Can I undervolt Surefire Xenon Incan bulbs?

What I mean specifically, is can I use a 3.7 volt 16650 battery on SF 6v Xenon bulbs or will this damage the bulb?

I know from this thread that undervolting Halogen bulbs is not good for the bulbs, but what about Xenon specifically?

Many thanks in advance!

kjs-vintage said:

What I mean specifically, is can I use a 3.7 volt 16650 battery on SF 6v Xenon bulbs or will this damage the bulb?

I know from this thread that undervolting Halogen bulbs is not good for the bulbs, but what about Xenon specifically?

Many thanks in advance!

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You can in fact use a Li-Ion cell to power an incandescent P60. Folks do and I have in the past.

One reason I don't recommend it is because there is no other protection against over-discharge for the cell other than the on-board protection (if it's a protected cell) and your brain. I personally would not want to ever run a rechargeable cell that low before recharging. Also the output will obviously be lower than it is on a pair of 123As. I personally found the output on a fully charged 16650 to be just under what I would like it to be anyway.

The other reason I'm sure you must have encountered is the halogen effect when running the lamp too low. The vaporized filament is no longer being redeposited back onto the filament and instead coats the bulb, maybe not an issue for continued use except that your filament is now not capable of withstanding the full operating voltage and when you drop in a freshly charged cell or worse, two 123As...POOF! No more filament.

If Surefire xenon-halogen bulbs are run at voltage less than spec the xenon-halogen cycle may not take place causing premature bulb darkening.

At any rate I don't recommend it. The bulbs will work though, albeit at much lower brightness and not at the normal color temperature of a properly driven lamp assembly.