Surefire G2 not waterproof?

I decided to take a swim in the 110+ degree heat here in Phoenix today, and brought my brand new G2 Tan with me for fun. It never went deeper than six feet, and I never turned it on or off in the water. Its totally stock except I put a P60L in it. After about 5 minutes it started fading in and out, so I took it out of the pool and disassembled it. I didnt really see any water it it, but it would flicker whenever I rotated the tailcap. The threads seems to have enough lube from surefire, so I'm not sure what happened. Anyone else have this problem? I thought all surefires weresupposed to be waterproof to 30ft.

Only the 6PN is advertised as such, and even then, its not made to be twisted on/off submersed. FWIW I dropped my 6P in about 3 feet of water for 10 minutes and it survived.

They're all supossed to be water resistant to 30 feet. I notice that Surefire's lube is a little bit runny here in the valley though. I'd use a heavier silicone grease, available at Ace, Lowes, and Home Depot. It's far more heavy and doesn't run out of the threads at 115 degrees or worse yet, car interior temperatures.

SureFires are not rated waterproof [to 30 feet, or any depth] as standard.

The G2 is perhaps the least watertight model and I doubt SureFire would entertain testing it and rating it rather than another, all metal model due to how easily the TailCap rotates. We are unlikely to see a "G2N" rated waterproof version then.
In my opinion this is a perfect example for a fatter o-ring to achieve a tighter seal.

Good news is that SureFire considered this eventuality and the G2 and P60L are designed to be able to be carefully and slowly dried and both should function well again afterwards.
By slowly I mean the product disassembled in a warm, dry location for several days.

Size15's said:

SureFires are not rated waterproof [to 30 feet, or any depth] as standard.

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:thinking:

UPDATE: Surefire has affirmed that all current Surefire lights should be waterproof to about 33 feet/10 meters. Some reviews were posted before Surefire made the affirmation that their lights were watertight to 1 atmosphere depth. Any new Surefire lights you purchase now should be considered waterproof to 33 feet/10 meters.

source: http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/surefire_g2.htm

IPX8 means it should survive underwater, at least past 1m

and something like the above at flashlight reviews would not be written lightly

Crenshaw

I guess I was passing on hearsay from somewhere without realizing it. I wish I could find the thread that was discussing the water resistance of Surefire lights....:thinking:

Crenshaw said:

:thinking:

UPDATE: Surefire has affirmed that all current Surefire lights should be waterproof to about 33 feet/10 meters. Some reviews were posted before Surefire made the affirmation that their lights were watertight to 1 atmosphere depth. Any new Surefire lights you purchase now should be considered waterproof to 33 feet/10 meters.

source: http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/surefire_g2.htm

IPX8 means it should survive underwater, at least past 1m, and something like that at flashlight reviews would note be written lightly

Crenshaw

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You guys know I'm a SureFire fan right?
Waterproof ratings are complicated and they do not use the term lightly. SureFire's product range is complicated and diverse. The Nitrolon models are a bread apart in my view.
I can't see SureFire confirming that statement. It was made some time ago I believe.
Nor can I see them confirming that they consider the G2 specifically waterproof to 10 metres.

I'm almost certain that it's a fluke when a G2 does not leak, not the other way around as I consider to be the case with the aluminium models.

Thanks Crenshaw. That sounds familiar but I'm wondering who affirmed that info. I can't find it at Surefire.



Al, doesn't the "N" designation on some of Surefire's lights indicate Navy and therefore have been rated to a predetermined depth?

Size15's said:

You guys know I'm a SureFire fan right?

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No.....really? :nana:

Not questioning your knowledge Al, no question that it far exceeds mine, indeed, probably exceeds just about anyone else's surefire knowledge here.:thumbsup:

but it does beg to question, what is flashlight reviews talking about then?:shrug:


Patriot36, indeed, the surefire site says nothing about waterproofness. Only "weather proof" vague much?

Crenshaw

In any case, I don't think the OP's light should have leaked at 6 feet or less, unless he was mad dogging the tail cap back and forth tens of times. Maybe the o-ring was a little bit flat from sitting in the package or maybe the it just needs a heavier lube or an oversized o-ring if he plans on doing more swimming with it. My personal opinion is that the leak was a fluke but now I'm really curious and want to test mine, with and without preparation.

double post

There was a post here recently regarding under water testing of lights. One was the 6P and the tester called Surefire to ask if its rated for under water and the answer is that they're not.

