How to extend the Life of Surefire xenon bulb

I just bought a Surefire M3, and was told by a friend to run in the bulb by leting the light on for around 30mins.

But after the run in. the batt became low. so I have to change a new set of batts.

When I on the M3 (w/ new bat this time) the light produce by the MN10 is very very dim and in blows up the next moment (less than 10secs)

What did I do wrong? can any one teach me how to prolong the bulb life? the bulb are very expensive so hope that this would not happen to me again

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gif HELP /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gif

pjandyho, please reply. Your AD-vice needed here. haha /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thinking.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ohgeez.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crackup.gif

Yes please. I had pm him for his advice as well. Still waiting.

The M3 bulb are so expenive. I now has 2nd thought about buying another light that uses filament bulb. (I can buy another good n highend LED flashlight if I blow 3-4 bulb)
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flashlight said:
pjandyho, please reply. Your device needed here.

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flashlight said:
pjandyho, please reply. Your device needed here.

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huh ? his device ?? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

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Oh ohhh... my device can not be brought out here...

What I can say is you probably got a dud bulb. My MN11 is working fine after so many batt changes. One basic knowledge about Surefire lamp is that if it doesn't blow after a few minutes or one battery change then it will last you a very long time.

All you can do now is to contact Surefire for a bulb replacement and see what they can do for you. Or if you don't want to wait you can always buy one from Sheares Marketing. What I like about Sheares is that they allow me to try the product before buying. I once bought an MN03 from them for my E2e. Opened the package and fitted the bulb in right in the shop. Just when i switch it on the bulb blows so I changed a new one immediately.

Sometimes there can be a hair line crack in the bulb which resulted in the Xenon gas leaking out when the light is on due to heat built-up. After that the bulb is history.

By the way, when you said run-in the bulb, what bulb are you running? The MN10 or MN11?

I think Surefire bulbs are ok. I have never really done any run-in on my SF incandescents and so far so good.

A "run-in" would be a good idea during training and drills so that you establish whether the bulb is stable and robust.
This allows you to get used to the operation and feel of the light in terms of grips and switching.
Also, this gives you an idea of how the light output changes over the runtime.
After the first couple of battery sets you can be confident that light will perform as you expect in use.

Prior Preparation Prevents ****-Poor Performance.

As for how to extend the lifespan of the bulb?

Only use fresh batteries. Change the batteries when the light output dims and yellows. I tend to take it a step further and change batteries when the light output drops enough for me to notice.

Do not run the batteries until the light does not light any more.

If you bulb fails to perform, please contact SureFire Customer Service.

I was told surefire bulbs used premium materials and that they never failed early.

there is another recent post about a surefire a2 that the bulb failed early.

a hot wire is a hot wire

sure if I was going to mount a flashlight to a gun it would be a surefire.

First call CS they will get you a new bulb. Next do as AL said and do not run the batteries down to far. Next No a hot wire is not a hot wire I work with theatrical lighting and have the same problem with higher end bulbs. If they are going to blow they do it in the first 30 minutes usually or they last for a long time. We have tried cheaper brands and they just seem to blow at random times. I have seen this many times with my Surefire lamps I have had about four of them blow in the first five minutes and the replacements have now worked well over a year and many battery changes with no problems. I have a 6P that I have beat up and dropped many times and it just keeps going. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

markdi,

Who told you that? It's not true that SureFire bulbs never fail early. They are made using premium materials to be more stable and robust over a longer service life compared to other bulbs.

Once you've put a few sets of batteries through your SureFire without issue it is fair to say you'll get many, many hours of life. Some have said an informal rating of 25 hours.
My experience has been that no lamp has ever died of old age before that. I would say 25 hours is conservative based on my usage as a white light junkie.

Al

I don't understand, why can't I use a set off batt till they are totally flat?

What harm will it have on the bulb?



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Size15s said:
As for how to extend the lifespan of the bulb?

Only use fresh batteries. Change the batteries when the light output dims and yellows. I tend to take it a step further and change batteries when the light output drops enough for me to notice.

