Freeze, let me start by answering a question with a question. Lets take the 18650 battery for example. You do know what "18650" means, right?
Not trying to be stupid I just want to make sure you know whats up before you buy a bunch of stuff, Hosts, drop ins, etc, and something goes wrong...
To answer you question directly:
Mister Freeze wrote:OK battery questions. My Sparker came with a single 18650 and an adaptor for 3xAAA batteries. From what I understand, 2xCR123's= 1x18650. Does that also mean 2xcr123=3xAAA? I have several 3xAAA lights (cheapies w/30x conventional LED's); can I put 18650's or CR123's in them?
The reason your Sparker can run on all of that is it has a HUGE voltage range on the driver. Like I have stated before in this post, thats a good and a bad thing. Good because you can use a lot of different stuff, Bad because it uses energy a LOT less efficient.
Mister Freeze wrote:
2xCR123's= 1x18650
no.
CR123s are 3v so 2 of them = 6v
18650s are 3.7v (4.2v when fresh off the charger.
equation simplifie: 6v does not = 3.7v
Mister Freeze wrote:
2xcr123=3xAAA
no.
CR123s are 3v so 2 of them = 6v
3xAAA are 1.5v so 3 of them = 4.5v
Equation simplifie: 6v does not = 4.5v
Another BIG thing you have to understand is this, 18650s have a much less internal resistance than CRs, 16350s and 18350s. This means that you can drive 18650s a lot harder than you can the former without them blowing up. This is another reason I push the use of 18650s so much.
Then take it a step further. Use the red AW IMR cells and they have even a lower internal resistance. This means safer cell.
Freeze, after hearing the new driver plan, It sounds like Wayne is putting a 4.2A driver on it. I would stick with an IMR 18650. You will get higher output than a regular 18650 and it will be safer. IMR is just a different cell chemistry if you are wondering...
Regular 18650:
http://www.oveready.com/batteries-charg ... d_186.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
IMR 18650:
http://www.oveready.com/batteries-charg ... od_47.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;