Polar_Hops
Enlightened
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2003
- Messages
- 296
QIII is NOT tougher. The body sheared before the tailcap would come off! NOT TOUGH! unless you mean tought to get a tailcap off when it's stuck on =\
My Surefire L4 fell out of my pocket and died
- Thread starter AR15Fan
- Start date
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Ray_of_Light
Flashlight Enthusiast
It is a common problem with reflectored LED lights that, after an impact, the LED itself moves radially, breaking the solder joints.
Most lights have the LED epoxied in place, so they are able to take a beat.
Disconnection of the LED is unlikely to happen with lights using an optics instead of the reflector, like the KL1 et al., since the optic itself constrain the LED in place.
Hope this helps
Anthony
Most lights have the LED epoxied in place, so they are able to take a beat.
Disconnection of the LED is unlikely to happen with lights using an optics instead of the reflector, like the KL1 et al., since the optic itself constrain the LED in place.
Hope this helps
Anthony
MaxaBaker
Flashlight Enthusiast
[ QUOTE ]
Polar_Hops said:
QIII is NOT tougher. The body sheared before the tailcap would come off! NOT TOUGH! unless you mean tought to get a tailcap off when it's stuck on =\
[/ QUOTE ]
I never said it was tougher. I said it felt tougher, and in my opinion it does. As for how tough it ACTUALLY is I have no idea. I'll just take your word for it. But, I just want to clear up that I never said that a QIII was tougher than a SF.
Polar_Hops said:
QIII is NOT tougher. The body sheared before the tailcap would come off! NOT TOUGH! unless you mean tought to get a tailcap off when it's stuck on =\
[/ QUOTE ]
I never said it was tougher. I said it felt tougher, and in my opinion it does. As for how tough it ACTUALLY is I have no idea. I'll just take your word for it. But, I just want to clear up that I never said that a QIII was tougher than a SF.
LightObsession
Flashlight Enthusiast
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2004
- Messages
- 1,385
[ QUOTE ]
Ray_of_Light said:
It is a common problem with reflectored LED lights that, after an impact, the LED itself moves radially, breaking the solder joints.
Most lights have the LED epoxied in place, so they are able to take a beat.
Disconnection of the LED is unlikely to happen with lights using an optics instead of the reflector, like the KL1 et al., since the optic itself constrain the LED in place.
Hope this helps
Anthony
[/ QUOTE ]
My Costco 1w 2AA has optics and it died when dropped. The star is a little loose on the aluminum slug and can be pushed a little with your finger, but the solder connections to the star are intact (wires through holes in the slug). Something appears to have come loose inside the pill which isn't readily accessible. Optics doesn't always keep the star from slipping.
Ray_of_Light said:
It is a common problem with reflectored LED lights that, after an impact, the LED itself moves radially, breaking the solder joints.
Most lights have the LED epoxied in place, so they are able to take a beat.
Disconnection of the LED is unlikely to happen with lights using an optics instead of the reflector, like the KL1 et al., since the optic itself constrain the LED in place.
Hope this helps
Anthony
[/ QUOTE ]
My Costco 1w 2AA has optics and it died when dropped. The star is a little loose on the aluminum slug and can be pushed a little with your finger, but the solder connections to the star are intact (wires through holes in the slug). Something appears to have come loose inside the pill which isn't readily accessible. Optics doesn't always keep the star from slipping.
NOt exactly SF related but... I dropped a homemade heatsink with a lux III attached and it fell about 1' to the concrete and of course had to land on the emitter and crack it. Now it only has half of plastic shell covering the die and it still works great. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
E
Emilion
Guest
SO many impact my L5 had suffered and its still working fine...
1. Dropped on floor (3-4 times)
2. MTB acciditent (3-4 times)
3. Hiking accidient : Slip down on some steep slopes (many times....)
4. Use as a hammer for woodwork (many times...)
Yes, the L5 is still functioning pretty well.
1. Dropped on floor (3-4 times)
2. MTB acciditent (3-4 times)
3. Hiking accidient : Slip down on some steep slopes (many times....)
4. Use as a hammer for woodwork (many times...)
Yes, the L5 is still functioning pretty well.
[ QUOTE ]
Emilion said:
4. Use as a hammer for woodwork (many times...)
[/ QUOTE ]
OUCH! that hurts. Please never post anything like that here. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/whoopin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/faint.gif I don't baby my L5 (to much i think) but I certainly don't use it as a hammer either. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Emilion said:
4. Use as a hammer for woodwork (many times...)
[/ QUOTE ]
OUCH! that hurts. Please never post anything like that here. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/whoopin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/faint.gif I don't baby my L5 (to much i think) but I certainly don't use it as a hammer either. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
NeonLights
Flashlight Enthusiast
This is one of the big potential problems with luxeon lights IMO. I have a lot of them, and like them, but I don't treat them as "recklessly" as my incans. For instance I accidentally dropped an Inova X03 3-4 feet onto a wood floor while working in my attic. It died and never worked again. Because of the soldering and electronics in luxeon lights they are inherently more fragile than incans. Sure an incan bulb will blow or break a filamnet most of the time before a luxeon light would break, but when that happens (hasn't happened to me yet with a Surefire incan), I replace a bulb and have a working light again. If that happens with one of my Surefure LED lights, I have to send it back in and wait a few weeks to a few months for repair or replacement. LED lights aren't the rough-use lights some people seem to think they are. They may not "break" as easily as a bulb, but when they are broken, they stay broken.
-Keith
-Keith
Hey, does anyone know of a way to check the status of a surefire repair by entering an RMA number on their website ? I searched and couldn't find an area to do this but may have simply overlooked a link. It would be great if SureFire implimented something of this nature - it might even save their support staff some grief over having to answer so many "where's my light ?" status check emails. This would also help customers get over the separation anxiety with their lights by giving them a sort of 'connection' with the ongoing repair process ( ie - status messages such as 'light received', 'waiting for parts', or 'preparing for return shipping', etc ).
CNTSTPDRMN
Newly Enlightened
The L4 I have is the best flashlight in my collection!!! And I have the U2 too!! I've dropped it several times--- no prob---
