SF A2 with BatteryStation lithium probs?

Greetings,

I'm still loving my SF A2, but have made an odd observation. When I run duracell or SF 123 batts, everything works to perfection. When I plug in BatteryStation batts the incandescent bulb intermittantly glows dimly.

When the problem occurs, it always on the first push of the switch. 90% of the time when I release the switch and press again the bulb goes to full brightness. About 10% of the time, the second push is still dim ( I'd guess less than 25% output). After that, all pressing of the switch provides full output. The light has to sit for at least an hour, but typically overnight before the problem occurs. As long as the light is in continuous use, no problems.

When the problem occurs, I can use full thumb pressure on the switch with no change. (This would seem to rule out lack of mechanical pressure leading to a high resistance pathway in the switch). If I let the switch go and re-press, 90% of the time all is fine again. The fact that the output fails only on the first press also seems to rule out the switch. Pop in Duracells or SF batts and no problems. This pretty much rules out the primary cause being any component in the flashlight.

Is it possible that the Batterystation batts internally build up a high resistance after sitting a while (this resistance breaks down after power is applied and released)?

The Batterystation 123s work fine in my Inova X5 and 2c/3x123 maglite.

It seems that there is some odd incompatibility with the Batterystation 123s and the unique incandescent regulator in the A2.

Any thoughts?

Thanks, TR

Sounds like there is something wrong with the cells. Try another set of batterystation brand and see what happens. Bad cells are usually the culprit.

I had the same problem with Battery Station 123 batteries in my A2. They worked ok in other lights but not the A2. John

I have had over 20 sets of BS batteries in my A2 without any problems at all.

pilot4x4 said:

I had the same problem with Battery Station 123 batteries in my A2. They worked ok in other lights but not the A2. John

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Wow, I hope I don't have that problem, I've recieved 60 BS batteries to run both my A2 and 9P.

I'll have to go and try them out in my A2.

I just threw a pair of BatteryStation 123's into my A2 (normally use Duracells in the A2) but could not duplicate your experience. Since you mention that it has to sit for a while, I'll try again in the morning.

What is the procedure to duplicate?

- First press: activate the incan beam. (for how long?)

- Let the light rest for 1 hour, preferrably longer.

- Second press: activate the incan beam again.

Something like 10% of second presses result in a dim beam.

Is that about right?

Scott

Scott, normally the A2 functions fine virtually of the time. Intermittantly, (after the light has rested for at least an hour, but more typical overnight), the first press with Batterystation 123s results in a very low output beam.

"What is the procedure to duplicate?"

"- First press: activate the incan beam. (for how long?)"

It doesn't seem to matter how long I press the switch. If the beam starts out low, it stays low till it is released and pushed again. I have increased pressure on the switch when it was dim, but never held it longer than about 10 seconds. The bulb still remains dim. Releasing and pressing the switch again will almost always result in full output. Only on rare occasion has the second press resulted in low output. After that, zero problems.

"- Let the light rest for 1 hour, preferrably longer."

It is more likely to occur after sitting over night, but it has happened after only an hour or so of rest.

"- Second press: activate the incan beam again."

"Something like 10% of second presses result in a dim beam."

Only if the first press resulted in a dim beam. If the first press results in full output, all subsequent presses also result in a full output.

The problem is easier to demonstrate than to explain. I'll grab another set of BS 123s and drop them in the A2. I'll report back on the results.

TR
Yesterday 10:57 PM

I have had the same problems with BS 123 in my A2. I have gone through 2 sets with the same problem. The date on the batteries are 0705. Are you having problems with the same date?

If you have a multimeter, you might check the cells. I will bet that one of them is bad.

I have some 0705 Battery Station batteries, and am now trying them in my two A2s.. No "luck" so far after a few attempts in each.

Scott

OK, as promised, I tried again today but with a second pair of fresh BS 123's. Same result as beore. First press gave full output. BTW, my batteries also indicate 0705 on the negative end.

I can sort of repeat this problem.

With one of my A2s, after it has sat a while, it will be slow to start. The incan doesn't fire up for maybe a quarter of a second or a little longer. Subsequent activations are at normal speed.

This is with Battery Station "0705" stamped 123 primaries. I have no idea if this happens with other brands, nor do I have any idea if it is a battery flaw.

Scott

I have had the same thing happen with BS123's and my A2! Apart from the regulation problems, my A2 also seems to drain the BS123's extremely fast compared to the other 123's I have been using ("Ansmann")
The BS123 work great in my E2e, L4 and KL1/VG-FB1!:huh2:

It's probably a bad cell that's causing this problem. I don't use BS anymore for exactly this reason. When I was using BS, it seemed like every other cell was a dud. The batch I had the most trouble with was stamped "0505". Seems like this problem may still be occurring in the "0705" batch. BatteryStation is junk, switch to Surefire instead.

I was out the other night with my A2 fixing something. The incan would start on dim quite frequently. Sometimes it would require multiple button pushes before I could get the bright beam (incan always lit, just dimly sometimes). I used maybe 2 minutes worth of incan time. After I got in I screwed the light down to constant on. It ran less than 5 minutes before going out of regulation to the dim beam.

It leads me to wonder how these batteries die. Maybe their ability to supply high current rapidly diminishes more than with SureFire batts. That is pure speculation.

Scott

Tried mine with BS batteries, works fine!

Update:

I popped in a fresh set of BS 123s (date 07/05) in my A2 about a week ago. I reached for it this morning and received the dreaded dim beam on first push. Fine after that. The batteries have about 5 total minutes of use this week.

When I dig up my VOM I'll measure the voltage on these batts.

Anyway, for now, the BS batts go into my X5 and 3x123 maglite upgrades.

TR

I have emailed both SureFire and Battery Station asking for information.

The A2 is a complicated little machine. It could be lots of things causing this. I am doing a runtime test now on a fresh set of BS batts in my red A2.

Scott

pizzaman said:

Update:

I popped in a fresh set of BS 123s (date 07/05) in my A2 about a week ago. I reached for it this morning and received the dreaded dim beam on first push. Fine after that. The batteries have about 5 total minutes of use this week.

When I dig up my VOM I'll measure the voltage on these batts.

Anyway, for now, the BS batts go into my X5 and 3x123 maglite upgrades.

TR

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In my experience, a volt meter won't tell you much. I measured all my BatteryStation DOAs and there was nothing unusual about either the starting voltage or the after use voltage. They started out at about 3.28V and after dying completely were somewhere between 2.70V and 2.80V. The runtime I got was usually somewhere between 5 and 15 minutes until it went very dim. This was in the unregulated SL Scorpion (xenon). It may be that regulation makes it act funny by pushing the cells after they've recovered. I only use the BS 123s I have left in low drainage LED lights now.

This problem basically boils down to using cheap cells with poor quality control. If you use better quality cells the problem will go away. SF cells aren't that much more expensive and will run for more than 5 minutes in high drainage light.