Stacking RCR123a 3v 900ma Batts overstress?

[rhsmitty]

Hey all,

Looking at getting 2 16340/RCR123A Tenergy Li-on 900 ma batteries and stacking for 6v on a rough stack. I cannot not find discharge/C rating for these. Are they overstressed in this config ? 6V at 2.5 ohm atty is 2.4 amp draw.


Are there high drain 16340 3v batts ?

 

[JuniorNA]

I use this configuration in a journeyman and don't notice any issues of heat or stress. They tend to die on me after about 5 hours of vaping, which is a lot considering the stack and the way they are being used. CloudsofVapor.com has high drains, but not CR123's, just 16340, but it's the same thing.

BDL IMR16340 High Drain Battery

BDL IMR16340 High Drain Battery

 

[TL1000RSquid]

Those COV ones appear to be 3.7v not 3v.

I've been using the Tenergy's in my maxi rough stack for a couple weeks so far it hasn't blown up on me. It will get rather warm when chain vaping. I run 2.5-3.2ohm atty's and carto's with it.

 

[rhsmitty]

I am sure they will work and not blow up but are they cable of sustaining the current required. The purpose of Hi Drain batts is they can supply the large current without stressing the battery. In most non 18650 application, unless the battery is high drain, they are being overstressed and will lessen the life and there will also be voltage sag.

If the RCR123's are 900 mah but only have a C rating (Max discharge) of 1 , then the max they can supply is 900 ma and at 6v we need 2.4a. With a 1C battery, the voltage will sag to where it is supplying 900ma. A high drain battery is usally 10C which would mean it could supply 9A which is more than enough.

So I was curious of the C rating for the tenergy or the AW LifePo4's. I have heard the AW's have a higher C rating than most LiFePo4's but no one had confirmed that.

 

[TL1000RSquid]

Ah ok gotcha sorry about that I'm a bit of a battery noob. I have heard they were better then the LifePo's but don't have anything other then word of mouth to back that up, not very many options for 3v RCR123's, lots of 3.7 options but 7.4v is way to much even with the HV atty, I might have to pick up a terminator to give me some more options soon.

 

[buGG]

AW LiFePO4's...[5A], Tenergy LiCo 3Vs... [.9A], Tenergy LiFePO4 RCR123 (16340s)..... [.55A]

 

[rhsmitty]

Hey buGG,

Thanks for the reply. Do you know for a fact the AW LiFePo4's are 5A ? That would do it.

 

[buGG]

i have an email from AW stating they are 8C/4A...but they have been tested to run safely at 10C/5A on CPF, and this is the figure that you'll see mentioned a lot...even though runtimes are ridiculously short at that discharge, they can handle the drain just fine.

 

[rhsmitty]

WOW! That's a pretty big gap from other 3v LiFePO4's at .5A. These should work great then

I guess the morale of the story is ..... stick with AW's if available

 

[mdocod]

The "3V 900mAH" tenergy cells are actually undersized RCR123 3.7V LiCo cells with ~500mAH capacity that have a voltage bucking circuit attached to one end of the cell. The maximum discharge rate of ~1A should be strictly followed for safety reasons.

This type of "voltage bucked" LiCo cell is usually sold with a special charger. The voltage dropping circuit (which is probably just a diode), drops ~0.7V under a load when current flows out of the cell, and drops about 0.2V when current flows into the cell. So the charger they sell with these "special" cells is actually designed to charge to 4.4V.

The reason I bring all of this up is to point out that a charger that charges to 4.4V, when used with other cells, could be a major major hazard and could lead to a li-ion cell exploding very easily.

Please be careful!