SF G2L - outdoor abuse (durability and waterproofness)

[Esthan]

First, I'd sincerely like to thank Mr. Bohdan from BJ System for giving me
the SF G2L for test purposes and allowing me to abuse it a bit.

Here we go then.
Before the tests SureFire G2L presented itself as follows:

Test I: Durability of external parts.

IMHO most of the currently available flashlight will survive a simple throw test,
and such test will not tell one much about the flashlight. That is why I've
decided to take a different approach and tried to do something resistance
test alike, that is:

1. With a 2m paracord I've tied the G2L to my rucksack
2. I've taken a 1,5km (ca 1mile) walk while dragging a turned off G2L on the ground.

Test set looked like that:

Also I have taken a movie of how the test looked like, it can be seen here.

And so I went on with the G2L behind my back. We started with:

Test 1.A 200m walk on stones

Flashlight after the test:

As You see on the pics, paracord has been tied directly under the head, that
is why the head is most damaged. If You look more closely, You'll see that the
head is damaged partially because the knot did not allow the flashlight to turn.

Results:
- Flashlight works
- Switch works

I turned left and started a new test:

Test 1.B 200m pavement.

Flashlight after the test:

Results:
- Flashlight works
- Switch works

As before, paracord has been tied to the flashlight beneath the head, so head
took most of the damage. After recognizing that the head got so damaged
that the ring that mounts the lens was endangered i decided to tie the paracord
in the center of gravity and move on to the hardest part.

Test 1.C 1000m walk on small stones

Flashlight after the test:

During the test I've tried to rotate the tie (90 degree) each 250m so that G2L
gets equally damaged on each side. I've been afraid of this test, but as You
see G2L held.

Results:
- Flashlight works (can be seen on the third picture)
- Switch works

Some pics after all 3 durability tests have been done.

Summary
- flashlight works - this means that all internal parts have good connections.
- switch works flawlessly
- no part was loosened or unscrewed
- no major damages

One hell of a tough flashlight.

Test II: Waterproofness

Puting a new G2L in a bucket filled with water seemed too easy for me so
I've taken a new approach.

First I've done the durability test, mostly to age it a bit and to make it dirty,
just as a "good old flashlight" usually looks like. After doing so the flashlight
was ready for some waterproofness tests.

Since I planned to make the test on a small lake, I've been forced to think a
little in order to make the flashlight move in the water instead of resting on
the bottom. I came up with a following solution:

Parts:
1. SureFire G2L (turned on during the test)
2. PET bottle (buoy)
3. 1m paracord (tied G2L to the buoy)
4. 10m paracord (tied G2L to the "fishing rod")
5. wooden stick used as a fishing rod (pic below)

Why such a configuration ? Since it was windy, there were waves, and buoy
usually swings on the waves. If there was a G2L tied to a buoy it would move
underwater - hence the test will not be static. There was one con.: I had to
throw the whole set to the lake once every 10 minutes or so (it landed on
shore). Below some pics of the test:

Closeup showing that G2L is underwater:

After 1 hour and 15 minutes I've ended the test and took G2L from water. It
looked like that:

Results:
1. Some water made it inside (ca 0,7 do 1qcm)
2. Flashlight had a constant startup - the more You screwed the cap the more light You got form the LED.
3. Although there was water inside the flashlight worked
4. The LED continued to produce light even after being fully covered with water.
5. Water came through the ring that holds the lens (ring was damaged during test I)

After some quick drying flashlight worked good.

2 hours later, after coming home the flashlight works, but output has been
drastically decreased. Although I've dried the G2L before, it had some water
inside - that is why it is drying right now - Once dried I'll try to turn it on.

A pic of the dismounted G2L after the waterproofness test:

Summary of Test II
I admit being slightly disappointed with the water making it way inside. But,
since G2L survived the 1,5km durability test i can excuse it. Although during
more than 1h of water test, G2L has been thrown at least 10 times from 4m
height into water, has scratched the bottom of the lake, was subjected to
oscillations of the buoy it continued to work properly.

Conclusion

​

It is a tough flashlight !​

 

[cobra-ak]

Awesome, good work on that thread!

 

[Saiga]

good stuff, i don't mean to second guess you here,just a little constructive criticism. i'm thinking it might have been better to do a water-proof test FIRST,before damging the light, then do your drag-test, and THEN another water-proof test. it's unlikely i'll ever subject my G2L to this much physical abuse, but immersion is much more likely. after your testing, though, i really don't have an idea of how water proof my light really is.

 

[KeyGrip]

The did water get into the battery compartment? If so, the batteries may have been damaged, causing adverse performance. I like the test set ups, very real world stuff going on here.

 

[Esthan]

Water did get into the battery compartment and the batteries got wet.

After drying all of the parts and putting those together G2L was not
working properly or not working at all After some trial and error I
managed to repair it.

Tailswitch is the key. It seems that the material it's made of reacts
with water and after some time it stops conducting. Pipe cleaners
+nyogel plus a lot of screwing and unscrewing did the job (still it
costed me ca. an hour to bring it back to normal).

 

[Saiga]

so how do you expect it to hold up if exposed to steady rain, but no actual immersion?

