My 1st Surefire, bad clickie?

[Matt Sutton]

Today I received my 1st surefire, an E2L. I bought it directly from SF. I took it out of the box and played with it for a few minutes at work and it was fine, but now at home it is acting very strange. About 50% of the time it won't stay on. Then the other 50% I can get it turn off. This is extremely disappointing. I have had several bad switches on my Fenix lights before and David at Fenix store replaced them quickly. I would not expect to have a defective switch on a $129 light.
Do I send it back, or is there something I can do to fix it without voiding the warranty?
​

 

[bigfoot]

Sounds like a bad clickie switch, from what I've read on here from other posters.

I believe Surefire will just send you a new clickie switch as a replacement if you call them and tell them what happened. Especially with your light being literally brand new.

 

[KentuckyMike]

Common problem. Between the posts I've seen on that issue here, and what their customer service department said when I had the issue, I'd say very common.

Call Surefire (don't email, call...after 2 weeks of no response to my email, I called and was told they are often backlogged on emails going back weeks and that sometimes emails get lost in the shuffle), and they will take care of you.

If they have the tailcaps in stock, you'll have it in a few days via UPS. If they don't have any in stock, it could be much longer. I was told they were out of stock and to expect to receive mine in 6-8 weeks....but I got it in 5 days. Of course, I had already bought a used one here after hearing the estimated wait time. :shrug:

 

[KentuckyMike]

Do I send it back, or is there something I can do to fix it without voiding the warranty?
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Forgot to add...when you call SF, be sure to ask, but they probably won't want the TC back. If this is the case, do a search here on CPF, and you will find LOADS of old data when the problem first started appearing. One of the threads has great info that can be used to successfully fix it...then you'll have a spare!!

 

[Royicus]

I had the same problem with my clickie for my 6PD. I e-mailed them, they shipped me a new one. E-mail was rather slow, but I didn't care. I bought a regular 6P the next day. I'm not a huge fan of the clickie and I don't use it for EDC. I just don't have confidence in it.

 

[luminata]

Why doesnt SF fix these damn Z57 clickies? There is obviuosly a major weakness in the design yet they continue to produce them and the solution for them is to send out replacements like handing out gumdrops at a daycare center.
How is this cost/effective justified by a business. in the long run wouldnt it be better financially for them to fix the fault in design/quality of the part/mechanism and in the process not have customers asking "why did I dump all this money into a light with a crappy/unreliable component?"

Actually maybe it is the same mentality as the auto makers. When a fault which has caused injury/death is revealed they crunch the numbers and weigh the odds of how many will have the problem and how many customers will sue and how much the legal costs will be as compared to fixing the problem on untold huge numbers of vehicles in recalls and such.

SF seems to be a HUGE company ,maybe it's just easier and cheaper to keep pumping out those Z57s and most will probably be ok and the percentage of warranty claims and sending out new tailcaps is still cheaper than a reengineering/design/QC change?

Whatever happend to the Z52. simple and effective

 

[Beamhead]

1.) Call Surefire CS
2.) Consider getting one of these.
3.) Read this.

HTH

 

[victory]

short and to the point: surefire clickies suck. I had a buddy go through 3 of them in a month, one of them died in the first 5 minutes of use. Use the regular tactical tailcap or find a better aftermarket solution.

 

[WildChild]

Mine died in the first week. This also happened to carrot and Kiesling. The sticking Z57 problem is very common... and very easy to fix! First, call SureFire for a replacement, then open the tailcap (use pliers or scisors to unscrew the retaining ring around the rubber boot). The switch module is also easy to open. The two plastic casing parts are only held together with pressure at the largest diameter point of the switch. Use pliers to apply a slight pressure on each side of this larger diameter point (where the diameter is smaller) and the switch will open and fall apart. Take note of the order of the parts to put it back in one piece after. On mine I lubed all the moving inner plastic parts with vegetal oil so they don't stick together. Reassembled the switch and no more problem at least since 2 weeks... A replacement z57 is still supposed to come but I haven't seen it yet (I'm in Canada so it could be longer).

 

[matthewdanger]

I have 2 replacement Z57s on the way to me. The Z57s are awful. I am thankful that I have been able to purchase Z52s for all of my E Series lights that did not have them already.

I would think that there has to be a point were Surefire makes some changes in the Z57 if they want to continue offering only a clickie for the E series or they reintroduce the Z52. It can't be very cost effective for them to just keep sending out replacements. Between the cost of the Z57s, shipping costs and the man hours spent answering phone calls, emails, and shipping them, this could be getting kind of expensive for Surefire.

I wonder how many non-CPFers who may not know about the replacement policy just drop their E Series lights in the drawer and forget about them when the switch stops working...

