High CRI Clicky

[KITROBASKIN]

I purchased one of those BLF-348's without the BLF logo. The clip is securely attached, maybe glued on, which is good. But the slick body resulted in me dropping it about 4 feet down onto wood. Now the switch seems to be physically stuck in off. It is useless to me now. I tried but failed to disassemble the switch housing, and the idea of returning a $7 light to those people is certainly unappealing. The tint was very good.

I have 3 ZebraLight SC62d's.

 

[Drift Monkey]

Good suggestion. She even liked the look of it but Gearbest is out of stock.

If you don't mind the BLF logo they are still available for buck more (w/gift box).

 

[Timothybil]

I purchased one of those BLF-348's without the BLF logo. The clip is securely attached, maybe glued on, which is good. But the slick body resulted in me dropping it about 4 feet down onto wood. Now the switch seems to be physically stuck in off. It is useless to me now. I tried but failed to disassemble the switch housing, and the idea of returning a $7 light to those people is certainly unappealing. The tint was very good.

One of the members on BLF opined that the switch is press fit into the tail cap. His was dropped on the end cap and wouldn't turn off. He took the tail cap off and pressed slightly on the switch and it apparently moved back enough to operate properly again. If you want to experiment try finding a small round object the diameter of the button and press lightly once it bottoms out. If he is correct, the switch will slide forward slightly and might work.
Otherwise try finding a small 1mm or 2mm magnet and put it on the neg end of the cell. That at least will let you know if the switch moved or is otherwise broken.

 

[wolfgaze]

Unfortunately, she does not want the hassle of having to click multiple times to get her mode. If she is using one of my Zebralights, she will hand it to me if she needs the mode changed.

Takes all of 0.25 seconds to get to the Medium output mode on the L11C (and it's a really nice budget light)... Is she afraid to learn how to use your flashlights because she feels overwhelmed? Just tell her to pretend it's a cell phone - I'm sure she wouldn't have any issues figuring out how to push the buttons to use a new phone's features. : )

 

[the.Mtn.Man]

Hmmmm interesting... would this and this count (just based on a quick search)?

I didn't say it never happened, only that I had never heard of it happening. And I'm talking about straight-up failure, as in the light suddenly stops working and not that it simply develops a "quirk" (whatever that means) but is still functional to one extent or another.

 

[the.Mtn.Man]

I haven't cleaned the battery contacts on the Clicky yet so that could be part of the problem. I will do that before contacting Henry.

As the saying goes, even a Rolls-Royce needs maintenance now and then.

 

[KITROBASKIN]

One of the members on BLF opined that the switch is press fit into the tail cap. His was dropped on the end cap and wouldn't turn off. He took the tail cap off and pressed slightly on the switch and it apparently moved back enough to operate properly again. If you want to experiment try finding a small round object the diameter of the button and press lightly once it bottoms out. If he is correct, the switch will slide forward slightly and might work.
Otherwise try finding a small 1mm or 2mm magnet and put it on the neg end of the cell. That at least will let you know if the switch moved or is otherwise broken.

That WORKED!

Timothybil, from the Great State of Iowa; Thank You for being a shining example of the incredible value in worldwide sharing of knowledge and experience. Thanks to CPF for the platform.

I had assumed that the switch mechanism was threaded in place like all the others I had seen. Using the blunt end of a pencil, it was a relatively simple matter of pressing on the button to get the switch back in its proper place. Wondering if now some cyanoacrylate glue should be used to more firmly retain the switch in its proper place... Guess will wait and see if it happens again.

 

[recDNA]

Takes all of 0.25 seconds to get to the Medium output mode on the L11C (and it's a really nice budget light)... Is she afraid to learn how to use your flashlights because she feels overwhelmed? Just tell her to pretend it's a cell phone - I'm sure she wouldn't have any issues figuring out how to push the buttons to use a new phone's features. : )

My wife is the same way. It's not her hobby. She doesn't need one more thing to remember. She likes click on click off period. I have no problem finding lights to accommodate her.

 

[reppans]

I didn't say it never happened, only that I had never heard of it happening. And I'm talking about straight-up failure, as in the light suddenly stops working and not that it simply develops a "quirk" (whatever that means) but is still functional to one extent or another.

And nobody was taking about total failure either. The OP and I were merely commenting on a partially operating ["quirky"] HDS that is just not trustworthy of use.

... the more electronic complexity and circuitry, the greater chance of component failure.

ie, definition of "component" - part of a larger whole.

... In actual practice, no..

But yes, I did notice your wording seemed to increased severity to total failure. So, now that you raised that bar, I guess you've now heard of that too.

My HDS 140 failed completely. It would no longer turn on at all. Henry said it was a problem with a capacitor that affected some of the lights. Sent it to him and he fixed it. Now the problem with the 140 is that sometimes it won't turn on..

 

[ven]

Defo send the HDS to henry to sort again, do not give up on quite possibly the best EDC light in the world or in the top 5 ever imo anyway..................maybe excluding certain exotic customs!

Past that and moving on, for me i would be looking at a TOOL maybe a TOOLvn and get a nice powerful light, be it Ti or copper or even alloy.................Get vinh to do the swap and drivervnx2 which will allow one mode program setting of WOW.

 

[KITROBASKIN]

Just received a query from gearbest whether I received the Supfire 348. Gotta admit, they are 'going for it'.

A major reason (besides pleasing tint and a clip) why I purchased the 348 was because unintentional activation is highly remote, like the somewhat pariah Trustfire Z-10, which is also loveable because of the tenacious clip design. What is not loveable is the necessary cycling through the blinky stuff, and some would not be pleased with the substantial weight; Though others may like the heatsink capability.

 

[Timothybil]

I had assumed that the switch mechanism was threaded in place like all the others I had seen. Using the blunt end of a pencil, it was a relatively simple matter of pressing on the button to get the switch back in its proper place. Wondering if now some cyanoacrylate glue should be used to more firmly retain the switch in its proper place... Guess will wait and see if it happens again.

I would suggest some Loctite instead. Cyanoacrylate has to be between the two surfaces in order to hold something in place. I doubt that you would get enough seepage to do anything. I was going to say that it is quite possible that the outer surface of the switch is the current path to the SS shell, but I looked at the tailcap and realized that is not correct. But, since the light is do tightly machined, anything you add to hold it in place, if it bulges anywhere at all, will keep the tailcap from screwing on completely.

 

[KITROBASKIN]

Interesting indeed. Going for a wait-and-see approach, hoping for the best because it really is a functional one-mode light, though you can use different battery types to get different light levels, so-to-speak.

I would suggest some Loctite instead. Cyanoacrylate has to be between the two surfaces in order to hold something in place. I doubt that you would get enough seepage to do anything. I was going to say that it is quite possible that the outer surface of the switch is the current path to the SS shell, but I looked at the tailcap and realized that is not correct. But, since the light is do tightly machined, anything you add to hold it in place, if it bulges anywhere at all, will keep the tailcap from screwing on completely.

 

[Lumenz]

Takes all of 0.25 seconds to get to the Medium output mode on the L11C (and it's a really nice budget light)... Is she afraid to learn how to use your flashlights because she feels overwhelmed? Just tell her to pretend it's a cell phone - I'm sure she wouldn't have any issues figuring out how to push the buttons to use a new phone's features. : )

She gets frustrated because she will click it and then click again and it turns off. Then she will click it back on, try to double-click and triple-click instead and end up in some other mode... or something of that nature. To avoid her frustration, she just hands it to me if the light has more than one mode. She hands me her android phone for anything other than looking on Pinterest or checking email (like doing updates, forwarding email, installing apps, etc.) Those just aren't the types of things she is interested in.

My wife is the same way. It's not her hobby. She doesn't need one more thing to remember. She likes click on click off period. I have no problem finding lights to accommodate her.

Exactly! I don't want to frustrate her by getting her a light she doesn't like. I want her to carry a flashlight, and the simpler, the better. She carries a Nitecore Tube on her keys and even THAT is more complicated than she wants but she only uses the single-click low mode.

 

[Drift Monkey]

Looks like the BLF-348 (w/engraving and no box) is back in stock for $5.68. Better hurry.

 

[Lumenz]

Looks like the BLF-348 (w/engraving and no box) is back in stock for $5.68. Better hurry.

They even have the full pack without engraving. Thanks for the link.

 

[Lumenz]

I don't know why I didn't think of this before, but while I am waiting for the BLF light, I set up me Zebralight SC5fd to come on at the 81 lumen high mode so that she can get to it with one click. I don't know if this is the solution but she is willing to give a try. Thank you for all of the suggestions.

 

[Drift Monkey]

They even have the full pack without engraving. Thanks for the link.

Yeah I ordered a couple last Friday but I think they are out of stock now on those.

 

[recDNA]

I don't know why I didn't think of this before, but while I am waiting for the BLF light, I set up me Zebralight SC5fd to come on at the 81 lumen high mode so that she can get to it with one click. I don't know if this is the solution but she is willing to give a try. Thank you for all of the suggestions.

I gave my wife an sc32w but she complained she never knew how bright it would be. She was going to throw it away! I explained she must have long pressed and turned on low but she is having none of it so I gave her a titanium D25A with 219b. No complaints so far but the first time strobe comes on I'll hear about it. I could program a D25C to always come on the same output (loose head) but she likes the looks and size of the D25A ti and it cannot be programmed that way.

She's really best off with single mode titanium AA clicky with Nichia A or B set to max output. Li Ion on Li Primary tend to get too hot but she likes max output (100+ lumens) Run time not an issue. Price is. I'm sure she would love an HDS 200 rotary (so would I) but too much $

 

[Lumenz]

I gave my wife an sc32w but she complained she never knew how bright it would be. She was going to throw it away! I explained she must have long pressed and turned on low but she is having none of it so I gave her a titanium D25A with 219b. No complaints so far but the first time strobe comes on I'll hear about it. I could program a D25C to always come on the same output (loose head) but she likes the looks and size of the D25A ti and it cannot be programmed that way.

Thank you for the anecdote. My girlfriend is the same way and she has given away flashlights she didn't like. :sigh:

I was looking at the D25C as well. When I read about the memory mode setting, that made me realize my Zebralight could be set to approximate that setting. If that doesn't work, I'll just get the D25C. Thanks.