Crenshaw said:

:thinking:

UPDATE: Surefire has affirmed that all current Surefire lights should be waterproof to about 33 feet/10 meters. Some reviews were posted before Surefire made the affirmation that their lights were watertight to 1 atmosphere depth. Any new Surefire lights you purchase now should be considered waterproof to 33 feet/10 meters.

source: http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/surefire_g2.htm

IPX8 means it should survive underwater, at least past 1m

and something like the above at flashlight reviews would not be written lightly

Crenshaw

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Crenshaw you might wanna check your infos first before posting? Have you called Surefire? I did and I got the same response as this post #28

climberkid said:

with the 6P, im on the phone with surefire right this second and they said that the 6p isnt even rated for any water pressure. he said it can take some rain on it but shouldnt be taken under water.... oops! (ordering some new o-rings for it, just in case)

UPDATE: 6P with R2 is messing up. need to use some de-ox.

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If 6P is not rated for underwater I highy doubt that G2 would be rated.

A 5/8" O-ring can be used to take up the gap between the body and tailcap of a G2. But you have to use a thicker O-ring. One that's designed for plumbing fixtures.

Will it make the G2 waterproof?.... Not likely. But it could help a bit.

thanks for all the answers here! i didnt turn it on or off in the water, i twisted the tailcap on, then submerged it, then turned it off out of the water and after blowing all the drops off of the tailcap area. so theres no chance it was from misuse underwater. I would think 6 feet would be ok, and thats pushing it. Now that I think of it, it couldnt have been more that 4-5 feet which is very little pressure. I have some of the heavy silicone lube, I'll try that and retest. Its sitting dissembled right now to dry. Like I said, it still worked, but was flickering and fading in out out very strangely. I can see the factory lube on the threads, so I know its there, and both o-rings are nice and round.

Patriot36 said:

Al, doesn't the "N" designation on some of Surefire's lights indicate Navy and therefore have been rated to a predetermined depth?

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Each individual "N-Certified" SureFire has been individually prepared and tested sufficiently to be 'granted' a waterproof certification to Navy specifications (30 metres). This is covered by a good many CPF threads.

With the exception of the rechargeable flashlights, and the Nitrolon models I believe that SureFires can be considered capable of being tested and rated waterproof. I'm not sure how deep SureFire would be comfortable rating the E-Series and 'modern' models such as the L2/A2/K2 etc, even if they were willing to try (which I doubt they are) but the point is that the majority of SureFires are designed, manufactured and assembled with the aim of being capable of submerging without ingress of water.

In Crenshaw's defense I thought all Surefire lights were waterproof to 30 feet because of Quickbeam's review myself. I usually accepted anything Doug said as factual, as I am sure it is 99.9% of the time.

I also remember reading in another thread that a Fenix T series light leaked water when turned on and off at the bottom of a pool.

I would have not expected either a Fenix T series or any Surefire light to be able to take on water in shallow water. Thanks to these threads, I realize that my beliefs were not correct.

There are a couple of cool dive rated 123a lights at Scubatoys.com. I am on my phone so I can't post a link, but the site is worth checking out.

So, I guess what I have learned is that if I go swimming with a light, it needs to be made to go swimming.

Here is a link to Scubatoys: http://www.scubatoys.com/store/Scuba_Lights.asp?PAGE=3 Of course, Brightguy, Batteryjunction and others also have dive lights. I have the AE W30 from Batteryjunction and am really happy with it. I just thought I would link this page because there are lights outside of the normal Pelican, UK etc. that we normally talk about in waterproof lights.

I'd definitely say that a Surefire is splash-proof, and can endure the occasional dunk, but I agree that if you PLAN on having it underwater for any period of time, it needs to be a "dive" light - a Uke or Pelican or other light specifically designed to be waterPROOF.

Surefire states "weatherproof" so I would expect to be able to use any of my Surefires in a torrential downpour without fear of water getting inside. (this is only my assumption, nobody knows exactly what they mean) But in my own personal use, the heaviest rain i've ever been out in, no ingress whatsoever on my L1.

with rain i have not had a problem. when i talked to the guy from surefire he said they cant support water pressure. he said that rain would not hurt it, but being under water with pressure could be a mistake.

Crenshaw said:

but it does beg to question, what is flashlight reviews talking about then?:shrug:
Crenshaw

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Maybe they got their information from a 3rd party, rather than Surefire, just like you did. :nana: