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Wesley w/Glock
07-28-2004, 10:47 AM
Last night I did a "bump" test of my SureFire belt carried white light. I found that the batteries were virtually dead. All I could get out of the lamp was a dull glow. A bump test is my own invention. What I do is "bump" the thumb switch to get a flash out of the lamp. I do this maybe every couple of weeks or so once I begin to question how close the current battery set is to providing the rated 60 minutes of illumination.

The last test I did was last week and the lamp illuminated though I don't know how powerfully. All I did was see that when pointed at my hand I could see the illumination in broad daylight.

This suggests to me that the SureFire maintains a very bright light right up until the end when it suddenly goes dim.

Does anyone know of some sign the SureFire may exhibit when the battery set is about to fail?

I think that what I will do in the future is just simply replace the batteries when I think I have racked up say thirty minutes of illumination. I'll keep the old batteries, though, to use in training exercises.

st6_guy
07-28-2004, 12:27 PM
Different Surefire's have different runtime plots. The digital ones stay pretty contant until the batteries expire. The non-diigital ones get slightly more dim with each use.

There is a website you must visit called www.candlepowerforums.com

It's a great website filled with flashlight geeks, and surefire experts. You can do a search for "runtime plots" and you should find one for just about every flashlight made.

RSF
07-28-2004, 01:49 PM
Wes, a wise man one told me and others in his class if its worth carrying one its worth carrying two! , i carry a belt mounted 9z with a photon light attached to it as well by the laynard ring with a key ring, and also either a g2 for day time carry and at night if i know possible high risk travel or actvites i carry a c-3 hi-output i replace batteries about every month like clock work

CS40
07-28-2004, 04:19 PM
I carry a G2Z at all times and in my experience with Surefire's they tend to stay pretty bright right until the end.

I believe it is more a result of the type of batteries as opposed to the light. Lithium batteries are made to function as close to peak power as possible their whole life. That way cameras and other electronics that use those batteries can continue to function normally as long as possible.