# Surefire 8NX Commander....



## BaldGuy45 (Oct 17, 2011)

I have used the search function and really have not found the answers I am looking for, so please forgive me. i have a SF 8NX Commander that I won for placing in an IDPA match years ago. As it was a rechargable, it was pretty much left as my garage light. I replaced the B90 batteries twice from SF. As they now will only hold a charge for about 10 minutes, I looked to replace the batteries again when I found out that this has been discontinued. After much searching I have come to the conclusion that I am not going to be able to just buy replacement batteries. I guessing bulbs are probably out of the question also. 
My question is..... What can possibly be done? I do not have the knowledge to find the appropiate cells and solder them together ( the solder part no problem, the finding what cells will workBig Problem). I would like to find an LED replacement if its out there. Or do I have a pristine paperweight? Or 2 paperweights if you count the Charger.
Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated.


----------



## Imon (Oct 17, 2011)

Looks like these threads are informative.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?220871-Surefire-B90-rechargable
[URL="http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?107901-Twice-the-Run-Time-and-Brighter%85-B90-Upgrade"]http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?107901-Twice-the-Run-Time-and-Brighter%85-B90-Upgrade[/URL]


----------



## BaldGuy45 (Oct 17, 2011)

Imon,
Thanks for the links. I had already read both of those. I guess I should have been more specific. I am looking for a ready to go fix for the battery and a dropin for the lamp replacement. I had some replacement batteries tracked down that a gentleman on the knife forum I belong to assured me worked, but they have been out of stock for months now. I have no idea if there is a dropin for the lamp.
Still searching!


----------



## PCC (Oct 17, 2011)

I recently purchased a used 8X, which uses the same battery and lamps as your 8AX. I'm planning on makin a sleeve to fit two 18650 Li-Ion cells in there and I plan on making my own LED drop-in to work with it. Is there a ready-made battery and lamp for your light? Not that I'm aware of. Even if someone offered a turn-key setup for these lights I would not buy it because I can make my own setup.


----------



## BaldGuy45 (Oct 18, 2011)

PCC, Thanks for the reply. As I feared, this will probably become a light left to die in a drawer. Shame really. At the least you would think there would be batteries that would fit this. I could live without the LED conversion, but I really would like to find batteries that would work without having to construct my own packs.


----------



## Justin Case (Oct 18, 2011)

Some discussion on how to make an LED drop-in for the 8NX here.


----------



## BaldGuy45 (Oct 18, 2011)

Justin Case,
Thank you for the link. While this seems as a "doable" project, I would rather not modify the body of the light. As I have some of the dropins , I looked to see what would have to be done to make them fit. There would be quite alot of material removed from the inside of the light. I am continuing to search for suitable methods without modification to the light. As long as the lights had been around, I assumed this would be easier to do.


----------



## Justin Case (Oct 18, 2011)

I dislike permanent mods myself, but I'm not sure why you think that "quite alot of material" needs to be removed to fit a standard P60 LED drop-in. Those centering ribs in the 8NX head clear the brass pill of your typical drop-in. But they barely catch on the aluminum body. The body of an X80 lamp is about 0.765" diam. One P60 drop-in I have (OpticsHQ drop-in) is 0.863" diam. so you'd have to remove about 0.05" from each of the four centering ribs. A DX11386 drop-in is 0.858" diam at the "Super Bright R2" label. I'd probably file down the ribs so that the fit to a P60 is tight and rely on the natural flex of the plastic to accommodate the interference fit. That should be able to account for slightly differing diameters for these drop-ins.

To go back to an original X80 lamp after mod'ing the 8NX head, you'd have to wrap a bit foil or Kapton tape around the lamp body to take up the ~0.05" gap.

I doubt you'll see any 8NX upgrade parts in the retail channel, unless someone on CPF offers them custom-made. Length of product service is not relevant. Market size/penetration is. Why would a company want to gear up to make that oddball ground strap to make 8NX battery sticks, when the market size is probably miniscule at best. Same with a drop-in. Why would a company gear up to make a reflector/body and outer spring just for the 8NX?

