Don't buy rechargeable CR123A batteries for SF-24D Flash

[wlaidlaw]

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Don't make the mistake like I did, of buying rechargeable CR123A batteries to replace the standard (and quite expensive and/or in far flung places, difficult to find) non-rechargeable CR123A  batteries. I bought good quality protected Nitecore batteries, as I have had previous experience of 18650 non-protected lithium cells over-discharging and being throw away jobs. Many of the cheaper brand lithium batteries (XxxxxFxre) are often recycled cells out of scrapped laptop batteries and are notorious for failing or even exploding. Anyway the Nitecore batteries don't work in the SF-24D. I have checked with a meter on the contacts and the voltage is 8.4V, so they do connect. The flash's LCD screen gives a brief flicker but does not light up properly. I suspect the voltage is over the maximum permitted. I will leave them for a few weeks to allow the voltage to drift down a bit, to see if there is another inherent problem. 

 

Wilson

Edited November 26, 2015 by wlaidlaw

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[Manoleica]

I purchased 10xPanasonic CR123A batteries/$18 inc shipping.. 

[pico]

I suspect the voltage is over the maximum permitted.

 

 

That is an eye opener. I'm going to test my stock now. Thanks!

[kanzlr]

Maybe it is just luck, but I use rechargeables in my SF-20 and it works fine.

[jaapv]

Don't make the mistake like I did, of buying rechargeable CR123A batteries to replace the standard (and quite expensive and/or in far flung places, difficult to find) non-rechargeable CR123A  batteries. I bought good quality protected Nitecore batteries, as I have had previous experience of 18650 non-protected lithium cells over-discharging and being throw away jobs. Many of the cheaper brand lithium batteries (XxxxxFxre) are often recycled cells out of scrapped laptop batteries and are notorious for failing or even exploding. Anyway the Nitecore batteries don't work in the SF-24D. I have checked with a meter on the contacts and the voltage is 8.4V, so they do connect. The flash's LCD screen gives a brief flicker but does not light up properly. I suspect the voltage is over the maximum permitted. I will leave them for a few weeks to allow the voltage to drift down a bit, to see if there is another inherent problem. 

 

Wilson

The same here.I even stupidly scrapped an SF24D because I thought it was broken    but later realized it must have been the rechargeable batteries..

[wlaidlaw]

Maybe it is just luck, but I use rechargeables in my SF-20 and it works fine.

I am wondering if I have scuppered myself by buying really good quality (and expensive) lithium rechargeable CR123As. The Nitecore cells were within .01V of each other at 4.20 and 4.19V but testing a nearly new non-rechargeable CR123A, it was only 3.2V. They also have higher internal resistance than the rechargeable ones, so the effective voltage in discharge will be even lower than that. 

 

We now use 18650 lithium cells in quite a few torches and bicycle lights in both UK and French houses. I am gradually replacing the cheap unprotected UxxxxFxre lithium batteries, that came with the torches, as they die. I am replacing them with over-discharge protected Panasonic or Nitecore. The stated capacity on the cheap cells is total fiction, with real capacity often being a fraction of that. I would estimate that I get about four times as long life with the Panasonic 3400 mAH cells in a Cree 8000 lumen torch, as I do with the cheap 5000 mAH cells. The fully charged voltage of the cheap batteries is also all over the place from as low as 3.7V up to a circuit frying 4.6V.

 

This is all a very good argument for never buying anything except OEM batteries for any camera from a reputable source. Your well being or that of your camera is not anywhere on the priority list of these back street shops churning out these fake batteries. 

 

Wilson

[wlaidlaw]

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I purchased 10xPanasonic CR123A batteries/$18 inc shipping.. 

Some airlines will not now allow you to have loose non-rechargeable lithium batteries in your luggage (El Al for one). Branded Leica camera batteries were apparently OK. I always carry a torch when I am travelling, after having struggled to get out of a hotel in Lyon in the middle of the night some years ago, which had a fire in the basement, cutting off all the electricity. The man in the next door room luckily had a torch. El Al were not keen on the small Maglite torch in my hand luggage, but let me keep it with a fair bit of grumbling, after I explained that with my arthritis, I am a slow moving vehicle. However, they removed the spare lithium non-rechargeable AA batteries, which were still in their Energiser wrapper (and I suspect put them in their pocket). 

 

Wilson

Edited November 27, 2015 by wlaidlaw