Exploding/burnout SF lamps... What gives?

[socom1970]

Within the last year I have had the following happen to me with Surefire Lamp Assemblies:
- An MN21 explode/vaporize in one of my M6's
- An MN20 explode/vaporize in my other M6
- An MN16 explode in my M3
- An MN20 turn on for about 5 seconds new out of the package, then dim, turn white/blue
inside, then go out.

I am an electronics technician with 11 years of experience and a B.A.S./E.E.T. I know what I am doing. This is not some clumsy case of "operator error". I treat my lamp assemblies like gold and am VERY careful with them when cleaning them and/or installing them. I only use Surefire primaries with them. Is something going on with Surefire QC on their incan LA's? Have others had similar experiences? Am I missing something? Surefire CS has repaired the turboheads and replaced the LA's, but the last time I called to address the most recent problem, one of the CS guys took the tone with me like he didn't believe me because I've "had some other problems in the past". I am to the point where I don't want to use any SF M-series LA's anymore.:help:

 

[metlarules]

Try Lumen's Factory equivalent to see if the problem persist.

 

[Rossymeister]

Within The Past 4 Months I Have Had An MN21 And MA02 Instaflash Upon Installation. Luckily, Surefire Sent Out Replacement Lamp Assemblies Immediately.

I Really Dont Know What Is Going On.

 

[Mark@LF]

What batteries are you using?

An MN20 turn on for about 5 seconds new out of the package, then dim, turn white/blue
inside, then go out.

Lamp turning white is due to leakage of the lamp, your MN21 should be sent back for warrentee. We call that "White Smoke/Leakage" within the industry, it is considered a factory defect.

But the other lamps vaporizing, it is just weird. Unless you are using the wrong batteries.

 

[KeyGrip]

You had bad luck? It happens. Did SureFire replace them?

 

[socom1970]

What batteries are you using?



Lamp turning white is due to leakage of the lamp, your MN21 should be sent back for warrentee. We call that "White Smoke/Leakage" within the industry, it is considered a factory defect.

But the other lamps vaporizing, it is just weird. Unless you are using the wrong batteries.

I am using Surefire SF123 cells. I buy them in the 72 cell bricks. Regarding the lamps vaporizing, I agree. It IS just weird. When they exploded, the glass was literally almost powdered. Very, very small pieces of glass along with a strange white powdery stuff all over the inside of the turboheads.

SF CS did warranty them and replace them (with a bit of not-so-nice insinuations made to me by a Customer Service rep during my most CS encounter about having some past warranty issues that I did not appreciate at all) as well as clean up the inside of the turboheads, but now I have SF MN-series LA's that I have no confidence in. I still value Surefire lights very highly (and I have a LOT of them, incan as well as LED), but I no longer want to use any MN-type SF LA's. I have ONLY had this problem with MN-series lamp assemblies for some reason. What's the deal? Why can't they make these MN-series LA's reliable? :shrug: "Rant Mode ON" - It is not my da*n fault that they can't build MN-series LA's that work properly for any reasonable length of time!!! - "Rant Mode OFF"

I did receive three Lumens Factory LA's yesterday. the EO-E1R, the HO-E2R, and the HO-M3T. They are EXCELLENT!:twothumbs I have been using all three of them today at work and I am very satisfied. The HO-M3T is truly impressive in my SF M4 with two AW 17670 cells. I will definitely be ordering more Lumens Factory LA's.

Thank you, Mark, for all of your (as well as everyone else's) hard work and diligence at Lumens Factory in building the best incan LA's for great prices. Thank you also for giving us such top-notch incandescent lamp assembly options (and continuing to do so) in a world where so many are bowing to the LED gods. A heck of a lot of us will always love the beauty of high-performance, well-made incans. As it stands now, I will always go to Lumens Factory for my incandescent lamp assemblies. (as long as they don't start acting like SF MN-series LA's).

 

[metlarules]

Next time their CS rep gives you ask to speak directly to their manager.That works with just about any business.

 

[cernobila]

Wow.......someone talking about SF problems? this is new.......please keep your door locked, in case the SF police will come after you......sorry, just in that kind of mood tonight....

anyway, I never had a lamp/bulb explode in any of my lights over the last ten years.....but then very few of them are SF and I don't use SF primary cells........"go LF and WE lamps"......"and the P91 lamp"....."and AW cells"

 

[Bruce B]

I had one explode in a 6P incan before... literally 2 days after I bought it..

-Bruce

 

[LumenMan]

Maybe a bit off topic, but I've had a total of three (out of 8) P60 lamp assemblies that were dead right out of the factory sealed package recently. I returned two of the DOA P60 lamps to Surefire for evaluation & their tech staff deemed that the failure was caused by droping the light while on...:thinking:

 

[nzgunnie]

I had a P91 that went white/bluish after about 30 seconds.

