Surefire Z2 combat light FAILED

I have a Surefire Z2 combat light that quit working last night, right before I was planning on taking it on a neighbor hood walk. The light is about 2 years old and I have only used it for about 2 hours total. I usually bring it as a backup light because I'm cheap when it comes to using lights that don't take rechargeables.

So I push the tailcap button to test it before we go and.... nothing. I hear a rattling sound coming from the tailcap; I disassemble it and find a nail like post that has worked itself free of the rubber tailcap. This is a pretty crappy design in my opinion. I was able to force the metal nail back into the tail cap when I got home later in the evening but I can no longer trust this light.

I own quite a few lights but this is the only Surefire. It's also the only light that has ever failed me. I usually carry a few cheaper Chinese lights and use the Surefire as a backup because Surefire has such a good reputation. Is the Z2 combat light crap or was I just unlucky? My new back up light is my Inova X5 until I can find something brighter that I can trust.

Anyone interested in a slightly unreliable Surefire?

Contact Surefire and let them know what happened. I'm sure they will take care of this for you. Don't be discouraged. They really are good lights.

Sounds like the LOTC came apart, that is very rarely reported here on CPF. Give SF a call, they will probably send you a new tailcap.

I think you were unlucky. Call SF and they´ll make it right. Then, use the light with confidence.

This shouldn't happen at all on flashlights at this price. People place their lives in the reliability of such device, it should be as near as damnit to 100% reliable. None of my MagLites (excluding Solitaire) have ever failed. Not even needed bulb replacements despite much use and abuse ( they make rather good hammers). And bearing in mind the number of Maglite sales to SureFire sales, the faults reported are massively disproportionally in favour of Mag.
.....And Mags are not the most popular of flashlights on CPF

This is what the warranty is for.

And two is one, one is none. Glad you have a backup to use in the meantime.

It sounds like he already repaired it but doesn't trust the DESIGN of a tailcap that failed with such infrequent use. Why would cchurchi want another tailcap just like the one that failed on him? Even if it was a rare occurence, I don't see how it would inspire confidence.

:thumbsup: to you, cchurchi, for TESTING your light before going out and using it.

MikeSalt said:

This shouldn't happen at all on flashlights at this price.

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Mechanical stuff fails. Period. Deal with it.

Hopefully, the higher the price, the LESS it fails, but it will still fail.

You want to see issues? Check out threads about the Fenix P1D, or the Arc AAA.

C'mon people, IT'S JUST STUFF !!

Life is alot bigger than our little hobby here.

cchurchi said:

I have a Surefire Z2 combat light that quit working last night, right before I was planning on taking it on a neighbor hood walk. The light is about 2 years old and I have only used it for about 2 hours total.

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Just curious...did you buy this light new or used? The problem may have resulted from someone's attempt at installing a clickie switch in the tailcap.

nikon said:

Just curious...did you buy this light new or used? The problem may have resulted from someone's attempt at installing a clickie switch in the tailcap.

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I also wondered the same thing. Usually when SF twisties dont work it is because someone tried messing with it...or severe abuse.But they can and do malfunction from time to time with just regular use. Much less incidents though, with a SF twistie. It's a good thing they have such a good warranty.

My Z2 has never failed me, and I've used it in all sorts of horrible conditions. Surefire will surely take care of this for you. Don't let this experience scare you away from Surefire lights. They are really very well made.

LawLight

I agree. I would bet somewhere this tailcap was messed with. I have never had a factory SF taipcap fail, and some of my lights are going on a decade or more of daily use/abuse. It is a shame that your only SF light failed, but it really is a anomoly. Most CPFers will agree that a factory SureFire is one of the most dependable lights.

zx7dave said:

I have never had a factory SF taipcap fail,

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Z58's and Z59's are nortoriously unreliable, and will break or simply not work on a 3xCR123 body; especially the M3. Those switches are apparently designed for the M2. They work great on my M4, though. :thinking:

Again, we have to remember that Surefire is made for the LEO/Military market, and as such, the products are designed for what works best for that market.

That's why the Z58 & 59 don't come as standard on anything. The SW01 and 02 are the heavy duty clickies to have!

Cribbage said:

That's why the Z58 & 59 don't come as standard on anything. The SW01 and 02 are the heavy duty clickies to have!

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The Z58 comes standard on the L5 and L6. Always has done.
(The L6 body is the same as the M3 body)

The Z59 comes standard on the 6P-Defender...

BTW, the SW01 is not a Clickie TailCap.
The SW02 has the same internals as the Z48/Z49.

Note that the current versions of the Z57/Z58/Z59 have white-coloured (rather than black-coloured) internal component(s) and I don't recall any of these having issues.

Al

Anything man-made can fail. Surefire lights aren't very likely to fail, but it's always good to have a backup. I have been using Surefire lights in law enforcement for 15 yrs, and the only failures I have ever had have been two bulb failures that could not be attributed to dropping them. Thats why I carry spare bulbs and a spare light.

I have also seen a couple of Glock pistols suffer from mechanical failures that were just flukes, and Glock are probably the most reliable handguns made. Lucky for the officers these pistols were issued to, the failures occured at the range, during training.

Althogh I don't have any real evidence to backup what others have said, I would have to guess that the tailcap in question was messed with. That tailcap is almost foolproof in the simplicity of it's design. A button press compresses two springs, allows the battery to make contact with the bulb, and you get light. What could be more simple?

I've had this happen on a surefire tailcap. Interestingly enough, it was also a Z2. Surefire offered to fix it for me, but I was able to put it back together. This was after 3 years of abuse on that particular light. It has worked fine since then.

The tailcap on these surefire's is pretty darn bullet proof and very simple in construction. Over time mine had simply worked/jarred/dropped/beaten/hammered its way loose. The nice thing is that the design is still fairly robust. And even with it broken it would still work, it just wouldn't stay together very well for battery changes if I remember right.

You should probably go buy a lottery ticket as well.

Expected wear and tear do occur. It happens in everything man made. At least its a Surefire and I am sure they shall handle the issue accordingly.

All the best...........

UVvis said:

it just wouldn't stay together very well for battery changes if I remember right.

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Which is probably why my older 6P manual stated to remove the BEZEL end when changing batteries. The later LOTC's don't "fall apart" like the original twist cap does.

Paladin

I am the original owner of the light. My problem is that I no longer trust THIS Surefire light because of the tailcap design. The only thing keeping the post in place in the rubber tail cap is some serrations carved into the post and the fact that it's a tight fit. I already had reservations using this light as a backup because of it's incandescent bulb that is more prone to burning out or breaking and the tailcap design makes this light that much more unreliable.

I don't have any experience with other Surefire lights other then handling them at Sportsman's Warehouse, but my impression of the Z2 is that it's probably at the bottom of Surefires offerings.