Bulb life of A2

Just looking for some input on the incan bulb in the A2. Is it generally pretty
good? Some of the other Surefire bulbs are pretty fragile and A2 bulbs at $25
each well you get the idea. I really want an A2 but wanted some input on the
incan bulb first. Thanks all!

I believe we just had this thread a few weeks ago

I remember people saying that the battery lasted through at least 40-50 battery swaps.

edit: Oops, we had a thread on the life of the bulb, not the fragility

Here's a poll and thread from May ... while it doesn't say that the bulb won't break if you drop it, the majority of people who replied had the same bulb in their A2 more than 2 years later.

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=118931

I'm not bashing the A2 but I had one fall 14 inches from a plywood shelf to a plywood table top and it blew the bulb. It wasn't on or hot, it just wouldn't work after the fall. I've told this story many times around here (it seems) because as much as I love my A2 I can never trust it again. It coulda been a bad bulb (the light was only a few weeks old and had WAY less that an hour of run time on it) but I sure am leery of it's durability to survive an impact.

I've dropped all kinds of other lights and never had that happen. I recently dropped my ultrastinger on concrete and it didn't damage the bulb and it had been on for quite awhile when I dropped it. Same with a 6P and G2. Note to self: quit dropping lights.

Surefire did replace the lamp free of charge for me but I still don't trust it.

I wouldn't trust anything in those hands either! :laughing:

To protect our investments, lanyards are probably mandatory for most of us.

i think the rule of thumb is if its an incan, always assume it will break (worst case scenario)...i mean it is a bulb after all.

mark

I know, it seems like I have the dropsies. To be fair, I have a lot of lights and my drops have come over a long period of time. The A2 was just from rolling of a stinking shelf.

I let my 4 yr old girl hold my shiny new U2 when we went on a walk. Guess what she did? Dropped it right on the bezel on the concrete. Oh well, a black sharpie fixed it right up.

That's kinda my point though. The LED's seem to take a beating and I really trust that U2. I just can't seem to trust the A2 anymore.

marxs said:

i think the rule of thumb is if its an incan, always assume it will break (worst case scenario)...i mean it is a bulb after all.

mark

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I agree. It just sucks not knowing hpw much it can take before it will break. Sometimes they take a pounding and then sometimes they break so easily. $25 for a lamp is a lot of money after you already paid $150 for a supposedly durable light.

Varmint1 said:

...Dropped it right on the bezel on the concrete. Oh well, a black sharpie fixed it right up....

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Nice to see others use a black sharpie too.

i think it would be wise before spending $$$ on a light to think first if it will ever go through some rough use, if yes then it would be better to go for LED

mark

Varmint1 said:

I'm not bashing the A2 but I had one fall 14 inches from a plywood shelf to a plywood table top and it blew the bulb...

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sounds like i need to wrap mine in foam then ...lights i edc often fall out of my pocket when i shuffle for the keys under it :thumbsdowand im pretty certain my pockets to the ground are more than 14 inches...

Max Brightness said:

Nice to see others use a black sharpie too.

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i dont know if it would work on grey A2s...or od green, but for a black A2...it'll werk.

Illum_the_nation said:

sounds like i need to wrap mine in foam then ...lights i edc often fall out of my pocket when i shuffle for the keys under it :thumbsdowand im pretty certain my pockets to the ground are more than 14 inches...

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Mine experience coulda been a fluke. I just post it because it was what happened and as much as I like Surefire I don't want to blindly say they are the greatest thing on Earth.

I don't want it to sound like I drop my lights all the time but I have had my share. I've dropped plenty of incandescents and never had them break.

Still, I can't bring myself to trust my A2 anymore.

...of course the A2 has the built in back-up of the 3 5mm LED's

So you aren't literally left in the dark when the lamp blows. And of course, eventually, it will. I read a very long post about the A2, and I recall reading that the digital circuitry provides a 'soft start' that greatly prolongs the bulb life.

goldenlight said:

...of course the A2 has the built in back-up of the 3 5mm LED's

So you aren't literally left in the dark when the lamp blows. And of course, eventually, it will. I read a very long post about the A2, and I recall reading that the digital circuitry provides a 'soft start' that greatly prolongs the bulb life.

Click to expand...

sometimes I wonder about this soft-start circuitry...has there been any cases of the regulation circuit expire before the light?

goldenlight said:

...of course the A2 has the built in back-up of the 3 5mm LED's

So you aren't literally left in the dark when the lamp blows. And of course, eventually, it will. I read a very long post about the A2, and I recall reading that the digital circuitry provides a 'soft start' that greatly prolongs the bulb life.

Click to expand...

Of course it's better than nothing but I could just carry an arcaaa if I wanted a dim led light. I don't carry around a big light only to have it fail so that I can use it as a gigantic mini-light. Although it would have way more runtime than an arc of fenix.

It makes me want to carry my U2 a lot more.

Varmint1 said:

Of course it's better than nothing but I could just carry an arcaaa if I wanted a dim led light.

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theresalways a stylus clipped on the shirt pocket for those times...why bother to use 3 leds when 1 is sufficient?