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flashlite said:
ALL components of the bulb assembly that serve to maintain precision focus, thermal protection etc., can easily be made a component of the head assembly instead, and without compromising beam quality etc. There is no obstacle to this design that cannot be overcome. The initial cost of the entire flashlight may be slightly higher (if at all), but you'd save a lot of money in the long run. It would be hard for Surefire to justify a $20 +/- bulb replacement if all you received was the bulb itself.
The decision to make the bulb, with all its attached components, one assembly was most likely not an engineering decision. It was a marketing decision. I don't claim to be an engineering or marketing expert, but I've been around long enough to understand most of the tactics of capitalism and free enterprise. Surefire, along with many other manufacturers, has just figured out a way to apply this tactic to flashlights...and without some consumers even realizing it.
This is by no means an attack on Surefire or anyone who has ever purchased one of their products. This is just one of the drawbacks IMO. There are many other things that make these types of lights, by most accounts, excellent flashlights to have /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/happy14.gif.
BTW, if anyone knows of a flashlight that is perfect in every aspect, please let me know /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif.
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I'm a little unclear on this. Are you refering to the P60, 61, 90, and 91 SF LA's only, or do you include the Millenium series lamps which are potted onto a pedestal which fits precisely up the bore of the reflector and which has the dual springs (inner and outer) on the base?
In any event, I am clear about one thing: you say that SF could easily make it so that you could have the same precisely centered beam in a system where you ONLY replace the BARE lamp.
Well, I have some things to say about that, but first three facts:
1. No manufacturer of lamps is able to precisely center the filament of a lamp over the wires which run out through the pinch (base) of the bulb envelope.
2. The only truly "bare" lamp is a bi-pin lamp. All PR base lamps are potted into the PR base.
3. Perfect centering of the filament requires THREE translation components (x,y,z) and ONE rotation component (filament angle with respect to the reflector or pedestal axis.
So, given that bare bi-pin lamps have flaments which are in general not centered over the pins, what you are suggesting would require a pedestal which could be translated left-right, up-down, in-out, AND angled with respect to at least the reflector axis (and this is assuming that the bi-pin socket can be rotated). And all of these adjustments would need to be made while the reflector was in place and while the lamp was on. Otherwise, you're talking about making an adjustment, buttoning up the light, checking, making another adjustment, and so on.
This is obviously impractical and complicated, and would be prone to damage and mis-calibration.
Thus we are necessarily left with the potting of the bare lamp into something which is in precise relation to the reflector geometry. SureFire does this with a pedestal which slides up exactly through the bore of the reflector and which stops at precisely the right focus due to the bottom collar, and which is held there with the force of (at least) the outer spring pushing down on the inside rim of the body of the light.
StreamLight does this with the 20X and 35X by potting the lamp directly into a throw away reflector. So does TigerLight.
I do this by potting the lamp into a ring which is then secured with a set screw (thus requiring focus in only the z component) but I do NOT pay any attention to the angle of the filament. If it's angled, so be it. Thus even if I do my job of potting the lamp into the ring perfectly, in general, the result will not achieve the level of perfection which SureFire and StreamLight, and TigerLight can achieve.
Potting a lamp into a PR base could also theoretically achieve the same level of perfection, but I would be willing to bet that a company like Carley Lamps (which will pot bi-pin bulbs for a fee) does not bother centering the filament, and CERTAINLY does not pay any attention to filament angle.
And even if someone did pot precisely into PR bases, they are rather large and cumbersome compared to the 3/8" o.d. of the SureFire MN pedestal.
If I'm wrong about any of this, I'm very willing to be corrected.
And please detail to me your theoretical (imaginary?) setup for this light which has the same precisely aligned and focused beam as a SureFire, but which uses bare bi-pin lamps. I would honestly love to hear about it, because it would be a truly great setup.
As for your mud-slinging (which you don't see as mudslinging) against all manufacturers, and specifically against SureFire, I won't comment much, except to say that if you think that there is no such thing as a company that wants to do the right thing by its customers you are entirely mistaken and way too cynical for your own good.