Do not run the batteries until the light does not light any more.



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Morgan,

The bulb filament will vaporize during usage, and the tungsten? that vaporizes is deposited back on the filament in a cycle (helped by the xenon gas). You want to ensure that the power being supplied to the light is adequate to keep that cycle going by keeping the filament hot enough.

When your light starts to dim, it is time to change the batteries. If there is not enough juice left to keep the filament white-hot, the tungsten will be consumed and not re-deposited on the filament, shortening the bulb life.

It's a good reason to keep a few LED lights around to use up those half-spent batteries.

Hi Morgan,

I dont have a M3, though I very much wish to. But I have a 6P. I did run in the bulb, but 30 minutes is too long, not logical also since the batt life is 1 hour. What I did was turning on the light, leave it there at constant room temp for 5 minutes, then I turn it off after 5 minutes and left it to cool off in the same room temp.

Not sure if the 6P or the M3 is regulated in any manner??? But I did not experience a gradual decrease in brightness with my 6P when batteries gets depleted, but rather, the brightness just suddenly turns to a very low beam the next time I on it, about the output of a Maglite Solitarie or less. It is then important to stop using the light and change batteries. Reason as mentioned by wasabe64. Better yet if you know you are reaching 1 hour, change the batts. The batts can still be use for Inova X5, so no waste.

I think the way the light is used plays a part too. I use mine intermitently, usually on for less than a minute and seldom longer than 30 minutes.

That is the reason why I got myself an E1e with courtesy from Cyril Ng, aka flashlight, so I can run my used batteries one by one using a KL1 LED conversion head. I used it to read my books and magazines at night and they really does provide guilt free lumens since psychologically these batteries are doomed for the trash can.

If you don't have a single cell LED light then use a double cell if you have or throw them away. I have tried running them on my Inova X5T but it seemed to take ages to deplete.

In an ideal world you would use fresh SF123As for each mission (just like you'd fill up your water bottle with fresh water before you went on a hike I guess).

Of course, not even I have an SF123A tree growing in my garden so we tend tend to get a pretty good idea how much runtime we have used and got left through using our flashlight(s) a lot. Even with regulated LED models I get tell within about 5-10 minutes when it's going to run out.

The point is, "tactical" lights are meant to be brilliant white. That's the whole point. I'm a white light junkie. If I'm paying a premium to get the best light output, I want the best light output and that means changing batteries when I notice the brilliance has been used up.
But that's just me.

Al

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pjandyho said:
That is the reason why I got myself an E1e with courtesy from Cyril Ng, aka flashlight, so I can run my used batteries one by one using a KL1 LED conversion head. I used it to read my books and magazines at night and they really does provide guilt free lumens since psychologically these batteries are doomed for the trash can.

If you don't have a single cell LED light then use a double cell if you have or throw them away. I have tried running them on my Inova X5T but it seemed to take ages to deplete.

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Oh yah I must also thank him for helping me reflectors and lens for my Micra.

No problem. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Hi Sjackal.

Does the reflector on the Micra help to throw the light further?
and PK from Surefire had email me regarding my blown bulb.

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Morgan,
SF bulbs are already pre aged,
you don't need any more pre burning...
Also, it sounds like your bulbs deceased prematurely.
Please contact my Singapore dealer for replacement bulb.
Tell them pk said that they should provide you free bulb ;-)
Regards,
pk
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And guys from Singapore, who are the surefire dealers? I thought NONE of the Shops in Singapore got their goods directly from Surefire?

So where can I get this replacement bulb?

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SJACKAL said:
Oh yah I must also thank him for helping me reflectors and lens for my Micra.

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Sheares technology I think. You should confirm with surefire first I think. Where you bought your M3 by the way?

Not sure if the reflector helps in Micra's throw, but it sure helped in the beam quality. The UCL helps it put out more light.

Sheares Marketing is carrying spare bulbs. Please print out the request from PK and pass it to them. Let me see if they are willing to help.