Re: ARGH: Accident w/Amondotech 123s and SF M2 + Detonator + G&P Tailcap + Chop KL3 Head!
Chronos - sorry to hear about your light (it is quite nice) and am glad you and your family are ok. There have been quite a few threads with ZTS results from testing of various brands of cells. The ones that are most consistent that have been tested thus far are Streamlight, Surefire, and Sanyo. I believe Tenergies tested well, but these do not have PTC. Batterystation and Titanium cells seem to have the most variance in capacity when tested, tho a recent test performed by Doug (Quickbeam) showed all the Titanium cells he received tested consistently. Many proponents of the BS and Titanium cells use the argument that there have been events with any brand cell, but it's not just an event happening that is indicative of the QC (or lack thereof), but how often an event occurs (event is inclusive of the variation in the test results). Consistency in performance is an indicator of the amount of QC and design that went into the product. Mfrs with lower rates of failures or more consistent performance at the field are either taking more yield losses at the factory or have developed more precise and costlier methods of mfr'ing and/or design. Tho I don't think the BS and Titanium cells are poorly made/designed, I do believe they (vendors/mfrs) have given up a bit in the QC and design areas to maximize yield and thus more issues are seen at the field. I reserve my BS and Titanium cells I have left for single-cell applications and now only use Rayovacs, Sanyos, SFs, or Streamlight cells in my multi-cell applications. Consistency/quality cost money and when you're trying to offer the lowest priced product with the highest profit margins, you NEED to give on a few things by improving factory yield, even if those factory yields eventually show up at the field. The data, tho not conclusive, should not be ignored and having been in the manufacturing of electronic devices for many years, I can tell you that the products you buy for lower prices, even tho they seem to perform well and do not have many field failures, are often times poorer performers, it's just that guardbands allow poorer devices/components to be hidden for the most part. Mfrs also tend to source from various qualified sources at any time, so your purchase of a product a few months later than your first purchase may have a poorer performance component in there. I've tested competitor parts used in our customers' end products and know when they're better or we're better, yet all get into the field. I'm surprised how much the performance can vary while still being ok for sale.
Chronos - sorry to hear about your light (it is quite nice) and am glad you and your family are ok. There have been quite a few threads with ZTS results from testing of various brands of cells. The ones that are most consistent that have been tested thus far are Streamlight, Surefire, and Sanyo. I believe Tenergies tested well, but these do not have PTC. Batterystation and Titanium cells seem to have the most variance in capacity when tested, tho a recent test performed by Doug (Quickbeam) showed all the Titanium cells he received tested consistently. Many proponents of the BS and Titanium cells use the argument that there have been events with any brand cell, but it's not just an event happening that is indicative of the QC (or lack thereof), but how often an event occurs (event is inclusive of the variation in the test results). Consistency in performance is an indicator of the amount of QC and design that went into the product. Mfrs with lower rates of failures or more consistent performance at the field are either taking more yield losses at the factory or have developed more precise and costlier methods of mfr'ing and/or design. Tho I don't think the BS and Titanium cells are poorly made/designed, I do believe they (vendors/mfrs) have given up a bit in the QC and design areas to maximize yield and thus more issues are seen at the field. I reserve my BS and Titanium cells I have left for single-cell applications and now only use Rayovacs, Sanyos, SFs, or Streamlight cells in my multi-cell applications. Consistency/quality cost money and when you're trying to offer the lowest priced product with the highest profit margins, you NEED to give on a few things by improving factory yield, even if those factory yields eventually show up at the field. The data, tho not conclusive, should not be ignored and having been in the manufacturing of electronic devices for many years, I can tell you that the products you buy for lower prices, even tho they seem to perform well and do not have many field failures, are often times poorer performers, it's just that guardbands allow poorer devices/components to be hidden for the most part. Mfrs also tend to source from various qualified sources at any time, so your purchase of a product a few months later than your first purchase may have a poorer performance component in there. I've tested competitor parts used in our customers' end products and know when they're better or we're better, yet all get into the field. I'm surprised how much the performance can vary while still being ok for sale.
) it seems that the majority of these have occurred with production lights that have not been modified. At the same time, I should note that I've been around people who have used CR123 powered lights for over 20 years, and have used them myself, and have not heard of a single incident like the ones reported here.
