Is the Glo-toob a royal PITA to use?

I'm not sure if it's just my unit or they're generally like that, but my glo-toob kinda falls below my expectations.

It looks kinda 'used' for one thing, with some kind of stains inside that look similar to fogging from the inside.

The switching mechanism is a pain to use, because my toob turns on and off several times while the switch is being twisted. As in, it's not a "clean" connection.

Ok, so for example it is fully off (fully locked anti-clockwise). I turn it some and it turns on. But this is not the full-locked clockwise position yet so I turn some more. It switches off again, then upon more turning, on again, off again and finally at the extreme clockwise position, its on.

This makes accessing the mode-change very inconvenient. After waiting for 5 secs (which is a PITA to catch), I twist my switch anti-clockwise to turn it off. But as above, the switch sometimes turns off-on-off just by that one twist. So the mode selection is hard to do and I'll need to go one whole big round again to find the mode I want if I missed it.

Another thing, I don't see any O-rings on the toob, and I took it for a dunk to try out its 'dive-rated' capabilities. There was water in-between the topcap and body and it looked almost like it was finding its way past the screw threads and into the batt compartment.

I think if I went to their advertised depths, my toob would be buried in water. Aargh, I really like this light but it seems crap to use. (My unit at least)

Someone tell me that the next toob I buy (if ever) won't be like that

The switches on my glo-toobs do not malfunction like that...

JM-99

I've not seen any problem like that and if you have water in yours it is defective.

Hmm maybe I'll have to file the contact part inside a little so that it will only turn on when its close to fully twisted.

I still don't see how this thing is dive-rated when there doesn't seem to be enough protection for the battery compartmentt. It's technically just a metal cap screwed onto a plastic body. (no o-rings right? unless mine are missing, then it's definitely a malfunctioning unit).

I'm curious to hear responses on this. I've been interested in the FX model, but how can it be water-tight without any o-rings?

Dan

If you don't like it send it my way. I'd like to play with one. lol.

Only cos its got 'glow' in its description Isaac

IsaacHayes said:

If you don't like it send it my way. I'd like to play with one. lol.

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Sure.... I'm open to trades...
Will trade my glo-toob for 25 pcs of 1 buck notes LOL

But seriously, how is this thing dive-rated with no o-rings or are mine missing?? Someone tell me....

bruner said:

I'm curious to hear responses on this. I've been interested in the FX model, but how can it be water-tight without any o-rings?

Dan

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Mine has an O-ring. It may not be obviouse as it is partially seated in the cap, but it's there.

Mike Painter said:

Mine has an O-ring. It may not be obviouse as it is partially seated in the cap, but it's there.

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Ok, I'm dumb :nana:

Didn't notice it and was looking for an obvious o-ring on the screw threads. But water does still seep in the tiny micro-gap between the screwed on head and body, and when you unscrew the head, a drops worth of water might make its way into the battery compartment (which isn't too bad because it's switched off).

The defective switch is still a PITA. Will need to try the filing as soon as I get home. Hope I don't end up spoiling it

I just got one a couple of months ago and love playing with it. Apart from the o ring you see on the cap, there's also another o ring inside the inner screw (the part where you twist to turn the toob on and off) The only problem I've found with mine is that there appears to be a really thin gap between the resin slug and the inner aluminium tube. I don't really know how to explain this but it's like having a drop of water sandwiched in between 2 pieces of glass. If you press the glass then the water will spread....I don't know if it's air or water but it's annoying the friggin crap out of me.

I (touch wood) haven't had the problems you guys are having. My switch did stiffen up a bit but once I'd appled some PTFE/silicon spray its behaved as expected. As for waterproof? Well it appears to be but I aint going to go diving with it 'cos I suspect that I'd drown before the Glo-toob would!

Doug

I am finding that hitting the 5 sec's on is a PITA!. Aneyone else have that problem?

KE7AYF said:

I am finding that hitting the 5 sec's on is a PITA!. Aneyone else have that problem?

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Mine seems more like 6 secs or I count way to fast. Once I slowed down no problems though.

I have 3 lithium Glo-Toobs. The packaging says to count to 5 seconds but it never worked for me. I asked fellow CPFers and all who responded said to count to 8, and sure enough, 8 seems to be the answer. 8 seconds works for my 3 Glo-Toobs. Try it and see what happens.

A.J.

I also find changing modes to be a pain. Most of the time it takes me 10 or 11 tries to get to the mode changing level. I usually start by counting to 5 and if that doesn't work I move up to 6,7 etc. I don't need to change the mode much, which is good because I really hate doing it.

No problems with water seepage in mine (but then again I haven't tested it for watertightness).

I did have some issues with finding rechargeable 123A's to fit. I ran a test on the rechargeable I did get to fit and it only lasted about 4 hours. I also ran runtime test on a primary and it lasted for about 27 hours. I emailed Glo-toob and they said they would be coming out with their own line of rechargeable batteries. If that takes as long as it took them to bring out the 123A model, I'll expect to see their own rechargeable batteries around 2010.

I am so glad I went with the single mode!
I could not forsee myself trying to twist my may through all those modes. I am not that patient.

Ditto what ajairlines said about waiting for 8 seconds - the whole 5 second wait never worked. Once I tried the 8 second wait, it's now a piece of cake changing modes on my Lithium Glo-toobs.

In fact, I usually carry at least two of them in my bag each day. My only complaint is that I have to cycle through all the modes to get to the one that I want... which is either the slow pulsing or high / low mode.

I have three fx's and I agree they are a pita to change modes on. The twist function does not always have the same point of on/off connection so like you said it can throw off the calibration sequence to change modes. I spent well over an hour just trying to get them to high. The only useful mode I've found. I really do not like my fx's much at all, they've all migrated to dog collars. haha. Also I agree about the colors and clarity of the plastic housings. I can't badmouth glo-toob, as these were the earlier models and they've come a long long way since then.

My new lithium glotoobs are night and day different. I absolutely love them. I have every color except white, and they all function and perform exactly as I would like them too. The change sequence is still a pita but its not the switch, more like its me. I think the 214 modes is a sales gimmick, I think they should have a 'lite' version that is single mode and make it a lot cheaper. I lucked out, ordered one lithium and four fx's from la police gear, they accidentally sent me all lithiums for the price of the fx's which were, at the time, on sale for something like 9 bucks each

g