What happend to my bulb?

This is from my Surefire A2 Aviator
all of the sudden, the light output has diminished by A LOT
and the bulb now has this blue crap in it
the bulb still lights up, but maybe less than half as bright
the bulb has maybe 23 hours on it
what is the life expectancy of these bulbs?

I can't say whether it is normal or not, but it certainly doesn't. As for lifespan of the bulbs, I keep hearing the lifespan of a Surefire bulb is between 25 to 30 hours. Hope this helps.

that light will blow if you try to turn it on again, same thing happened to my headlight on my car, it dimed by like 75% and when i tried to turn it on again it blew up, and no i didnt touch the bulb with my fingers, i always use gloves when handling automotive halogen bulbs

my A2 bulb looks just like that but after only maybe 20 mins of total run time - I got it a week ago. At $25 a pop to replace it and mine being new I'm going to insist SF replace it

23 hours runtime you say?
The bulb looks pretty dead to me as well
it should have a clear look to it with only the top frosting translucent
Surefire Ma02 pic Here
I wouldn't risk another run in your light in case it explodes taking the reflector with it.

This is what happens when a bulb leaks.
Stop using the bulb.
This is a defect and I believe SureFire will send you a replacement. Please call them and explain.

Even if the lifespan of the bulb is only 25 hours this is not how they should age.
In my experience the MA02 is the most stable and long-lived lamp.

Now you see why I mostly prefer only Luxeon LED's. Sure, the 5w models still need heat sinks, but the bulbs themselves generate no discernable heat.

Haven't seen a bulb burn like that in a LONG time. Just plain dangerous.

There's no danger - the bulb is behind a tempered Pyrex window. If it were to explode the window would easily contain it.

Defective bulb, got some oxygen in there somehow and burned up. I'd say ask surefire for a replacement but lately I'm not having much of a warm fuzzy feel for SF's customer service (see many other threads about this).

Hopefully now that the holiday crush is easing off things will get better.

I called SF this morning about my A2 bulb which looks just like this one, but after only about 10 minutes of use (the A2 was 1 of my xmas lights and new). I also had 2 clicky tailcap issues where they stuck - and these were on virtually new lights (a E2L and my U2). It took 60 seconds and the SF rep said they'd send repalcements out for all 3. I offered to give proof, send bulb back etc, and he said it wasnt needed. Guy was curteous and efficient and no hassles. So if they are sent out in a reasonable time I'd say my 1st expereince with SF CS will be very positive.

Its good to get positive experiences with customer service. Good luck with the new lamp.

surefire has emailed me back, and said they will be sending me a new bulb