SF M6 X-LOLA...Thoughts after 5 months of use.

[seery]

Seems these days it's either the X-LOLA or the HOLA. The standard LOLA
just doesn't seem to get used nearly as much as it did in the "old days"!
The X-LOLA set-up is such a nice balance of all the attributes I look for and
need in a light.

It's been five months since discovering JS's M6-X creation and I couldn't be
more excited about the way they have been performing in my M6's.

A few days ago the X-LOLA (MN15) bulb in one of my dedicated M6-X lights
was replaced for the fourth time.

Two of the four bulbs died when firing up the M6-X after a cell swap. The
lamps stay hot between battery changes since that involves a simple and
quick loaded MB20 swap.

Each time the MN15 bulb has lasted roughly four sets of cells or 8-12 hours
and not once did the bulb do anything but just "go out".

My M6's get used very hard, with drops and bangs being the norm. And at
least once a week one is submerged underwater or used in the rain, and on
several occasions as a substitute for a hammer or other heavy tool.

So as an update...THANKS again to JS for sharing his wonderful discovery
with us and to Surefire for making such an amazing illumination tool.

After 5 months of use you can quote me on this. The M6-X makes life's
tasks easier and life's fun moments more enjoyable.

Please share your thoughts & experiences on how the M6 X-LOLA has been
working for you.

THANKS.

 

[js]

For those who need it, here is the link to the SF M6 X-LOLA thread.

Thanks for posting this thread, seery! I'm thrilled you like this setup so much. I too have been using the MN15 in my M6 since I posted about this configuration. I'm still on the first MN15, though.

You've replaced lamps four times, however! Wow! That's cause for mild concern, I think. I would have guessed the MN15's would have held up a little better than the 8-12 hours you've gotten--like double that or more. Ah well, that is often the price for a whiter, more efficient incan: lamp life. I haven't put more than that amount of runtime on my setup yet, nor has anyone else who has posted, I don't think, so this may very well be the lamp life one can expect, instead of the guestimate I gave in the original thread.

Anyway, thanks again for posting this. I really appreciate it!

 

[ADDICTED2LITE]

Has anybody used one of the LF M3T bulbs in the M6 long term? I was wondering how long they hold up and compare to the MN15.

 

[Owen]

Has anybody used one of the LF M3T bulbs in the M6 long term?

They only started shipping a couple of weeks ago.

 

[LED61]

I have been using the X-LOLA in one of my M6´s ever since JS discovered it. I accumulated about 7-8 hours with it before the lamp suddenly and very quickly became smoked inside, filament intact. I have since accumulated another 2 hours in a new X-LOLA with no problem. What I really like about this setup is the beautiful, long running, and extremely white beam with very little noticeable dimming. Excellent efficiency for an incan.
I hope my other lamps will not last only 7-8 hours like my first, but I haven´t seen a whiter incan beam.

 

[1wrx7]

Last night I tried using a mn15 in my M6. I like it but, Is the oval shaped hot spot normal? I don't remember it looking like that in my M3T. It's great to have more options for any light.

 

[seery]

I would have guessed the MN15's would have held up a little better than the 8-12 hours you've gotten--like double that or more.

Jim - If looking at an X-LOLA set-up exhausted MN15 bulb would help determine
something useful or of interest, please advise and I'll happily send one your way in the
name of science. Let me know as I could get it out in the morning via 1st class mail.

Not at all dissapointed with the 10 hours average life from the X-LOLA set-up MN15. This
equates to $1.25 more per hour of operation than I get from the MN20/MN21 lamps. Very
minimal cost impact.

When the meter is ticking, the M6-X wil cost the user just .10cents/per minute of operation.
This of course is factoring in the cost of SF OEM cells (400 count quantities) and the cost
of the lamps. For what it offers, this is cheap IMO considering all same factors the HOLA
MN21 will cost the user .50/per minute of operation.

:bow::bow::bow:M6-X

 

[Icebreak]

Jim -

That sounds like a heck of a success to me.

Seery -

I'm interested to know the color of the residue that may have adhered to the inside of the envelope. I'm going to guess that it is white or off-white. Can you tell if the filament is still shiney or is it dark?

Either way, good job j_s.

- Jeff

 

[seery]

I'm interested to know the color of the residue that may have adhered to the inside of the envelope. I'm going to guess that it is white or off-white. Can you tell if the filament is still shiney or is it dark?

The residue is cloudy white with a very slight tint/swirl of gray.
The bottom of the filament is visible and it appears somewhat shiny.

Hope this helps out.

 

[LED61]

Icebreak, I still have the bulb with me. I can send it to you if you´d like. FYR, a fuzzy picture of it is posted in Jim´s X LOLA thread.

 

[Destroid Monster]

Two of the four bulbs died when firing up the M6-X after a cell swap. The
lamps stay hot between battery changes since that involves a simple and
quick loaded MB20 swap.