 

[strat1080]

I also got a bad clicky with my E1L. It stopped working within an hour of use. Instead of requesting a replacement I requested an RMA and am actually sending the entire light back for a refund. If you want to send SF a message, send the whole light back for a refund. It really makes me angry after spending $100 on a light to have it stop working the same day you get it. I was planning on using this flashlight on a backpacking trip.

If it was just the TC issue that would be one thing. Surefire's specs were also wrong on the light. The light is actually 4" instead of 3.3". It weighs 2.8oz. instead of the advertised 2.2oz. They need to get their stuff together. Although I liked the flashlight and thought the beam was excellent, I just couldn't live with the specs being that off and the TC breaking the first day in my possesion. I really wish that they would offer a twisty for the Executive series lights. I don't really care if their clickies suck as long as they offer a twisty. That to me would be cheaper than re-designing the clicky, which is long overdue. I highly doubt that non-CPFers would just throw the Surefire's in the drawer after they stop working. They likely call SF and give them a piece of their mind.

 

[FlashSpyJ]

Ive had one Z57 that where a bit hard to puch, and felt like it would get stuck. I took it apart and applied some lube, after that it has been working pritty good, much smoother. I did this because I want to avoid contacting and the shipping back and forward since I dont live in the states.
Because its a bran new light, I would contact SF to replace it, you dont want to take apart a brand new $129 light the first thing you do!


Im not sure, but I think some recommended this clicky to replace the original clicky, and that it will work perfectly. Have to wait and see if someone will correct me or not..
http://www.lighthound.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=2484

 

[xr4fun]

I've had similar experience, but it is a very easy "fix". I hesitate to call it a fix as I really consider it maintanence, like lubing the o-rings. I had a new Z57 that jambed on the 2nd use. All I did was take off the tail cap and put one drop of lube on the switch and let is soak in for a minute. After that it has worked flawlessly. Now when I get a new surefire w/ Z57 I put a drop of lube on the switch before ever using it. That way I'm not dissapointed. By the way my lube of choice is FP-10.

 

[SaVaGe]

short and to the point: surefire clickies suck. I had a buddy go through 3 of them in a month, one of them died in the first 5 minutes of use. Use the regular tactical tailcap or find a better aftermarket solution.

+1 my U2 clickie SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

good customer service though...

 

[JNewell]

I would think that there has to be a point were Surefire makes some changes in the Z57 if they want to continue offering only a clickie for the E series or they reintroduce the Z52.

I have wondered the same thing. Usually Adam Smith tutors companies on issues like these. This one's a mystery.

 

[Matt Sutton]

Thank you for all of the info! I was able to disassemble the switch, lubricate the parts with some super lube, and reassemble it. It works better than new. It's kind of sad that a tiny dab of lube can make the difference between a functional light and an anodized aluminum turd.
I also called Surefire today and requested a new one. The tech support guy admitted that he himself had a defective switch in his personal light. How sad is that?

 

[StainlessSteel]

I JUST FIXED A BROKEN CLICKY!

Ok, here is my story:

I previously had a Surefire L4. The clicky failed in a year. I got a replacement from surefire.

I bought a new Surefire 6PD because I wanted to use the new Malkoff drop in, and have a brighter light. I specifically bought the 6PD because it comes with the Z59 Clicky. I also thought the C series clickies(Z48, Z49, Z58, Z59) were more reliable than the E series clickies (Z57, Z61). I was wrong.

The Z59 failed in ONE week. Today actually. I was just about to make a new thread, when I found this one.

Well, I was kinda frustrated and dissappointed. It just bothers me that Maglite can make a WHOLE FLASHLIGHT (including the clicky switch) that costs LESS than just the Surefire Clicky, and it WORKS.

So. I took some Hoppes gun oil, and put eight drops in the switch itself. Four drops in the 2 holes next to the spring.

Now the clicky works perfectly.

I will see how long it lasts.

 

[Braddah_Bill]

I prefer the Z-52s for my lights, but the Z-57s are really easy to fix and with the ones I took apart and added a little lubracation and the spacer trick have been smooth and trouble free.


Some threads of interest:

SF Z57
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=147903

Z-57 Fix
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=112476

Who does mods on Z57/Z61 tailcaps??
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=91866

L4 clickie repair instructions..
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=31187




Bill

 

[matthewdanger]

Well I got motivated last night and fixed my failed Z57s - it's a handy little switch when it works. My E series lights will cotinue to wear the Z52s from the stash I found and the repaired Z57s go to the parts bin.

 

[Braddah_Bill]

Well I got motivated last night and fixed my failed Z57s - it's a handy little switch when it works. My E series lights will cotinue to wear the Z52s from the stash I found and the repaired Z57s go to the parts bin.

You found a stash..............where dude? I need a couple of more.

I remember you pointed me in the direction of my KL4-BK some time ago and I'm thankful for that.



Bill