faint flickering in the spillbeam of my A2, normal?

Ever since i've owned it, my A2 has had a very faint, almost unnoticeable flicker in the periphery of the incan spillbeam, right near the edge

I've performed a few experiments to narrow down the cause of the flicker....
the batteries aren't an issue, i've tried cells anywhere from 100% to 40% charge, no difference, i've tried pulling the LED ring and running just the incan to identify what's flickering, it's the incan, it happens on two different bulbs, the stock bulb and a replacement

The hotspot and main spillbeam show no signs of flicker, very solid, it's just the very outermost ring that shows the flicker, it's also random, sometimes it shows, sometimes not, it was less apparent with the replacement bulb

it's only visible when WWH'ing or WCH'ing, unnoticeable in normal use, just wondering if this is normal

strangely enough, the stock bulb has a lot of artifacts, when i tried my replacement bulb, it was almost totally artifact-free, very bizzare

i know that the LVR in the A2 uses PWM, so i'd assume the flicker in the periphery is normal, correct?

I've examined the "spillbeam of my A2" to see any flickering, but if there is, it goes unnoticed by me. The only flickering I experienced to date happpened two nights ago. It was with the LEDs blinking for but a moment, about 10 seconds. I did a quickie in removing and reinstalling same batteries, and it worked fine. Other than that, I don't know what happened.

The flickering does sound like it is from the LVR. Maybe it is not set to the right frequency? I have three A2's and have never noticed any flickering from the incandescent.

Greetings!

I have seven A2's, and two of them have been my EDC lights for almost a month. I've played with all seven of them in my house, backyard and around my neighborhood... and haven't noticed any flickering on any of them - hotspot or spillbeam. I also had a Red A2 for most of last year before I sold it, I never noticed any flickering on that one either.

Best wishes,
Bawko

What I believe is happening is caused by the way our eyesight has adapted. We have evolved to be more sensitive to movement in our peripheral vision than our centre field of view as a survival adaptation. You are probably noticing a flickering in the spill caused by the PWM but it is disappearing when you look directly at it.

I haven't noticed any flickering in any of my A2s. You say you've tried yours with 2 bulbs and it flickers with both? Try it out on a few friends and see if they notice it. If even the most picky of them can't see it, then it is probably as UTWM says above. But if other people can also see it and you are unhappy with it, I suggest you contact Surefire.

Let me clarify here....

when i say "flickering" i'm not talking the normal on-off-on-off flicker, it's more like the filament is "vibrating", the rings in the outermost spillbeam appear to move left to right a few microns

this happens even when the light is resting on a flat, stable surface, as i've said before, it's unnoticeable in normal use, i called SureFire CS and they said it didn't sound normal but *could* be the PWM....

this sounds feasable as i do notice the flicker in my Fenix L0P SE on low and medium

of course, when i was on the phone with SF, it didn't do it at all, the flicker is intermittent, the light is as bright as the day i got it, the bulb shows no signs of blackening, i'm assuming it's normal and i'm just more sensitive than normal to PWM, i can see it on both my L0P and my Photon Freedoms when dimmed

I've even held the A2 up in front of my digicam to try and get the "flicker" to show up on video, digicams are great for showing PWM flickering, it's solid on the digicam

the flicker doesn't bother me as it's unnoticeable during normal use, i'll just use it as normal and if the light fails, i'll send it in for repair/replacement, it's so faint and intermittent that i'm not even sure the problem exists.....

I think you may possibly have a rare and unfortunate ocular complaint which afflicts only a tiny number of A2 owners (in fact you are the first person ever to get it, AFAIK).

Happily this condition, although annoying, is by no means serious. It is also totally reversible. You just need to stop using your A2. In fact it is highly recommended that you get rid of it immediately.

If you were to twist my arm, I might just be prepared to take it off your hands for a modest consideration, otherwise there's a certain pesky BIRD around here somewhere who I have no doubt would be happy to assist.

Nice try, DM, but no, you and Chicken will have to find some *other* way to corner the market on A2's....

.....i think Spyder Tactical Supply still has a few left, and with their 30% CPF discount, what are you waiting for?....

If it's more of a vibration rather than a flicker, then maybe it's you. Maybe you have some shaky eye syndrome. It *could* be the PWM and you wouldn't notice it on your Fenix light because not all PWM drivers are operating in the visible frequency, what I mean is the on-off-on cycle is way faster than your eye can see. Maybe you got a defect light.

Has anyone done testing on filaments driven by PWM, it could be possible that an energized filament has it's own EMF and when PWM-ed it vibrates at a rate equal to the rate of the PWM frequency.

i`ve had a tiny flicker from my A2 on incan when the batteries are low and going out of regulation-does this happen to anyone else?gc.

try pressing harder on the tailcap or twisting it down further, that might help.

I believe I know what 'MacTech' is talking about on the flickering. It is not a distinct on and off as 'MacTech' mentioned. I have not noticed it on my A2 though I have noticed it on a few of my 'regular' incandescent Flashlights, i.e. Mag, Eveready, Streamlight SL-xx's etc.

I noticed at as well as a few people I pointed it out to. When it is happening, you can tail stand the Flashlight on a table and see the faint wiggling, if you will, of the side spill on 'ONE AREA' area only.

I have done this when it happens... Let's say the phenomenon is at the 3-o'clock position while the Flashlight is on a table while it is on its tail cap pointing up at the ceiling. You can rotate the Flashlight to the 9-o'clock position and the 'phantom flicker' will rotate also to the 9-o'clock position.

It must be caused by the heat coming off of a certain area of the filament distorting the spill beam.

No worries 'MacTech' you are not alone.

When I notice it happening again, I will video it and put on on the internet and maybe start a TV show named 'The Ghost Within The Haunted Flashlights'.

Njoy...

Atomic_Chicken said:

Greetings!

I have seven A2's, and ...

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Thank you for reminding me...right after I recieved pay

MacTech said:

it's the incan, it happens on two different bulbs, the stock bulb and a replacement
...
strangely enough, the stock bulb has a lot of artifacts, when i tried my replacement bulb, it was almost totally artifact-free, very bizzare

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According to js's the SF A2 the LVR is powering the incandescent like PWM and what you might be looking at is [as mentioned above] pulse currents at an incorrect frequency...something slower than the threshold your eyes can capture

If you pick up a MA02 and look at it, you will notice the lamp's glass was intentionally potted at an angle while the filament remained straight. I was told this was a method utilized to reduce lamp artifacts [uneven light distribution] from being projected out. I am unsure of this....but check your "artifact" lamp and see if theres a difference between that and your replacement lamp.

MacTech said:

The hotspot and main spillbeam show no signs of flicker, very solid, it's just the very outermost ring that shows the flicker, it's also random, sometimes it shows, sometimes not, it was less apparent with the replacement bulb

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It may not be the lamp problem alone....from what it sounds like the LVR is going in and out of the correct frequency range. sounds like bad luck, a bad lamp and a bad driver. I would suggest calling surefire and notify them of your problem

batman said:

try pressing harder on the tailcap or twisting it down further, that might help.

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if its a contact issue it would be the entire lamp flickering would it not?