Surefire help.

[-mike-]

Im a little miffed. bought a G3, fits the bill for what I need. Problem is I cant get bulbs or "assemblies" to last.

first one lasted 30 minutes- ticked me off a touch.
second lasted 15 minutes- flat out pickled my beets.

Now Im past the return window for getting my money back, and Im not really keen on droppin 25 bucks every time I need to use this light.

Can someone point out a source for the bulbs, or maybe reccomend a mod for the assembly that is a little more realistic for someone who cant just swap for a new one everytime this happens?

Im not against LED's but I like the distance and cast I get out of this when it works, is there a comparable led swap that would give similar results to the stock P90? Not tryin to stir anything, I simply just dont know.

 

[bigchelis]

The P90 is designed to work with only 2 rechargeable batteries or 3 non-rechargeable batteries. Surefire will help you out if you call them.

If you want to upgrade you can use 2 17500 rechargeables with the P90 lamp or P91.


What type of batteries did you use?


Edit: A G3 works best with lower lumen LED's like Malkoff Devices M60L and 2 17500 cells. I myself prefer the P91 because you get 470ish out the front lumens (not 200 like is advertised). Granted you will be in the 350ish after 5 minutes, but still super bright with 2 17500 cells.

 

[-mike-]

I was using the three cr 123 batteries that came with the light.

I would like to take the p90 apart, put another bulb in and go from there, but those malkoffs look like they are nice as well, but I am a product of the cheap led lights, they are real birght up close, but dont illuminate very well at extended distance. I use the g3 mounted on a rifle for night shooting. It works very well, but if the m60l has as much light as the p90 I would be happy. Was it 140 lumens that they are advertised at? Or is it similar to what the maglite 3 watts are-real bright up close not so much past 50 yards?

 

[bigchelis]

I was using the three cr 123 batteries that came with the light.

I would like to take the p90 apart, put another bulb in and go from there, but those malkoffs look like they are nice as well, but I am a product of the cheap led lights, they are real birght up close, but dont illuminate very well at extended distance. I use the g3 mounted on a rifle for night shooting. It works very well, but if the m60l has as much light as the p90 I would be happy. Was it 140 lumens that they are advertised at? Or is it similar to what the maglite 3 watts are-real bright up close not so much past 50 yards?

IMHO the incandescents offer more throw. The P90 is advertised as 110 lumens, but it made 140ish out the front in MrGmans sphere.

If throw pat 50 yards is wanted I would go with the P91 in a 9P with 2 17500 cells. The M60 would also reach 50 yards, but the added heat in a nitrolon body might not be the best option for the M60. If you have a G2 or G3 stick to 150 ish LED lumens or less. Incandescents don't suffer with heat just from shock or vibration due to the filament.

 

[1wrx7]

I use the g3 mounted on a rifle for night shooting.

This may be the real problem. Like Bigchellis said, incans are affected by shock... so if we're talking anything bigger than a .22lr, you might need a shock isolated head. If you go with a LED drop-in you won't need it. Even 30 min. is way too short of a lifetime for a SF bulb. Did the failures happen during shooting?

 

[leukos]

Did the failures happen during shooting?

+1

 

[-mike-]

Nope. Thats whats got me mad. I was using as a handheld for target ID. Both assemblies did the same thing- reduced output, hotspot went to an orange ish dark yellow color then went out.

Is there anyone out there that would mod this for me?

 

[1wrx7]

I think the first thing to do is call SureFire.

The G series lights use a metal tube inside the nitrolon body to make contact. Maybe there is a problem with how it was pressed into the body:shrug: SF says that they don't cover bulbs and tapeswitches but, maybe this is an issue they've heard of before. I had two tailcaps that quit working, and after a 5min. conversation I was told two new tailcaps were being sent out to me free. 3 or 4 days later they were in my mailbox:twothumbs SF definately takes care of their customers... worst case is they might want you to send back the light for inspection.

As far as modding the G3... other than using a drop-in I haven't really seen any mods for it. Malkoff makes great drop-in's... I have a M60 and a M60L. Nailbender here on CPF is also making some nice stuff too. The only one I have from him is a UV drop-in though. If you check in the LED section there is a sticky at the top for MrGmans lumen testing. It won't tell you how a light will throw but, you will find unbiased lumen output. LumensFactory also makes some nice replacement bulbs for SureFire's. I'm just worried if there is something wrong with the G3 it might destroy an expensive drop-in or any other bulb you might put in there:tinfoil:

Good luck and BTW:welcome:

 

[leukos]

There's not much that can go wrong in the G3 electrically, it's a fairly simple circuit path.

I guess something we haven't asked about yet are what kind of batteries are being used in this light? Not all lithium batteries are equal.

As mentioned by others, if the lamps are truly to blame, SF has been known to replace lamps that die in the short amount of time you have described. Call SF customer service rather than emailing: 800-828-8809

There is another company that makes some great replacement lamps. They are usually about 50% cheaper than SF lamps retail and quite an improvement in beam and performance. You can find those here: http://www.lumensfactory.com/products.php?cat_id=2&sub_cat_id=3

Here's a custom made lamp assembly that uses $6 bulbs: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=190833

 

[bigchelis]

Here are MrGman's readings for the P91 with 2 rechargeable cells. Please not that it did about 10 lumens less with 2 AW 17500 cells when previously tested. You would be running 2 AW 17500 cells in a G3. My first Surefire was a G3 and P91 went threw cr123 primaries really quick. I wish I had known about CPF back then. I wouldn't have sold my G3 had I known about how easy AW cells are to use.

Thats right The P91 makes 473 out the front lumens.

SureFire P91_____________Solarforce w/AR Glass__2XIMR18650__473.4_____1 sec
SureFire P91_____________Solarforce w/AR Glass__2XIMR18650__445.3____10 sec
SureFire P91_____________Solarforce w/AR Glass__2XIMR18650__411.2____30 sec
SureFire P91_____________Solarforce w/AR Glass__2XIMR18650__396.4____60 sec
SureFire P91_____________Solarforce w/AR Glass__2XIMR18650__381.7___120 sec
SureFire P91_____________Solarforce w/AR Glass__2XIMR18650__383.1___180 sec

Here is the P90
SureFire P90_____________Solarforce w/AR Glass__2XIMR18650__142.0_____1 sec
SureFire P90_____________Solarforce w/AR Glass__2XIMR18650__138.2____20 sec
SureFire P90_____________Solarforce w/AR Glass__2XIMR18650__137.1____30 sec
SureFire P90_____________Solarforce w/AR Glass__2XIMR18650__130.6____60 sec
SureFire P90_____________Solarforce w/AR Glass__2XIMR18650__118.3___120 sec
SureFire P90_____________Solarforce w/AR Glass__2XIMR18650__112.4___180 sec