• You must be a Supporting Member to participate in the Candle Power Forums Marketplace.

    You can become a Supporting Member.

How many drops have your McGizmo lights sustained?

pjandyho

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 29, 2003
Messages
5,500
Location
Singapore
Some of you here would have known that I am a relative newbie when it comes to McGizmo lights. I usually do a ton of research on lights that costs a lot. Before buying my first HDS clicky, I spent an entire week reading through all the past threads related to HDS. But somehow I did not do much of a research before buying my first McGizmo. Read a thread here and there and gathered enough relevant information before I emailed Don with my order. I think I bought it because it just looked so beautiful and I was attracted by the beauty of both the Haiku and the Mule. No regrets at all for the purchase as I truly love these beauties.

Now that I have these lights, I am beginning to wonder how tough they really are. With HDS, they are all potted to ensure toughness and reliability, but not on McGizmo lights. According to Don, he left the potting out to ensure ease of replacements and interchangeability. I already knew that before I bought the lights. The question is, how tough then are these beauties? How much impact can it sustain? Is potting overhyped? I have yet to see anyone having an issue with their McGizmo lights except with reflectors shifting slightly when dropped head down.

I don't abuse my lights, not even the cheapest ones that cost almost next to nothing, but I have been getting clumsy with my fingers lately. I have dropped my lights more times in the last few months than I could have done in the last few years combined. I am not particular on the exterior surface but am curious how my Haikus and Mule would hold up to repeated drops due to the lack of potting on the electronics.

If you could share your experience and even photos of your beat up McGizmos, that would be great! Many thanks!

Andy
 

Tim W

Enlightened
Joined
Mar 27, 2006
Messages
635
Location
Leelanau Co. Michigan
I (inadvertently) threw my Ti PD-s full strength this summer. It bounced off the inside of an aluminum boat, flew ten-fifteen feet and landed THANKFULLY on the dock! No damage whatsoever. It has been dropped from various heights up to waist high numerous times with no ill effects and literally no scratches.
 

PoliceScannerMan

Flashaholic
Joined
Jul 25, 2005
Messages
9,558
Location
Gainesville,FL
I (inadvertently) threw my Ti PD-s full strength this summer. It bounced off the inside of an aluminum boat, flew ten-fifteen feet and landed THANKFULLY on the dock! No damage whatsoever. It has been dropped from various heights up to waist high numerous times with no ill effects and literally no scratches.

That must have been a huge fish that got away to throw your PD! :eek:

I have dropped my Ti PD-S a few times with no ill effects. I'm sure if you drop any light just right... :poof:
 

precisionworks

Flashaholic
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
6,623
Location
Benton Illinois
The PD-S only once or twice (too hard to replace). The Sundrop has hit the ground at least a few times. The Sapphire is attached to the keyring so it gets dropped the most but still shows little in the way of dents or dings ... although a diamond file was used one time to smooth out a nicked bezel.

Hard to beat a titanium McG if you want a low maintenance tool. My Leatherman Charge Ti is used as frequently as are the lights but requires a lot more upkeep.
 

pjandyho

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 29, 2003
Messages
5,500
Location
Singapore
I (inadvertently) threw my Ti PD-s full strength this summer. It bounced off the inside of an aluminum boat, flew ten-fifteen feet and landed THANKFULLY on the dock! No damage whatsoever. It has been dropped from various heights up to waist high numerous times with no ill effects and literally no scratches.
Lucky you Tim W. You would have sleepless nights if it went in the water I believe.
 

pjandyho

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 29, 2003
Messages
5,500
Location
Singapore
I heard from some that claimed they have dropped their McGizmo Ti lights a few times and the finishing still looks good. How is it so? I thought titanium tend to scratch easily?
 

fyrstormer

Banned
Joined
Jul 24, 2009
Messages
6,617
Location
Maryland, Near DC, USA
I heard from some that claimed they have dropped their McGizmo Ti lights a few times and the finishing still looks good. How is it so? I thought titanium tend to scratch easily?
There are many ways hardness is measured. Titanium is more flexible than steel, which is why it's useful for making springs and pocket clips. That flexibility allows it to reflect part of the impact when it is dropped on the ground. It is also very resistant to denting and gouging, which means the portion of the impact that isn't reflected still does little damage to the titanium. The only way that titanium is more vulnerable than steel is, it oxidizes instantly in air and the oxide layer is easy to scrape off. That means titanium is easy to scuff, so it has tiny scratches that are visible but far too small to feel with even a sharp instrument, but any damage larger than scuffing requires a lot of force.

I tossed my Haiku in the air about 7 feet, and it landed head-down on pavement. The dents were so small I had to use the edge of my fingernail to feel them.
 

pjandyho

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 29, 2003
Messages
5,500
Location
Singapore
There are many ways hardness is measured. Titanium is more flexible than steel, which is why it's useful for making springs and pocket clips. That flexibility allows it to reflect part of the impact when it is dropped on the ground. It is also very resistant to denting and gouging, which means the portion of the impact that isn't reflected still does little damage to the titanium. The only way that titanium is more vulnerable than steel is, it oxidizes instantly in air and the oxide layer is easy to scrape off. That means titanium is easy to scuff, so it has tiny scratches that are visible but far too small to feel with even a sharp instrument, but any damage larger than scuffing requires a lot of force.

