Whats wrong with Pelican M6?

Overtime, I've seen too much threads about batteries venting in Pelican M6s...any guesses on why a light from a reputable company would wind up exploding the lithium batts like molotov cocktails?


Previous threads:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/91245
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/78843
etc


I probably won't buy a peli-M6 until I can figure out whats causing all this...

I have many of the M6 tested, no Problems.
Very good Light.

ILLUM,

These two happened to get lots of publicity on CPF, but a few years ago there were reports of Surefires doing it also.

I think this is a cell issue, not a light issue.

Bill

gulp....I have Surefire 123As lying around

I wouldn't get terribly alarmed with either. Things kind of get blown out of proportion on web forums. A couple of postings and there's the assumption that it is a widespread issue, and if there are more than 3, it's probably an epidemic followed by pretentious "knowledgeable" postings about how such and such a "law" madates that that a manufacturer recall the product, and then you'll get the wannabe internet lawyers giving you all sorts of advice about "your" legal rights.

... and people wonder why they're often laughed at when they start out any sentence with "I read it somewhere on the web ..."

I was pretty happy with my Pelican M6 until it turned itself on and killed my batteries dead - twice. Both times it wasn't set to a hair trigger or anything, the only way I can be sure it doesn't do it is to put it in full lockout.
Its no longer a light I feel I can depend on, so it sits on the shelf, or in my car glovebox with the batteries removed.

Thanks for the pat on the back....

but I'll still install a camera on the doorway to the "cell" to monitor anything suspicious, like self-immolation

Why don't you get it fixed/replaced? It does come with a lifetime warranty. While I've never had occasion to use a Pelican warranty, I'm sure their warranty service is nothing like the nightmares that people have been posting about SureFire.

TheSteve said:

I was pretty happy with my Pelican M6 until it turned itself on and killed my batteries dead - twice. Both times it wasn't set to a hair trigger or anything, the only way I can be sure it doesn't do it is to put it in full lockout.
Its no longer a light I feel I can depend on, so it sits on the shelf, or in my car glovebox with the batteries removed.

Click to expand...

To my knowledge, anytime we have encountered similar problems, it was due to inferior batteries. Not all batteries have the "safety" options built in. So, if your purchasing Lithiums at an unusually low price keep this in mind.

Stuart@surefire

Is there any particular "brand" of 123 that seems more prone to this or are none of the brands immune?

Synergy said:

Is there any particular "brand" of 123 that seems more prone to this or are none of the brands immune?

Click to expand...

Any no-name Chinese brands should be kept an eye on....

Stuart@surefire said:

To my knowledge, anytime we have encountered similar problems, it was due to inferior batteries. Not all batteries have the "safety" options built in. So, if your purchasing Lithiums at an unusually low price keep this in mind.

Stuart@surefire

Click to expand...

Surefire brand is all I buy from...and right at the site, not other retail webs

TheSteve said:

I was pretty happy with my Pelican M6 until it turned itself on and killed my batteries dead - twice. Both times it wasn't set to a hair trigger or anything, the only way I can be sure it doesn't do it is to put it in full lockout.
Its no longer a light I feel I can depend on, so it sits on the shelf, or in my car glovebox with the batteries removed.

Click to expand...

I would also suggest that you send your light to Pelican with a note about the problem you have had.

2 years ago I helped broker a deal for a Pelican M6 xenon between one partner that wanted to sell his and another partner that wanted to buy one. The buyer went through 8 or 12 batteries, and was very disappointed with the light, which had the old style tail-cap switch (twist fully on to lock on the light, twist back to allow momentary use by depressing the tail-cap button, or twist back further to lock out). I convinced him to return it to Pelican and they installed the "clicky" switch and gave him as many new batteries as he said were killed off by the old switch.

You could also buy a "clicky" switch D-I-Y conversion kit from flashlightlens.com - I bought and installed one of these, and it works great in my P M6.

Ditto the above post! I don't even care much for momentary/twist when it works perfectly. I like momentary/on much MUCH better!

I have used Pelican service before and it was excellent(was related to Pelican cases though). The dealer I bought it from has already replaced the tailcap once, the first one didn't always turn on. I should get around to having it replaced again, but thesedays I wouldn't use it anyway. I carry a Surefire U2 or black TW4 and my M6R at night.
Maybe they would let me trade the Pelican M6 for a nice 1450 case to store my Surefire's in.