Parasitic drain in P3D

Hi all,

I have a P3D shelf queen i bought in early 2007 which i have recently started using.

After loading the batts in, it will start to drain itself dry.
For the last few set of batts I used it on, it will drain itself and low batt indicator will set in on the lowest mode in about 4 weeks.
For the sets of batteries, I have only used it 30mins max on high.
For the last 2 sets of batteries I used it on, I actually did a tail cap lockout on them. Never the less, the batts continue to drain.

I have read on other threads that it is probably because of faulty O-rings.

2 questions.
1) Will the low batt indicator go off after blinking for a while or will it continue to blink till I switches mode?
2) Will swapping the o-rings solve my problems or it there some other issue I have to aware of?

Can somebody advise me on the above?

Many thanks.

By using the lockout, you have completely eliminated the light as any source of a problem.

That leaves the batteries. What ones are you using? How old are they?

I was using a batch of Sanyos with 6 years left, just ordered Energizers and new O-rings with them today.

Will try and see if it works.

Would be a shame to leave it on the shelve again =/

Part of the reason CR123's have a long shelf life is they develop a "film" inside the cell which prevents self discharge. After prolonged storage, the cell needs a period of high current discharge to break up this layer. That may be part of your problem.

But as I stated, you already eliminated the light itself.

Thanks for the advise!

Will look into it!