Power consumption comparison Streamlight / Inforce WML / Surefire

[neo9710]

I know there are many threads regarding the quality of weapon mounted lights. I'm curious about drain when the light is not in use between the different models (Surefire x300, Streamlight TLR-1S, Inforce WML). I have a Streamlight TLR-1S that I have mounted to my FNP and my batteries were drained within a short amount of time without being used (other than testing). I am contemplating picking up a X300 Ultra or the Inforce WML..

[six8]

How was the gun stored?


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[neo9710]

Was stored on a shelf inside a safe. Nothing from what I could tell was activating the light. The batteries were Panasonic CR123's. I guess the question is..How long do you leave your batteries in your lights on your HD rifle/pistol?

[UWone77]

There seems to be a lot of factors that weigh in on battery life. Since I recently moved, I located some lights both Streamlight and Surefire, that had batteries in them for the last several years. They still turned on with the same battery. They were all stored in a cool, dry, place.

Normally, I keep most of my lights stored without batteries.

[neo9710]

There seems to be a lot of factors that weigh in on battery life. Since I recently moved, I located some lights both Streamlight and Surefire, that had batteries in them for the last several years. They still turned on with the same battery. They were all stored in a cool, dry, place.

Normally, I keep most of my lights stored without batteries.


Im going to throw another set of batteries in it just to make sure it wasnt a bad set. But CR123's arent the cheapest things in the world. Still planning to pick up that Surefire X300 Ultra..

[CK 187]

I have tried some different brand 123's and I keep coming back to the Surefire brand name ones. The Panasonic never "seemed" to last as long

I'm a Surefire guy though. Never gone wrong with them

[neo9710]

Candlepowerfoums ran a pretty thorough test on many of the popular CR123's. Ill see if I can find it. Which Surefire are your running on a rifle? Pistol?

[SINNER]

Surefire, Duracell, Rayovac, and Power Station batteries are all made by Panasonic USA along with a good amount of house brands. Buy whatever of those brands you can find on sale. The extended shelf life of any lithium battery is only on batteries NEVER used or tested. Once electrons flow through the battery the passivation layer degrades and the battery will exhibit the same discharge rates as a alkaline battery. Not to be mistaken for life during use but for percentage of charge lost during storage.

[six8]

Isn't the shelf life around 10 years?


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[six8]

Im going to throw another set of batteries in it just to make sure it wasnt a bad set. But CR123's arent the cheapest things in the world. Still planning to pick up that Surefire X300 Ultra..

I was going to pickup a x300u but couldn't justify the cost over a TLR-1 HL. So far I'm very happy with the Streamlight.


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[UWone77]

Originally, I used an Ultra X300 for my duty gun, but too much light, and too much light bounce back off of white walls during building searches. Went back to the standard X300. Sometimes you can have too much light. I think the Ultra X300 would be better suited on a long gun IMHO.

[neo9710]

Surefire, Duracell, Rayovac, and Power Station batteries are all made by Panasonic USA along with a good amount of house brands. Buy whatever of those brands you can find on sale. The extended shelf life of any lithium battery is only on batteries NEVER used or tested. Once electrons flow through the battery the passivation layer degrades and the battery will exhibit the same discharge rates as a alkaline battery. Not to be mistaken for life during use but for percentage of charge lost during storage.

AH. Good to know. But the batteries died in about a week which is unusual. Lets see how the next set does...

[GOST]

Here at the Oak Ridge reservation, DOE requires us to use Surefire brand CR123A batteries due to an off brand battery catching fire.

[RiverRat]

Im going to throw another set of batteries in it just to make sure it wasnt a bad set. But CR123's arent the cheapest things in the world. Still planning to pick up that Surefire X300 Ultra..

You can buy a LOT of CR123 cells for the cost of upgrading to an X300 Ultra. If you're after a different beam pattern, or believe you'll see better robustness, that's potentially reason to switch. But the economics don't seem to justify this switch even if you found you had to replace the batteries 20 more times with the Streamlight (20 x $4 per set = $80, less than the INCREMENTAL price difference between the lights).

As to your original question, I once tried to get folks at Candlepower Forums to evaluate 4 different WMLs for output, beam patterning, runtime and parasitic drain - but they were unable to fit this into their schedule even when I volunteered to supply new, in-box copies of the lights.

So I've only got anecdotal evidence - I've never had any problems with parasitic drain on my current Streamlight - 9 months on the current batteries with very light use, no discernable drop in output (Panasonic CR123 cells). I run these same cells in a number of other, well-used lights and they have been of consistently high quality and are my cell of choice. You might have gotten a bum/expired shipment though - such things do happen. But I suspect your more rapid discharge suggests either the light was on in storage, your original batteries were grossly substandard or the light is faulty (and could be repaired under warranty.)

[neo9710]

You can buy a LOT of CR123 cells for the cost of upgrading to an X300 Ultra. If you're after a different beam pattern, or believe you'll see better robustness, that's potentially reason to switch. But the economics don't seem to justify this switch even if you found you had to replace the batteries 20 more times with the Streamlight (20 x $4 per set = $80, less than the INCREMENTAL price difference between the lights).

As to your original question, I once tried to get folks at Candlepower Forums to evaluate 4 different WMLs for output, beam patterning, runtime and parasitic drain - but they were unable to fit this into their schedule even when I volunteered to supply new, in-box copies of the lights.

So I've only got anecdotal evidence - I've never had any problems with parasitic drain on my current Streamlight - 9 months on the current batteries with very light use, no discernable drop in output (Panasonic CR123 cells). I run these same cells in a number of other, well-used lights and they have been of consistently high quality and are my cell of choice. You might have gotten a bum/expired shipment though - such things do happen. But I suspect your more rapid discharge suggests either the light was on in storage, your original batteries were grossly substandard or the light is faulty (and could be repaired under warranty.)

Thank you. A new set of batteries have been installed. I am actually looking for another light for my SBR which got me looking at the x300 (and I found it on sale) or the Scout and I thought i'd ask if anyone had an issue with drain. Ill come back hopefully in a couple of weeks with my findings.

[MoxyDave]

I've had 2 Streamlight TLR-1s for many years. I've used several name-brand batteries and never had a set last less than a year. I use them periodically but not often and change them on my birthday. Sounds like you got a bad batch, or the light is malfunctioning. I've never experienced a parasitic drain like that.