I made the transition to little black flashlights over the last 12+ years, slowly replacing first 1 old style dog then another as they simply wore out.

Along the way upgrades to various batteries such as 18650 versions have been assimilated into the newer models.

My oldest pair end caps are simply about gone & parts are unavailable now, the Solarforce LP2. At 125mm long, they were 'just right' for handy carry while grandly solving any typical illumination task at hand.

Barrel size was just larger than the CR123/18650s with illuminating head barely larger. Curiously, all my more recent favorites such as Fenix TK12, PD32, and PD35, barrels all have slimmed down just a few mm yet are very close in length.

I was using a variety of older purple rechargeable 3100mah 3.7V LHM 20A but they are showing their age. My interest has turned to newer 2600 mAh 9.36Wh 3.6V simply because the newest Fenix comes with it. Still I suspect better choices are available if I knew what they were.

I do have a multip-port 'smart charger' XTRR-VC2
that continues to serve well enough.

My newer Fenix all have some form of self-charger, either via external port thru tube body, or via removing the 18650 & plugging in via cord/port. Even my head-light has it's own charge port, which has proven to be very handy.

I'd rather stick with rechargeable upgrades, but don't know which spec will serve best. I find it useful to recharge my little herd about once every couple months.

Surely some here have good practical battery information. Please advise.

It depends on the flashlight you're using but you shouldn't need more than a 10A battery.

I use 3500mAh 8 or 10 amp batteries such as
LG MJ1
Molicel M35A
Sanyo GA
Samsung 35E

But for bulk batteries pulled from packs I have
Panasonic NCR18650B but they are only 4.88A.

If you're looking for protected, look at getting a rewrapped Panasonic or Sanyo from KeepPower, Orbtronic, etc.

By the way, I still own a number of Solarforce L2P's.

Get a LG MJ1 and be done. 3500 mAh, 10A continuous discharge. Nothing Fenix makes to my knowledge pulls enough current to exceed that limit.

edit- not sure if Fenix lights will charge non proprietary batteries inside the light or not, you may or may not have to pull it out and charge it externally.

I've found that the amp hours printed on the side of the batteries is rarely a useful indication of reliable run-time. Much more important is the actual manufacturer. It may be that certain manufacturers, some of which might be from China, are not completely truthful about their products' specifications, or maybe it is something else. It may well be that a 2600 or 3100 mAh 18650 is "better" than a 9800 mAh 18650. How to pick the winners? Don't ask me, the "customer reviews" seem to come from the same sources as the batteries themselves. Such is the nature of product competition in our times.

I get lots of email ads from Fenix, Olight, etc. and from those, it looks like the higher-end lights are moving from 18650 powered to 21700 powered, slightly thicker and longer for the additional 15% (or so) greater capacity.

quote:

not sure if Fenix lights will charge non proprietary batteries inside the light or not, you may or may not have to pull it out and charge it externally.

Most of my Fenix lights pre-date self-contained charging, but the ones that do (e.g the TK35UE) don't seem to have any problem charging any vendor's batteries.

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
I've found that the amp hours printed on the side of the batteries is rarely a useful indication of reliable run-time. Much more important is the actual manufacturer. It may be that certain manufacturers, some of which might be from China, are not completely truthful about their products' specifications, or maybe it is something else. It may well be that a 2600 or 3100 mAh 18650 is "better" than a 9800 mAh 18650. How to pick the winners? Don't ask me, the "customer reviews" seem to come from the same sources as the batteries themselves. Such is the nature of product competition in our times.

I get lots of email ads from Fenix, Olight, etc. and from those, it looks like the higher-end lights are moving from 18650 powered to 21700 powered, slightly thicker and longer for the additional 15% (or so) greater capacity.

quote:

not sure if Fenix lights will charge non proprietary batteries inside the light or not, you may or may not have to pull it out and charge it externally.

Most of my Fenix lights pre-date self-contained charging, but the ones that do (e.g the TK35UE) don't seem to have any problem charging any vendor's batteries.

Haha, my Fenixes, including my TK35UE predate internal charging too! The had a real winner with that one. It sounds like mine is a generation or two older than yours, but it's still one of my favorite lights, and I've probably bought 20-30 lights since then.

You do have to be careful buying batteries, there is a huge market for fake batteries out there in addition to the blatantly fake products from disreputable manufacturers. In the US we have a number of reputable options however.

liionwholesale.com and illumn.com are both reliable dealers for genuine cells.

This is a good vendor with a good selection.

https://www.batteryjunction.co...protectedbattery=Yes

quote:

Originally posted by bubbatime:
This is a good vendor with a good selection.

https://www.batteryjunction.co...protectedbattery=Yes

Battery Junction is solid.

Battery Junction is good, but finding things in stock has been tough. I'm still waiting for Murata VC7's.

Thanks for information gents. I am finding answers to my
questions at the links provided. Incredible array
Of product choices.