Streamlight Stinger

I have a question regarding the Streamlight Stinger. I own two of them so I can keep one on the charger and one with me, and I switch before I leave for my shift. A few days ago I was conducting a building search and had the light on for approximately 20 consistent minutes. It began to drop brightness levels around the 20 minute mark essentially rendering it useless (luckily I had my Nitecore P12 as a backup). The batteries themselves are new, only seeing about 10 recharge cycles. I run the stock NIMH battery pack. The light itself did not feel very hot. I am wondering if anyone has a suggestion for a different set of batteries (preferably lithium) or to a different light similar to the stinger. There ended up being two armed subjects in the building and at this point I do not feel comfortable with the stinger as my primary light. Thank you.

First I would switch to the NIMH pack for the stinger. Is it a Incan or LED?. in a 2 word answer I say SUREFIRE PEACEKEEPER:wave: Keep a box of CR123s in your bag for backups and share the 18650s in it with a 2-3 spares and a charger with your P12. Your ready for anything without worrying about your light. check the surefire site and search here for the reviews/beamshots. worth every penny for a reliable primary light

I used to carry a beer & a bump on duty...a stinger & a strion. I was the first on the block to get a strion & I carried it solely for a while until the supplier warned me there's no drop off warning on the battery to let you know it's dying. That's when I went back to the strion/stinger combo. Never heard of your problem before. Does it happen with either battery?

In any event, just like our dept. Doesn't allow backup guns, you had the forethought to be prepared with a more than ample field light. I just bought three maelstrom flashlights for some of my former partners, since they won't carry anything else. I don't know if it's hype that they were developed as weapon lights for front line duty, but they've more than proved themselves to us.

Keep us posted on the outcome if you decide to send it back to streamlight

Vinniec5 said:

First I would switch to the NIMH pack for the stinger. Is it a Incan or LED?. in a 2 word answer I say SUREFIRE PEACEKEEPER:wave: Keep a box of CR123s in your bag for backups and share the 18650s in it with a 2-3 spares and a charger with your P12. Your ready for anything without worrying about your light. check the surefire site and search here for the reviews/beamshots. worth every penny for a reliable primary light

Click to expand...

Sorry I actually have the NIMH I misspoke. Both of them are LED, the HL DS model. I will check out the peacekeeper, thanks!

aginthelaw said:

I used to carry a beer & a bump on duty...a stinger & a strion. I was the first on the block to get a strion & I carried it solely for a while until the supplier warned me there's no drop off warning on the battery to let you know it's dying. That's when I went back to the strion/stinger combo. Never heard of your problem before. Does it happen with either battery?

In any event, just like our dept. Doesn't allow backup guns, you had the forethought to be prepared with a more than ample field light. I just bought three maelstrom flashlights for some of my former partners, since they won't carry anything else. I don't know if it's hype that they were developed as weapon lights for front line duty, but they've more than proved themselves to us.

Keep us posted on the outcome if you decide to send it back to streamlight

Click to expand...

I like the lithium capabilities of the strion so I can see why you chose it. Thanks for your reply!

Have you switched battery packs to see if the problem repeats itself

I'd check those batteries for a bad cell-s. If they are new its possible they were old stock and wont take a full charge. Check them with a Volt meter and see what's up. 20min is way too short a runtime on an led stinger. I had the Ultra-HP and std stinger Incan and liked them all except for the NICD battery runtime. the HP was my fav, threw a nice beam for a handheld. I have a pile of streamlights but in this situation the Peacekeeper is one of the top choices

I just ran them both with a full charge and they went for about 75 minutes on full constant on. I think the issue must be with battery drain. I fully charged it and threw it on my belt. A few days later is when I only got 20 minutes off of it. Do they batteries deplete that rapidly normally?

some NiMH do have high self discharge but that's fast for any NIMH. those lights are meant to stay on the charger full time anyway without overcharge. I'd give them and few more cycles to improve before condemning the battery. 75mins sounds much better(plus its the posted runtime on high for the 640lumen model I'm assuming this is) and seems to be taking a deeper charge as it gets a few more charge-discharge cycles. I'd charge and take them both for a few days till I trusted the batteries were working ok