How Many Bulbs Have You Killed

[andrewwynn]

i've only replaced one lamp from life-span burnout that was powered by hotdriver.. i got the expected hours out of it.

(that doesn't count the goofs when for example, just last night when testing i had the dial set to 10.8V and ignoramously plugged in a 1274 lamp).

-awr

 

[waion]

"How many bulbs have you killed by dropping the light?"

I remember Two only.

 

[ZeissOEM2]

edit

 

[The Porcupine]

I've broken quite a few Mag bulps way before I ever knew there were better flashlights out there! Never broken a SF lamp, but replaced a very well used and pretty weak one in my A2 the other day. Man, what a difference!!!:wow:

 

[PaulW]

I've never killed a bulb from dropping a light. I've flashed more than I can remember when I was experimenting with Carleys and Welch-Allen bulbs in various Mag mods.

I've never had a SureFire lamp go bad while in the light. But I did smash one quite violently when not in the lamp. I dropped it on a hard floor.

I did retrieve the springs from the assembly. They make great tailcap springs for some of the Mag mods.

Paul

 

[KevinL]

I did retrieve the springs from the assembly. They make great tailcap springs for some of the Mag mods.

Paul

NOW he tells me.....after I have disposed of my faulty Surefire bulbs

(actually I should have thought of it later, so it's really my own fault.. but they make great ROP/LE springs!)

And phew.. I still have a couple of them left!


OK, now on to the bulb casualty list. Three Surefire bulbs instaflashed on me the moment I turned them on for the Very First Time, but Surefire took care of me. I will not forget their kindness easily, especially since bulbs are outside the warranty. They can easily say "It's your problem" and they have EVERY right to. So I respect their assistance, all the more. They replaced them.

(Incidentally I have a dozen Surefires so I may encounter bad bulbs more often)

Two R/O Luxeon 3s. Not bulbs, but I thought I'd give 'em an honorable mention. I hate their non-isolated ground slugs.

Five Osram bulbs of various kinds, but all in the 100W power class. You wouldn't believe what this "USL" thingy does to the damn bulbs either....

 

[Blindspot]

I can't recall ever killing a bulb by dropping the light, and I drop the cheaper lights (mags, the usual) all the time, though I'm much more careful with my better lights.

The only bulb in memory I can recall killing was just yesterday, when I fired up my brand new Mini Mag85. The first time I turned it on (not off a fresh charge - just the charge it arrived with) it ran for 10 seconds and the WA1185 exploded to dust. Waiting for new bulbs now. Maybe the bulb was damaged in shipping or something....

 

[andrewwynn]

Five Osram bulbs of various kinds, but all in the 100W power class. You wouldn't believe what this "USL" thingy does to the damn bulbs either....

Got an upgrade in the works for that

 

[jashhash]

Since being a member I've blown 2 bulbs. One of them was droped while on.

I bought one of those cheap "Police Xenon" lights on ebay because it came with 4x Lithium Ion batteries. Turns out the bulb on this flashlight should only be run at 6 volts and when running it on 2x freshly charged Li-Ions I must have severely weakened the bulb running it at 8.4 volts. One day I Droped the light about 4 feet onto the pavement while the light was on and it blew.

Another time I ordered two 7 cell Xenon flashlight bulbs for about $15 total. This bulb is best run at 10.5 volts but I ran it on 3x Li-Ions for an initial voltage of 12.6 I ran the bulb for one hour before the batteries ran down. Then after putting in a new set of batteries the bulb insta-flashed.

I cant recall ever blowing a bulb when running at spec.

 

[KevinL]

Killed one more Pelican bulb. Was using my ROP/LE as an improvised hammer, when I accidentally hit the switch. The combination of the swing, impact, plus the light turning on at the same time (at its most fragile) caused the bulb to fail. It simply never lit up again.

 

[Lips]

Killed one more Pelican bulb. Was using my ROP/LE as an improvised hammer, when I accidentally hit the switch. The combination of the swing, impact, plus the light turning on at the same time (at its most fragile) caused the bulb to fail. It simply never lit up again.

That's why my ROP/LE rates field duty: hammer, baton, small, bright, cheap, dents, drops, dings, dirt and scratches. What a great light :thumbsup:

 

[KevinL]

Thanks

That's part of the good stuff.. there's not much to fail, and what there is to fail is readily field replaceable at [insert-favorite-light-carrying-store-here] without a soldering iron. And not too many tears if one gets destroyed in the field, either. The only harder-to-find parts are the bulbs, so keep extra - I do.

 

[Brian E]

Only a couple. Was a prevalent thing when I used Maglites a lot.

 

[MicroE]

Only a couple. Was a prevalent thing when I used Maglites a lot.

Yeah, it was my experience with Mag incans that pushed me toward LEDs.
I now carry SF incans and a bulb failure is EXTREMELY rare.

 

[andrewwynn]

i can see why.. the lamp on the SF lights is really exceptionally well shock-isolated.. genius, quite literally how the floating mass of the reflector is a 'sprung mass' that reduces the shock to the lamp.

on the hotwire lights i have.. with the KIU.. the fact the bulb will move upon shock will reduce the shock to the filament.

I've blown more lamps in testing than I've blown in the real world.. bit of irony there, huh? in the process of building the hotdriver to eliminate instant flashes.. i've blown maybe 4-5 lamps at least. I guess maybe it's about the same.. i've blown 4-5 lamps just from bats being too well charged. I did manage to blow two 64625s.. that's a very bright proposition!

-awr

 

[Robban]

Well, just now I lost my second and last 1185 from my light-edge Mag85 kit. And I didn't get to play with it for two full charges even aawwww man And now the reflector is all white and ugly yet again.

The hotdrivers are looking better and better but they are costly. The package from awr is nice since it comes pre assembled with a Kiu socket. But on the other hand winny is a Swede and so am I so placing my money there would feel better in a strange way. On the other hand then I would have to get the Kiu socket separately (+ bulbs from somewhere else). I'm looking at something like $60+ just to get running again. This incan business is making me sad :/