Surefire explosion

[Size15's]

So in laymans terms, and based on my own experience selling batteries and bulbs with liability issues, Both streamlight and SureFire Recommend Their own brands for a mix of Marketing, profit, and product liability reasons.

(If we boiled it down to just one phrase😗)

Although the cynics would likely disagree, starting their own brand of batteries was not motivated by profit. I've got to know a good selection of people at SureFire over the years and there remains a genuine desire to help their customers get the best out of their SureFires for best possible (honest) price. Of course not making a loss is important and making sufficient profit to enable growth and reinvestment is also important - my perspective is that flashlight companies offer their own brand CR123A batteries to ensure customers get the safest highest performing use from their flashlights. Branding and Marketing is reinforced as well.
I would put the priority as safety, performance, marketing.

 

[wacbzz]

That was unfortunate; their catalog ran out of space. SureFire has been using "Designed and assembled in the U.S.A. of domestic and foreign components. This product qualifies as "American Made" under the Buy American Act." on their flashlight packaging for some time.

My comment was purely a flashback to the pages and pages of the thread that I (and many others) though was coming after both you and Stuart announced was going to happen.

While it didn't and I surely loved to rub it in a little - :devil: - really it was just a little jab at SF's known ability to thus far overpromise and underdeliver in regards to their catalogs and what is to be in them and what will come out of them. :laughing:

Think of it this way - the reason why Panasonic®, Duracell® and Energizer® are specifically named in addition to SureFire's own brand SF123A battery is because they are established brands that SureFire can have confidence and assurance that they will not make changes that could undermine SureFire's use of them.

Other USA-manufactured CR123A batteries are either of brands that are less well know & established, or they are not dedicated battery brands - they are brands known for other products.

...

OEM branded batteries using brands known for other products could, conceivably switch their OEM manufacturer without notice and take their business overseas which would mean having to revise advice and potentially put out additional warnings once the change has be realised etc.
Also, there is less pressure on a non-battery brand to focus on their batteries. If there is a problem they can cut and run back to their core products.

Thanks for your comments though about the batteries. I would submit, however, that both Duracell and Energizer are both large producers of things other than batteries (read - FLASHLIGHTS). And given that their FLASHLIGHTS are made overseas, the potential for their costs concerning batteries could, of course, be lessened by overseas production. And then of course you run into the situation that you described above as not happening actually happening.

Based simply on that, I think there have to be other reasons why SF lists both Duracell and Energizer as supported brands.:shrug:

 

[Alan B]

Seems like when I got my first SureFire 6P many years ago there was only one battery brand recommended. Was it Duracell? Perhaps SF has agreements with some battery vendors and these recommendations are related to that.

The flashlights made by these other battery companies do not compete with SF.

 

[wacbzz]

The flashlights made by these other battery companies do not compete with SF.

It's not a matter of whether their flashlights "compete" with those produced by SF. It's about the batteries. Didn't you fully read both my post and Al's post (or at least what I quoted)?

Regardless, I'm not trying to work up anybody's automatic "Oh-my-God-don't-you-dare-speak-or-write-bad-about-SF-here" mentality. I was just looking to see if anybody had any idea's as to why SF would void my warranty with me using USA made Streamlight cells - especially given that they are (potentially) made in the same manufacturing plant.

 

[Alan B]

I suspect that SureFire has business relations (or has had over the years) with these approved battery supply companies and does not have them with Streamlight. But that's just my suspicion. It doesn't really matter. They do it because they feel it is best for their business.

Seems like this thread is about something else, not speculating about SF warranty policy motivation...

 

[Size15's]

I really enjoyed this thread when we were all learning new and very interesting details about batteries

 

[lightplay22]

I sure have learned a LOT about batteries that I did not know or even given much consideration.
Big thanks to all who shared technical expertise as to why some cells seem to discharge more or faster than others. This understanding will let me use multicell lights with greater safety margins than before.

This flashlight explosion is by far the most devastating that I've ever seen and I'm glad it was not in his pocket when it went off!

 

[snakebite]

could one cell have gotten dinged and had its seperator damaged in a long forgotten drop?or had a seal failure(seal and insulator are one) from a drop combined with constant spring pressure?heat from this runaway cell would heat up its neighbor till it hits runaway.

 

[Nite]

I started this thread because Im wondering what wouldve happened if this light had been adorned with tritium vials and thats a different discussion altogether.

 

[LuxLuthor]

I really enjoyed this thread when we were all learning new and very interesting details about batteries

Al, I just checked back at the AR15 thread. I find it shocking that something that dramatic happened, and he didn't call SF. No feedback from SF reported after all this time, which I find strange. Man, I would put SF on speed dial until I got an answer if something that dramatic happened. I also still wonder about that one cell in the image I blew up that looks different. May have just been distortion from the explosion. Or not.

 

[Monocrom]

Al, I just checked back at the AR15 thread. I find it shocking that something that dramatic happened, and he didn't call SF. No feedback from SF reported after all this time, which I find strange. Man, I would put SF on speed dial until I got an answer if something that dramatic happened. I also still wonder about that one cell in the image I blew up that looks different. May have just been distortion from the explosion. Or not.

Just doesn't make sense that the guy hasn't bothered to contact Surefire. He's not a flashaholic. A 9Z would represent a more significant outlay of money to him, since he's not used to paying a premium for a flashlight. Also, he's likely relied on that 9Z over the years. More attached to it.

For him not to contact Surefire tells me that something is amiss. Perhaps he mixed & matched cells with at least one that wasn't Surefire brand, and possibly a Made in China cell. (Something more likely to happen to a non-flashaholic).

If I wasn't an enthusiast, and I owned a high-end something that blew up on me through no fault of my own; the company that made the product would hear from me seconds after it blew up.

 

[Size15's]

As a Police Officer the original poster likely has the real world to concentrate on

 

[LuxLuthor]

As a Police Officer the original poster likely has the real world to concentrate on

Yeah that must be it since he hasn't taken the time to search for distant exploded fragments, photograph and describe all the copious details, answer repeated questions, or follow up numerous times with additional posts in an artificial electronic forum world.

 

[Monocrom]

As a Police Officer the original poster likely has the real world to concentrate on

That would be understandable if it were some cheap keychain light that stopped working. But this is a bit more serious than that. It seems very odd that he hasn't called up Surefire to get their take on why his 9Z basically turned into a pipe-bomb.

 

[Bullzeyebill]

Yeah that must be it since he hasn't taken the time to search for distant exploded fragments, photograph and describe all the copious details, answer repeated questions, or follow up numerous times with additional posts in an artificial electronic forum world.

LOL. Yeah, he did all of that. Certainly enough data to present to SF, and he obviously has enough time on his hands.

Bill

 

[Alan B]

Can anyone else get SF's attention on this? They might want to know about it, even on those forums. Maybe one of their rep's could request that he contact him.

 

[Nite]

you forgot to mention he had time to study and reprint the Stations security video.
😗

 

[Nite]

At least he doesn't have to pay for the damaged Police station door etc!

Can anyone else get SF's attention on this? They might want to know about it, even on those forums. Maybe one of their rep's could request that he contact him.

why not just email the AR15 link to SF?

 

[tango44]

Last night my Surefire 6P exploded on me! Damaging my Jeep, Wrist watch and the light itself:

Sorry for the bad pics but my BB is all I got.
Will see how does SF fix this!

 

[aimxplode]

You should start your own thread so more people can see it, but that sucks man. Were you using two new batteries? How big was the explosion?