Surefire V1 Vampire battery?

[itsonlyme]

I have a Surefire V1 Vampire and it has the OFF mode and
the lockout tailcap to prevent from accidental activation of the light during transportation.

Question is, in order to prevent the battery from leaking during long term storage, do I need to turn it to the OFF position or just enable the lockout tailcap?

 

[thermal guy]

123A lithium Batteries don't leak. I'm not familiar with that light so not sure about parasitic drain but you don't have to worry about your batteries leaking. That's an Alkalines problem.

 

[itsonlyme]

For those of you who own a V1 Vampire, do these lights produce parasitic drain?

All I need to know that will it be fine to just leave it on the lockout tailcap mode if storing the light for longer periods of time?

 

[archimedes]

For those of you who own a V1 Vampire, do these lights produce parasitic drain?

I have no idea, but your question asking if an item named "vampire" has "parasitic drain" ... sort of made me think, hmmmm :thinking:

 

[thermal guy]

For those of you who own a V1 Vampire, do these lights produce parasitic drain?

All I need to know that will it be fine to just leave it on the lockout tailcap mode if storing the light for longer periods of time?

I'm thinking a quick call to surefire would get you the answer your looking for faster. I have found them very knowledgeable

 

[WarriorOfLight]

For those of you who own a V1 Vampire, do these lights produce parasitic drain?

No, the V1 has a mechanical switch. The lockout - off - position is intended to prevent switching the light on accidently. You should keep in mind the V1 is mor a tactical light and if the light switches on accidently you could easily targeted.
If you put the head in the off position, than there is no additional need of unscrew the tailcap a little bit.

 

[itsonlyme]

No, the V1 has a mechanical switch. The lockout - off - position is intended to prevent switching the light on accidently. You should keep in mind the V1 is mor a tactical light and if the light switches on accidently you could easily targeted.
If you put the head in the off position, than there is no additional need of unscrew the tailcap a little bit.

Thank you for this information.

So your saying that there is no real difference between the lockout tailcap and setting the head to the OFF position. Am I correct?

For longer storage time, it would make more sense to keep the head to the OFF position with the battery inside. Correct?

Is it also fine to just leave the CR123 battery inside the light as these type of batteries do not leak?

 

[WarriorOfLight]

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So your saying that there is no real difference between the lockout tailcap and setting the head to the OFF position. Am I correct?

​

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Yes, you are correct.

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For longer storage time, it would make more sense to keep the head to the OFF position with the battery inside. Correct?

I own a V1 and I never used the lockout functionality of the head, and it is still the first battery. I do bot usw the V1 with my NVG not that often, but it is fun... Technically the V1 is identical to the Aviators, only the 2nd LED color is different... i must sah I use my Aviators more often.

A few compare pictures:
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[itsonlyme]

I am only going to use the V1 for emergencies which means that the light will be stored without use for a longer periods of time with the battery inside the light.

Will it be fine to just leave the head on the OFF position?

Just afraid that the battery will leak. But the CR123s do not leak as I know. Just want to be sure.

 

[WarriorOfLight]

If you feel safer you can switch the head to the off Position. But singe the light uses a mechanical switch ther is no parasitic drain. It is like I said, my V1 is years old, never used the head in off Position, and I am still on my first CR123.

 

[itsonlyme]

Was your battery left inside the light for the whole entire time?
Did it leak?

Im just concerned the battery will leak if left inside the light.

 

[thermal guy]

When you say leak do you mean like alkaline batteries "AA AAA D C ETC" do? Lithium batteries will NOT do that.

 

[itsonlyme]

Yes, that is what I meant by "leak"

Thanks for all the information.

 

[lightfooted]

Dude, just remove the battery and store it in the same location as the light since you clearly don't believe any of the folks that have said there is no problem with it leaking. The type of lithium batteries that are used in the V1 were originally designed as cells for powering higher end cameras and their flashes. They designed them specifically to not leak as it could damage the very expensive electronics inside them that their owners would not want to replace. You could have found this out just by doing a Google search (Do lithium batteries leak) although perhaps you wouldn't believe the results of that either.

 

[GoVegan]

I am only going to use the V1 for emergencies which means that the light will be stored without use for a longer periods of time with the battery inside the light.

Will it be fine to just leave the head on the OFF position?

Just afraid that the battery will leak. But the CR123s do not leak as I know. Just want to be sure.

I recall you previously asked the same question about lithium batteries in emergency lights.

Short answer again, is that lithium batteries (still) don't leak and are generally safe to leave long-term in flashlights
Note: Not impossible, but generally they don't leak.