IMO, either sell the light or face up to reality and mod it. I presented a way to build an LED drop-in by using existing P60 drop-ins. This avoids having to gut an expensive X80 incan lamp. If you have a dead X80, then I'd probably try the Beastmaster/nein166 approach. Imon gave links for the battery stick. You apparently have a dead B90, so gutting it for the ground strap is no loss.


----------



## BaldGuy45 (Oct 18, 2011)

It looked like more material than .05 needed to be removed, but you have done your homework so I will take your word. Honestly, If I have to buy and assemble the batteries and possibly buy a new charger ( which I dont know if I need to or not), its not worth the hassle. I dont mean for that to come off wrong, but I probably can take the funds it would cost for the mods and put them into a light that is half the size and twice the performer. I was just hoping that someone knew of a replacement battery and dropin for it. As I understand that companies cant gear up to make a limited group specific products, I would think that sure fire sold enough of these to keep a supply of parts on hand. Justin, thanks for your time and advice.


----------



## dano (Oct 19, 2011)

Streamlight Stinger battery sticks work wih the 8X. If you want to take it a step further, the small nub terminal from a volt battery can be soldered to the top of a Stinger Battery, thus making a true 8X battery stick.

dan


----------



## BaldGuy45 (Oct 19, 2011)

Dano,
This must be with the 8X only. My local battery store had the Stinger batteries in stock and said the same thing. I purchased 2 of them only to discover when I got home that the do not work with my charger. I returned them to the store and told the salesman that they wouldnt work. He not so politely told me I did not know what I was talking about, until I let him try. Then once he saw that I was correct, he proceeded to tell me how SF was junk and tried to get me to purchase the Streamlight charger for some outlandish price. I thanked him and decided that they dont need my business. SF may be alot of things, but junk is not one of them.


----------



## dano (Oct 19, 2011)

What SF charger do you have?


----------



## BaldGuy45 (Oct 19, 2011)

To be honest, I am not sure. I will have to dig it out tomorrow and take a look. I will get back to you.


----------



## BIGLOU (Oct 20, 2011)

I also wish there was a aftermarket drop-in for my 8AX Commander. I got this orange battery from eBay a few years back that stated they were a B90 replacement and found they were not the B90 battery replacement but the Stinger battery replacement. I'm not sure if they are still available. My light worked with these and the SF charger also worked, I had to make sure the charger contacts made contact as the batteries have a collar on the (+) side.


----------



## nikon (Oct 20, 2011)

I use my Surefire charger to charge my Stinger battery all the time. You just have to put a couple of those tiny magnets on the + terminal of the battery in order to make contact with the charger.


----------



## BaldGuy45 (Oct 20, 2011)

Dano,
SF charger is model T210. And I am kind of glad you asked. I found a pristine Streamlight TL2 that I had forgotten about in the same drawer with the SF Charger in my garage. I am guessing with my luck there is no led replacement for it either.


----------



## NotRegulated (Oct 20, 2011)

You can get a new battery pack specifically made for the 8NX, 8AX or 9AN at BatterySpace.com. I have personally never bought or used one but is the only place I know of that makes these. This is where I plan to order from to keep my 8NX running.

Link here. http://www.batteryspace.com/flashlightbattery36v3300mahnimhsticksurefire9b8axandl7lights.aspx


----------



## BaldGuy45 (Oct 21, 2011)

NotReg,
Thanks for the info. I placed an order for a pair of these last night. At the least this could solve my battery problem. I will post a note when these arrive.
As for the Streamlight I found while searching for my charger, I remembered why I put it there. I doesnt work. Changed the bulb, fresh batteries and nothing. Oh well.