I tossed my Haiku in the air about 7 feet, and it landed head-down on pavement. The dents were so small I had to use the edge of my fingernail to feel them.
Thanks fyrstormer,

It is nice to learn new things daily. Had not paid much attention to titanium till lately.

But back on topic, I believe the consensus is that the light engine and converter should be able to withstand impact even though it's not potted?
 

FrogmanM

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Aug 10, 2007
Messages
1,300
Location
San Diego
I've dropped/knocked my Lunasol 27 from standing height too many times to count. :sick2: The inside bits are still intact, and lights up every time I ask it to.

This one time I knocked it off a counter onto a tile flooring, the C ring fell off.:eek:oo: Luckily, all that was needed was a round trip to Maui!

-Mayo
 

carrot

Flashaholic
Joined
Dec 6, 2005
Messages
9,236
Location
New York City
I have dropped my McGizmo lights uhhh, a few times. A week after getting it, it bounced and skidded across asphalt... I have also fallen on it (MTB, road cycle, and climbing) and pretty much used it in every weather imaginable.

(click the images for the full-sized version)






 

pjandyho

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 29, 2003
Messages
5,500
Location
Singapore
Thanks FrogmanF and Carrot for the valuable info. Looks like potting in flashlights are just overhyped. Unless I am going to get my lights blasted, I doubt I will ever need potting on any of my lights.

FrogmanF, I am not too sure what the C ring is for. It does not affect the performance of the light I believe?

Carrot, that really are some "warrior scars" you got there. Somehow it just looks good on a titanium body. Don't think I could feel the same if it happens on a HA aluminum host.
 

fyrstormer

Banned
Joined
Jul 24, 2009
Messages
6,617
Location
Maryland, Near DC, USA
The C-ring FrogmanF refers to is an electrical contact used on the older PD-style lights. It isn't present on any of the new designs, which use a self-contained switch instead of a metal piston that presses against contacts on the back of the head.

A typical drop onto a hard surface involves deceleration forces measuring hundreds of times the force of gravity, so yes, potting can help in extreme cases. However, a circuit board a centimeter across and a millimeter thick doesn't weigh very much, so even amplifying its weight by 100x for a split second is unlikely to do any damage. If it does get damaged, however (such as if a wire breaks loose from the driver), suddenly the potting becomes a big problem because it prevents anyone from being able to access the driver board to perform repairs. It's one of those cases where making it hard to break makes it impossible to fix.
 

pjandyho

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 29, 2003
Messages
5,500
Location
Singapore
Thanks for the scientific explanation. I am puzzled by your point about making it impossible to fix when one made it hard to break. Isn't it not supposed to break when it's potted?
 

fyrstormer

Banned
Joined
Jul 24, 2009
Messages
6,617
Location
Maryland, Near DC, USA
Everything can break. There is no way to make something infinitely durable. Suppose there is a defective component on the driver board and it burns out, or the LED gets damaged when you remove it to clean dust off it? It is better for these parts to be accessible so they can be repaired, because that way the light engine doesn't have to be thrown away and replaced entirely.

Also, it is easier to modify the light engine if it isn't potted. Some people have installed more powerful driver boards, or different LEDs, without needing to build entirely new light engines. If the light engines were potted, this would be impossible.
 
Last edited:

McGizmo

Flashaholic
Joined
May 1, 2002
Messages
17,290
Location
Maui
I have dropped a number of lights with no functional damage. Years ago at a CPF get together, PK had a Beast prototype that some of us started throwing up in the air and letting land on the street. Ultimately after a very impressive heave straight up by KC, Greta's other half, the Beast suffered a broken window and stopped lighting. It turned out that the batteries had failed and a new set of batteries brought light back to the beast. I was impressed with the significant abuse this light put up with and added some toss tests to my lights. At the time I was building in aluminum and I was able to break a couple with failure at the O-ring groove on the battery tube (one of the reasons I am not interested in compromising this section with an attempt at boring the tube for larger diameter cells). When I switched over to Ti I subjected a couple of my personal lights to some good throws on the pavement but aside from some very decent and permanent cosmetic scars on the heads and tails, the lights continued to function. I had moved away from potting and did have some concerns in that regard. I don't doubt that a good fall couldn't cause some component to break free from the converter board but I think this would be exceptional.

On the other hand, when we were building the original McLux series there were a couple light failures with potted heads and the best guess (it was a guess) was that possibly the expansion and contraction of the potting epoxy might have compromised a component or trace on the converter or LED. I think potting adds protection for the most part and some of this protection is against flooding or exposure to the elements as opposed to shock protection. A sealed unit is a sealed unit though and any internal failure will definitely remain a mystery. If a capacitor were to fly off a converter as a result of a good impact and deceleration at least I would know what went wrong and perhaps might even be able to salvage the converter.

It's been my experience that the merits of dis-assembly outweigh those of potting at least in the designs I am presently working with. Converters can and do fail on occasion and if they do, it's nice to limit replacement to just the converter. :shrug:
 

pjandyho

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 29, 2003
Messages
5,500
Location
Singapore
Thanks fyrstormer and Don for the helpful explanation. It is beginning to make a lot of sense to me now. Now I really wonder how many years my Haiku and Mule could survive.

Oh yes Don, since we are at it, I hadn't really asked about the warranty for your lights. Are they covered for life for as long as you live? Or is the warranty coverage for only a year? Hadn't thought about it. Not that I would abuse a light but just thought it would be nice to know.
 
Top