Just got U2A from another CPF member... very dissappointing....*UPDATE*

[KRUPPSTAHL]

had same problems with my L4 ( terribly offcenter !! ) and U2.

both had a HUGE DUNUT....and i was pissed.....spend alnost $ 500

for 2 of the finest flashlights in the world...that were assembled and went through QC like that.

by the way....my 25 $ HomeDepot flashlight ( Husky ) has a better centered

emitter. truth is truth. for exceptional money, i should expect acceptional

quality.

good there is the SF warranty....

 

[Norm]

If the beam was being adversely impacted then I agree, the off-centre LED may be a cause and result in it being returned for repair/replacement.
However, it could be that in order to achieve the beam required with that individual bezel/reflector and that individual LED it required the LED to be mounted off-centre.

It is the case with SureFire's incandescent lamps that the bulb envelope can sometimes be canted so that the filament inside can be set at the correct point. It is the filament position and not the envelope that matter in generating the best beam.

Perhaps SureFire has designed it's LED bezel to allow for a wee bit of wiggle room necessary to achieve the desired beam?

If the beam is focused it means the LED's die is in the right place. This may mean the LED itself is off-centre or further forward or rearward in order to achieve the focused beam the reflector is designed to generate by positioning the die at the focal point of the reflector.

The same is so for incandescent models - the bulb envelope could beam tilting to one side or be further forward (with the tip of the envelope closer to the window) - this is because it is the light-generating component - the filament that is positioned in the focal point of the reflector rather than the centre of the bulb.

If the beam is fine then why the fuss?

I think Al is clutching at straws here not wanting to believe that Surefire is capable of getting it wrong occasionly.
Norm

 

[Size15's]

I think Al is clutching at straws here not wanting to believe that Surefire is capable of getting it wrong occasionly.
Norm

Of course SureFire get things wrong!
We're just holding them to different 'standards' it seems.
I get the impression that there is an expectation that because SureFires are expensive [or more expensive compared to other flashlights] then SureFires must therefore be perfect and hold up to scrutiny at the finest detail.

I have never considered this to be what SureFire is about, or why they are so expensive.
The things that need to work - work.
If they don't - give SureFire a call and they'll make good.

The things that don't matter to the practical application - the objective of needing a SureFire in the first place don't need to be perfect.
This off-centre LED thread, the tint of LED beams, the miss-matched anodising colour/hue/shades - these aren't important to the practical application. In fact I believe that if this LED looked perfectly centred the beam would be worse as a result, and that if the anodisation was perfectly colour-matched the performance of this protective growth would suffer in places as a result.

We are Flashaholics and study flashlights in far more detail and hold them to far higher standards of our own compared to those that many flashlight companies set themselves based on the needs of their customer markets.

Bottom line though - if you consider SureFire messed up with the particular flashlight you have then give SureFire a call and arrange to get it sorted out.

If it's true that SureFire ships in the order of some 4,000 lights a day then then occasionally production is going to have a hiccup. Maybe the flashlight at the centre (sic) of this thread is not the result of SureFire assembling it so it generates the best possible beam - one that fits within SureFire's beam quality standard range. I stand by my view that if the beam doing the job you need then the off-centre LED is not something to get all concerned about.

Al

 

[Norm]

I did forget one thing at the end of my post so I'll put it here

I knew it would bring you out of the woodwork

I admire the way you support Surefire and am jealous of the obvious close relationship you have with the company. It must be fun to feel close to such an organisation.

Keep up the good work Al CPF would be poorer without your help and expert advice.

P.S. I still support the OP if this were my light I'd never be able to look at it without seeing that little off centre LED back at me.
Norm

 

[Size15's]

I admire the way you support Surefire and am jealous of the obvious close relationship you have with the company. It must be fun to feel close to such an organisation.

Keep up the good work Al CPF would be poorer without your help and expert advice.

I don't feel close to SureFire - there are no obligations on either part.
I'm friends with PK and have got to know a few others at SureFire over the years.

I believe SureFire is misunderstood by most CPF members, and worse - most CPF members don't realise they are misunderstanding SureFire.
I try to give a different perspective on SureFire in the hope that it may enlighten the many often frustrating whys and wherefores surrounding SureFire. It is not always as ineffable as it seems...

