Picked up a Surefire 9N(not 9AN).

I picked up a used Surefire 9N this weekend at a garage sale for $15 with charger. The only thing wrong with it is the main(high power) lamp assembly is broken but the lower output lamp works just fine. Was this a good pickup? There are just minor dings and the lens is scratched lightly.

How similar is this light to the 9AN Commander? Can the accesories for the 9AN be used with the 9N? Does anybody no where I can find a cheap bulb replacement for this light? Does this light use the N90 LA? Thanks everybody.

A 9N, like this one ? :



Very good bargain !!!

The assembly lamp is the same as the 9AN ! Batteries and charger too...
One difference is that the 9N's battery is rechargeable directly with the light without removing it !!
Mine is brightest than my 9AN, I think it's because the pyrex lens are not so good than the lexan in the 9N

strat1080 said:

I picked up a used Surefire 9N this weekend at a garage sale for $15 with charger. The only thing wrong with it is the main(high power) lamp assembly is broken but the lower output lamp works just fine. Was this a good pickup? There are just minor dings and the lens is scratched lightly.

How similar is this light to the 9AN Commander? Can the accesories for the 9AN be used with the 9N? Does anybody no where I can find a cheap bulb replacement for this light? Does this light use the N90 LA? Thanks everybody.

Click to expand...

FIFTEEN DOLLARS?!?!?!?!? THAT'S AWESOME. Surefire should have the replacement lamps and such for this light and it should be up in not time. EXCELLENT SCORE! I'll defer to Size15s on the accessories for it. It's one of his favorite lights.

That's a steal! You should almost feel bad about getting it for such a low price... in fact, you should give it to me and I'll take care of the ethics.

FrenchyLED, it is just like the one in your picture. I was amazed at the price on this. Apparently the guy who sold it has a daughter that was a police officer and this was her duty light. There is almost no wear on the body itself and it looks like it might have taken a fall that broke the high output bulb. There are just minor dings on the bezel and scratches on the lens.

How well does the charger/battery combo work for this light? It seems to work pretty well and I like the fact that I can just slip the light into the charger without taking out the batteries. I normally have a hard time convincing my wife that I need another light. She was actually insisting on this purchase. I've finally been able to make her understand the difference between a quality high power flashlight with a good beam to a cheap Maglite or other $4 value flashlight. I think that once I have a new lamp assembly and I show her the monstrous 140 lumen output of the lamp assembly she will feel even more confident that we got a steal on this light.

Carrot indeed, I felt almost guilty buying it at such a low price. I figured how can you possibly go wrong buying a rechargable Surefire for $15. Even the charger alone is probably worth that. I guess they kept the price low because they figured that nobody would pay more. Some people just don't know the difference between a Surefire and Minimag I guess.

There are some important differences between the 9N and the 9AN.

The B92 battery stick supplied with the 9N is different to the B90 supplied with the 8 Series rechargeables. The B92 does not have a negative contact at the positive-end of the battery stick like the B90 does. Therefore the B92 can not be used to power the 8 Series rechargeables. But, the B90 can be used to power the 9N and today SureFire uses the B90 for both the 9AN and the 8 Series (8AX/8NX/L7).

So the first difference between the 9N and the 9AN is that because the 9AN uses the B90 battery stick it comes with the CN400 charger. This means the 9AN does not need it's own special charger and therefore the 9AN does not need to have external recharging contacts (the 'silver' rings on the TailCap and Bezel of the 9N)

As a result both the TailCap and bezel of the 9AN are very different to the 9N and not interchangeable.

Both the 9N and 9AN use the N90 Lamp Assembly which features both the main beam and the low output beam bulbs. When the main beam is on, the low output beam is also on.

The bezel combined with the N90 Lamp Assembly forms the "R90" for the 9N and the "R95" for the 9AN. These are not interchangeable as already mentioned.


The 9AN features a tempered Pyrex window with AR (Anti-Reflective) multi-coatings. The 9N features a coated Lexan window. The Pyrex has a higher transmissivity (at least 95% compared to 88%). Tempered (toughened) Pyrex also handles heat well. However, Lexan is very difficult to shatter although it will be easier to scratch.

The 9AN TailCap features SureFire's Patented LockOut design. To disable the 9N you have to unscrew the bezel quite a bit since the 9N's TailCap switch can not be disabled (locked out).

