weird SF battery problem

[doubleE]

Hello,

I'm having some strange battery problems with my SF E2e, using SureFire brand 123 batteries.

On two consecutive pairs of batteries, I have gotten about 50 minutes of use (say 5 minutes a day for 10 days), then all of the sudden the next time I hit the on switch NOTHING HAPPENS. No dim light, no nothing.

If I swap out one battery at a time with a new one, nothing happens either. As if each of the old batteries is completely non-conductive.

But each of the "dead" batteries will still power a LED at 35mA.

If I replace the pair, everything works fine.

Here's some numbers:
new batts: 3.25 volts each
"dead" batts: ~2.8 volts each

I DON'T GET IT! Please help. Thanks.

-doubleE

 

[this_is_nascar]

You are using old new batteries. SF new batteries should read 3.27 volts without a load, however I'm not so sure that .02 starting volts should yield the results you're having.

 

[Shark]

That 2.8 volts sounds about right with no load on them if you load them up and check the voltage it will be MUCH lower and yes they should still be able to power lower current drawing devices such as LED's. As for the reduced runtime ???? I know mine turns on in my pocket sometimes if I don't lock out the tailcap if you carry yours in your pocket try locking it out and see if it makes a difference.

 

[BackStage]

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB6&Number=216466&page=1&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1

It's apparently becoming quite common. I call that a defect.

 

[Brock]

It sounds pretty normal to me. I have run a LOT of batteries through tests and I have found SF's tend to run at a slightly higher voltage then just dive at the end. Most other batteries tend to do the slow fade at the end. So really it is a choice, do you want a fade out with a 60 min runtime with the fade starting at about 30 min or do you want to run full until about 50 min then die completely? It is almost as though the SF have some sort of regulation built in. I am sure they don't, but they act that way.

In any case I do think Surefire intentionally had the chemistry made up to behave this way.

 

[BackStage]

The set of SureFires that died on me had maybe 10 minutes on them. First set I ever used...