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Rechargeable CR123 Batteries: What to Know Before You Buy a Lithium-Ion Battery

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A CR123 rechargeable battery is a lithium-ion battery commonly used in battery-draining devices like computers, digital cameras, ice cream machines, personal air filters, and memory backup devices. When your device sucks battery power like nobody's business, a lithium ion rechargeable CR123 battery may be the answer. These batteries are low maintenance and as long as you take proper safety measures and get a quality product, you can enjoy the benefits of a quality rechargeable CR123 battery that can last up to 10 years.

Safety Warnings

If you're not already familiar with CR123 safety considerations, find important information about safety and lithium-Ion batteries. The dangers of very small lithium cell batteries to young children are very real. These batteries can be swallowed and cause death.

Tips About Buying CR123 Batteries

  • Look for these rechargeable batteries under their different names: lithium-ion rechargeable CR123 batteries, rechargeable lithium CR123 batteries, or Li-Ion rechargeable CR123.
  • Don't low-ball when buying these types of batteries. For safety reasons, with all lithium-Ion batteries, quality counts. Choose a brand that's trusted rather than a cheap import. These batteries can be fragile and need an effective protection circuit, and they are subject to aging. For all devices but laptops especially, use only kits approved by the manufacturer.
  • An advantage of rechargable CR123 batteries over other rechargeable cells is less capacity loss. Rechargeable CR123 batteries last longer than alkaline batteries and have better capacity.
  • Charge the battery often for best results.
  • There are extremely serious potential safety risks with Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) batteries. Be an informed consumer if and when you use them - especially with children. See the sidebar for resources on battery safety.
  • All lithium-Ion batteries, not just the CR123 battery, may have transportation restrictions when you try to ship them. Contact your shipping company for details.

Read the Reviews--The Quality Varies

Before you buy, check out the product reviews. The quality varies, though with user reviews, it's hard to tell whether the problem is user knowledge or a problem with the batteries themselves.

For example, the negative reviews at Amazon.com of the Ultralast CR123 Photo NiMH Rechargeable Battery Kit UL-CR123RK revealed that many users who reviewed the charger pack were disappointed in the product's quality.

On the other hand, the Hitech Rechargeable CR123A Li-ion Batteries and Charger Set got a good review by one user reviewer at Amazon.com.

The Radio Shack product, 700mAh CR123 Li-Ion Battery Charger that comes with 2 Li-Ion batteries, has mixed reviews.  Some people were very disappointed and others were happy, depending on how familiar they are with the use and features.

The lesson to be learned from the mixed reviews on rechargeable cr123 batteries may be to make sure the batteries work with your particular device.  Be sure to get help from the retailer about how to use them.  And don't forget to verify that the battery store has a good return policy.

Resources for Rechargeable CR123 Batteries

To help you choose a battery, you can read discussions on these batteries on the following forums:

  • Survivalist Boards
  • Flickr: Yes, there's really a discussion about cr123 rechargeable batteries here, since the batteries are used in digital cameras.
  • Check out this Photo.net discussion of rechargeable cr123 lithium-ion batteries for digital cameras.
  • And here's another CR-123 Battery discussion at CandlePower Forums.

Read the author's disclosure statement about compensation for this article.

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