Each time the MN15 bulb has lasted roughly four sets of cells or 8-12 hours
and not once did the bulb do anything but just "go out".

Would using slightly discharged CR123 (ie: using the set of battery thats has already ran 5-10 mins on the MN20) help in improving the blub lifespan? It seems that the inital blast of 6 fresh cell is too much for the MN15 to bear.

 

[senna94]

Great info. and thread!!! Can anyone using this set up please post some beamshots comparing the MN15 to MN20 & MN21 in the M6.

 

[cnjl3]

I have changed the 123's in my MB20 twice and my MN15 is still going strong 'BUT' I have never dropped my M6 nor submerged it under water although twice I have used it in the rain.
I have several hammers so my M6 has been spared that abuse-LOL:nana:

But once I got my HDM6 I switched to running mostly the HOLA and abandoned the MN15.

Today I switched from the HOLA back to the MN15 because I want to see just how long it takes before my mighty MN15 'bites the dust'. I am hoping i get more time because of the 'softstart' feature of the HDM6.

My M6's get used very hard, with drops and bangs being the norm. And at
least once a week one is submerged underwater or used in the rain, and on several occasions as a substitute for a hammer or other heavy tool.

 

[kelmo]

Oops!

 

[kelmo]

My M6's get used very hard,...used...on
several occasions as a substitute for a hammer or other heavy tool...

Hardcore!

 

[BBL]

seery, i'm impressed that you take economical considerations into account, when using the M6 ... normally, in my experience, people around here just shell out money

Would you mind posting pictures of your M6? I've never seen a M6 that has been used and abused.

And why is it economical to use the MN15 overdriven? I mean, those bulbs are not exactly cheap.

 

[Icebreak]

Thanks, seery.

Those colors indicate a fill gas compromise that took place during use. The compromise was likely due to a lamp failure. We knew all of this from your post. It does help because it corroborates previous findings on lamp failures that were similar.

LED61 -

Your lamp turn black not violet-blue? If it was a rapid degredation of light and black appeared as a residue on the inside of the lamp well, I haven't found a definitive answer for that. My theory is that it is was gaseous tungstan that rapidly became deposited during a fill gas failure. js explains that no temperature attainable by a filament can fail a fill gas so this may have to be an envelope failure. I'm curious as to why the black appears. I've got some ideas and I'll do research on the subject.

If it is black I'd sure like to take a look at it. PM coming to you.

Guys, I'm interested in this stuff for many reasons but one of the reasons is that some folks (myself included) though that most failures in experiments were due to too much overdrive. They would abandon a power source and it turns out that it often wasn't the power source.

Understanding failures helps with the X-HOLA too. It would seem that Jim has found a special lamp that is efficient and stays white during the majority of the run. This is great stuff. He may be able to determine the weak point and improve it or make suggestion as to how to improve the lamp. 10hrs seems pretty good but I'm sure you guys would like better.

From what I've read about the X-LOLA it reminds me of another special bulb that pizzaman discovered in the Radio Shack XPR103 driving it with 4 D cell for a peddley little 4.48 watts. It runs white and in a Mag with medium stipple it's very useful. I appreciate that low output white incan and can appreciate what you guys are doing here with a much more powerful light that spoken of in LOLA terms.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[seery]

Icebreak - There is a thin black line around the inside middle of the bulb. Just as
if it was drawn with a sharpie. This may be of useful info.

If you or JS would like to look at it, please let me know and I'll hold off tossing it.

 

[Icebreak]

That is interesting, seery.

To me it would seem the deposits on failed lamps are a kind of snapshot of the failure. That black line in your lamp is likely a tungsten oxide deposit.

The failure may be specifically caused by a seal failure in the lamp's envelope near the base. The excessive heat of the lamp may cause the seal to compromise, flooding (at different rates) the lamp's atmosphere with oxygen. The Halogen cycle breaks down, and the envelope fills with oxide gasses. However your black line may be showing where the halogen failed to combine with the condensated tungsten for two different possible reasons. Not enough halogen left in the atmosphere to do the job and this would be in the beginning of the process failure or, the envelope had finally become too cool to support the halogen process and left the condensated tungsten to continue to build up in that exact area.

Some modern Tungsten-Halogen lamps have a built in heat sink. The metal ring potted lamps js built have a very similar strategy. If these MN-15 lamps had metal ring potting or heat sinking it's possible they would last longer by protecting the lamp seal from excess heat build up.

I'd like to see your lamp but I'd also like to see what js thinks. He may want to do a post-mortum.

Thanks for the information.

 

[cnjl3]

'ditto' on the pic's of a 'seasoned' M6.

Would you mind posting pictures of your M6? I've never seen a M6 that has been used and abused.