The diameter of the 9N bezel and the 9AN bezel is the same so they both accept the "M3" BeamFilters (FM1x).

The 9AN can accept the Z12 Lanyard Ring on the TailCap-end of the body so you can attach a lanyard (note the Z12 was originally intended for the bezel-end of the standard body such as the 6P).



The 9N accepts the T3 TurboHead featuring the N3 Lamp Assembly.
The 9AN accepts the KT3 TurboHead featuring the N3 Lamp Assembly.
Note the TurboHeads are NOT interchangeable and the beams produced are very different.



Notice that just like the normal TurboHead Lamp Assemblies, the N3 has a longer neck compared to the N90



One other neat thing about the 9N is that you can replace the R90 with an F31 Bezel which has a wide angled beamshaper window. This is rather rare and follows the F21 Bezel (for the standard body 6P etc). I have a photo of it somewhere...


There are a number of different chargers for the 9N - overnight, timed and rapid. However, unless you have a C600 or C800 rapid charger I serious suggest you upgrade to B90 battery sticks and a CN400 charger directly from SureFire (or a Dealer with new stock).

Anyway, that's about it for now! I hope it helps?

Al

Thanks for your help everybody. I called Surefire this morning and they said that if I send the light in, they will replace the lens free of charge. How is that for customer service. Now the only other wrong with this light will be taken care of. That is awesome. The rest of the body looks almost brand new. Now I'm really thinking I got one heck of a deal on this light. Apparently all of the 9AN accesories are compatible with the 9N except for the Turbohead from what I gathered from Surefire. Another quick question. Is it normal for the tailcaps to be pretty stiff on this model for momentary use? Is there a fix for this? Thanks everybody.

The light did come with a B90 battery so it should be compatible with the more modern Surefire chargers.

strat1080 said:

Thanks for your help everybody. I called Surefire this morning and they said that if I send the light in, they will replace the lens free of charge. How is that for customer service. Now the only other wrong with this light will be taken care of. That is awesome. The rest of the body looks almost brand new. Now I'm really thinking I got one heck of a deal on this light. Apparently all of the 9AN accesories are compatible with the 9N except for the Turbohead from what I gathered from Surefire. Another quick question. Is it normal for the tailcaps to be pretty stiff on this model for momentary use? Is there a fix for this? Thanks everybody.

The light did come with a B90 battery so it should be compatible with the more modern Surefire chargers.

Click to expand...

The stiff tailcap is probably from lack of use. When you send the light to Surefire, tell them about it and they'll probably swap in a new one.

Dude, again, GREAT SCORE!

The 9N TailCap like the bezel is rather complicated. There are two spring contacts and it likely needs to be used a bit (also, you'll get used to it as well)

Thanks for the responses everyone. Is it possible to mod this light to accept an X80 bulb assembly? I've found it to be cheaper and easier to find than the N90. I know the bezel on the 8AX is a little bit smaller. Is this possible? Once I have the high output lamp in place I probably won't use the low outpu lamp much. I'm going for a lot of light but I also want to use a diffuser for close range tasks. I think it would be a useful light to simply always have the head screwed down and have the same beam but use a diffuser for close range stuff. What does everyone think about this?

About the tailcap. Would spraying some lubricant into the assembly help it out?

strat1080 said:

Thanks for the responses everyone. Is it possible to mod this light to accept an X80 bulb assembly? I've found it to be cheaper and easier to find than the N90. I know the bezel on the 8AX is a little bit smaller. Is this possible?

Click to expand...

Short answer: No. Not all.

Long answer: You could perhaps machine a hole through the back of the bezel and widen it as required to fit an X80 in the process removing much of the existing reflector. And if it was the right length inside have the X80 lamp assembly function when the bezel is screwed into the body, I suspect the X80 reflector would be in direct contact with the inside of the window. In the 9N this is Lexan would become damaged by the heat pretty much within a minute or some I suspect.

IMHO: To even consider this takes a mind like a crazy person.

