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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Inforce WML batteries (Page 1 of 3)
Posted: 4/2/2014 9:20:00 PM EDT
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Just a heads up, Got my Inforce WML a few weeks ago. Set it up on my rifle with a fresh battery. A week later I took it out of the safe and the light didn't turn on. Switched to a fresh CR123 and it worked again. Activated the safety lever just in case the light activated in my safe and discharged the batteries (which it didn't). A week later I took my rifle out of the safe again and the second battery was again dead. I contacted Inforce and they said if you do not unscrew the headcap 1/4 turn then the light will discharge on its own. Just wanted people to be aware of this as I did not read anything about this before purchasing. Not ideal for a HD/patrol rifle IMO since you have to remember to unscrew the headcap and rescrew it before using the light.
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I've purchased 5 of the constant on white/IR models in the last couple months.
Of those, one of them has this exact same issue with discharging when not in use. The other 4 don't seem to have this problem. I just checked them, in fact, and the factory batteries in them are all still going strong. I had thought I had a problem light but just had not gotten around to contacting Inforce about it. Based on what you posted though OP, it looks like this is something that Inforce knows about. Without knowing that unscrewing the head was Inforce recommended storage method, I began doing that with the one that drains itself. I guess I'm going to unscrew the heads on the rest of them to be safe. |
| its because the rely on the electronics to turn on the light instead of a hard switch like every other light out there. I can't say that I am a fan because if you get an out of spec part in the circuit board it will still pull out current where as if you have a hard switch there is no physical way for it to discharge the battery. For a weapon mounted light I prefer dead nuts reliability, and this sort of non-mechanical control is kind of a put off for me. If I have a gun that has a light on it, its for defensive use. If I need to use it for defense it needs to be GTG at all times and this kind of puts a damper on that. Just my 2¢ for what little is it worth. |
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Well that explains why my light was dead when I took the rifle out of the safe. WTF? I have a M900 Surefire that's GTG every time. I thought the Inforce was a neat little lightweight option. I read the directions in detail and it mentioned there would be some constant battery drain if you leave the head screwed in, but it never mentioned it would totally drain it in just a few days. So basically I could go out on patrol for 6-10 hours, screw the head back down, never use the light, and still have to change out the battery in a couple days. Shitty. |
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Good question I am wondering the same thing. From what others have posted here, yes. Here is what Inforce said for the record: "We inform our customers in the instruction booklet to unscrew the headcap as to not drain the batteries. Even though the light is off, the circuitry is still connected to the battery if not unscrewed."
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Is it the momentary only or does it have constant on? Quoted:
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Mines been in my trunk for months and months with no problems. Its checked at the beginning on each shift. constant on. $130 one, not the cheaper. |
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Well I contacted Inforce and they told me to fuck off.
I asked them if it's normal and they said yes....it will drain without it screwed out. They didn't comment on the fact that my batteries were dead within the week. In the same e-mail I said if it is normal I would like a refund to return the light since it is not what I want in a weapon-light. No comment on that part. Well at least now I have a light for my .22 upper |
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Well I contacted Inforce and they told me to fuck off. I asked them if it's normal and they said yes....it will drain without it screwed out. They didn't comment on the fact that my batteries were dead within the week. In the same e-mail I said if it is normal I would like a refund to return the light since it is not what I want in a weapon-light. No comment on that part. Well at least now I have a light for my .22 upper Inforce seems to have quite the customer service. I was in Iraq, and my tailcap fell off. Wanted a new tailcap. They wanted me to send the light to them to replace the tailcap. After a week of arguing, they sent me a new tailcap. Bright light, good mount, the little one in this thread looked impressive, but if it eats batteries, it won't fly. |
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Quoted: Well I contacted Inforce and they told me to fuck off. I asked them if it's normal and they said yes....it will drain without it screwed out. They didn't comment on the fact that my batteries were dead within the week. In the same e-mail I said if it is normal I would like a refund to return the light since it is not what I want in a weapon-light. No comment on that part. Well at least now I have a light for my .22 upper |
| I just received my WML a week ago installed it on my rifle with the brand new batteries in it. Went to the range this weekend took my rifle out of the case and tried to use the WML to check it out and suprise batteries dead. Not happy replaced it with a new battery and it worked fine. Kinda sucks to have to unscrew it every time i am done using it and then have to remember to screw it back on before using it. I guess its not a huge problem, but it really is a design flaw for a weapon light. |
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Inforce has been all the rage here, until people got this light into the field.
Sorry to hear that the problem is real, recurrent and not being addressed satisfactorily by the manufacturer. That is a horrible design, if intentional, and if not, it should have been discovered and resolved before going into production. Stick to Streamlight or Surefire, or the one I use, the EOTech/Insight WL-1-AA, which, as the title suggests, runs on two AA batteries, has a built in QD rail mount that works, and can be operated via tail cap or with a remote mounted pressure tape. |
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Anyone who has problems/ hasn't had problems should list their model number/style. Could be some correlation. I can't right check serial number (if there is one) for another week. But mine is a WML-White, non-momentary. I can confirm that I went through two batteries. With the bezel unscrewed there was no issue this past weekend. |
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I just received my WML a week ago installed it on my rifle with the brand new batteries in it. Went to the range this weekend took my rifle out of the case and tried to use the WML to check it out and suprise batteries dead. Not happy replaced it with a new battery and it worked fine. Kinda sucks to have to unscrew it every time i am done using it and then have to remember to screw it back on before using it. I guess its not a huge problem, but it really is a design flaw for a weapon light. Why? It is only a half to quarter turn, almost the same as what people do with the Surefire tail caps to prevent accidental activation. 
