Newbie - SF123A Questions.

I had just been using my Surefire G2 fitted with 2 Surefire batteries and P60 lamp.

It was on for roughly 15/20 mins, and when I came to switch it off it was probably down to about 70% as bright (maybe less) as it was when the batteries were new. Thinking there was still plenty of power left I came to use it again and the batteries were completely flat. Not so good if needed in an emergency.

Previously, another (my wife's) G2's batteries gradually run down so there was plenty of forewarning that they needed changing.

Is it normal for this type of battery to go without any real sign of running down?

And - this is in reference to my 6P; which is kept handy but hardly used - do these batteries suffer from being in the flashlight for long periods?



Happy New Year.

You are using the SF123as that came inside your flashlight right? I can't say for sure whether they are absolutely brand new, but those that came with my Z2 also seem to run out faster than advertised and tested specs.

But 15-20 mins sounds really bad. Was your light NIB (new-in-box) and totally sealed? Or just sitting in an easily opened box? It could have been used as a test model at the vendor's.

Lithiums discharge when unused is supposed to be very slow and your 6P should be good to go anytime. Do get a multimeter/voltmeter/battery meter; it'll help answer a lot of questions There should be signs of dimming and it shouldn't die like that since its not a regulated light.

Not normal at all. Your G2 should give you about an hour of decent brightness. Being an unregulated light, it will begin to decline in output from minute one. It is also not he best thing for a high performance lamp to run on very low voltage. When it gets yellow and dim, time to change the batteries.

If your light is in good working order and the contacts are not dirty, assume you had one weak cell in your set. This is not too uncommon.

Keeping lithium cells for a long period in your ready light should present no problems. I just watch the dates and try to use my oldest cells first.

Mark

SF 123 cells had a reputation for dying between uses well before they'd normally be depleted. This was my very first lithium experience 2.5 years ago and happened two more times - only with SureFire cells.

Thanks for the response.
I wasn't using it for the first time, sorry for giving that impression. The G2 was used for a couple of very short periods during the previous two weeks. The batteries were the ones that came with it, and had no visible signs of use (the base usually marks up)

I'll probably still continue using SF123A's though as they seem good value for money. Unless anyone can recommend ?

AmondoTech sells "Titanium" 123As that I have started using, and I haven't had that problem yet. $1 each.

I believe that one set of SF123As also flatlined on me in my G2, but it was after I had used them for a reasonably long amount of time, so I didn't mind. It was kind of odd though, because I didn't expect it either. I wonder what the problem with SF's 123As are, and why they haven't corrected it yet?

My first SF incan came with 2 CR123s SF. The supposedly new cells only ran 20 minutes on box stock P60.

Well I have had my Surefire U2 for about 10 months now and still on the set of batteries it came with. So I guess I am impressed with the SF123A's so far.

Cheers,
Tim

Is it just me or has the surefire batteries gone up in price. 21.00 for 12 batteries from the surefire website?

it just went up 6 dollars per box. Another reason to go rechargable these days...

You post is almost characteristic of the P61 lamp. With the P60, I can usually get close to an hour of runtime. The P60 will usually get very dim a minute or two before it completely goes dark. But what is strange is sometimes it will be bright one minute, then I will come back a few minutes later and use it and it won't even turn on. I have found that it varies from every pair of batteries. The P61 generally never gets dim, it almost always just shuts off completely or fails to fire when the batteries are depleted.

For a cheaper solution to the SF batteries (and if rechargeables aren't your thing yet), try Ebay. I really like the Panasonics I get from this seller:

http://cgi.ebay.com/10-x-Panasonic-CR123A-CR123-LITHIUM-Photo-New-BATTERY_W0QQitemZ7577549677QQcategoryZ43447QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

$11.99 shipped for 10.