THe light went very dim and yellow. I thought wow, this bulb sure flattens those batteries quickly...

Then I looked at the thing.

SF replaced it eventually (took several emails and seven months - I am in New Zealand).

 

[Bruce B]

Maybe a bit off topic, but I've had a total of three (out of 8) P60 lamp assemblies that were dead right out of the factory sealed package recently. I returned two of the DOA P60 lamps to Surefire for evaluation & their tech staff deemed that the failure was caused by droping the light while on...:thinking:

I call Bullsh*t on Surefire... which is very odd... but I still call it!

 

[cernobila]

I had a P91 that went white/bluish after about 30 seconds.

THe light went very dim and yellow. I thought wow, this bulb sure flattens those batteries quickly...

Then I looked at the thing.

SF replaced it eventually (took several emails and seven months - I am in New Zealand).

Ahh, the lifetime warranty and that good old SF service again, cant beat it.....I keep telling you, just cant beat it.

 

[RobertM]

Ahh, the lifetime warranty and that good old SF service again, cant beat it.....I keep telling you, just cant beat it.

Actually, it really is hard to beat... I purchased my new G3 a few weeks ago and the P90 lamp was rather dim right out of the box and completely died after about 15 minutes of use. Monday morning I called SureFire and they sent out a replacement without insulting me or making any kind of insinuations. I received the replacement lamp in the mail 8 days later. Not too bad :thumbsup:

 

[cernobila]

Actually, it really is hard to beat... I purchased my new G3 a few weeks ago and the P90 lamp was rather dim right out of the box and completely died after about 15 minutes of use. Monday morning I called SureFire and they sent out a replacement without insulting me or making any kind of insinuations. I received the replacement lamp in the mail 8 days later. Not too bad :thumbsup:

Some get lucky I guess......in my experience, I had bad (no explanation) prolonged and costly (postage cost from AU) experience with SF.......while in the case of WE and LF, I had exceptional service and a no cost replacement in the very rare times that I needed it. Everyone has their own to tell......

 

[ampdude]

Sorry you guys have had trouble with some lamps. Maybe those lights with the dead P60's took a serious fall or something like that. Never know what happened to it on the way from Surefire to the dealer and on the way from the dealer to you. I've received packages from Fedex vehicles that were in major wrecks. I've sent packages where the same thing happened.

I've been using Surefires for nearly ten years and I can say that I've never received a bad lamp or burnt one out. That includes all the use I've put on them with rechargeables as well.

 

[Superdave]

I was 2 feet away when one of his M6 lamps blew up (i forget which lamp).. since it wasn't my light i thought it was pretty cool to see


Socom dosen't abuse his lights at all.. except for that poor 9P today.. but we won't go into that

 

[signal 13]

Just a thought, but are you touching the bulbs before putting them in? I know that some bulbs will go if the oils from your fingers get on them.

Some LF bulbs I bought said not to touch them with your fingers or it could reduce the life of the bulb, but perhaps it'll just KILL the SF...

 

[Lightraven]

Actually, Surefire bulbs have a history of premature failure and exploding--the MN20 in particular, which was recalled. I have personal experience here and the issue has been discussed on Candlepowerforums. Touching the bulb or dropping the light isn't the cause.

 

[cernobila]

Just a thought, but are you touching the bulbs before putting them in? I know that some bulbs will go if the oils from your fingers get on them.

Some LF bulbs I bought said not to touch them with your fingers or it could reduce the life of the bulb, but perhaps it'll just KILL the SF...

I used to "pot" bulbs for a living, these were used in medical equipment.......it is a standard warning in the industry that you should make sure that high performance bulbs need to be clean before use. The "good" ones can take a fair bit of abuse in this regard because they are handled by people that just don't understand......I clean mine out of habit but often forget......things like WA1111, P5761? (forgot the number), P91, WE lamps and LF have been fine even when I clean them with the end of my dirty "T" shirt. If SF has a higher than acceptable failure rate, I am quite sure that it is for other reasons than being slightly dirty.

PS. The bulbs that are used in SF lamps, I wonder where these are sourced from, which manufacturer and from which country.....perhaps this may be part of the problem, just a thought.

..one more thing, if you produce a small number of bulbs/lamps you take greater care in QC and are more fussy what gets shipped out to your customers. If you have to produce a large number of bulbs/lamps as part of a large contract, than QC have to take chances with passing the product, both in, what comes in from suppliers and what goes out to customers....this is just a fact of life and perhaps part of the problem.