Anyone had their SureFire batteries suddenly die on them? I got my G2Z recently and its still on the first set. I turned it on this morning and it was still bright. I used it tonight and nothing came on. I was worried that the bulb mustve went out because the light came on bright this morning. Tried a new set of batteries and everything is back to normal. I tried it in my Scorpion and same thing. Do the SureFire batteries have some internal voltage that tells it to stop working? I tested both of them in my RS 22-091 battery tester and they passed. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gif
Anyone had their SureFire battery suddenly die....
- Thread starter FNG
- Start date
dano
Flashlight Enthusiast
I had the same problem with a pair of SF-123's. Tested at 3Volts, but died under load. Virtually had no runtime on them...I guess they were defective... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsdown.gif
--dan
--dan
bump to the top.
I just had this happen to me too. maybe there's a reason why they're so cheap.
I just went to turn on my SNII this morning and it was so dim, my InRetech AA was about as bright as it. I have only about 10min on this set of batteries and the light was bright and strong the last time I used it. I thought the selling point of lithiums was the long shelf life /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif And they continued to dim as the seconds went by. When I first turned it on I immediately noticed how dim it was and in a matter of seconds I could see them putter out.
ok now my interest is peaked. I just took out my DMM and the cells are 2.852, 2.852 and 2.842 volts. At what point are 123's considered dead is this too low a voltage for any useable useage? I check the current draw of the three cells in the SNII and it starts off at around 75ma and quickly (within 15 seconds) drops down to around 35ma where it stabilizes.
I just had this happen to me too. maybe there's a reason why they're so cheap.
I just went to turn on my SNII this morning and it was so dim, my InRetech AA was about as bright as it. I have only about 10min on this set of batteries and the light was bright and strong the last time I used it. I thought the selling point of lithiums was the long shelf life /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif And they continued to dim as the seconds went by. When I first turned it on I immediately noticed how dim it was and in a matter of seconds I could see them putter out.
ok now my interest is peaked. I just took out my DMM and the cells are 2.852, 2.852 and 2.842 volts. At what point are 123's considered dead is this too low a voltage for any useable useage? I check the current draw of the three cells in the SNII and it starts off at around 75ma and quickly (within 15 seconds) drops down to around 35ma where it stabilizes.
brightnorm
Flashaholic
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2001
- Messages
- 9,027
There was much discussion of this several months ago and Surefire suppoedly took care of it even while never really agreeing that the problem existed.
I rely on my lithiums. This is not reassuring.
Brightnorm
I rely on my lithiums. This is not reassuring.
Brightnorm
brightnorm
Flashaholic
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2001
- Messages
- 9,027
[ QUOTE ]
FNG said:
I got an email from SF and the CSR said it was normal.
[/ QUOTE ]
You had me going for a moment, I thought you were serious!
BN
FNG said:
I got an email from SF and the CSR said it was normal.
[/ QUOTE ]
You had me going for a moment, I thought you were serious!
BN
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I am.
Thank you for the inquiry and continued support of SureFire products. When the batteries are used below their operating range, which is approximately between 2.80 to 2.90 volts the light will not function any longer, Dimming effects are not normal though they do happen. The run time on the standard P60 lamp is 60 minuets per set of batteries. The average lamp life is 20-30 hours. So yes, to answer your question this is the normal operation of your light. If you have any questions please feel free to call 1-800-828-8809 or e-mail and we be glad to help.
We are dedicated to providing world-class customer service and welcome future inquiries or comments.
Best regards,
Doug Wallters
Technical Support Representative
Thank you for the inquiry and continued support of SureFire products. When the batteries are used below their operating range, which is approximately between 2.80 to 2.90 volts the light will not function any longer, Dimming effects are not normal though they do happen. The run time on the standard P60 lamp is 60 minuets per set of batteries. The average lamp life is 20-30 hours. So yes, to answer your question this is the normal operation of your light. If you have any questions please feel free to call 1-800-828-8809 or e-mail and we be glad to help.
We are dedicated to providing world-class customer service and welcome future inquiries or comments.
Best regards,
Doug Wallters
Technical Support Representative
PieThatCorner
Enlightened
Very, very interesting... I've yet to experience that and I've gone through a lot of 123 lithiums. Or have I experienced it? Now I'm curious as heck... Dano, was it you that had the dead 123's in your SF M4? (after sitting dormant without use?) I recall someone mentioning that about their 123's sitting in their M4.
-Jim
-Jim
ufokillerz
Enlightened
i had 1 battery in a 1x123 light, it died, i had 2 batteries in a 2x123 light, 1 died also. These are the 3 batteries that i got with my SNII.
