My M3T, 2x150's, MN16(HOLA) Lamp Blew

My M3T, 2x150\'s, MN16(HOLA) Lamp Blew

I was driving the lamp with 2 x Pila 150s and had the light on for about 2 minutes when.....pop. Glass from the bulb is still in the turbohead. Not sure of the condition of the reflector. The lens seems fine. I'm still on my first charge for the Pila's and estimate only about 10 minutes of runtime on the MN16. Did I do something wrong? Could all my "double tapping" cause the bulb to fail?

Re: My M3T, 2x150\'s, MN16(HOLA) Lamp Blew

The SureFire Lamp Assemblies are not designed to be powered by Pila batteries.

The MN16 is unlikely to explode by itself when powered by SF123As. It could happen. If it did then I'm sure that SureFire would replace the TurboHead and the Lamp Assembly. However, powering the M3T with Pila batteries changed all that. You can ask them I guess.

The cost of running rechargeable batteries isn't so cheap when you now have to factor in replacing the Lamp Assembly and TurboHead.

Al

Re: My M3T, 2x150\'s, MN16(HOLA) Lamp Blew

seattlite, if you have to buy a new turbo head. I'm interested in your dead one.

Re: My M3T, 2x150\'s, MN16(HOLA) Lamp Blew

Ouch! Has this happened to anyone else out there? I am using Pila 150S in my new M3-CB with the 225 lummen M11. Some of us are on fixed incomes and Pilas are a great help..William

Re: My M3T, 2x150\'s, MN16(HOLA) Lamp Blew

Well, I had a Surefire M6 LOLA explode into glass powder after maybe 10 cumulative minutes, using the original SF batteries that came with the light. I sent it back, got a new one. One of the new LOLAs they sent me was a dud. I don't know anything about light bulbs, but I wonder if SF doesn't push theirs too hard. I had never even heard of a lamp exploding before that.

I haven't used PILAs, and my M3 has very little time on it, so I can't say much about them.

Re: My M3T, 2x150\'s, MN16(HOLA) Lamp Blew

Lightraven,

In my opinion, SureFire lamps are driven about as hard as they reasonably can be, and still be proof against insta-flashing. 35 hours of life, or thereabouts. This is why they are white and bright and efficient. The SureFire LA's are very carefully matched to their power sources. Any tampering with the situation is done at your own risk.

All halogen lamps operate at high internal pressures and could potentially explode due to a defect in the glass envelope, or because of oil or grease on the glass. Overdriving increases this risk.

[ QUOTE ]
flash99dark said:

Ouch! Has this happened to anyone else out there? I am using Pila 150S in my new M3-CB with the 225 lummen M11. Some of us are on fixed incomes and Pilas are a great help..William

[/ QUOTE ]

William, I'm trully sorry that this happened to you and I feel your pain. That said, however, I'll have to agree with Al on this one: running Pilas in a SF incan is a risky proposition at best.

Re: My M3T, 2x150\'s, MN16(HOLA) Lamp Blew

Sorry as well for the blown bulb. It is possible that SF's bulb just wasn't up to specs or maybe a hairline fracture in the glass, who knows. SF's bulb quality seems to have been getting more complaints lately.

It seems that Pilas are most trouble free if they aren't used right off the charger and allowed to rest for a while. Also, brand new Pilas seem to need a breaking in period in which they are cycled through a few times on the LOLA before ever using them on your HOLA.
But whatever the cause, hopefully SF's CS will take good care of you. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif