EDC "failures"??

[sotto]

EDC \"failures\"??

Just reading a post over in the LED forum about the importance of reliability in an EDC light and wondered what failures (if any) people had experienced in any of their EDC's.

Personally, I've had none (yet). How about you?

 

[KevinL]

Re: EDC \"failures\"??

None other than running outta juice. I solved that by carrying at least two lights, one is rechargeable (always topped off) the other one is primary cell (extreme runtime).

 

[ACMarina]

Re: EDC \"failures\"??

I've not had any big problems, other than a bad battery in my Dorcy AAA. It cleaned right up once I got the head off, though. .

 

[sotto]

Re: EDC \"failures\"??

KevinL:

Yup, it was your post that prompted my original inquiry. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/happy14.gif

But I'm curious specifically about failure of the EDC light per se, not just a dead battery issue.

 

[cy]

Re: EDC \"failures\"??

Sure... that's why I always carry ARC AAA

my primary EDC uses li-ion.

it doesn't happen very often, but if you forget to pop in a fresh one before some hard use.... your backup is there

 

[KevinL]

Re: EDC \"failures\"??

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif cool..

Sorry, forgot to mention in the post above that since both are LEDs (KL1 and U2), the LEDs are very much less likely to fail than incans. But even while Project C2-90 was my EDC (P90 on R123s) I didn't experience the problem of popped bulbs. Only the E1e had a bulb failure, and that was remedied by the KL1. If I still carried an incan, my backup light would be a LED.

 

[sotto]

Re: EDC \"failures\"??

Yup, batteries rundown, and bulbs can burnout, but what about failure of the light itself (LED or incandescent or whatever)?

Thanks. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink2.gif

 

[Kiessling]

Re: EDC \"failures\"??

One.
In a FireFly MarkI the Sandwich shorted on the retaining ring and left me with a dim direct drive. Replace the ring with an o-ring and works fine ever since (the new sammie).
bernhard

 

[sotto]

Re: EDC \"failures\"??

Oops, I have to revise my original statement above about never having an EDC "failure".

I guess I switched on an older Infinity Tasklight one time and it flickered and wouldn't come on anymore until I unscrewed the head and scraped the black stuff off the battery contact on the bottom of the head.

 

[AuroraLite]

Re: EDC \"failures\"??

I remembered my first EDC 'failure'--played with the G2Z at night(almost full brightness, no sign of weak battery), then wake up with dead batteries(SF battery) and no light.

It happened twice, once with G2Z and once with E2D...and ever since, I have switched to Panasonic and the 'problem' never reoccured.

 

[beezaur]

Re: EDC \"failures\"??

The closest things to failures I have had were drops. Two were with my own Mags (miniMag and the big rechargeable) being dropped onto a concrete floor from belt level. These were while on duty at the fire department, which was no big deal because all the rigs carried lots of lights.

Another was a Surefire that fell out of my jacket pocket onto a tile floor, on my own time.

Two were immediately out of service for bulb damage. The miniMag had a spare bulb in the tailcap.

So now I carry LEDs. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Scott

 

[Reaper]

Re: EDC \"failures\"??

None. I make it a habit of replacing my batteries on a routine basis and I don't have any lights that run on incans. Only "failure" I had was a new Infinity that didn't even light up out of the box. Warranty replacement took care of that. However, now that I said that I've never had a failure, I'll probably have them up the ying-yang. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif

 

[Hookd_On_Photons]

Re: EDC \"failures\"??

My 3 year old son dropped my Nuwai Quantum III onto a wood floor, and now it doesn't light up.

I suspect the circuit board is damaged, but I don't have a strap wrench, so I haven't opened up the bezel to inspect it yet.

It had been dropped several times previously without incident (same kid... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif ). This is somewhat of a bummer, since I started using LED flashlights because they were touted to be "shockproof". /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif

My Arc AAA has never failed me, though...

 

[jayflash]

Re: EDC \"failures\"??

Fairly regular SF 123 cell failure in the past year and a half.

 

[GarageBoy]

Re: EDC \"failures\"??

Rogue soul didnt light up in class trying to impress guys

 

[Stainless]

Re: EDC \"failures\"??

Premature battery failures due to apparent short circut in a 1W LS (Nuwai - I think.)

Premature battery failure in a Photon 3 worn around my neck - accidential activation an unknown number of hours before I noticed that my shirt was glowing. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Premature battery failure in a Q3 carried in the supplied holster - due to accidental activation apparently when I sat down somewhere.

I now wear a Photon 2, and carry the Q3 with the switch end UP!

Switch design is now a primary consideration when I shop.

 

[paulr]

Re: EDC \"failures\"??

I've had a couple of Photon II's get stuck in the "on" position. The cure is to disassemble them and straighten the LED leads, but that requires a tiny screwdriver.

I've had infinite woes with flaky switches on cheap incandescent lights. The search for better and better flashlights to eliminate that flakiness and flickering is what led to my being a flashaholic. That's why I got so mad when my first real flashaholic light, an Arc LS, showed the same flakiness with its Kroll switch. I'd gotten into fancy flashlights to get away from that!

 

[chiphead]

Re: EDC \"failures\"??

Had my QIII battery die (moon mode) as I was walking a young lady through a dark apartment complex. Thank goodness I carried a spare CR123 in the pocket.

chiphead

 

[rwolff]

Re: EDC \"failures\"??

Dorcy AAA has a nasty tendency to turn itself "on" in my pocket due to key ring pushing on the button. Unfortunately, Mag solitaire is incandescent (low runtime), Arc AAA is out of production, and Peak Matterhorn is not available locally.

 

[chmsam]

Re: EDC \"failures\"??

I had a minimag that I used ni-cads with that blew bulbs very frequently (this was many years ago, before I knew better, and that the lower voltage might cause the bulbs to fail).

I also had a keychain light (PrincetonTec? Can't remember) that ate batteries (2x 2016), due to the pressure switch and being carried in a jacket pocket. That got expensive.

So, the failures were really mine and not that of the lights.

Now I carry an E1e with a KL1 in a Swiss Army Knife sheath (fits great), a 5w, 3x123, LED with a three step tail switch in a tool pouch on my belt, and a few keychain lights that have on-off slide switches. No battery eaters, no problems with switches, and no problems with dropping them or having them get too cold and quitting (I like lithiums).

Also, I've got a 3w, 2x123, LED with a three step tail switch (and some bicycle handlebar padding for insulation and grip --stays comfy in the hand and is harder to drop) that goes in the jacket pocket.

Each of the lights gets cleaned regularly, and the non-keychain lights get sprayed with contact cleaner (batteries, too, after they get tested), and have the o-rings lubed. I think this qualifies as "failure is not an option."