Surefire LX2 Lumamax Question

itsonlyme

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I just bought myself the Surefire LX2 Lumamax and I love it.
My question would be, does the bulb ever tend to burn out on these lights?

Thanks
 

880arm

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Since the LX2 uses an LED, there is no bulb to burn out, at least in the traditional sense. If you could keep it fed with batteries it could literally last for years of continuous (24 hours/day) operation.
 

cland72

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I searched around on the Cree XR-E (the LED used in the LX2) and found the link below regarding lifetime prediction. If you look at the top of page 7, it shows the lifetime chart at varying temperatures with a 700ma drive level (close to the high mode on the LX2). The measurements are in Celcius, but pay attention to the ambient air temp more so than the junction temps. 45C = 113F, 85C = 185F.

This means that, as hot as it could possibly get in most geographical locations (113F), absolute worst case scenario is your LED would burn out after around 90,000 hours. To hit that mark, you'd have to run the light on high for 10 years straight. You'd go through 90,000 CR123 batteries at a cost of $1.50 per battery which comes out to $135,000.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...KUzV3o8XM3bGn51V3e2o_lA&bvm=bv.75774317,d.aWw
 

scout24

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At which point you can send it in to Surefire and they will send you a new one... :) Nice math, Cland!!! :eek: :thumbsup:
 

itsonlyme

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So in other words, the LED bulb if kept under normal temps (e.g. room temp) then it will not likely to burn out?
I keep the light in the house and use it rarely. Only when I have to like in emergencies or if I need to search for missing stuff in the dark.

Thanks for the quick responses.
 
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cland72

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At which point you can send it in to Surefire and they will send you a new one... :) Nice math, Cland!!! :eek: :thumbsup:

Ha ha, so true! Surefire would replace it no matter how long it had been in service, in the event that it failed. I always talked crap about math class when I was in school, but sometimes it does come in handy :)

So in other words, the LED bulb if kept under normal temps (e.g. room temp) then it will not likely to burn out?
I keep the light in the house and use it rarely. Only when I have to like in emergencies or if I need to search for missing stuff in the dark.

Thanks for the quick responses.

Yep, that's right - the chances of the LED burning out are extremely low. Do with it what you will and don't sweat anything failing. The LX2 has a great reputation and chances are it'll outlast you!
 

itsonlyme

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Kind of off topic, but if I do not use the light very often, would it be wise to take out the Surefire 123A batteries from the light to avoid possible battery leakage?
What would you guys suggest on this?
 

Str8stroke

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Pulstar, yes the can. 5 or so years ago I had a Streamlight with streamlight batteries leak. Due to excessive heat. I had the light in my cup holder of my vehicle. The hot sun was too much I guess?? I mailed the mess to Streamlight. They sent a brand new light with fresh batteries no questions asked.

Though very rare, Lithium can and do leak! Good part about a SF light. If you use Authentic SF batteries, In the unlikely event they would leak, SF would warranty not only the light, but likely the batteries in the light.
 

itsonlyme

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Oh what the heck.....I will just take them out. No big deal.

Thanks to all of your quick responses.
 

StandardBattery

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Oh what the heck.....I will just take them out. No big deal.

Thanks to all of your quick responses.
Crazy.... leave them in where they are protected and wont get lost and can be used asap when needed. Keep the light out of the oven.
 

Str8stroke

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itsonlyme, I should have also said, I probably have 20 SF & numerous other lights that have had the Lithium Primary batteries in them for years and not had a single issue. But, I pretty much so only use SF batteries. I do have a few Streamlight cells. I only use these brands because I know they will stand behind their word if anything were to go awry with their products. I have had experience with both companies are far as warranty work goes. I will say, that is one of the reasons why the price is what it is. Too bad cars don't come with this type of warranty!!!
If it were me, I would leave them in. Then unscrew the tail cap enough to break the connection if I were worried. This is called, Lock Out. I do this with most of my long term stored lights.
But, if I only had one nice light like yours. It is going to be ready to go at all times no matter what! I keep a few around the house that are in that "mode". Those are the ones that I run on primary cells.
I don't like to use rechargeable cells in lights that could likely be used for personal safety. Thats why all of my wifes lights have primaries, no rechargeable cells. I also keep spares in her glove box & purse & my man bag! lol


Edit: I agree with Standard! lol Only reason I had a failure was due to extended exposure to high temperatures. It was probably 160 degrees in the car & the sun was baking on the light on top of the console. So no telling how hot inside the light was.
 
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reppans

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I searched around on the Cree XR-E (the LED used in the LX2) and found the link below regarding lifetime prediction. If you look at the top of page 7, it shows the lifetime chart at varying temperatures with a 700ma drive level (close to the high mode on the LX2). The measurements are in Celcius, but pay attention to the ambient air temp more so than the junction temps. 45C = 113F, 85C = 185F.

This means that, as hot as it could possibly get in most geographical locations (113F), absolute worst case scenario is your LED would burn out after around 90,000 hours. To hit that mark, you'd have to run the light on high for 10 years straight. You'd go through 90,000 CR123 batteries at a cost of $1.50 per battery which comes out to $135,000.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...KUzV3o8XM3bGn51V3e2o_lA&bvm=bv.75774317,d.aWw

Nice find Cland72, I've always wondered what the big wear factors for an LED would be. However, I'm not so sure I read the data quite as optimistically as you do.

Wouldn't "ambient air" be that immediately surrounding the LED, and in the case of our flashlights, be the insulating air trapped inside the sealed head (ie, it's much hotter)? Wouldn't high "junction" temps be very relevant given our flashlight's only have passive heat sinking vs the active "thermal-electric cooling" that CREE used for these tests? Despite the 10's of thousands of hours of predicted "lifetime" for these LEDs, doesn't one of the early graphs start showing degrading output after only a 1-2k hours of high temp running?

That said, I couldn't even imagine ever charging, or changing, batts 1k times for the same the light ;).
 

itsonlyme

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That's great, but way too techy for me :) :)

I just need an easy answer. Will the bulb eventually burn out or not?
Or should I even be worried about this?
 

880arm

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You shouldn't worry. Like already discussed, the LEDs have an extremely long lifetime that we aren't likely to approach with a handheld light. Like Cland said, you would have to go through many thousands of batteries before reaching that point.

If the light were to fail prematurely then SureFire will take care of you.
 

itsonlyme

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To All LX2 Lumamax fans - Do you ever needed to change the LED bulb?

I own a SF LX2 light and love it.
But for anyone who owns or owned these lights, did you ever had to change or replace the LED bulb?

Thanks!
 

tobrien

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Re: To All LX2 Lumamax fans - Do you ever needed to change the LED bulb?

you should never have to change the LED lol. if it does, for some odd reason, stop working, call Surefire and I have zero doubt they'd send you a replacement head assembly :)
 

sgt253

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Re: To All LX2 Lumamax fans - Do you ever needed to change the LED bulb?

+1. LED should be good for ~50,000 hours, if not, longer. Good luck.
 

AZPops

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Re: To All LX2 Lumamax fans - Do you ever needed to change the LED bulb?

Not unless you want to mod it, but I like mine just the way it is. But yeah, if it's broke, give Surefire a call and they'll unbroke, or is it, unbreak it for you.

Pops ... :grin2:
 
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