The only batteries I've had died on me with super-short lives are the TekCells and a few Sanyo greys. And I suspect some of those guys might have been shorted before they were ever put into a flashlight to begin with anyways.
Previous post from Here
Check the date on the battery. I had a couple the other day that did that in my M6, but they all were the old (original) SF batteries. I do think they had some bad batches back then.
There is another funny thing about the old SF, they won't fit in my L1. I didn't notice this until a couple of days ago when I was going to replace the battery it with one of those left over from the M6 that was good. Oh well, I guess I will just burn them up in my E1e-KL1 combo.
Skid
Check the date on the battery. I had a couple the other day that did that in my M6, but they all were the old (original) SF batteries. I do think they had some bad batches back then.
There is another funny thing about the old SF, they won't fit in my L1. I didn't notice this until a couple of days ago when I was going to replace the battery it with one of those left over from the M6 that was good. Oh well, I guess I will just burn them up in my E1e-KL1 combo.
Skid
Re: Anyone had their SureFire battery suddenly die
I sort of had the same thing happen to me as well. Don't get me wrong, I got a good, SOLID runtime out of the thing (longer than I had expected to get), but at the very end of it's life it just gave out and put my flashlight in very low moon mode. It's usually a gradual fade and then 4 or so more hours of moon mode, but this one SF went from bright to night almost instantly.
I sort of had the same thing happen to me as well. Don't get me wrong, I got a good, SOLID runtime out of the thing (longer than I had expected to get), but at the very end of it's life it just gave out and put my flashlight in very low moon mode. It's usually a gradual fade and then 4 or so more hours of moon mode, but this one SF went from bright to night almost instantly.
LEDagent
Flashlight Enthusiast
Re: Anyone had their SureFire battery suddenly die
I've had that problem with my first set of Surefire batteries like you. I went crazy thinking that it was a bulb problem on a new 80 dollar light! The light was bright and it didn't even dim out like a normal flashlight would, that's why i thought it was the bulb. The batteries even measured 2.7V, still plenty eneogh juice to light up. It turned out that it was just the batteries....15 dollar batteries. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
I've had that problem with my first set of Surefire batteries like you. I went crazy thinking that it was a bulb problem on a new 80 dollar light! The light was bright and it didn't even dim out like a normal flashlight would, that's why i thought it was the bulb. The batteries even measured 2.7V, still plenty eneogh juice to light up. It turned out that it was just the batteries....15 dollar batteries. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
PaulW
Flashlight Enthusiast
Re: Anyone had their SureFire battery suddenly die
Yes, I've just recently come across this probem.
It may be that the batteries are not all equally discharged. I have recently been experimenting and have a supply of SF123s batteries in various states of discharge. They work well in series in a 2, 3, or 4-cell configuration -- but only up to a point. On more than one occasion, for example, I found that my SF M3 would be working well, although perhaps getting a little yellow. I might then turn it off, and when I turned it on again, there was no light at all. Further, current was very low -- on the order of less than 100 mA.
After a lot of fooling around to find the cause of the problem, I discovered that every time this happened, one of the batteries was exhausted. I tested them under load by measuring the current drawn from each individual cell by an Arc LS head. Invariably I would get a normal 480 mA or so from each of two of the cells and about 90 mA from the third cell. Needless to say, on the third cell, the Arc was very dim.
I could then use the two good cells, and add a third cell that would work with the Arc LS. The M3 would then light again.
It appears to me that when one cell is substantially weaker than the others, the entire group of them dies quickly when the weakest falls below a certain threshold. However, there's enough juice in the good cells to be useful.
Yes, I've just recently come across this probem.
It may be that the batteries are not all equally discharged. I have recently been experimenting and have a supply of SF123s batteries in various states of discharge. They work well in series in a 2, 3, or 4-cell configuration -- but only up to a point. On more than one occasion, for example, I found that my SF M3 would be working well, although perhaps getting a little yellow. I might then turn it off, and when I turned it on again, there was no light at all. Further, current was very low -- on the order of less than 100 mA.
After a lot of fooling around to find the cause of the problem, I discovered that every time this happened, one of the batteries was exhausted. I tested them under load by measuring the current drawn from each individual cell by an Arc LS head. Invariably I would get a normal 480 mA or so from each of two of the cells and about 90 mA from the third cell. Needless to say, on the third cell, the Arc was very dim.
I could then use the two good cells, and add a third cell that would work with the Arc LS. The M3 would then light again.
