attention long time surefire owners!!!

For you guys that have had a surefire for a decent amount of time (specifically any of the 2cell or 3cell models as that is what i am looking for)

What has been your experience in how often the bulbs blow and you have to relamp the things?

The overall cost of the light doesen't really bother me as much as the thought of possibly needing to feed it a new lamp assembly all the time!

thanks in advance

I put 4 or 5 sets of SF123As and DL123As through my M2. I flash and strobe on daily bases(traffic control),I droped it a dozen times - still the first bulb.
My E1 went out after 15min(without dropping it)

I've owned Surefires (two 6P's, one 6P Turbo, one 9P for years. I've used them lightly and sporadically and I'm still on the original bulbs. I recently got an E2 and an M6 and have used them very lightly. Bulbs are still intact

Brightnorm
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Five battery changes, original lamp on a 6P.

I own G2's, M2, M3, E1, E2, E2e and so far, I've only had 1 bulb go out prematurely. The G2 didn't make it through the first set of batteries and SF graciously replaced the bulb.

Otherwise, with intermittent use I've haven't had to replace any other bulbs. No complaints here on the long term durability.

Thankfully, all my SureFire LA's have been OK, that's 6 different types.
The one I've tested most, long-term, is the MN03, the 60 Lu E-series lamp. In fact, it's survived 16 drops, including a kid hurling the torch hard enough to cause bezel damage ......
Usage of that particular one has been 12-14 battery changes so far.

The lamps are made by Carley, and Carley's failure rate is supposed to be ~0.5% at start-up. Of course, there were problems with the 10X LA, but I believe that these have been sorted out now.
There have been some X80 problems, that's the LA for the 8AX and 8NX. My three X80's have had the 2 hour runtime test, and are all OK.

Apparently, if an incandescent lamp doesn't fail immediately at start-up, and then lasts through the first 2 hours, it will live up to the lamp-life claims.
Ratings for SF lamp life are 22-30 hours, depending on what you read.
The lamps for rechargeable models are said to be tougher than the Lithium powered types ?

SF say that lamp durability has improved immensely, even over just the last 2-3 years.

lightlover

thanks a million guys. i guess i really don't have anything to complain about now but to shell out the cash and get the deed done. you can see my e2 c2 m2,etc,etc thread and can still tell that i am having difficulty deciding on which one of the blasted suckers to get...

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Bushman:
you can see my e2 c2 m2,etc,etc thread and can still tell that i am having difficulty deciding on which one of the blasted suckers to get...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Of course you mean "which one to get first"

Funny that folks think about the cost of lamp replacement on these. I did too, at first. Turns out that the battery expense is the biggie - not the bulb.

Good luck!

I don't consider myself a long time user of my one and only SF, but i do use it A LOT. Just about everyday, mostly for fun.

I've gone through 8 sets of batteries so far without any bulb replacement. BUT i THINK that the bulb is starting to crap out. It's starting to have some coloration and it's not as bright as original. BUT it is still working perfectly. I've dropped my light about 8 times now. Mostly on tile and concrete from heights from 2 - 4 feet. It makes a gut wrenching sound when you drop the 80 dollar light...but all is well thus far!

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Daniel Ramsey:
... 9AN with its dual bulb setup and rechargeables, and yes I may drill out the reflector for the 20lumen low light and retrofit ...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Daniel, the reflective coating on SF LA's is quite substantial, compared to most reflectors, but it is quite brittle. If you're drilling it out, beware chipping or splitting off part of the surface. It may be an idea to scribe a line out first ?

lightlover

I've broken bulbs in most of my SFs but mine have gotten abused a bit with LEO work. I've broken several X80s, a MN15, and numerous P60s. The M2 SAS is the only bezel that I haven't broken any bulbs in. I did break 2 P60s with my Z32 but the one was dropped twice tailcap first right onto a tiled basement floor before breaking and another one went flying down the hall and crashing into a locker (that's why you shouldn't twirl a SF with a lanyard no matter what).

Whoa !

Daniel, I haven't got a 9AN. On the other LA's I've seen, the reflector is indeed hewn from a mighty solid chunk of Aluminium, but the actual stochastic surface is a coating applied *somehow* to the Aluminium base.

What I mean is that this relatively thin layer seems to be brittle, certainly I've managed to chip pieces off while *improving* the design ......

lightlover

Other then field-testing, I'm on the original lamps for all SureFires apart from a P61 that went on the 2nd battery set in my M2 - I threw the M2 onto a pavement and the filament dropped off the pillars!

I've likely to have blown and damaged more lamps then all of you put together. The P61 is the most stable, along with the N2. The MN21 is tough too.

The worst for being knocked out of focus are the P60s in non-SAS Bezels (the G2 protects against this far better compared to the C2 in my abusive field-tests) and the MN15 that isn't the best beam shape to begin with, and from my field-testing is far more easily deformed compared to the N2 or MN16.

I am very pleased that the E2 and E1 are very tough, and stable lamps. As is the X80 in my 8NX that has been mounted on a drill several times. I damaged a couple B90s but the original X80 continues to hold up.

From my experience of field-testing SureFires in an abusive regime, the P61 is the toughest lamp.

So pointers though you should note:

If a bulb is going to blow, it is likely to blow within the first couple of battery cycles. Before going 'realworld' with a new lamp, I suggest you run a couple battery sets through it.

If you use a WeaponLight, I suggest you take new lamps to the range and training. If a bulb goes early, it goes in a safe environment. Also, it will help you practice to deal with replacing a lamp whilst you are using your weapons or switching to you backup SureFire and training with that.

The best way to prolong your lamp lives is to;
1) Buy spares, and keep them as close as possible (in Spares Carries if possible).

2) Do not use flat, low or dead batteries. Change the batteries when the light is no longer as good as it was with fresh batteries.

3) Never touch the lamps or expose them in a damp or wet environment.

4) When you drop a SureFire, inspect the impact zone for damage before you inspect the light.

I have talked to people that have used the same lamps in SureFires every night for years. To be honest, I do not worry about damaging or blowing a bulb.

If it happens, it happens. I have a backup SureFire, and spare bulbs.

I think that the "issue" is being hyped. Remember there are thousands of SureFires that don't fail every day. When a SureFire does fail, the owner is more likely to report it, and therefore, we hear and read of more failures then non-failures.

SureFire lamps are marvels of miniturisation. They perform through huge thermal and electrical gradients under very high pressure, in unforgiving environments.

The high performance has it's price, and I'm more surprised when they don't fail more often!

Al

bravo! size15 bravo! i appreciate so much the bulliten board members that have taken time to answer my questions. i actually got to talk to pk yesterday for a minute and he also was most helpful.. now if i could just decide on which one (iknow there will be more to follow later but now i just need one!)

Great post Al

When a SureFire does fail, the owner is more likely to report it, and therefore, we hear and read of more failures then non-failures.


Well let`s try and re-dress that balance. I`m pleased to say that when using my E2 to inspect the sausages I was cooking under the grill for my dinner, the bulb did not blow, neither did the bulb in my 9Z blow when I used it just a moment ago to see what that racket was out in the garden.

It was next door`s cat getting angry at someone else`s cat. He does that sometimes, usually in the middle of the night. Scares the crap out of me every time.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Size15s:

SureFire lamps are marvels of miniturisation. They perform through huge thermal and electrical gradients under very high pressure, in unforgiving environments.

The high performance has it's price, and I'm more surprised when they don't fail more often!
Al<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Al,

Thank you for the most informative and useful summary of this question that I have seen on CPF.

Best regards,
Brightnorm