MaxFire Problem - Batteries?

[Phaetos]

Awhile back I had posted about having problems with 2 Maxfire XL's. Both exhibited the strange behaviour of seemingly draining 2 CR123's without them being in use. I could never find an explanation for it. I could put 2 brand new primaries of either Energizer or Duracell in them and sit it on the counter and never touch it. Within 2 weeks, dead as a door nail. Wouldn't light. I put them to the side and forgot about them.

Since then I got a Fenix P2D a few weeks ago and 4 Energizer E2 Cr123's. I was looking at getting a Surefire G2 to put in the wife's car, then realized I still had those Maxfire's. Still not sure if I trust them or not. So I have put 2 new E2's in one and will see what happens. I took out the "drained" ones and tested them in the Fenix since it will strobe when there isn't enough juice to use it. One cell worked perfectly, lit all modes and worked just as good as a brand new E2. The other cell was totally drained. Now why would that happen? Any clues?

 

[NA8]

Well that's a weird one. I've got 2 Maxfires and neither one does that trick. I'd try another source for my batteries. I'd check the tailswitch for any resistance in the OFF position. Should be open on an ohmmeter. Check for any contamination inside the flashlight.

 

[roadie]

:shakehead :shakehead :shakehead

 

[Monocrom]

Have to agree with NA8. My Brinkmann Maxfire LX doesn't drain the 123A cells in it.... Despite the low price-tag, it's one of my most reliable lights.

Get a couple of Surefire 123A cells from a different place you normally get your batteries. If they still drain out. Send the lights back to the place you bought them from. Maxfires that work properly, don't drain cells by themselves.

 

[Phaetos]

I did. I put some that I got from fenix-store to see what happens. I don't have a meter tho. I really need one.

 

[mdocod]

that's really bizarre, I also have 2 of these, I run 2xRCR123 in one, and a 18650 in another (it's been bored), these have been my go-to EDCs for quite awhile now and have proven themselves very reliable.

 

[Phaetos]

I did get me a DMM today. Will figure out how to use it and see if I can figure out what's happening. I do see that everything in it is plastic inside, so I can't exactly short the negative end of the batt to the casing to see if the switch is the problem. But, you think I can have TWO that do the exact same behaviour?

 

[Phaetos]

I got me an Equus Innova 3320 and have been playing with it to figure out how to use it properly. I was attempting to test the Ohm on the switch in the Off position and you said it should be Open. But I can't seem to get a reading across any points on that switch. It's all plastice except for two small contact points on either side and the spring in the middle of the cap. Where should I be measuring and what should I see for a reading to tell if it's bad?

 

[Mash]

You need to imagine the setup as the light would be working, and you can see where to measure.
SO if the battery was inside the light, the bottom (-) of the battery would be touching the CENTRE of the tailcap, which would be your spring. this spring goes to one contact of the switch, which when ON, feeds the current to the other contact of the switch which is connected to the metal of the TIALCAP, which would make a closed cicuit with the TUBE of the flashlight, which makes contact to the outside of the lamp.
To really feel and realise what the tailcap switch does, do this: open the tail cap, put the batteries in the light (make sure they are all the way in, and contacting the lamp at the (+) end, get a piece of wire, and connect the (-) of the battery as it sits in the light, to the silvery end bit of TUBE. The switch basically does the job of this wire!
SO you would need to measure the resistance bewteen two points: THe middle spring, and the inside diameter of the TAILCAP, where you see the threads which screw onto the bottom of the tube. YOu should go for the shiny silver bit of the threads, since the anodized (black) part is an insulator.
You do this twice, once with the switch ON, which should show a closed circuit, and next time with switch OFF, which normally should show an open circuit, ie no resisteance whatsoever. But in your case it might show a small resistance, which would mean that a faulty switch is the cause of the slow darining effect.
To learn how your DMM operates and indicates, put it on the resistane mode, get a piece of short wire and measure from the two ends and observe how the readings work; this is your ideal CLOSED cirucit; in my DMM, the readings go up, and then show infinity. If I have no path whatsoever, ie an open circuit, nothing happens, no reading on the DMM. And in your case, you might get some reading, ie a figure, which would be the resistance that the faulty switch is producing. To get this reading you might need to set the DMM in the right scale range.

 

[Phaetos]

Ok. I see. Thanks. I will try this out when I get home and see what values I get.

 

[Phaetos]

I tried this now.There are no metal threads on the tailcap, it's all plastic. The only metal is inside the tube where two little prongs on the sides of the tailcap connect for positive I'm assuming. So I should have placed the black lead on the center spring of the tailcap, and the red lead on the metal inside the tube to complete the circuit. I get a reading of 0.L, which is what it reads when sitting idle. Now if I put the black lead on the spring in the tailcap, and the red on the connectors on the inside of the tailcap, I get a 0.L in the OFF position and 0.1 - 0.3 in the ON position. Is this right? Yes I have the DMM set correctly. You can reference this thread about my DMM.

 

[NA8]

... if I put the black lead on the spring in the tailcap, and the red on the connectors on the inside of the tailcap, I get a 0.L in the OFF position and 0.1 - 0.3 in the ON position. Is this right?

That's how you do it.

Edit: LOL. Thought that "10 MegOhm" label was a special input for awhile. That's not a high ohmmeter input, that's the meter impedance. Silly stuff. The regular ohmmeter inputs are good to 20 Megs.

You might take a thin piece of plastic or tape and insulate the spring from your batteries and see if the problem persists.