Surefire Kroma buzzing tailcap

Hi. I've been reading for a while but have a question I could not find an answer to. I tried searching "kroma buzz" and "kroma noise" with no success.

I recently purchased a NIB Kroma for $180. It's turned into one of my favorite lights and I have quite a few. It works great but I notice an electronic-sounding buzz in the tailcap. It's very faint when the button is pushed to activate low white/secondary LEDs but gets quite a bit louder when pressed for the main LED. As anyone else seen this? It does work fine but I don't know enough to know if it's a symptom of any issues. Should I be concerned or just enjoy the light?

Your not using rechargeables in it are you? If not, contact SF, and they will more than likely (98%) send you a replacement tailcap free of charge. Most SF's aren't designed to handle the extra voltage supllied by RCR123's, and since the Kroma's resistor is in the tailcap, and designed for "primary" cells, this could be the cause. That or a short??? But, if that's not the issue, contact SF, and I have no doubt they will quickly take care of you.

Never had that issue in my Kroma, but I only use primaries.

Oh, and :welcome: BTW!

I have had this electronic buzzing sound from two of my lights, itp c7 and shiningbeam s-mini. The sound comes from the heads though. While not preferable (especially for my s-mini which would be a great outdoor light except for this,) it hasn't yet caused any problems for myself other than annoyance.

Upon contacting the dealer, this is the response I was given
"When electric current flow throw the chips on the circuit board, it will cause vibration and thus the buzz sound you heard is from the vibration."

My Kroma has had that noise since new two or three years ago. Never had an issue with it as for as operating the light. Annoying at times perhaps. Always chalked it up as being the nature of the beast as that is a fairly complex light.

angelofwar said:

Your not using rechargeables in it are you? If not, contact SF, and they will more than likely (98%) send you a replacement tailcap free of charge. Most SF's aren't designed to handle the extra voltage supllied by RCR123's, and since the Kroma's resistor is in the tailcap, and designed for "primary" cells, this could be the cause. That or a short??? But, if that's not the issue, contact SF, and I have no doubt they will quickly take care of you.

Never had that issue in my Kroma, but I only use primaries.

Oh, and :welcome: BTW!

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I'm just using Surefire brand primaries. I haven't read a lot about rechargeable batteries that makes me comfortable using them in such an expensive light. I'll call Surefire and see what they think about the sound.

Thank you for the welcome. I plan on doing a few review/comparisons in the near future. Here's a photo of most of my lights. I have another U2 with the older LED and a Tomahawk GP as well. You can see other photos here under the "Flashlights" album but I still need to do some beamshots.

Deleted

Nice collection photoman! I could never have a flashaholic get together with you, cause are light would get mixed up...the HDS, Tomahawk, and DeWalt are the only three lights I don't have. I pretty leary about R/C in my SF's as well with two exceptions:

1) Duraloops in my E2L-AA
2) Surefire B65's in my 5 or 6 R/C Surefires.

For your Kroma tail-cap, CALL them (Don't E-mail), and they will take care of you, guaranteed...if ya get a desk-jockey the first time, that's tryin' to save the world, call back and talk to somebody else.

I hear the same buzz from Kroma and from A2. I thinks it's the double stage tailcap switch. Maybe there's a thin electric arc between the leaf contacts in the tailcap. It can eventually cause electric corrosion in the contacts, but my A2 is 4 year old and contacts are like new. Except for one that is broken, but I dont think it's related.

Like AoW said, i emailed SF and they sent me a replacement cap for the A2, but for the broken contact issue, not for the buzz.

I use only SF and Sanyo primaries, but I just purchased from batteryjunction some 3V RCR that I'm planning to try.

angelofwar said:

Nice collection photoman! I could never have a flashaholic get together with you, cause are light would get mixed up...the HDS, Tomahawk, and DeWalt are the only three lights I don't have. I pretty leary about R/C in my SF's as well with two exceptions:

1) Duraloops in my E2L-AA
2) Surefire B65's in my 5 or 6 R/C Surefires.

For your Kroma tail-cap, CALL them (Don't E-mail), and they will take care of you, guaranteed...if ya get a desk-jockey the first time, that's tryin' to save the world, call back and talk to somebody else.

Click to expand...

If you like your Kroma and can find a deal on a Tomahawk MC you may want to give it a try. I got mine used but like new on eBay for about $100. It's a great light that provides the same functionality of the Kroma but with a nicer-looking beam. The only real gripe I have with the Tomahawk is that it seems to drain batteries when not being used. I've left it unused for 3-4 weeks with new batteries and they're low or dead when I go to use it. It happened with both my GP and MC models. Now I don't leave batteries in them unless they are being used regularly. I mainly use the MC on military deployments.

That DeWalt light it really nice. It costs $50 without a battery. I bought a DeWalt drill that included this light or another battery free as a promotion. I chose the light because the drill came with 2 batteries. I wouldn't want this light if I didn't have the drill that used the same battery but together they make a really nice kit. The light can stand or hang on its own and has magnets for mounting so it's very convenient. It's beam is also very nice.

I contacted Surefire. They stated the buzzing sound was a known issue but did not indicate a problem. They offered to send new tailcap but my light also had a rattling sound in the head so they requested I send it in. I hope it doesn't take long. I'm already going through withdrawl and none of my other lights fill the void of the Kroma.

photoman12001 said:

I contacted Surefire. They stated the buzzing sound was a known issue but did not indicate a problem. They offered to send new tailcap but my light also had a rattling sound in the head so they requested I send it in. I hope it doesn't take long. I'm already going through withdrawl and none of my other lights fill the void of the Kroma.

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Another plus of Surefire..."Rattling in the head" doesn't sound right...they want you to send it in, not necessarily to repair yours, per-se, but to find out what went wrong, so they can determine if they need to do a permanent fix in the over-all design. I had an E2L tail-cap break, and when I got the replacement, they had changed the design to permanently fix the initial failure. If your Kroma can fail (has a weak spot) at home, it can fail in the hands of a soldier on a mission...and SF knows that and goes to great lengths to find, analyze, and fix any potential weaknesses in their lights.

Hope you get it back soon!

Duplicate Post

Triplicate...LOL!

That's why I sent it in. This is one of the few lights I plan on taking on future deployments. I want to make sure it's tip-top. My E1L, Saint Minimus, and perhaps U2 will also come.

photoman12001 said:

That's why I sent it in. This is one of the few lights I plan on taking on future deployments. I want to make sure it's tip-top. My E1L, Saint Minimus, and perhaps U2 will also come.

Click to expand...

90% of mine come with me...Buying parts off the MP and LEGO'ing SF's in the War Zone helps pass the time for me.

Re: Surefire Kroma Tailcap Problem

I Seem To Be Having A Problem With A Surefire Kroma That I Purchased Yesterday. When Using Primaries The Switch Seems To Get Stuck in High Mode Only. It Goes From Low To High And Just Stays There Till I Cut It Off. It Will Not Go Back to Low Mpde.

This Problem Is Not Present When I Use 17670s. This Problem Only Happens In Constant On Mode.

I Have Already Flushed Out The Tailcap With Isopropyl Alcohol. No Change.

Any Ideas?

EDIT: Same Problem As Post 24 On This Thread:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...s-is-just-me&p=1707600&viewfull=1#post1707600