A2 won't work with different bulb assemblies

[cland72]

Hello,

I picked up a used A2 Aviator a month ago, but it only will fire one Surefire bulb. I've ordered a replacement from LF and another brand new stock SF MA02, and neither work. I can switch them around, go from primary to RCR123's, and only the one light bulb will work while the other two won't fire.

Any ideas? I'm thinking I probably need to send the light back to Surefire for warranty repair.

Thanks!

[NotRegulated]

I'm having A2 problems now as well. My A2 main incan light will not light up. Sometimes the LED's do. I tried new batteries, new bulbs, cleaning the contacts, etc. with no luck. The A2 sat unused for 6-9 months prior to this current behavior.

I was thinking of also sending it back to Surefire for diagnosis/repair as well.

[cland72]

bump for any more ideas

[NotRegulated]

Here is an index for most all the threads and webpages related to the Surefire A2 Aviator. Look through here for insight.
Link HERE.

[cland72]

Thank you. I've read through the majority of those threads, and others about the A2, but I have yet to see someone who has this problem. If I don't receive any info/suggestions by Monday, I'll call Surefire and report back with the results.

[calipsoii]

This might seem obvious, but you're certain that the other bulbs work as well, right? They don't have broken filaments and they've been tested in other lights or something?

You're not the only one with this problem, it's been on the forums before. My beater A2 does it something fierce - it'll only fire a single bulb out of several dozen, but that's because I've put over a hundred LED rings through it and the constant twisting of the head has eroded the center post of the LVR.

If you know your other bulbs are working, I'd suggest SF customer support. They might not even have you send the whole light back, who knows. /shrug

[archimedes]

This might seem obvious, but you're certain that the other bulbs work as well, right? They don't have broken filaments and they've been tested in other lights or something?

You're not the only one with this problem, it's been on the forums before. My beater A2 does it something fierce - it'll only fire a single bulb out of several dozen, but that's because I've put over a hundred LED rings through it and the constant twisting of the head has eroded the center post of the LVR.

If you know your other bulbs are working, I'd suggest SF customer support. They might not even have you send the whole light back, who knows. /shrug

Could you explain this in a bit more detail for me? One of my A2's won't fire all of the lamps that I have, either. I know the lamps are good, because they work fine in my other two A2's. What's the "LVR"? Thanks!

[HotWire]

I've been lucky with my A2. I've used the LF bulb and stock SF bulb. No problem. Try this: With the head tight, use a paper clip to connect the body to the negative ends of the battery. Any light? No light? Could be the tailcap or the contacts or regulation. If you can borrow another tail cap try that. You've cleaned everything, maybe a second cleaning with isopropyl alcohol would help. If not, SF has excellent customer support. Good luck.

[cland72]

I called SF today to check on the status of my light. They said it was an electrical problem and they replaced the power module. It should go out today UPS so I might have it by Friday.

I'll report back when I get it to confirm it has been fixed.

[Illum]

A wild guess is that the A2 you have is an older 4-squared version. the A2 went through redesign several years ago between the square and round versions, as a result none of my square A2s can operate on the lamp assemblies bought new. Interestingly while I had A2s I distinctively remember my round A2 will not fire the lamp from any of the square A2. Perhaps this gives you some hints of where the problem may lie.

The only A2 I have is my black one, which has been AWOL since early 2010... dunno, might have tossed it accidentally

[DUQ]

Make sure that the small wire is able to make a connection with the metal ring. Thas what powers the incan bullb. Pull out the lamp and take a look at the small wire.

Also take a look at the small tabs inside of the tail cap, this is the selector ring.

[DM51]

A2... black one... might have tossed it

AAAARRGH!!! NOOOOO!

[sgt253]

Illum don't fret! DM51 and I will be right over to rummage, er ransack, er search for it. LOL. I would love to have a black A2.


Regards.

[Illum]

AAAARRGH!!! NOOOOO!

It pays to check empty package cases before stuffing them in the trash, but since I bought the black A2 I have moved into a dorm, moved into a small apartment, then moved back home. Its either stuffed somewhere or stuffed in the burial ground, I hope it is the former

[Tempest UK]

That would be a loss to be mourned! Good luck, I hope it turns up again

[cland72]

A wild guess is that the A2 you have is an older 4-squared version. the A2 went through redesign several years ago between the square and round versions, as a result none of my square A2s can operate on the lamp assemblies bought new. Interestingly while I had A2s I distinctively remember my round A2 will not fire the lamp from any of the square A2. Perhaps this gives you some hints of where the problem may lie.

