Sure-Fire lights, safe in a gas filled area?

Hi,

Got a question today that left me simply stunned..

Are Sure-Fire lights considered safe in a gas filled area?

If i remeber i once owned a Pelican light that had markings that it was considered safe for using in an era where there might be flammable or/and explosive gas or fumes.

Does anyone have any information concerning this??

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I did a search here and at Sure-Fire's site and came up with nothing..

Any help and/or further insight is as always greatly appreciated /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Thnx!

I don't believe they have certified their lights to be intrinsically safe.

Metal flashlights are tricky since the surface can cause sparks by conducting electricity. The G2's have the potential, but would need to have better seals and a catalyst pill added.

WARNING!!!!
Do NOT USE S.F. lights in a hazardous gas environment!!

USE ONLY lights that specifically are marked with the approval ON THE LIGHT.
For a list of approval codes: http://www.pelican.com/lights_aprovals.html

Although Surefire makes many great products, they are not deisgned, manufactured, or marketed to be industrial service / hazardous environment tools.

Please use caution!!

Quick replies, thank you both /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Anyone that has any links to what makes a light "gas-proof"?

I guess any information on the hazards of lights/sparks and gas would be helpful.

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I would contact your company's industrial hygenist with this question.

Question is more of the retorical question and out of curiousity.

I have no need for a gas-safe light, but i really like to have the knowledge when someone asks me /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[ QUOTE ]
jeepinpaul said:
I would contact your company's industrial hygenist with this question.

[/ QUOTE ]

surefires are not safe for gas filled area use

As noted above, the basics are a non-sparking, non-conductive body, a non-arcing switch, some current limitations, low-temperature bulb, excellent seals to prevent gas intrusion, and a catalyst pellet to prevent hydrogen build-up/escape/explosion.

There's a whole raft of specifications and certifications pertaining to various situations, atmospheres, etc., but that's the basics as I understand them.

Understanding exactly what equipment is safe for certain environments is a complex and very detailed set of knowledge, and thus there's a wide variety of certifications. Extreme caution is indicated.

Among common lights, Pelican seems to take this the most seriously, if the amount of effort they spend to explain what a particular light is certified for is any indication... They'd be my first choice to see if they were appropriate for a particular task/environment.

Surefire would be at the opposite end of the spectrum - conductive, sparking body, high temp lamps prone to explode, high battery discharge rates, seals they don't even certify for immersion, no catalyst, etc...

I'm not sure Surefire is truly the LAST light I'd choose for a hazardous environment, but it's certianly a competitor.

http://ulstandardsinfonet.ul.com/scopes/0783.html

http://www.msha.gov/30cfr/20.8.htm

http://www.msha.gov/30cfr/20.1.htm

http://www.msha.gov/techsupp/acc/lists/20flshlt.pdf

Thanks Capnal!

Looks like Pelican/Hubbel (rebranded Pelicans)are about 1/3 of that list...

Most UK and Bright Star lights are approved.

My Streamlight 3c and 4aa LED flashlights are for use in hazardous locations.

How dangerous is it to use Surefire flashlights in hazardous atmosphere ? In industry, in hazardous locations like coal mines, where there is a danger of explosion, sameone should use certified flashlights. But what about such situations like disaster, where for example building is damaged and gas pipes are broken and there is no light ? Or a car accident, where gasoline vapours are in air ? Is it safe to use non-certified flashlight ? If the danger of using such flashlight is minimal maybe it is better to use it than to move in a darkness, but if the danger is great it may be better not to turn it on.

Does low(mid)-power Luxeon flashlights (like Inova T1, Surefire L1) are rather safe to use in such accidental situations ? There are no hot bulb, and the power is lower than in Surefire incand. models like E2e.

The biggest danger is turning the light on and off whereby the electrical contact surfaces are exposed to the elements, and do create a small (even invisible to the naked eye) spark this can ignite the gases. -->BOOM!
Lights certified are sealed to prevent the ingress of environmental gases. The potiential of the light to spark by static electricity is also very high on the list of factors.
If you smell gas, don't turn on your light!

No. Look into purchasing safety-certified Pelican lights; they are the best for what you're looking for.

I'm not an expert, and I don't play one on Al Gore's invention.

However, if the gas concentration is high enough to smell, as at an accident or in a disaster, I'd vastly rather take my chances in the dark than with an explosion or fire as I leave the area at high speed.

Since there's no easy way to judge whether you've got a flammable concentration, or how much spark/hot wire risk there is for a given light, using any non-certified light in any hazardous atmosphere is a crap shoot - would you turn on the light if you knew there was a 1% chance of massive burns all over your body? I'm not a gambling man, when the alternative is a $25 light that's also waterproof and throws like there's no tomorrow - great companion to the LED's I tend to carry on my person or in my bag.

As anyone who reads my posts knows, I'm a Pelican fan for all kinds of reasons, but this is a big reason why every one of our cars and our boat has a mid-size Pelican (Super Saberlite 3c, Stealthlite 4AA or Super Pelilite 2c) in the glove compartment, and there's one in the charger by my nightstand. I'll probably never use it, but I don't think there's a better 'accident/disaster' light than these.