Surge problems

lightlover

Flashlight Enthusiast
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Feb 28, 2001
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louie hi
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If there is anything contaminating the lamp glass, it's more than likely that the lamp will blow. Especially with a high-output lamp, this could actually cause the glass/quartz to shatter into something like an abrasive powder that will ruin the reflector.
I think it would be a good idea to forget about that particular lamp.

If you carefully !! open out the pins, the lamp may be held in place more securely.

Jahn
 
I've had it for several months, and generally it rocks, but see some design problems. First, I tend to focus it a lot. I put a white locator dot on the bezel to mark the tightest beam, but I noticed that it didn't always do so. The reflector is just friction fit into the bezel, and with squeezing and focusing, the reflector starts coming out and tilting. I ended up gluing it in with super glue, which may not have been wise, since some glue fumes caused some clouding of the lens and reflector, and now I'll never be able to get it off for cleaning. A cotton swab can be stuck through the bulb hole, though. Second, the hole in the reflector for the bulb would melt due to the movement of the reflector and small movements of the bulb on its pins. Black melted plastic was clinging to the glass. I drilled out the hole a bit. If you try the 4 batterries instead of 8 trick, the frame bends a bit, which can cause alignment problems and change the switch activation point. Lastly, PT should have molded in a little receptacle to put a spare bulb, a gripe I have with most lights - no spare inside. However, I can fit a spare bulb in the Surge inside of a piece of plastic tubing and tucked into a slot on the battery pack.

I agree, it's not quite Surefire beam quality, but it's pretty darn good. I use NiMH cells.
 
I've had the same shifting reflector/melted plastic on bulb problem. I haven't bored out the hole yet, but that probably is a good idea.
 
I scraped the plastic off the bulb with my fingernail and carefully wiped with alcohol, and have no problem so far (several months).
 
I also have the same problem. The reflector is not aligned very well with the lens and got deformed a little near the bulb due to heat. I only realized the off reflector issue lately. Since then, I check and recheck if the reflector is center and all the way to the lens before/after I tighten the bezel.

Alan
 
Unfortunately, I think once the reflector starts to loosen, you can check it and push it down, but the moment you adjust the focus and squeeze the bezel a little, it will shift again. Gluing it in is the only thing I can think of at this point. Choice of glue may be an issue.
 
I've never heard of this problem with the Surge before. Anyone else experienced this ??

lemlux,
from the little I know of reflector behaviour, the part around/closest to the lamp has a disproportionate effect on the performance of the light.

So louie, how far did you drill the hole out to - did it alter the beam much ?

(I just realised that I ordered one long ago, and it's on it's way. So a fix for this would be "useful".)
Would it be enough to just secure the reflector in place, or do I have to work out some way of positioning the lamp ?

Jahn
 
I simply drilled out to the next sized drill bit I had in my kit, 1/4 inch (6.3mm) I think. I did no scientific tests; It seems about the same. I think if the reflector were secured from the start, the original hole would likely be OK.
 
How about using some threadlocker instead of glue to secure the reflector? I don't know if that would work, but at least you could get it apart later if you wanted too.
 
Threadlockers I know (Loctite) rely on anaerobic (airless) cure in the threads, whereas the PT reflector has, IIRC, little nibs around the circumference, leaving little airless space for a threadlocker to set up. I wonder about glue working on the plastic of the bezel, with a little silicone grease on it, and the reflector, with the aluminized coating, but so far, superglue is working OK. It just leaves weird fumes that gets on the surrounding area until it dries, leaving white spots.

What PT could do is mold the bezel with the threads extending deeply enough to allow a threaded lock ring to hold the reflector in.
 
Princeton Tec has lifetime warrantees on their products, send it back for a replacement.
 

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