This above in bold is worth noting and repeating.

OP states that he wants to recharge CR123 sized cells for NV or thermal.

I'd probably stay far away from rechargeable RCR123 and 16340s for expensive stuff like that. Just go buy CR123 disposable batteries in bulk from BatteryStation or whatever.  IIRC, they're OEM'ed alongside Panasonic brand CR123's.

Also, the charge capacity of RCR123 and 16340 batteries sucks, big time.

A disposable Lithium primary CR123 battery has about 1550 to 2000 mAh of capacity.

A LiFePO4 RCR123 has anywhere from 500-700 mAh of capacity. That's only 1/3rd to 1/2 the capacity of a Lithium primary disposable CR123. And the RCR123 has a self-discharge rate just sitting there unused too. About 5% from full in the first day, then maybe 2-5% per month after that. Give or take a bit towards the higher side if it's got a thermal protection bi-metal safety cutout in it.

A LiOn 16340 battery is a tad better at 600-800 mAh capacity, but has similar self-discharge as the RCR123.

And again, the RCR123 and 16340 have higher voltage at full charge than a disposable CR123. Especially if they're stacked in series in the intended device.

The main reason the capacity in the rechargeable batteries in 16x34mm "123"-sized format is so lousy vs. Lithium primary disposable is that LiOn and LiFePO4 has sweet spots for the size and internal surface area of the anode, cathode, and electrolyte that's rolled up in the cell. They work awesome in the larger 18650 cells.

Have had good luck with the Tenergy rechargeables in NODs and thermals.

I'd run an Anker battery pack for longer run times. They can be recharged easily in the field also. Shoot me an email and I'll send you a quick how to DIY a power pack versus paying $200. for the same thing with someone's name on it.


And thank you for your business! Much appreciated!

@C-4

There's some good points about those Surefire branded batteries in your link. It clearly states that they have protection, which means there's a bi-metal thermal cutout switch in there that will flip/pop if it gets too hot. And I'm sure they're OEM'ed by some top-shelf maker too.

But that 450mAh capacity is tiny. Compared to the 1500-2500mAh that a CR123 disposable can produce. I chalk it up to an abundance of honesty on Surefire's part, and perhaps being overly conservative in the stated
specs. Possibly because of the institutional LE or .mil users that may have standardized on Surefire products.

I'm not an NV expert by any means. I've done some home-built stuff with surplus Gen 1 cascade tubes. But for the sake of disclosure/honesty, I don't own any modern Gen 3 or thermal.

Trying to do a little math here. A PVS14 draws about 40mA at 1.5V. I know the PVS14 mainly take AA's but there's some 3V CR123 units too.

So at 450mAh, assuming that's actually correct, that Surefire would last about 11 hours. Somewhat less in practice, because the voltage will fall below what the PVS14 power supply will accept, and the safe minimum discharge threshold for the battery, so maybe more like 9 hours.

LiFePO4 can do a theoretical 100% discharge, but that's going to shorten the battery life. Surefire and BatteryJunction say they're good for 500 cycles, but no details on what the current draw and discharge limit was. Almost certainly not 100%.

Either way, in a PVS14 with a CR123 battery compartment, it'll last you all night, except maybe the winter solstice above the Arctic Circle.

Thermal I guess will vary more widely, as the different models will all have different electronics, and different cores that have different current draw. Plus other features like video out, recording, memory, and processing for on-screen displays and menus even.

So I chose a FLIR Breach PTQ136 semi-randomly, just as an example. Because it uses a CR123 battery, and it's a helmet mount monocular, figuring "people like us" want that or a weapon mounted clip-on, or a complete sight, as opposed to a handheld only like a FLIR Scion or whatnot. And I chose it because it's on the 'affordable" end for thermal at under $3000.

The rated specs from FLIR say a single CR123 runs it for 90 minutes, so it must be drawing around the 1500mA/1.5A max a CR123 can generally handle. And assuming a 2000mAh capacity that a top shelf disposable CR123 ought to have.

That 450mAh Surefire rechargeable would run the Flir Breach for maybe... 15 minutes.  

Then there's still the issue if your NV, Thermal, or LED flashlight's power supply or regulator will handle the additional heat dissipation, or fry outright from the max 4.2V a RCR123 or 16340 cell will have at full charge. If it's a device that uses two in series, expecting 6V, two rechargeable RCR123's when full is giving it 8.4V.

Honestly, I just can't recommend any RCR123/16340 rechargeable batteries for any gear that costs thousands of dollars.

What I can say is what to avoid.  TrustFire brand. Absolute Chinese shitshow. And to be skeptical of anyone claiming their RCR123/16340 batteries have over 700mAh in capacity. They're lying, or blindly parroting the Chinese specs or what's printed on the battery's label, and "don't want to know". If the battery actually has that capacity, it's dangerous to your device at best, and to your hand or body at worst.

All great theory and understand I'm not trying to be an a-hole with this-

Breach -and most thermals- eat the living crap out of CR123s. We have literally told people NOT to buy Breaches IF their only plan is to run them off CR123s. Why? 1. Off spec batteries, every chinwachoo brand battery and even some of the "better" batteries can be just a little off spec in size. The Breach doesn't like that and you will see people reporting that they turn off "when looking straight up or down." In other words the battery has some movement and it looses contact.

Don't buy a Breach unless you plan to run it off an Anker battery setup, seriously, you'll just be one complaining about them if you don't.

PVS14s will run off of rechargeables, have done so many times, BNVD's (also AA) also without any issue. Katanas (CR123) without any issues.

Biggest thing with these devices is no matter what type of battery, get in the habit of taking it out of the unit EVERY TIME YOUR DONE. Battery can't go to crap and mess up your device if it's NOT IN THERE!
And literally not a month goes by that we don't get a call from (mostly preppers who don't actually train with their stuff much) a customer that left a battery in his NODs/Thermal, etc. forgot about it in the safe (cause most preppers just stockpile stuff versus using it regularly) and sure enough the battery went to hell in their unit. All that could be avoided by just getting in the habit of removing the battery EVERY TIME.

Had one guy say "you don't know my "operational parameters".  Well to be blunt, anyone over the age of about 4 knows when it's starting to get DARK and since it only takes about 5 seconds to put a battery in a NOD, it isn't unreasonable to have an SOP that after dawn breaks batteries are removed from NODs and as you prep for nightfall they are put in.

Also cuts down on the stupid stuff like someone leaving the NOD on facing a bright kitchen light BURNING that image into the tube.

The reason you hear a lot of "no rechargeables" in NODs and thermals is really just companies worrying about warranty issues due to that.

Received and replied, thanks again.