Re-Forward Clickie Mod

[nein166]

I started off here on CPF by modding my G2 to have a clickie. See Sigline Link for the history. In my early exuberance I didn't realize the differences in reverse and forward motion switches. For a while now I've been putting off this little project but seeing someone else ask the question has pushed me into forward action.



Here is a picture of the switch as I have modded it to date. The ground tab sits in a gap cut into the threads of the plastic switch case. I'm not sure this is a true reverse clickie or an incorrectly designed Forward Clickie.

Now when taken apart I have from left to right:

Switch Case

Spring

Spring Contact

Bottom Plate w/ Click Spring

Ground Contact

Metal click disk

2 parts of the ratcheting clicker

Top plate

I failed to line up the parts correctly so I PS'ed the image to show that the 2 springs rest above the click disk. The end result is to position the contacts below the click disk. To do this some of the bottom plate will be removed and spacers will be added.

The green outlined areas of the bottom plate are to be removed. The 2 contacts in this image are in their original place. In their place I will put a plastic ring and put the contacts flush to the bottom plate after removing the pedestals they rest on.

I have illustrated this in the picture above. I'm not yet sure about the (yellow)pins I've shown going thru the (periwinkle blue)spacers as the top plate pins may still work



If any one has any input feel free to speak up. I'll start dremeling into this later

And does anyone else have a clickie reverse or forward like this one?

 

[lukus]

Good luck on that. I'm interested in how it turns out.

I've got a G2 that I wanted to put a clicky into, and for the life of me can't figure out how to get the old switch out. It has the LOTC, if that makes a difference. I guess I could take a dremel to it and just destroy it, but I wanted to avoid that if possible.

 

[nein166]

Good luck on that. I'm interested in how it turns out.

I've got a G2 that I wanted to put a clicky into, and for the life of me can't figure out how to get the old switch out. It has the LOTC, if that makes a difference. I guess I could take a dremel to it and just destroy it, but I wanted to avoid that if possible.

Its not easy but grab the spring and pull it free of the metal drum then alternate pulling on oppisite sides of the drum till it comes free. Its a brute force job
You'll end up with the drum and a pin flying out. you then need to spin out the threaded plastic part. A beefy needle nose plier worked for me

 

[nein166]

Well I did it, the switch now functions as

momentary on --> Click --> On --> Click --> Off
momentary on --> Release --> Off

The trick was to remove the plastic outlined above in green
Then I drilled 2 holes in a Chinese food lid and cut squares around the holes making spacers.
When put together the contacts wiggled around so I bent the ends at an angle. When tightened into the tailcap there is no movement.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f43/nein166/IMG_0841.jpg

 

[ScarabDrowner]

sweet, that is almost exactly the same switch assembly that's in my jetbeam. I've been looking for a way to make it forward-clickie. Thanks a lot for posting your mod ^_^.

edit: unfortunately, for me, it's now a straight momentary. clicking it doesn't keep it on, yet. I'll look at it more tomorrow, see if I can't figure it out.

 

[nein166]

sweet, that is almost exactly the same switch assembly that's in my jetbeam. I've been looking for a way to make it forward-clickie. Thanks a lot for posting your mod ^_^.

edit: unfortunately, for me, it's now a straight momentary. clicking it doesn't keep it on, yet. I'll look at it more tomorrow, see if I can't figure it out.

make sure the 2 ratcheting clicker parts are set in all the way or it wont retract. Spin em around until it drops in place.
Or the disk could be hitting what ever spacers you used. On my first try I used 2 stacked spacers this gave a momentary then click then off, when it should have stayed on so there was too much travel. I settled for single spacers and bent 2mm of the end of the contacts up at 45degrees. Before screwing the switch up in the tail cap it wiggled around but once under pressure I didnt hear a thing and shaking vigorously in the off mode wont engage the circuit.

 

[dmz]

nein166, did you mod a G2 nitrolon lockout tailcap or an older non-lockout tailcap? Where did you get your clicky switch?

 

[nein166]

I got my hands on a G2 with the lockout tailswitch before SF started sealing them. Or maybe QC missed it and I got "strong lucky"

The clicky was in a 3AAA 9 led chinatown special light. I saw some on ebay back when I modded mine but didn't feel the need to buy them just for the clicky switch.

 

[dmz]

What's the best way to open up a sealed G2 lockout tailswitch? Is cutting in to it with a dremel the best way to gut it out?

 

[nein166]

What's the best way to open up a sealed G2 lockout tailswitch? Is cutting in to it with a dremel the best way to gut it out?

I haven't been able to get the lock nut out of the sealed LOTC I have.

 

[dmz]

I would like to gut out the G2 nitrolon tailcap interior switch parts and just use the shell of it. Will a hole saw drill attachment work?

Here are links to some hole saws:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=32400

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=32399

 

[nein166]

Its only strong plastic and I don't think Diamond would work well. It will probably get gunked up with melted plastic. Go for something with fine teeth like metal cutting hole saw. I don't know if a hole saw is the right tool though. I just go to my dremel for tasks like this but if you have a Drill Press it shouldn't jump around on you. I'd strongly recomend agianst doing it free hand with a drill. But thats just me and I like my fingers where they are.

 

[Lunal_Tic]

For those of you trying to take apart the G2 tailcap with LOTC components here's a mod of a G3 LOTC that I did a while back. link

It wasn't nearly as easy as the metal bodied LOTCs, the glue fuses the retaining ring and Nitrolon into a single piece practically.

-LT

 

[dmz]

I found pics of a taller G2L tailcap and a shorter G2 tailcap. Is the shorter G2 tailcap an earlier version without the lockout?

link to pics:
http://www.milspecmonkey.com/illumination/surefire-g2led-002.jpg


Trying to gut out the G2 tailcap and not destroying the inner threads is the problem I'm facing. I plan to put the G2 tailcap on a vice to hold it steady, then use a corded drill to gut it out.

What is the best kind of drill bit to use on the hard nitrolon?

 

[nein166]

What is the best kind of drill bit to use on the hard nitrolon?

Sorry I don't know. I've also used a Dremel like Lunal_Tic did in the link he posted. Glad to see the McE2S makes good contact with the body sleeve.