Issues with 10X Dominator

[ebow86]

Hi all, been a long time lurker around here and finally decided to sign up. I have been having some recharging issues with my surefire 10X Dominator and I decided I would ask here first before having to contact surefire again. Here's the story. The light was purchased FEB 09. I carefully cycled the battery pack maybe 10 to 15 times over the next several months. The light doesn't see a whole lot of use. What I didn't pay attention to was how long the battery pack was charging. I started timing the charge from a completely depleted battery, between 1hr 20min and 1hr 30mins. I tried taking the light off the charger and putting it back on but after several minutes the light would turn green again. My runtime using the stock 60LUM-500LUM combo is consistency between 14min and 15min, far below the advertised 18minutes. A few weeks ago I contacted surefire, explained the situation. I sent the light in for repair, few weeks later I recieved. Surefire completely replaced the light with a new one but still sent my old charger back. So far I have carefully cycled the new light approx 7 to 8 times, long story short, exactly the same results as before. The new light is charging approx the same amount of time give or take a few minutes and my runtime is approx the same. This leads me to believe that there may be an issue with the charger and not the battery, but wouldn't surefire have known if the charger was defective? In case anyone was wondering how I know its the same charger I had placed a few unique scratches on the bottom of the charger to identify it. Any ideas as to what might be going on here?

 

[Size15's]

:welcome:

The runtime on high is really taxing on the battery - I'm not overly concerned about the runtime you're experiencing. If I were ever to use either of my two 10Xs constant-on high then I'd expect similar runtimes.

I've always seen the 10X high-beam as an 'addition' to the main beam (which has a choice of output lamps) rather than the 10X being a high-beam light with a choice of low output lamps. What this means is I use the high-beam by exception - it's integrated into the 10X for if/when I need it.
That's my perspective on the 10X for what its worth.

Al

 

[fivemega]

My runtime using the stock 60LUM-500LUM combo is consistency between 14min and 15min, far below the advertised 18minutes.

14 ~ 15 minutes is not too far from advertised 18 minutes.
There are some factors such as environment temperature which may decrease the battery capacity and run time.

 

[ebow86]

Well, I'm operating the light in room temperature when I'm checking the runtime so that eliminates cold temperature affecting the battery. I let the light run in 4 minute intrevals, letting it cool in between periods. Do you think running the light in 4 minute intrevals is taxing the battery too hard, resulting in shortned runtime?I guess the thing I would really like to know is how long does it take for you other 10X owners to get the red light on the charger to switch green for full charge?

 

[ebow86]

I've sent surefire 2 emails and unfortunately I have never gotten a response. I'll take you guys advice that the runtime I'm experiencing is normal but I'm still wondering about the recharge time. If I run the battery complety down the longest it's taken to charge is 1hr 30mins. Thats fine with me if thats normal but thats what I don't know thats bugging me. Can you other 10X owners give me an approx on how long your llights take to charge?

 

[ampdude]

First off I'd like to say that I don't have a 10X, but I have a bit of experience with Ni-Cad batteries most recently in flashlights and many years ago in R/C cars.

All I can say about them is that nickel-cadmium batteries can take a TON of abuse and misuse and still come back as strong as ever. It doesn't sound like there is a problem with your charger, but have you ever tried running it a little bit, recharging it again and then doing that a couple more times and then running it dead and then taken an estimate of your runtime? Sometimes Ni-Cad batteries get a bit of a memory, so perhaps this is happening because of the way you are using the light? I'm not trying to criticize or anything, and I don't really know how you are using it and under what conditions. Just trying to help out. Sometimes to get the full power out of ni-cads you need to abuse them a bit. I know that sounds funny, but in my experience it works out that way.

 

[ebow86]

Thanks for the replys. Surefire is professional's and I really don't believe they would send me back a defective charger, but it's not knowing for sure, that's what is bothering me. Come on, there has to be more 10X owners out there that can give some feedback.

 

[Tempest UK]

Judging by my experiences, your runtime sounds normal. I wouldn't be concerned about it.

I've never timed the time my 10X takes to recharge, so I'm afraid I can't help you there. You stated a time of between 1h20m and 1h30m to fully recharge the battery. Why is this recharge time causing you concern?

Regards,
Tempest

 

[ebow86]

Judging by my experiences, your runtime sounds normal. I wouldn't be concerned about it.

I've never timed the time my 10X takes to recharge, so I'm afraid I can't help you there. You stated a time of between 1h20m and 1h30m to fully recharge the battery. Why is this recharge time causing you concern?

Regards,
Tempest

Well the only reason it is bothering me is that I don't know if the charger is functioning normally. Surefire's website is stating 2hrs or less. If I knew other users were reporting a similar recharge time as I'm getting then I'd be just fine with it, but until then I just don't know.

 

[yellow]

is there not a sign on the charger stating its input, output voltage and power / current capabilities?

thats at least accurate enough to give a good guess ...


PS: build Yourself a battery stick, or get a replacement somewhere.
Actual Sub-Cs are up to 4000 mA, so about 1.5-2 times "better" than the original ones.

 

[Robertesq1]

Your run time is pretty much what I get from mine.... It is not an all night light. Back in the day (when they first came out) it was the shizzle though....

 

[socom1970]

Your light and charger are fine. My 10X takes about an hour and a half to charge up from dead to full.

Also, there is a good reason why Surefire chose to continue using Ni-Cad for their rechargeables. Ni-Cads are very robust and tough. They have at least twice as many reliable charge cycles in them as Ni-Mh or Li-Ion cells. They also do very well under VERY HEAVY loads, such as the 450 lumen secondary LA draws. And getting anywhere between 13 and 18 minutes on your 10X is also normal. I have had varying runtimes with mine, depending on ambient temperature, whether the 10X was freshly charged up or not, how often I kept it on high (constant-on or intermittent), etc... They do develop a memory, so it is good to let them run down once in a while to reset the memory.

As Al said, the purpose of the 10X is to use the low beam as the main beam, with the high beam being the additional there-if-you-need-it beam. If you want that much output for longer than about 15 minutes, the 10X might not be the light for you. HID lights or custom incandescents from some of the builders/modders here would suit you perhaps better.:)

 

[ebow86]

Great to know my charger is functioning properly, sometimes I can be a little OCD when it comes to my flashlights. Does it do the light any good to stay on trickle charge for an extended period of time, or is it better to remove it after a short while?