Surefire Aviator A2 failing on me. What's going on?

[kimjune01]

Aviator A2 with red LEDs

I bought the light about a year ago, and I opened it from its original packaging. It has seen weekly use since it was opened and I was satisfied with the service it provided me. Until yesterday.
The hardware and all 3 of the LED lights work like they used to, but the main light does not throw. I used batteries from batteryjunction for a dollar a piece. I opened the front to see if the bulb was out, but it was fine. I switched out the batteries, but the bulb didn't work.
One thing that I'd like to note is that I carried the light in my back pocket where it was warm for that particular evening. It was warm to the touch when I fired it up for a 10-min session of lighting. Also, I touched the glassy part of the bulb when taking it out to see whether it was out or not.
Is there anything else I should do(take pics?) before I spend any money? Thanks guys.

 

[DaFABRICATA]

NO.
Spend money on a FiveMega Strion Kit for your A2.

Replacement bulbs after that will only cost you about $3-$5 and the output is soooo much better than the stock surefire MA02

I have no clue why it doesnt throw:shrug:

The bulb DOES light up though...correct?

 

[nzgunnie]

Has the light suddenly gone a dull yellow when you turn it on? If it is this is pretty typical of the A2, especially on the cheaper cells. There were a number of threads on this a couple of years back, and it happens with my A2. I'd suggest you try a new pair of SF or Duracell batteries and see if that fixes it. Apparently the incan bulb of the A2 drops out of regulation at a relatively high voltage.

 

[Illum]

dunno about battery station, but we do know that the LVR driver inside the A2 body absolutely will not fire up the main lamp using titanium cells...something tells me it has to do with cell capacity which current draw appears to be dependent on.

try cells from other manufacturers...like surefire, Duracell, Energizer, Sanyo, or rayovac and see if it improves, if not consider giving surefire a call


EDIT: another thing to note, if your A2 was of the old type [square body with four flat sides] rather than the new type [round with 3 regions not knurled], note that the surefire lamps currently sold are compatible only with the new style and will not work in the old style. If your A2 is of the old type I'd consider the Lumen factory lamp assembly for the A2, there has been several confirmations that it works with the old style

 

[Carpenter]

I hate picking on a vendors cells, but there is documentation (as others have stated) that some CR123's don't play nice with the regulation circuit of the A2.

Another vote for picking up some "name brand" CR123's and seeing if that fixes your problem. Most likely it will.

 

[kimjune01]

The main bulb does not light up at all.
If I were to replace the bulb, would it fix the problem? What is the name of the $3~5 upgrade bulb?
My CR123's(the red-orangey ones) have worked fine so far, so I doubt that it's the cause of the problem?

 

[Bullzeyebill]

You have got to try some US made CR123's in your A2. Often times some of the cheaper CR123's will be mismatched, capacity wise, so not putting out the correct voltage for the A2 to turn on. I had this problem with the older model Battery Station CR123's. Battery Station cells are now US made.

Bill

 

[DaFABRICATA]

Heres a link to the Fivemega strion kit.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=210254&page=2
It is an initial investment of $40+ but WELL WORTH IT!!

You are gonna have to buy more bulbs down the line, why not buy this and get more output and pay less in the long run for cheaper bulbs...

 

[greenLED]

The main bulb does not light up at all.
If I were to replace the bulb, would it fix the problem?

Have you cleaned *all* contacts? Checked that the tabs inside the tailcap are not flat?

Actually, it sounds like a simple matter of replacing a burnt lamp. :thinking: If you have a DMM, check for continuity in the lamp. If the DMM doesn't beep, your lamp is burnt.

 

[LED61]

I did not miss out on a very important thing, and that is you say you touched the glass envelope of the lamp.

It has to be cleaned with a cotton swab and some alcohol to remove finger grease, which may cause your lamp to die prematurely.

As far as your main beam not lighting up, I'll join the crowd's advice on some new quality batteries.

 

[kimjune01]

Thanks all. I'll spend some money.

 

[Illum]

I did not miss out on a very important thing, and that is you say you touched the glass envelope of the lamp.

It has to be cleaned with a cotton swab and some alcohol to remove finger grease, which may cause your lamp to die prematurely.

the condition of the filament canot be altered by just touching the envelope...sure it may go in the flashlight but at least from there we know the lamp is getting power.

before you go ahead spending money on new lamps take your old lamp and do a resistance test using a DMM if you have one, your reading should be in the kΩ range, if your getting a 0L your lamp is fried and you'll have to buy a new one. If not you could hook up your lamp to a power supply, hit it with 3 volts and see if it glows.

There could be many reasons why a lamp is not getting power and it may occur beyond the possibilities of dirty contacts. I just found out today my round A2 had the same exact problem except using energizer cells...it was working fine yesterday. I took the lamp out, then put it back in: "works" good, upon repeating the procedure over "doesn't work" hmm.

