Surge Failure

[Lux Luthor]

I was walking through a nearby park, and when I went to switch my Surge back on it suddenly didn't work. I though it might be the bulb since I was still on the original one, but there was no sign that it blew. I took the battery compartment out, and put it back in, and then it worked. I have no clue as to why it didn't work.

I still think it's a great light, but don't take one on your next drug bust or you may get your head blown off.

I'm seriously considering a SF switch at this point, but the battery cost - OUCH!!!

 

[Spork]

I've been hearing similar stories about surefire lights.

 

[Empath]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Guy Guyer:
I was walking through a nearby park, and when I went to switch my Surge back on it suddenly didn't work. I though it might be the bulb since I was still on the original one, but there was no sign that it blew. I took the battery compartment out, and put it back in, and then it worked. I have no clue as to why it didn't work.

I still think it's a great light, but don't take one on your next drug bust or you may get your head blown off.

I'm seriously considering a SF switch at this point, but the battery cost - OUCH!!!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

That is the risk run by any circuit that depends only on "touch" contact for completing the circuit. Battery connections are as unreliable as a cold solder connection. Clean your contacts, whether it be SF or Princeton Tec.

 

[stringj]

Speaking of failures, this wasn't my Surge, but the batteries that came with it. I don't recall anyone having the problem I experienced. My brother was using the Surge in the attic while working on a ceiling fan. After approx. 30 minutes he said that the light went out. I carried him another light (Inova X5) and he was able to complete his work. I took out the battery tray and two Duracells on each side were HOT! I swapped the hot batteries to the same side, and the light was back to almost original brightness. After getting back home I made the decision to only use NiMH cells in the Surge for now on. Has anyone else experienced this?

Jerry

 

[Lux Luthor]

I think it was the battery contact problem that Empath described. It didn't work again this morning, but when I rotated the batteries a bit it worked. I only had one set in, but now that I think about it the dual sets could actually help prevent a failure.

 

[Gandalf]

I know on my Surge, I have to be certain the battery carrier is firmly locked into place on both sides, or I experience problems with it. Is it possible that your battery carrier wasn't 'locked down', and may have moved just a bit in the light, so the cam on the thumb switch may not have pressed on the microswitch button? That's the only thing I can tink of that might cause what you described.

The microswitch button only moves about a millimeter, so if it's not lined up with the switch, it could cause the problem you described.

 

[brightnorm]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by stringj:
...After getting back home I made the decision to only use NiMH cells in the Surge for now on. Has anyone else experienced this?

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Jerry,

I've used the Surge quite heavily, including two 3hr+ run time tests, and have experienced no problems of any kind. On two occasions, when I was getting used to the light it didn't go on, but this was due to my new-owner incompetance rather than the light itself.

Brightnorm

.

.

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I've had my Surge for about a month, with no
heavy use. Still on original batteries,
longest continuous run would only be about
5 minutes. And it's been perfect!
I love this light.

 

[Quickbeam]

Speaking of hot batteries, I slapped 3 alkalines in my eternalight for general use (saving the lithiums for beam pics) and turned it on. After about 2 minutes I noticed one of the energizers was getting rather uncomfortable in my hand (I was playing with it with the case open). Sure enough, the battery was very(!) hot. I replaced it with a new battery and all is well. Glad the case was open and in my hand when this happened otherwise I might not have noticed!