surefire l4 wont light up?

Hi, i have a Surefire L4, which i frequently use with Pila cells. It gets maybe about 2-3 cycles a day, so about 2-3 hours of use a day. It wont start up with either of my pila batteries. Does using pila batterys void the waranty? I mean, they are probably making the boost circiut work harder, maybe. I dont know much about this, so if i send my light back, should i even tell them i used pila batteries? I dont think it's the batteries, though, i really dont know. It gets it's share of useage.

I really dont know what to do- i'm stuck with only a longbow eco/micra now.

The light just wont light up- i checked most of the contacts- they seem to be in pretty good shape, and clean. If i send it back to surefire, how long, based on other people's expierence, do you think it would take to get back? Thank you!

Have you tried using one or two CR123 cells to verify that it is not a problem with the Pilas?

I just had the same thing happen to me. My L4 just died, I use it all the time. Put in a set of 123s, still nothing. Right before it died completly, one of the four dies would light up every so faintly for a second or two. It did that a few times before it completly quit.

Sent it back to Surefire yesterday. L4 failures are pretty rare.

Maybe rechargables are not a good thing for the L4???

AAh, i forgot my user login id. But i sent the light back to surefire to get fixed. I checked with different batteries before i sent it in. Maybe it's making the booster circiut work to much?

When i noticed it didnt work, it smelled "burnt out". Could it be that i use my surefire L4 more than intended? I use it a fair amount clipped onto my hat. It could be from lack of heatsink. I'm kind of upset, i mean, this could have happend to me in a time of need.

I hope they take care of it!

(i think i saved more in rechargeable batteries than it would cost to buy a new l4 anyways, so they do seem like a good choice still)

I just got off the the phone with Surefire. They shipped my flashlight back with a new head yesterday. :thumbsup:

How long was the overall time that it took for them to fix it? they said they would send mine back in 1-2 weeks.

I mailed it out on 8-29 and I hope to have it back tomorrow.

that's why I buy surefire. they have an excellent track record for taking care of customers.

lots of times they do get backordered on certain parts and folks gets upset when turnaround takes too long.

when you run out of certain custom made parts, it can take some rampup time to get them made.

Surefire always taks care of you when parts get in!

surefire does take care of its people... which is a HUGE selling point... when you buy... you know you have a flashlight forever

Geez i'd be happy enough if it never broke in the first place.

Got mine back yesterday. Not too bad. It has a brand new KL4 head on it now, they even put a pair of new batteries in it. :goodjob: I sent it too them empty.

DBrier said:

I just had the same thing happen to me. My L4 just died, I use it all the time. Put in a set of 123s, still nothing. Right before it died completly, one of the four dies would light up every so faintly for a second or two. It did that a few times before it completly quit.

Sent it back to Surefire yesterday. L4 failures are pretty rare.

Click to expand...

One of my L4's died that exact way. Surefire had it back to me in under two weeks. :goodjob:

I would never abuse a L4 by running it cliped to a cap. This thing needs to be cooled with your hand. Consider a lower powered light for your cap.

MrMom said:

I would never abuse a L4 by running it cliped to a cap. This thing needs to be cooled with your hand. Consider a lower powered light for your cap.

Click to expand...

I would not consider that an abuse.

I know, I know, "overheating" and all that.

Think about the use: running a flashlight for the life of the batteries in an air-cooled condition. We should all understand that this particular LED light gets hot in that kind of use, and that such use will shorten the life of the unit.

But we are not talking about a $15 molded plastic light from Wal-Mart. We are talking about a light intended for harsh conditions.

To quote Surefire's site:

"What makes SureFire products so unique?
U.S. Navy SEALs hunting terrorists in caves need a light they can depend on no matter how extreme the conditions, as does a SWAT team member conducting a midnight raid on a drug house. . . . Failure is not an option and there can be no compromise.
. . .
Three things characterize every product: flawless white beam, ultra-high light output, and extreme ruggedness.
. . .
SureFire's LED flashlights and conversion heads differ from other manufacturer's LED flashlights with features such as . . . digital current limiters to protect the LED module from current and heat-related damage."

So THAT is the intended use, and the intended level of reliability.

I don't mean to bash Surefire, because the technology itself is immature and improving rapidly. In fact, they deserve high marks for updating their very fine products as rapidly as they do.

Nonetheless, if you show me a flashlight whose manufacturer makes those claims, and tell me that the light cannot withstand being run air-cooled, then I will tell you that you have a light which is not up to the job.

Scott

I have run the batteries out on a couple of L4s standing them on the side on the floor (carpeted) and a desk (veneer).

Never had a fail problem.

They do get hot. Hot enough so that if you are not prepared you might flinch or drop them if you grabbed one unprepared.....

As far as the hand cooling them...maybe..I have never had one on long enough in my hand while continously holding it. I really doubt that would make a difference.

I suppose there is an effect there but I would not say major. If anyone said it is necessary to hold the light to operate it for the effect then I'd say show metrics or call it an Urban Myth.

The failure described sounds like a driver issue. I have seen 5W LEDs fail just like that becuase they were overdriven....by me

I sent it in a while ago- it should be coming back sometime this week.

I use the light for reading, walking (i dont walk with it on my cap) for long intervals of time. The rest of useage is mainly short use.

Most people say that reading with lights to bright give them headaches/hurt their eyes. I read in a well lit room, with the l4 shining on the words. A lot of the reading is for college. Sometimes unexpected studying comes up =\

If longbows had enough output, i'd be upset they dont have the clip hole where you could put it on a cap.

Very weird, but surefire sent my light back to me, looking brand new, sealed, but WITH MY OLD POCKET CLIP?

One thing i was thinking was that they re-anodized the body. But it looks to all be new, except for my pocket clip. It lights up again! It seems just a *tad* bit bluer, maybe a tad bit brighter, BUT it has a fairly worse donut in it.

I wonder if there's any reason they gave it back to me with the same clip?