Took the bezel off and moved the insides around, hmm...shouldn't the LED ring be mounted flush? yep. diagnostics concluded that the LED ring's mounting screws were stripped and its causing the lamp to be improperly seated

Usually heres the standard procedure when it comes to A2 questions...a whole not of threads back when A2 was all the rage

Problem: lamp don't work

• Solution: dirty contacts, polish and degrease all contacts

did it work? "if not"

• Solution: Faulty lamp, run diagnostic on lamp

was the lamp blown? "no"

• Solution: faulty tailcap, try bypassing tailcap with wire and see if it lights

Was the lamp blown? "yes"

• Solution: replace lamp with appropriate lamp assembly

was the tailcap faulty? "no"

• Solution: contact surefire for Return authorization or see below for alternative solutions

was the tailcap faulty? "yes"

• solution: contact surefire for replacement part

Did this solve your issue? "no"

• Solution: battery issue, the LVR has been known to be picky about batteries, try another brand of batteries

did using another brand of batteries solve your problem? "no"

• Solution: contact surefire for Return authorization

did using another brand of batteries solve your problem? "I want to try something else"

• Solution: use deoxit on all contacts, see 1st solution

sometimes its just removing then replacing the batteries or the lamp gets it working again. And when you do on your own it feels like PK himself just gave you a good pat on the back:nana:

 

[Bullzeyebill]

OP has got to rule out batteries as issue, particularly if he does not have testing equipment, which he obviously does not have or his first post would have been worded differently. We can throw all kinds of test suggestions, or cleaning prodedures at him, or point him toward mods, but his best bet is to find some good US made batteriesfirst.

kimjune01, are you using the original two batteries that you had in light? When the batteries become somewhat drained and there is not much voltage left in the batteries the main bulb will not work, but the 3 LEDS will. Have you tried different battery station batteries in the A2? You left a lot of details out in your first post.

Bill



Bill

 

[LED61]

The A2 is particularly good at detecting cell mismatch. I'm also very prone to think his problem is the cells.

 

[rph]

I had the same problem with one of mine, regardless of batteries used. Surefire took a look and one of the contacts in the tailcap was broken. Switched out the tailcap and it worked fine. Mine was almost NIB at the time, too.

If, like me, you aren't as technically proficient as some of the folks here, try the different batteries, then send it in. They'll figure it out.

 

[nikon]

I just tested my two A2's with different batteries to see if I could find a difference. I took several matched pairs of different brands of batteries, all in the 3 volt range. Of six pairs of Duracell batteries I tried, all batteries measurung (unloaded) between 3v and 3.1v, none behaved behaved properly. Four pairs wouldn't light either A2 and two pairs would light only one A2 to that barely lit sickly yellow intensity. Three other battery brands worked properly in both lights, Including a pair of Titanium measuring 2.95v each.

Why Duracell? I'm not sure, but in prior experience with other lights I've had similar results. This includes Duracell AA alkaline cells as well. Their unloaded voltage seems to measure artificially high relative to their energy reserves.

 

[LED61]

I just tested my two A2's with different batteries to see if I could find a difference. I took several matched pairs of different brands of batteries, all in the 3 volt range. Of six pairs of Duracell batteries I tried, all batteries measurung (unloaded) between 3v and 3.1v, none behaved behaved properly. Four pairs wouldn't light either A2 and two pairs would light only one A2 to that barely lit sickly yellow intensity. Three other battery brands worked properly in both lights, Including a pair of Titanium measuring 2.95v each.

Why Duracell? I'm not sure, but in prior experience with other lights I've had similar results. This includes Duracell AA alkaline cells as well. Their unloaded voltage seems to measure artificially high relative to their energy reserves.

Nikon, voltage alone tested with a DMM wont say much about the battery's state of charge. Better to use a ZTS tester for capacity. One Surefire battery that measured 3.05 V was close to 20% capacity with my testers. When I paired it with a brand new fully charged Surefire it would light up my A2 with a sickly out of regulation high beam.

 

[nikon]

Nikon, voltage alone tested with a DMM wont say much about the battery's state of charge. Better to use a ZTS tester for capacity. One Surefire battery that measured 3.05 V was close to 20% capacity with my testers. When I paired it with a brand new fully charged Surefire it would light up my A2 with a sickly out of regulation high beam.

Right, that's why I mentioned that all the voltage measurements were done with no load. I don't have a ZTS meter but I suppose I should get one.

The oddity to me is that the Duracell batteries seem to read unusually high voltage for the amount of energy remaining.

 

[Illum]

The oddity to me is that the Duracell batteries seem to read unusually high voltage for the amount of energy remaining.

that and earlier generation duracells will NOT register on the ZTS [ones with expiration 2010 or lower], it'll click but no light. Later generations the issue was resolved

 

[kimjune01]

Replaced with the same brand, "Titanium PowPower Batteries: Do not recharge". Still no go. I don't have that connection check thingy and i dont have wires to connect a 3V to the bulb