a protected 750 mAh batteries for it.

Is it important to pair these batteries? In other words use and recharge the same pair together and not mix and match. If so, is it important to stack the batteries in the unit the same way each time?

If I remember correctly these things apply to unprotected batteries but I'm not sure if it applies to protected ones as well.

Thanks.

 

[keyzygirl]

Im wondering this too.I think I got the wrong batts.I got 16340s 1000mah.Lets wait for Doots.He will answer us.

 

[piratecaptainbob]

yea i recommend marking your pairs. i just number them. and always charge in pairs and use the same pair together in your pv. i dont think stacking them in the same position is as important though.

 

[CaptJay]

I DO pair mine, but I don't stack em the same way - it doesn't seem to bother them that I have noticed.

 

[Drozd]

I'd keep an eye on them and meter them when you change them out....and if they are showing huge discrepencies in voltages...they I would definitely keep them paired and alternate which ones on top and bottom and see if the equal out and stabilize...

heres the thing...the protected AWs have several levels of protection...that should make safety a non issue...

here's where the issues may be.....the regular protected Li-Ions are likely going to be overstressed (the amp draw exceeds the max drain rate of the battery)... this will eventually effect their capacity and ability to hold a charge... if they're stacked and it's draining one faster than the other that would amplify that problem...but it shouldn't cause an inherrant safety problem with fully protected batteries like that

 

[keyzygirl]

So what your saying is,with protected batts,it doesnt matter.Right?

 

[DaMulta]

You could always just buy a pack of Surefire non-recharable batteries too. They run for 3-4 days for myself.

High-performance Surefire Rechargeable 123A Lithium Flashlight Batteries

Then you don't have to worry about stacking them, charging them, and dealing with old batteries that don't take a charge anymore.

 

[Drozd]

So what your saying is,with protected batts,it doesnt matter.Right?

if you look at your protected batteries...you see that little strip under the wrapper that goes down the side....and the little vent holes around the button top?.....

if the cell goes over pressure or over temperature...that breaks kills the connection between the positive and negative in the battery permanently....the vents are to vent off the gas pressure before the battery goes into thermal runaway...

the PCB is on the negative end of the battery and you can see that too (there's an indent near the botom in the wrapper all the way around the battery)....that trips if the battery goes under charged or if it's over discharged too much ( like in the event of a short)... and that can be reset by putting the batteries back on the charger for a bit...

I'm not saying it doesn't matter...just that it matters so significantly less it almost doesnt matter....

when stacked the problems with unprotected batteries were often that they were discharging at different rates...causing one to heat up...or there was a short....often helped being brought on by the batteries being overstressed or inequally overstressed....and without the protection that led directly to thermal runaway situations...which would build up gas (which in Li-Ion batteries is an oxydizer) and the cell would rupture and that heat and venting gas would catch fire...which would usually chain react with the next cell...

good protection or safe chemistry type batteries eliminate all that..

 

[brandon555]

I've always paired and put RCR123s in in the same order everytime.

Not sure if its helped any though. I do notice they don't last nearly as long as they used too. I charge them once a day. I used to go 1 1/2 to 2 days between charges but that was about 5 months ago.

 

[DaMulta]

I hate protected pcp batteries. I hate the fact that E-Cigs can trip them, and then you have to take out the batteries and swap them around. I understand the need, but one can get around that with safer chem batteries, and or just not using charagable batteries.

 

[Drozd]

I hate protected pcp batteries. I hate the fact that E-Cigs can trip them, and then you have to take out the batteries and swap them around. I understand the need, but one can get around that with safer chem batteries, and or just not using charagable batteries.

right the LiFePo4 for 6V+ or the LiMN high drains would avoid that...but then the user does have to be vigilant to change out their batteries when the vapor gets weak or run the risk of overdraining them past the point where they'll accept a charge...

the other upside though is that the LiFePo4 and the LiMN being high drain have a max drain rate higher than any of the demands of amp draw on atties or cartos...so they also don't experience that overstress and slow dwindling capacity death...and they'll perform without the voltage sag common in Li-Ions other than the 18650 size...

 

[DaMulta]

I don't really trust lifep04 batteries anymore seeing that a 510 runs 3 times over the safty limit. Well that's the yellow ones. They also still call for a PCB when stacking them, but LiMN on the other hand does not call for PCB units with stacking them.

 

[Drozd]

I don't really trust lifep04 batteries anymore seeing that a 510 runs 3 times over the safty limit. Well that's the yellow ones. They also still call for a PCB when stacking them, but LiMN on the other hand does not call for PCB units with stacking them.

oh I'm not talking about the crap tenergy yellow lifepo that have a max drain rate of less than .55A...

I'm talking about the AW 3V LiFePo4 that have a max drain rate of around 5A...

there's a huge difference....

 

[DaMulta]

Ah, I had no idea they had a max drain that high on theirs!

If there was a thank you button I would so be hitting it!

 

[Drozd]

Ah, I had no idea they had a max drain that high on theirs!

If there was a thank you button I would so be hitting it!

yeah Andrew over on CPF said that their 3V LiFePo4 are good to a 10C discharge..
so 500mAh * 10C /1000 =5A

actually just slightly higher than the max discharge of their 3.7V LiMN high drains that only have an 8C discharge....so 4.5A ...

not that it much matters since you only have to beat at absolute worst a 3.22A draw for a 2.3Ω 510 atty at 7.4V (and really who expects to run a standard joye 510 at 7.4V for any length of time?)

 

[DaMulta]

Yep, there would be no harm stacking those batteries. Any sping in about any mod would melt away with a short before anything bad happened to the user.

 

[Agrion]

When I spoke to Jay (the creator of the GLV) he did tell me that he noticed the bottom battery drains faster than the top and that he rotates them to get a bit more life out of them. This is why I asked the second question about stacking.

So rotating them in the stack is good if one discharges faster that the other.

 

[Drozd]

When I spoke to Jay (the creator of the GLV) he did tell me that he noticed the bottom battery drains faster than the top and that he rotates them to get a bit more life out of them. This is why I asked the second question about stacking.

So rotating them in the stack is good if one discharges faster that the other.

ideally they shoud drain equally...otherwise ones going to drain and die before the other...which could cause more stress and shorter life for the batteries..but it's not a critical safety issue like it would be with unprotected batteries

 

[Agrion]

Thank you all for the info