You're absolutely right Size15s. I had completely forgotten how the bezel is made for the 9N and 9AN. It is a metal piece that the lamp assembly screws onto and you simply pop the bulbs through the holes formed in the reflector. Bear with me as I have yet to experience the high beam setting as I'm waiting for it to come in. I haven't been extremely pleased with the low beam setting as the extra hole in the reflector makes for some extra artifacts. Is the high beam setting on this light pretty satisfying? How does the quality of the beam compare to other Surefires? Sorry for all of the questions about this light. I'm just really anxious to get the new assembly and am trying to get an idea of what to expect. Thanks everybody.

The low beam of the N90 & N3 Lamp Assemblies serves the purpose for illuminating paperwork without blinding the reader as well for other applications for which low output is more ideal. The A2's LEDs serve the same purpose. A 'perfect' beam is not required for the low beam although it can be desired.
SureFire pioneered the 'perfect' beam so that the target 'person' is illuminated such that when the centre of the beam is directed into the face, the surround beam cleanly illuminates the target's hands and body and so the surrounding area is also illuminated to the extent that the operator remains aware of the environment. When beams are too intense and the surround beams are too weak the ability of the flashlight to be an effective tool reduced. SureFire's beams are no accident.

The main beam of the N90 & N3 Lamp Assemblies is like the A2 and 10X to a certain extent affected by the interference of the low beam lamps/LEDs. However, the 9N and 9AN beams are perhaps least troubled by this.
The N90 produces an extremely solid and powerful beam - large rather than intense because it is designed to best illuminate targets within the range LEO's typically encounter at 'traffic stops' and other confrontational situations. Note that I'm not a LEO or similar and have no experience of the situations for which the 9N et al are designed for.

I much prefer the N90 beam to the X80 beam although to my eyes the very small centre of the X80 tends to be more intense - the larger beam of the N90 is more useful. I am sure you will not be disappointed.

Al

Al,

Where did you get that "glow device" you have connected to your 9AN lanyard ring?
Is it tritium?

THANKS!

Don

TENNlumens said:

Al,

Where did you get that "glow device" you have connected to your 9AN lanyard ring?
Is it tritium?

THANKS!

Don

Click to expand...

Yep. It's a very old version of the GlowRing which is Tritium. I still prefer them to the current version. I got it when I ordered 200 (I think it was 200, could have been more) to give away to family and friends. That was years ago and the company no longer exists.

Al

All of the replies have been very informative. Size15s thank you for your input. Your knowledge has been very helpful. How would the throw of the N90 high beam compare to other Surefire lights? Is it similar to a P90 or more like a P60 but with a bigger spill beam? With 140 lumens I suspect it lights up a pretty good area.

the N90 beam appears fuller and more solid compared to the P60 or P90 which I guess is due to the output being greater but the reflector being larger too.

These lights had an inherent flaw in the switch. Notice the black plastic ring in the pic above.

These rings become brittle and break. Usually this break doesn't effect the operation, but may cause the extremely stiff switch your experiencing.

I have three 9N's and they all have a broken ring.

--dan

Size15's said:

Yep. It's a very old version of the GlowRing which is Tritium. I still prefer them to the current version. I got it when I ordered 200 (I think it was 200, could have been more) to give away to family and friends. That was years ago and the company no longer exists.

Al

Click to expand...

I think it's a great idea!
Too bad they are not available anymore...

Re: Picked up a Surefire 9N(not 9AN)UPDATED.

Alright guys so I finally got around to picking up a N90 bulb and put it in. I fired it up and I think I got a dud bulb because it just wasn't very bright. It had a very yellow orange tint. After it ran for a few minutes on high, I took out the LA to check it out. I noticed that the glass was beginning to turn milky white with some brownish stains. Another thing I noticed is that I knew my N90 was going to come in today so I made sure to have a fresh charge. After just a couple of minutes the battery was at about 3.8V. I'm not sure what the heck is going on. I've seen yellowish and orange beams but this yellow was a weird tint that I've never seen on an incand. lamp before. Its almost as if their was a chemical reaction or something.

I called Surefire and they said that are sending me a replacement battery as well as lamp assembly. That is awfully nice of them. They said I should see it by the end of next week. Anybody have any ideas what might be going on? I did a ceiling bounce test in a dark bathroom and the high power lamp on the 9N is either just as bright as my 2D Maglite with stock bulb or possibly marginally brighter. Since its supposed to be 10x as bright I would think the difference would have been much more drastic. I'll see if Surefire's replacements fix the problem I guess.