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Anyone who has problems/ hasn't had problems should list their model number/style. Could be some correlation. All 5 of my Inforce WMLs are the white/IR INF-WML-B-WIR model with the following serial numbers: C11130038 C11130098 C11130921 C11130984 C11131263 My problem light serial is highlighted in red. No problems with the other lights. The problem light was in the batch of 3 I purchased from Darley & Co via Amazon. The two others I purchased from eCop! on eBay. I'm not sure what serials were in what batch. |
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All 5 of my Inforce WMLs are the white/IR INF-WML-B-WIR model with the following serial numbers: C11130038 C11130098 C11130921 C11130984 C11131263 My problem light serial is highlighted in red. No problems with the other lights. The problem light was in the batch of 3 I purchased from Darley & Co via Amazon. The two others I purchased from eCop! on eBay. I'm not sure what serials were in what batch. Quoted:
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Anyone who has problems/ hasn't had problems should list their model number/style. Could be some correlation. All 5 of my Inforce WMLs are the white/IR INF-WML-B-WIR model with the following serial numbers: C11130038 C11130098 C11130921 C11130984 C11131263 My problem light serial is highlighted in red. No problems with the other lights. The problem light was in the batch of 3 I purchased from Darley & Co via Amazon. The two others I purchased from eCop! on eBay. I'm not sure what serials were in what batch. Interesting. Have you tried to contact Inforce to see what they say about the problem light? The fact that certain peoples lights don't do this leads me to believe that Inforce is having some QC issues. |
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Interesting. Have you tried to contact Inforce to see what they say about the problem light? The fact that certain peoples lights don't do this leads me to believe that Inforce is having some QC issues. No I haven't. I was going to when I first saw this thread but after seeing multiple replies with people being told by Inforce this wasn't a problem they would rectify I decided not to waste my time. |
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well this sucks. the WML was going to be my light of choice but i dont want to gamble on getting one of the "good" ones or wondering if the battery will be dead every time i check it ^this^ The response from Inforce some received is BS. I have no problem turning a cap a quarter turn if the light is going into long term storage, but any other scenario the light should be ready to go.......back to Surefire 
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well this sucks. the WML was going to be my light of choice but i dont want to gamble on getting one of the "good" ones or wondering if the battery will be dead every time i check it This. Glad i saw this thread before i bought one.Not sure if i want one now. |
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C1030185
C1030156 Both white/IR INF-WML-B-WIR. No problems at all. The problem happens from the day you put in batteries, or does it happen after having loaded with the batteries awhile? Im on original batteries, and it's Pbeen at least 9 months. Quoted:
All 5 of my Inforce WMLs are the white/IR INF-WML-B-WIR model with the following serial numbers: C11130038 C11130098 C11130921 C11130984 C11131263 My problem light serial is highlighted in red. No problems with the other lights. The problem light was in the batch of 3 I purchased from Darley & Co via Amazon. The two others I purchased from eCop! on eBay. I'm not sure what serials were in what batch. Quoted:
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Anyone who has problems/ hasn't had problems should list their model number/style. Could be some correlation. All 5 of my Inforce WMLs are the white/IR INF-WML-B-WIR model with the following serial numbers: C11130038 C11130098 C11130921 C11130984 C11131263 My problem light serial is highlighted in red. No problems with the other lights. The problem light was in the batch of 3 I purchased from Darley & Co via Amazon. The two others I purchased from eCop! on eBay. I'm not sure what serials were in what batch. |
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This. Glad i saw this thread before i bought one.Not sure if i want one now. Quoted:
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well this sucks. the WML was going to be my light of choice but i dont want to gamble on getting one of the "good" ones or wondering if the battery will be dead every time i check it This. Glad i saw this thread before i bought one.Not sure if i want one now. me too! |
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C1030185 C1030156 Both white/IR INF-WML-B-WIR. No problems at all. The problem happens from the day you put in batteries, or does it happen after having loaded with the batteries awhile? Im on original batteries, and it's Pbeen at least 9 months. All of mine except the problem light have their original batteries still. Granted, they haven't hardly seen any use. With the problem light I mounted the light on the gun and put the factory battery in, played around with it for a bit and put the gun in its case. Went to mess with it and the gun it was on less than a week later (maybe 4-5 days) and it wouldn't work. Replaced the battery thinking I might have accidentally activated the light (possibly on IR) when putting it back in the case. Pulled the gun out about a week and a half later, again dead battery. That's when I backed off the head/bezel to totally kill power before storing it again. As Inforce has said, that works fine. |
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I can't right check serial number (if there is one) for another week. But mine is a WML-White, non-momentary. I can confirm that I went through two batteries. With the bezel unscrewed there was no issue this past weekend. Quoted:
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Anyone who has problems/ hasn't had problems should list their model number/style. Could be some correlation. I can't right check serial number (if there is one) for another week. But mine is a WML-White, non-momentary. I can confirm that I went through two batteries. With the bezel unscrewed there was no issue this past weekend. No serial number on my light. |
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I have an HSP momentary on model that has been going strong on the original battery for almost 18 months. It is just starting to dim now, after getting some real use this past month.
I have had the same issue with programmable lights of other brands killing batteries if the head wasn't unscrewed while in storage. It's not unique to inforce. If you like the style and ergos either get a momentary version or task the other versions for offensive use only. |
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Did I miss the obvious? Did any one mention a bad batch of batteries perhaps? I was planning on ordering 2 in the very near future. Mine killed the factory battery and an Energizer I put in it after. Honestly, I wouldn't let it discourage you from getting them. It is a great light for a great price. I'd just be prepared to store the lights "properly" when not in use. If you need a light that is always ready though, a different one might be a better choice. I'm otherwise happy with mine. |
[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Inforce WML batteries (Page 1 of 3)
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