Surefire Hellfighter (picture intensive)

NoNotAgain

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I just try charge battery again and charger say battery is charged already.Also I use multimeter on cable side for light and it is 16.5 Volt.

Is the battery you refer to the BB2590? Short Arc posted the pin out for the cable and battery, so make sure that you're using the correct pins.

Pictures would help.
 

Anita

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Hello. Yes I am using the BB-2590 battery. I followed the info by ShortArc very carefully. It is definitely correct. The only part that was skipped was the diode for the connector on battery side since he said it was not needed.
 

NoNotAgain

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I'd try ordering one of the $30 Surefire cable sets off eBay and see if that fixes the problem.
I can verify power on my cables tomorrow when I get back home.

What you described sounds like you've got a dead short when the light is turned on.

One of my batteries when purchased had one side with only 1 bar showing. Three attempts to charge kept showing fault. This was using the PP8444 charger. Dug out the PP8498 charger, did the renew process and all was well.

So for your battery dropping to zero bars says there's a short somewhere in the system.
 

Anita

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Hello. But my cable is ok ~_~ I checked.

My multimeter show 16.5 Volt with "+" into "B" and "-" into "E" on the Amphenol connector.

I also check for short circuit and there is none.

What is actual voltage of light? 12 Volt or 15 Volt? I just ask because I read that some BB-2590 battery will have protection if the voltage is too low. Such big headache. I think I know why old owner of my light not wanted it anymore haha.
 

Anita

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Hello. Here is a photo of my cable!

meEequv.jpg


a6nQBfr.jpg
 

NoNotAgain

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Hello. But my cable is ok ~_~ I checked.

My multimeter show 16.5 Volt with "+" into "B" and "-" into "E" on the Amphenol connector.

I also check for short circuit and there is none.

What is actual voltage of light? 12 Volt or 15 Volt? I just ask because I read that some BB-2590 battery will have protection if the voltage is too low. Such big headache. I think I know why old owner of my light not wanted it anymore haha.

You're good on B and E for the connections. The polarity is supposed to be B is positive and E is negative.

The battery connection should be 1, 2, and 3 negative, 4 and 5 positive. #6 appears to do nothing.

My batteries show 16.3 volts. I checked a few of them, so in your case low voltage isn't a problem.

Check the polarity, as the light won't function if reversed.

BTW, very professional looking cables. Good job.

The Hellfighter will operate within a voltage range of 11.5 volts to a maximum of 30 volts. Beyond that and the ballast may make magic smoke.
 
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Anita

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Hello. Thank you for feedback! I check polarity and it is ok. But for battery connection "3" should not be needed right? Because if I look at battery diagram it show both "1" & "3" as "-" for the same cell. Battery side connector came from manufacturer of battery with wire. So for that side I only needed solder two cables together from the connector to my pink cable.

I sent a mail to battery manufacturer already to ask them what the problem is. But because I have no other power to test with I cannot say if light is problem or if battery is problem.

Next few days I will try borrow a Li-Po battery to test. Have a friend with a few!
 

Anita

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Hello. I just tried my light on the BB-2590 battery again. Still does not work. But I noticed that when I leave the switch "on" I can hear two "ticks" coming from the light every 15 seconds.

It is quite faint. Just goes "tick... tick..." (about half a second apart).

Maybe somehow not enough current coming from battery?
 

Anita

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Hello. Improved handle! So my skin won't get scratched >,<"...

8iaGPjR.jpg


JYjlCgF.jpg
 

Anita

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Hello. I have progress with some good news!

I have no reply from the battery manufacturer yet but my friend asked me if it is possible to test the light using a computer power supply. What a good idea! I like playing around with computer hardware, so this would be an easy test for me to carry out.

So I made a temporary wire to connect my light to the 12 Volt molex connector. Light works!

Also since I still had the clamp meter that I borrow from my office with me, I checked current and it is:

12.2 Volt ... Inrush Current: 5.5 Amp
12.2 Volt ... Stable Current: 4.4 Amp

So now I know for certain what this light needs to turn on!

Also seem my new battery is broken. I will mail the manufacturer later.
 

NoNotAgain

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Hello. I have progress with some good news!

I have no reply from the battery manufacturer yet but my friend asked me if it is possible to test the light using a computer power supply. What a good idea! I like playing around with computer hardware, so this would be an easy test for me to carry out.

So I made a temporary wire to connect my light to the 12 Volt molex connector. Light works!

Also since I still had the clamp meter that I borrow from my office with me, I checked current and it is:

12.2 Volt ... Inrush Current: 5.5 Amp
12.2 Volt ... Stable Current: 4.4 Amp

So now I know for certain what this light needs to turn on!

Also seem my new battery is broken. I will mail the manufacturer later.

When you look at the battery charge status windows, how many bars are shown in each window? Did you charge the battery when you received it?

Not knowing the battery condition, if you have the Bren-Tronics battery, they aren't shipped fully charged. What is shown as date of manufacture and inspection date? If it's been sitting, it may only have a surface charge which isn't enough to start the light.

If you are able to get more voltage from your power supply, (I know computer power supply) the starting amperage will drop to around 7 amps and the running amperage will be at or just below 4 amps.

Good that you've now seen the light works. Would be nice if you can get the battery issue out of the way. Good luck.
 

Anita

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Hello. Battery both show five bars. Date of manufacture is 2016 April haha.

I tried to charge battery but charger says battery is full.

Forgot brand of battery but it is not Bren-Tronics. I will need to check.

Regret not buying Bren-Tronics >,<"...
 

NoNotAgain

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What charger are you using?
If it's the PP8444, that might contribute to the lack of charging. The PP8444 for unknown reasons won't charge a number of my batteries. The PP8498 using the same adapters from the 8444 charges fine.

What's the capacity of your battery? Is it 7.5 or 9.0 amp hour?

If possible post a picture of the data plate.
 

Anita

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Hello. Well a bit bored fixing this battery problem. So more important question first! I saw red filter on eBay and it looks nice. If I want to change the filter, how do I remove the ring in front of filter to remove the glass from the filter housing so I can change it?

I tried searching everywhere and cannot find the name of tool. Think I saw something like "retaining ring removal wrench" and a few other different names haha.

Or is there a way to remove without the tool?
 

NoNotAgain

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Timothybil

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Have you tried discharging your battery a ways and then seeing if it will recharge properly. Find some other 12v load that you can jury rig and run it down a bar or so, then recharge it. It might be enough.
 

Anita

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Hello. Finally managed to return the problem battery. So I went to buy Bren-Tronics this time.

Everything is ok now! Also bought the small Bren-Tronics charger!

L7mPw8K.jpg


cQOKCL7.jpg
 
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NoNotAgain

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Glad to hear that Bren Tronics corrected the issue.
I'm interested in the charger. If you don't mind, how much does Bren Tronics charge for the one you have shown?

Also, the BB2590/U battery you have. What is the amperage shown on the faceplate?

Now get out and use that light!
 

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