Surefire C3 ,bulb dim

[larryk]

Hi, I recently bought a Surefire C3 with a M2 head and clickie switch. This light with the P91 bulb is not as white a beam as my other 2 cell Surefire with a P61 bulb. I replaced the batteries with the same result. Is this normal ?
Larry.

 

[JackBlades]

Check to see if the bulb is cloudy. I had a bad MN-10 in a M3 that arrived like this. Imagine my disappointment when my E2e out-shined it in the "garage test" the day it arrived! One call to SF had a new bulb in my mailbox 2 days later!

 

[jtivat]

What brand batteries are you useing?

 

[FlashlightOCD]

Is it dimmer or not as white?

I just did a test and well focused P61 LA actually does appear to be [slightly] whiter than a P91 with a very oblong beam.

If the P91 is dimmer than the P61 I would suspect the bulb, like JackBlades said check to see if the bulb is cloudy or colored. I had an A2 bulb go dim and the Xenon bulb had turned blue.

Why causes Xenon bulbs to go dim anyway? All other bulbs that I've had just completely stop working when they go bad.

 

[Size15's]

When the high pressure gas leaks out of the bulb (even slightly) the bulb will get messed up.

Personally, I'm not a fan of the P90/P91 although the ones I do have are basically more light of the same quality as my P60/P61 beams.

Al

 

[larryk]

Thanks for all the responses. I'm using Surefire batteries in both lights. It throws more light than the P61 but it looks much more yellow in color. I checked the bulb and it is very clear. I just remembered tonight that it also came with a P90 bulb. I checked that against the P61 and the P90 is slightly whiter, go figure.
Larry.