----------



## NotRegulated (Oct 22, 2011)

I'm anxious to see how well these batteries work. Let me know after you try them out.
As for the X80 bulbs, they are available from many retailers on the web.


----------



## BaldGuy45 (Oct 22, 2011)

I would still like to go LED on the Surefire. Wonder if the LED conversion mentioned by Justin Case would still work with these new batteries?


----------



## Chrontius (Oct 22, 2011)

that 9AN battery appears to lack a negative terminal at the head, making them specific to the 9-series.

Try adding a little wad of foil to make contact with the charger? I've done it before, and it does work. That was with the B65 though, so you'll want to be careful about shorting to the negative ring.


----------



## BaldGuy45 (Nov 1, 2011)

NotRegulated said:


> You can get a new battery pack specifically made for the 8NX, 8AX or 9AN at BatterySpace.com. I have personally never bought or used one but is the only place I know of that makes these. This is where I plan to order from to keep my 8NX running.
> 
> Link here. http://www.batteryspace.com/flashlightbattery36v3300mahnimhsticksurefire9b8axandl7lights.aspx


----------



## BaldGuy45 (Nov 1, 2011)

Just to let folks know, these batteries DO NOT work for the 8NX. I finally received mine today (almost a week overdue I might add) and they are not made for the 8NX. Probably will work in the 9 series, but since I do not own one so I cannot say. I have decided to abandon the quest to find batteries and lamps for this light. For whay I have in the batteries alone, I could have picked up a small light with almost double the lumens. 
The SF still works for now, although its run time on the one good battery is probably 25 minutes. Maybe I will find something in the future........


----------



## kcustomii (Nov 1, 2011)

thanks for the update looks as if im in the same boat with my SF 8x


----------



## illuminator316 (Nov 20, 2011)

Don't relegate them to paperweights just yet. Found some batteries on ebay and http://www.surefireb90batteries.com


----------



## rsvrmille (Jan 5, 2012)

Don't relegate them to paperweights just yet. Found some batteries on ebay and http://www.surefireb90batteries.com

I just saw these on ebay and came here to search and see if anyone tried them yet. hopefully we can find a solution for these surefire rechargables,as I too am having a hard time shelving it.


----------



## PhillyRube (Jan 5, 2012)

I have the same problem, a pristine 8NX with charger and box, complete. Doesn't get used, sits in the box. I have a hobby charger so I can charge almost anything, it's just a same technology has bypassed this.


----------



## PhillyRube (Jan 5, 2012)

BIGLOU said:


> I also wish there was a aftermarket drop-in for my 8AX Commander. I got this orange battery from eBay a few years back that stated they were a B90 replacement and found they were not the B90 battery replacement but the Stinger battery replacement. I'm not sure if they are still available. My light worked with these and the SF charger also worked, I had to make sure the charger contacts made contact as the batteries have a collar on the (+) side.



If I am not mistaken, those look like the same batteries that go in the Streamlight SL20X-LED, where the positive and negative are at the top of the stick.


----------



## BaldGuy45 (Jan 5, 2012)

I have tried the streamlight batteries and could not get them to work for me. Mine is officially at paperweight status. I have moved on. Maybe trade it to somebody for something one of these days.


----------



## Chrontius (Jan 6, 2012)

rsvrmille is MVP of the thread. I'll be picking up a couple of those! 

Sorry to hear that you're giving up on the 8X, BaldGuy. They really are fantastic lights.


----------



## yellow (Jan 6, 2012)

*MOD battery-sticks by yourself*

When You _really_ want to stay with the 8X, why not mod any battery stick to work with it?
You only have to cut a "ring" + connecting metal strip out of a thin metal and glue it on top and to the sides of the stick + put a shrink foil over it.








my advise: 
since modding my 6P to led and 18650, the 8X (and 9N) are no longer of real use - and that was with a Luxeon led.
Now the P60 inserts are soooo much more advanced ...
and the whole light is much better to pocket

get such a setup instead


----------