The only A2 I have is my black one, which has been AWOL since early 2010... dunno, might have tossed it accidentally

No, this is one of the most recent versions (round body with long clip) so I'm not sure why this is happening. Thanks for the suggestion though, and I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your black A2!

Make sure that the small wire is able to make a connection with the metal ring. Thas what powers the incan bullb. Pull out the lamp and take a look at the small wire.

Also take a look at the small tabs inside of the tail cap, this is the selector ring.

Thanks, I did check this before sending the unit to SureFire. It was making good contact and still wouldn't fire.

The UPS man should be dropping off the fixed A2 in the next couple of hours, so I should be able to report back late tonight or tomorrow.

[Illum]

sorry to hear about the loss of your black A2!

Its not lost, just missing.

[cland72]

Well, just got the A2 from UPS.

It isn't even the same light I sent in. The head & tailcap are in worse shape than the one I sent in, and this one has stock white LED's (I had sanded the LED's in the one I sent in).

It did work with both MA02 lamp assemblies I got back, but it still won't work with the LF bulb I had purchased.

[Illum]

Looks like they simply replaced the tailcap and the head rather than fixing it. if its a machining tolerance I suppose it cannot be fixed. Why the Tailcap is beyond me. If that was faulty neither MA02 lamps will operate. You didn't mention sanded LEDs, usually any modification voids the warranty.

[NotRegulated]

I'm having A2 problems now as well. My A2 main incan light will not light up. Sometimes the LED's do. I tried new batteries, new bulbs, cleaning the contacts, etc. with no luck. The A2 sat unused for 6-9 months prior to this current behavior. I was thinking of also sending it back to Surefire for diagnosis/repair as well.

Update: Just found out what the problem was! All the "new" batteries that I tried initially now turn out to be nearly dead. That is why the A2 would not light up the main lamp. I have a batch of 12 "new" batteries that I have had for around five years and all of them did not light the lamp.

[Illum]

Update: Just found out what the problem was! All the "new" batteries that I tried initially now turn out to be nearly dead. That is why the A2 would not light up the main lamp. I have a batch of 12 "new" batteries that I have had for around five years and all of them did not light the lamp.

ahh, bought yourself a ZTS tester finally? Good, CR123As have the tendency to deceive voltmeters because its OCV doesn't correlate with capacity.

[yellow]

UI have a batch of 12 "new" batteries that I have had for around five years and all of them did not light the lamp.

same here.

"just" 6 batts, three different makes ... never used
Arent they supposed to have a 10 year shelf life? Mine all were/are exp. 2013

[Illum]

same here.

"just" 6 batts, three different makes ... never used
Arent they supposed to have a 10 year shelf life? Mine all were/are exp. 2013

Thats heavily dependent on storage conditions, and increased sensitivity in high drain applications. Read somewhere that ten years down the road they will still retain 40% of their capacity since date manufactured. Heres the catch, the voltage sag of a full battery is not as apparent as that of a partially depleted battery under a moderate load. Therefore sometimes the cells are in fact conforming to their design specifications, but act like they are already dead under the load you planned on using them with. My advice is to circulate the stored CR123As every 5 years or so, and test the cells in each batch with a ZTS tester or equivalent to make sure they are still good. ZTS uses a small load to test the voltage as opposed to a conventional "OCV" voltmeter. I have seen many cases of people testing CR123As on voltmeters, not knowing that OCV in this case does not correlate with inherent remaining capacity unlike that of an alkaline cell. The CR123As can "test" ~3V and sustain as low as 1V under load.

[LE6920]

I had a similar issue with one of my user A2 lights. I couldn't figure it out. I sent it to SF and whatever they did it has been running great since. None of the exterior parts looked replaced, so I am guessing it was something in the circuit? I was driving me crazy as sometimes the LEDs would work and not the incan bulb. Sometimes a new bulb didn't work at all. I was swapping the parts and bulbs to another A2 and that ones worked so I knew it was the light. Otherwise I would have gone crazy.