New guy with Surefire questions

Hello all I just joined the CPF today. I was recommended to the Forum by a good friend of mine on the Spyderco knife forum ( hence the name JD Spydo). I have been tinkering with some flashlights for about a year now and I guess I know enough to be really dangerous . I have 6 Surefire flashlights total and I know there is a lot to know about them. My 2 favorites are my rechargables: i.e. the 9an and the L7. I also have an extreme fondness for the E2d defender.

I guess for right now I just want to get started and learn about some of the flashlights I got. The rechargable batteries on these 2 units just don't seem to last as long as they should. Also I would like to know some sources for some possible better quality batteries for my rechargables as well as my other flashlights? Maybe you all could give me some hints as to how to remedy that. I look forward to a good time here on this Forum and hope to get to know a lot you.

Hello, welcome to CPF. What kind of run times are you getting with those lights? For the L7, surefire says 1 hour high output, then 1.5 hours useful output and for the 9an they say 2 hours on low and 40 minutes on high. How old are these lights?

Welcome to CPF!

I would start with the B90 battery stick charger: Does the green light ever blink once the charging is completed?

I suspect that if the charger is the latest model you should call SureFire, explain what you're experiencing because they may conclude to replace your B90 battery sticks.

Best regards,
Al

Size15's said:

Welcome to CPF!

I would start with the B90 battery stick charger: Does the green light ever blink once the charging is completed?

I suspect that if the charger is the latest model you should call SureFire, explain what you're experiencing because they may conclude to replace your B90 battery sticks.

Best regards,
Al

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Yes AL my charger blinks green signaling when the B90 Battery Stick is supposed to be fully charged. I am doing good to get close to a half an hour on the high beam on my 9an and more like 22 to 24 minutes realisitcally. I have no idea what kind of time I get on the low beam because I have only used it 2 or 3 times. I might just go ahead and talk to the TECH department at Surefire.

Another funny thing about the 9an>> the first one I got constantly blew out replacement lamp assemblies. Surefire just simply sent me a new unit after I sent it back to them. I have had my 9an a little over a year and I have had my L7 for about 4 months now. So far I have had no problems with the L7. I am a little peeved that it didn't have a high/low beam selection like my 9an did for the $$ I paid for it. Thanks for the welcome guys I look forward to learning a bunch on this Forum. JD Spydo

Aaron1100us said:

Hello, welcome to CPF. What kind of run times are you getting with those lights? For the L7, surefire says 1 hour high output, then 1.5 hours useful output and for the 9an they say 2 hours on low and 40 minutes on high. How old are these lights?

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Hello Aaron: Nice to make your aquaintance. Like I just told "Size 15" I get maybe anywhere from 22 to 30 minutes total run time on my Surefire 9an which I feel is not right with all the $$ I paid for the 9an. I get easily over an hour of run time with my L7. The 9an is a little over a year old and the L7 is about 4 months old. I do like the rechargable aspect of the 2 lights

I also have a Surefire 6p with the 3 battery extension kit you can buy extra for it which makes it a 200 lumen light. It really comes in handy at times. I also have a couple of E2d Surefire defenders as well. I have another 6p that only uses 2 123A batteries and operates at 65 lumens. So far I am impressed with the Surefire quality. If there are better lights out there I sure want to learn about them. I do believe that good flashlights will be worth their weight in platinum when time do get economically hard or GOD forbid a natural disaster. Look forward to learning about this game. JD

Welcome JD Spydo,
Have you tried one of the L7 b90's in your 9an?
Maybe it is a bad b90.
If you still get poor run times,you should call Surefire.
They will take care of you.

The 9AN's runtime shouldn't be that short... That is not my experience.
Perhaps it is those B90's.

Hello JD,

You may find this thread interesting...

I find myself agreeing with Al. It sounds like your battery packs are not performing up to their rated capacity.

Tom

Size15's said:

The 9AN's runtime shouldn't be that short... That is not my experience.
Perhaps it is those B90's.

Click to expand...

Yeah Al & Silverfox I do tend to agree with you guys which is why I raised the issue to begin with. And Yes I have tried the newer B-90 batteries I got in the L7 package in the 9an and there just wasn't much difference. Which makes me also wonder if the 9an itself doesn't have a problem as of such to where it is putting too much of a drain on the batteries for some unbeknownst reason.

Also I am wondering too if you guys know of an aftermarket company who might make a better B90 than what I can get from Surefire. Albeit I certainly can't find much fault with Surefire's 123A batteries. I have only encountered one other 123A battery that was significantly better than theirs. I had some Duracell 123A batteries given to me by a friend who used them in a camera. I did indeed notice a significant difference between those 2 brands. But when I went to the camera store where he had purchased those I found out that they were $12 for 2 of them I know I got a lot to learn guys so bear with me. I do plan on playing with and experimenting with some more flashlights. I have a question to ask you guys/gals>> Other than Surefire could you all recommend a flashlight whose quality might be comparable or even better than Surefire? I have heard that INOVA makes a pretty good one. OK I know to start a 1000 mile journey I need to take the first step

Here is an idea that I am going to pursue myself:

First of all I dont have a "tactical" flashlight, but I am looking at 2 lights and one of them is the SF 6P with the KL5 upgrade. I dont want to buy half a dozen CR123A batteries just so it would only last 3 hours, SO Heres MY plan:

I googled the words "CR123A, rechargable" and found about 3 sites which sold cr123a rechargable batteries, and a rapid recharger. What I want to do, is buy 6 cr123a rechargable batteries, then a single recharger, so that way I can have one pair in my 6p, one pair as a back up, and one pair charging. I like this, cuase if a pair of my rechargable CR123A's break, I can buy 2 new ones to easily replace it.Also This way I dont have to deal with all the b65/B90 batteries, and charger kits and the extra 2.1" that comes with it, AND i can always use standard CR123A batteries if thats all i have to use.... anyways its just an idea

-Taylor

Any of surefires 9v lights with 2x17500 cells would be very similar to a 9an without the secondary lamp though... The b90 is a nimh stick right? I try to use li-ion for everything as they dont loose charge... but nimh are great for everyday use

The stock sticks are nicads. The thread that SilverFox posted is an attempt to get a high capacity nimh stick in it.