I have the power

Submitted by Eric Daniel

Ok, first off, this entry makes two assumptions:  1) you have access to some form of “residential” (110v-240v range) electrical power and 2) you have equipment that runs off of standard AA-AAA batteries (to the best of my knowledge there are no commercially available rechargeable A123 (a.k.a. “Surefire”) batteries.)  That being said, for those of you in the above two categories, this might be of interest.

Now days, just about every hand held device runs of batteries.  In the “old” days, most military equipment ran off of specific, purpose built mil-spec batteries.  NVGs for example, required one type, flashlights another, and commo gear yet a third.  Now, everything pretty much runs off of stacks of AAs.

This is where a recharging system comes in handy.  With the need for all those AA batteries, supply issues can come up, especially if you are in a less than well-established area of operations (again, if you haven’t got access to power you’re out of luck, but more often than not you’ll get power before you get a brick of batteries.)

Early recharging systems were pretty straightforward; you put the batteries in and when the light turns green, they’re charged.  Unfortunately, unless you monitor the charger, this can lead to overcharging, which is bad for rechargeable batteries.  In addition, rechargeable batteries also “bleed off” (self-discharge) at a higher rate than conventional, non-rechargeable batteries, so they have a much shorter "shelf life" than conventional batteries.

Fortunately, however, newer charging systems not only charge batteries faster, but monitor total charge and once they’re full, the charger goes into a trickle charge mode, which keeps the batteries ‘topped off” indefinitely.  This feature allows you to complete a mission, put your batteries on the charger, and not have to worry about their state when you load them for your next mission.

Get chargers and batteries here

Comments

[IllTemperedCur]

There are CR123 rechargeable lithium batteries available, but they can't always be used in place of standard CR123s. I use two rechargeable CR123s for my Inova X5 LED flashlight with great success, but if you use the same two rechargeables in a xenon flashlight like a Surefire 6P or Pentagon X2 (I own both), it'll immediately short out the bulb.

[frankie]

the above comment about diffrent bulbs burning out faster has something to do with the voltage of the battery you were useing i would guess. im in school to be a robot tech so i know a bit about batteries and electronics in general, though ill always have more to learn. i belive that while they may have the same milli ampere hours the voltage may be off: .01V-.5v between the two types. just a thought.

[IllTemperedCur]

As I understand it, the rechargeable CR123s have a small regulator circuit in the battery itself. This is apparently what causes the xenon bulb to burn out if you string two of the rechargeables together.

[Col Kenneth Manley USMCA]

This is the best that I personally have seen. It has all the abilities that are listed. We have a similar use for our water sprinkler system
on our ranch