123A Battery Station/SF 123A in Vital Gear won't work!

Okay, I have a Vital Gear FB2 body with a Surefire E2D head and until recently I had only been using Sanyo 123a batteries i got from botach.com (20 for $20, sweet. beware, its a wonder i even got them, many people agree but they have bad customer service). Anyway, i also purchased some Battery Station batteries cuz of good reviews and a price i can afford but lo and behold, it doesn't work at all! Then i accidentally got a flash of light when i pressed really hard on the tailcap but that was the only way to get it on and you really have to press it hard (momentary only, doesn't stay on)! But when the light comes on i can tell its a fresh battery but the light doesn't want to engage when i click the tailcap. Same thing with the Surefire 123As. Seems like my pair of FB2 bodies with E2D heads only like Sanyo's 123As.

Someone please tell me there's an easy fix for this other than buying new batteries. I tried bending the spring on the tailcap to give more tension on the batteries, thought maybe there wasn't enough contact but it didn't work. I thought it might also be helpful to mention that I have dropped both flashlights on separate occasions about 3 feet (from my pants pockets) onto asphalt, both times they landed on the bezel (slight dent otherwise no other cosmetic damage, gotta luv HA III). Upon picking up the flashlight after kicking myself in the ***, i immediately noticed the batteries shaking in the flashlight as if they were loose and not so suprisingly, it wouldn't turn on but after doing the said tailcap spring bending to give tension again to the batteries, they both worked fine. Could something have damaged in the flashlight that only affected the use of other batteries other than Sanyo's when i dropped them?

Help me please!!! I can't stand the idea that my EDC, defensive flashlight only works with one brand of batteries (although i haven't tried any others like Duracell). because of this and my nature to be ready like most flashaholics, i foresee a situation in the future where my life depends on my FB2 E2D and the battery runs out and im surrounded by fresh Battery Station and SF batteries that won't work in my flashlight.

The problem you describe sounds like it actually may be the tail switch rather than a battery issue. To check the batteries are ok either use a multimeter or a bulb to ensure you haven't got a bad batch.

The switches in early VG's were a problem and there were a couple of fixes posted here on CPF. I actually had an early switch and ended up doing as was suggested on here and used a bit of tin foil to sort the problem out.

The early switches have a couple of leaf type springs and the later models use springs to make contact with the battery. Check which type you have and then let us know?

Doug

I'm actually kind of a newbie when it comes to technical stuff so words like multimeters and measuring make me kinda nervous. I do like to think i'm somewhat of a problem solver and thought that the problem had to do with the switch as you mentioned which in fact I do have the leaf springs.

if you could be so kind as to direct me to that thread or instruct me how to do the fix, i'd greatly appreciate it.


yay, there's still hope for my FB2 E2D combo.



by the way, i already ordered a new set of batteries from Botac.com (crossing my fingers i get my order) along with a Pelican 1010 battery storage case.

Here's how to fix the VG switch.

Good luck,
-LT

Sweet! Thanks Lunal_Tic, it looks like that was precisely the problem. Since I don't have any soldering tools i had to improvise. I bent the leaf springs down to prevent the pcb plate from losing contact with the ground and it worked for the SF123 batteries but it still wouldn't work for the BS123s although I could get momentary lighting more easily. So for the flashlight using BS123s, I found that if you leave the tailcap unscrewed not even a quarter turn from its tightest setting, it contacts the ground thus completing the circuit and a flashlight that works like its supposed to! Just an observation but this makes it apparent that the BS123 lithiums are slightly longer than SF123s and SF123s are slightly longer than Sanyo123s, just for reference for anyone out there.

i love you guys (in a non-homosexual way). My EDC Defensive light is now back in action. YES!

Glad it worked. I've bent the contacts on a couple of older VG bodies and they work fine. You just have to get that sweet spot working.

-LT