 

[blinder switch]

That was a real test. I am sure that is more than most flashlights would endure in a short time. That was sort of like years of abuse bundled into a very short time frame. Good test and post.

I'm glad I have a G3 and G2, I knew they were tough.

 

[Saiga]

how difficult a question is this ? how waterproof is this light BEFORE it's been dragged through a baja race ? WTF !!

 

[greenLED]

I love this type of testing!!!
No white wall, armchair flashaholic stuff. :twothumbs

how waterproof is this light BEFORE it's been dragged through a baja race?

Yup, that'd be an interesting test to do. Esthan clearly mentioned the bezel ring broke during test 1, so it's no surprise the light leaked after that.

Hey, Esthan, you should run over it with a car, like I did with this light.


I love how the little "dimples" on the head are almost been flattened by all the friction against the rocks, etc.

 

[Supernam]

Sorry folks, I'm not impressed at all with this light's performance. What did we expect from the dragging test? A light is only going to fail if the circuit is broken. There is no reason why impacts should make an LED light fail. On the other hand, I am very disappointed with the leak. A simple flashlight like the G2 is simply a few sections of a tube screwed together with O-rings squeezed between the junctions. There shouldn't be leaks! The O-rings aren't exposed to damage even during the drag test.

 

[mossyoak]

Sorry folks, I'm not impressed at all with this light's performance. What did we expect from the dragging test? A light is only going to fail if the circuit is broken. There is no reason why impacts should make an LED light fail. On the other hand, I am very disappointed with the leak. A simple flashlight like the G2 is simply a few sections of a tube screwed together with O-rings squeezed between the junctions. There shouldn't be leaks! The O-rings aren't exposed to damage even during the drag test.

nice to see the expert has chimed in.

 

[greenLED]

mossy!

From the OP:

5. Water came through the ring that holds the lens (ring was damaged during test I)

IMO, this is actually quite the discovery in terms of durability of the G2.

 

[lightemup]

Great test

 

[KeeperSD]

Great test, would love to see them done with a bunch of lights, personally i couldn't do it to a light i bought but inetersting none the less

 

[270winchester]

:laughing::wave:

nice to see the expert has chimed in.

 

[lightemup]

If you get the lens ring repaired, I'd be really interested in a second dunking

Imagine if a fisherman came along while you were reeling in your g2l. "I don't think you're gonna catch much with that bait " Well you'd probably be quite likely to catch a cpfer if he were swimming by at the time

Probably make good cpfer bait though

A quick question: Did you have the g2l tailcap locked out for the drag and dunk test? Just curious...

 

[bigfoot]

Great tests and great pictures!!

 

[Esthan]

To answer some questions:

1. Orings will not help much if the surrounding parts are loose. That is why the I've made the drag aproach.

2. Testing the durability of the body and other external parts (like the switch - for the rubber was also exposed to damage) was one thing, testing the resistance to shock/vibrations of internal parts was also a part of it (though a minor one). Since G2's switch is a simple one it was not affected by it, but switches like the one found in Ultrafire C2 could have a problem surviving such a test (small springs, levers, delicate housing etc inside).

3. During the drag test the switch has been locked out.

4. During dive test the switch has been set to constant on

5. After cleaning and drying everything up I've tested the parts with a simple "blow" test that is:
I've put a part in my mouth ad tried to breathe to check which part was not hermetic. This gave funny results:
- switch was tight from both sides (inspiration and expiration)
- body was thight from both sides as well
- head (lens pointing towards outside dimples side pointed to lungs)
inhalation - no leak
expiration - leak
Now is the question how did the water came in.

I think that during the drag test the lens ring got a bit loose (see the damage of the body around the ring). There are 3 springs inside G2L:
- one on the bottom connecting the switch to the battery
- two on the LED module (one for plus and one for minus))
those 3 springs constantly push the LED module (and rings, and the lens) outside. Hence water has found an entrance (constant pushing as by expiration without a rise of internal air pressure that would keep water out).

6. I'll have to remind some of You, that although the flashlight leaked:
a. It managed to work 1 1/4 of an hour under the water undisturbed (no easy feat)
b. The led module was unaffected by water (I submersed it completly)
c. Batteries were not damaged
d. After drying and cleaning it continues to work as before - with the same batts !

Highly complexed flashlights with unprotected electronics, complex switches, unprotected LED etc
might have suffered from:
- shortcuts
- rust (rusted low quality springy parts could get broken after some time if not cleaned properly)
and as a result became unoperative/useless. G2LED works after those test, and can be rightfully tagged
as a Tough Flashlight.

P.S.
SureFire states that Nitrolon is not conductive - I'm about to test that.
GreenLED - one "run it over with a car" type test will be done as well. But normal tests (runtime graph/throw/output) will have to be done first.
(I fear that G2 might not survive what I have in mind :])

 

[JKL]

Very practical , great test Esthan ! :twothumbs

 

[Valolammas]

I wouldn't want to subject any of my lights to that dragging test of yours, therefore I think it's a great test! Good job!

Hmmm, on second thought, I think I do want to try dragging an incan Maglite on the ground for a kilometer or two. Got to find someplace to do it where no-one will see, or I'll probably end up with some memorable comments... Oh, and guess I'd have to buy a new Mag, all of mine are already pretty beat up.