It appears to me that when one cell is substantially weaker than the others, the entire group of them dies quickly when the weakest falls below a certain threshold. However, there's enough juice in the good cells to be useful.
Re: Anyone had their SureFire battery suddenly die
I just had this happen. I keep my light on my bedside table at night. The batteries in my pelican m6 were working fine before I went to bed. When I tried it in the morning nothing at all. I too thought the lamp must have died. I put in a fesh set and bingo works fine. The batteries that came in the light worked all the way up till they started to dim. These surefires had not dimmed at all before this happened. I'm hoping that this is specific to surefire batteries as I can easily never buy them again in this case. I don't have anyway to test them but basically they were fine and eight hours later they're worthless all of a sudden.
I just had this happen. I keep my light on my bedside table at night. The batteries in my pelican m6 were working fine before I went to bed. When I tried it in the morning nothing at all. I too thought the lamp must have died. I put in a fesh set and bingo works fine. The batteries that came in the light worked all the way up till they started to dim. These surefires had not dimmed at all before this happened. I'm hoping that this is specific to surefire batteries as I can easily never buy them again in this case. I don't have anyway to test them but basically they were fine and eight hours later they're worthless all of a sudden.
Re: Anyone had their SureFire battery suddenly die
I just had this happen too. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
The 2 cells that came with my Surefire A2 were dated 01-2013.
I turned on my A2 and it worked fine, an hour later the main beam would not light. I thought the bulb blew, it looked good. So then I figured it fell out of regulation so I put new cells in my A2 and it worked. So I checked both cells in my Arc LS. Both read 2.9v but only one would power up the Arc LS. I checked current draw and the good cell was at 436mA and the bad cell was at 59mA and wouldn't even light up the Arc.
These are obviously deffective and it would be nice if Surefire would get to the bottom of this. I have never had this happen with a Duracell, I think I have had this happen with a Sanyo though. I'm not sure because it was in my first lithium light, a stock Brinkmann Legend LX with stock Sanyos. It went from ~80-90% brightness to dead in less then 3 seconds. Since it was my first lithium light I thought this was normal. After using many lithium lights since with Duracell batteries I have never had a "sudden death" occur since then, that is until my A2 with Surefires died. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
I guess you get what you pay for. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif
I just had this happen too. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
The 2 cells that came with my Surefire A2 were dated 01-2013.
I turned on my A2 and it worked fine, an hour later the main beam would not light. I thought the bulb blew, it looked good. So then I figured it fell out of regulation so I put new cells in my A2 and it worked. So I checked both cells in my Arc LS. Both read 2.9v but only one would power up the Arc LS. I checked current draw and the good cell was at 436mA and the bad cell was at 59mA and wouldn't even light up the Arc.
These are obviously deffective and it would be nice if Surefire would get to the bottom of this. I have never had this happen with a Duracell, I think I have had this happen with a Sanyo though. I'm not sure because it was in my first lithium light, a stock Brinkmann Legend LX with stock Sanyos. It went from ~80-90% brightness to dead in less then 3 seconds. Since it was my first lithium light I thought this was normal. After using many lithium lights since with Duracell batteries I have never had a "sudden death" occur since then, that is until my A2 with Surefires died. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
I guess you get what you pay for. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif
Re: Anyone had their SureFire battery suddenly die
I put a couple of new Surefires ( date code: 08-2012 ) in a G2 yesterday and it worked fine.
Tried the light a few minutes ago. Dead. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsdown.gif
One cell measured 3.22v the other 1.71v.
I hope this isn't the start of some kind of epidemic /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif
I put a couple of new Surefires ( date code: 08-2012 ) in a G2 yesterday and it worked fine.
Tried the light a few minutes ago. Dead. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsdown.gif
One cell measured 3.22v the other 1.71v.
I hope this isn't the start of some kind of epidemic /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif
dano
Flashlight Enthusiast
Re: Anyone had their SureFire battery suddenly die
Yep...that was me. I had 4 new SF 123's in an M-4, virtually no run time. Come to use the light, it's really dim. Found two dead SF-123's in side, yet the other two batteries were new-like in function...
--dan
Yep...that was me. I had 4 new SF 123's in an M-4, virtually no run time. Come to use the light, it's really dim. Found two dead SF-123's in side, yet the other two batteries were new-like in function...
--dan
Re: Anyone had their SureFire battery suddenly die
It begs the question, if they are new batteries and in series, then how can one (or more) run down faster than the rest? Unless some of them are deffective. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsdown.gif
It begs the question, if they are new batteries and in series, then how can one (or more) run down faster than the rest? Unless some of them are deffective. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsdown.gif
