OMG, I put a tiny chip into my KL4..

I've tried so hard to keep it scratch free..but it dropped outta my pocket and landed on its side..

I gave it a quick look over and noticed a tiny chip on the inside of the lens near the bezel ring

ok.......

I feel for you, I hate the thought of dinging my $150 A2, but I know it will happen someday. Until then, I'll continue to be paranoid about it.

A year or so ago I dropped my SF E2E with KL1 head on my concrete driveway and chipped the head slightly......didn't like it at all at first, but it just gives the light some character and that "used" look and it works just fine, no problem.

after 11 years of use my stinger is mostly silver and my 6z has a couple of drop dings.

to avoid the safe queen sydrome. it's better to purchase a light that is functionally perfect with a few tiny blemishes.

I've got two KL4's, both with great tints and outputs bordering on Xbin. one is mint, other has minor blemishes.

Now which light do you think gets used more?

Cy is right. I have 3 A2s. The best looking one sits in a sheath. The ugliest one gets used every day.

No no...
I CHIPPED THE GLASS on the inside surface, near the retainer ring..Weird cause theres no glass particle floating inside

The chip vaporized!! hehe.

Perhaps you can replace the lens with UCL or something else if it gets worse?

Shouldn't Surefire replace it?

I won't change it. Not that big deal..it was just unusual

Better than LOOSING it.

I Lost mine a year ago.


wwglen

I wouldn't worry about the ding. It's gonna happen. The chip however, may be a cause of a bit of concern. It is likely that the lens chipped, but the chip is still wedged between the bezel ring and the head. Just keep and eye out for it. If it starts floating around in there, it could scratch the reflector up, and the reflector can't be replaced. My only other concern would be if the watertightness has been affected. These are just things that could happen, not that they are likely to happen.

Odds are that it will be just fine if you ignore it. If you do decide to remove the bezel ring, just use heat (some have done it with a hair dryer) and a strap wrench. Just don't touch the reflector with anything. You will screw it up.

Theres no ding or anydamage to the aluminum, just a TINY TINY chip in the glass and my main concern was the LED, forgot about the reflector

Shouldn't Surefire replace it?

Click to expand...

why should they? Thats like asking a car dealership to fix your car for free of charge because you crashed it....

Exactly. I'd gladly pay to repair it

I don't know what they would charge to repair it (or how long it would take), but I'd bet that they would send you a replacement lens for nothing. They you could repair it yourself.

The way I do it is to use heat to loosen the bezel. It's best to be wearing nitril gloves when you do this, just to avoid betting finger prints on the lens. If you need to wipe the lens before installation, use a high quality micro fiber cloth. I get mine at office depot. Once you get it open, replacing the lens is pretty much self explanatory. The only other real advise I can give you is to avoid an environment wherein there is lots of lint (or other particles) floating in the air. You'd be surprised at what's floating around, until you get the light back together and turn it on, only to discover all of the crap that made its way into the light.

What I do, when I need to, is to do the actual opening of the bezel in the bathroom. I run the shower with hot water just enough to get a bit of humidity in the air. This greatly reduces the amount of crap floating around in the air. You just don't want the steam so thick that your reflector fogs up.

Will this compromise the water tightness? The piece seems to be wedged against the inner surface