 

[rolling]

And again. I agree an offcenter emitter dont have to be an issue. But when its to offcenter and gets into the way off propper assembling of the tool than it is.
They make great purpose build flashlights. Very solid construction.
I simply like to find out if mine has a "defect" in regards of the LED placing.
Isnt it right that the focus reacts to minor misplacement? And when the led is not far enough in the reflector it whould be out of focus? As everyone can experience with a maglite. Well there its a feature not a bug ^^

 

[Tempest UK]

:sick2:

Clearly I'm either very unobservant or very easy to please. Perhaps both. I don't think I would have noticed/been bothered about by of the LEDs posted in this thread.

Perhaps I should check all of my lights?

Regards,
Tempest

 

[Zdenka]

hmm... that's weird. Was the LED deliberately skewed off center? :nana:Because I have exactly the same light and the LED looks perfectly aligned in the centrer. Wel anyway, this is first time I heard of a Surefire U2A whose LED is off centered, so I'm kinda curious! :nana:

 

[Badbeams3]

And again. I agree an offcenter emitter dont have to be an issue. But when its to offcenter and gets into the way off propper assembling of the tool than it is.
They make great purpose build flashlights. Very solid construction.
I simply like to find out if mine has a "defect" in regards of the LED placing.
Isnt it right that the focus reacts to minor misplacement? And when the led is not far enough in the reflector it whould be out of focus? As everyone can experience with a maglite. Well there its a feature not a bug ^^

I have to agree with rolling.

The only way to get a jugement on the light would be to send it to Surefire so they can inspect it first hand. Perhaps you could ask them...and offer to pay for them to update the LED with something newer...an R2 perhaps. This way even if the LED is within factory spec`s you would have made it worth your while (postage).

I don`t know if Surefire can...or would be willing to do this.

Is it possible the light could have been dropped at sometime in the past? On a wood floor for example.

 

[Illum]

I think Al is clutching at straws here not wanting to believe that Surefire is capable of getting it wrong occasionly.
Norm

I think some of us [not you Norm] are clutching at anyone they can grab on the sideline to try to convince others that surefire is perfect and not allowed to make mistakes

unsuscribed...I can't afford stay here much longer...first surefire, now size15s...next thing we see might be jeering bananas because they are stocked with spots

 

[yellow]

I can understand the OP,
and I also think that their lights
a) must work but at the same time
b) must be perfect, at least at purchase
premium maker --> premium products

f.e. that possibility of "misaligining" a malproducted led to get a "better" beam:
wouldnt this mean, that these "premium quality led" - used as the pro argument for increased prices - are far away from premium?
Its not a glass envelope that can differ slightly from cooling and such, its totally manmade parts with tolerances we cant even see.
A batch of "bad" led has to get back to the maker, not lead to misalignments in a large scale production progress


that typed, I would like to see a pic directly from the front!
Because somehow the one shown seems like tilted a bit.
+ with more distance (to show how much of the phosporus is shown in the reflector. If its all filled with ...)

 

[Chrontius]

Why do i have the feeling the reactions here wouldn't have been as benevolent if it was any other flashlight maker that downgraded their production process (no chemkote on threads) and quality control?

Their new chemkote is transparent, not golden, and eliminates the use of hexavalent chromium according to unsubstantiated rumor. As that stuff is like pure liquid cancer, more power to them.

To the OP, if you're really dissatisfied with it, send the lil' ******* off to Milkyspit. A U2by2 or the six-barreled Rebel 100 are all going to simply knock your socks off (if they don't blow your face off first). Alternately, you could just have the reflector bored out a bit and a quad-core put in its place.

Or, sell it to me for the $100 you paid, and buy another on the marketplace. :devil:

 

[rolling]

Is it possible the light could have been dropped at sometime in the past? On a wood floor for example.

No, it came direct from the package.

that typed, I would like to see a pic directly from the front!
Because somehow the one shown seems like tilted a bit.
+ with more distance (to show how much of the phosporus is shown in the reflector. If its all filled with ...)

I will give it a shot in the next days. That said my McR-18S modded Arc LS shows much more of the phosphor. Dont know how interchangeable it is as a reference point that the led is in focus.

Or, sell it to me for the $100 you paid, and buy another on the marketplace. :devil:

In sum it was a bit more ^^

 

[rolling]

U2A:

McR-18S:

U2A @ more distance: