10X DOMINATOR field reliability report

June 27, 2005 I bought my Dominator on Ebay from West Marine. With shipping it came to $261, a great deal. I'm a boiler inspector, so you can never have light enough. I have my trusty Mag charger for 20 years with no issues other than a few lenses , several bulbs and a wornout tailcap, which waranted a replacement body from Maglite. This was the only time I had to send this light in for repair.

The Dominator is an awesome light, huge output. But it has proven much more fragile than expected.

7/18/05 Bulbs fail after 3 feet drop on its tail.
Repair: Surefire replaces bulbs, get extra B32

10/3/05 Second drop, slipped out of my hand and fell about 3 feet landing on the edge of the reflector.
Damage: Broken glass lens, dented reflector, broken main bulb.
Repair: New reflector, bulb, glass.
Cost: $9 shipping.

10/10/05 Main bulb fails , no shock or anything.
Repair: Shurefire sends new bulb.

10/24/05 Light does not charge anymore.
Repair: Repaired wires in battery module.
Cost: $9 shipping

11/21/05 Bulbs fail, both shortly after each other.
Repair: Surefire sends two bulbs.

2/7/06 Light does not charge.
Damage: failed battery module
Repair: Surefire replaces battery.
Cost: $9 shipping.

7/20/06 Light does not charge.
Repair: Resoldered battery contact.
Cost: $9

I have to say that Surefire stood behind its service every time, hats off.
I have my 10X mounted in the car so it can charge as I'm driving.
Sofar it has been behaving and I'm enjoying its huge output and getting admiring comments. However, for it being a tactical light, I cannot help thinking it is not upto its task. I would not pay $450 for it. It has a fairly easy life with me. I can just immagine the rough life it could have in the armed service or police force.
I guess I have a love-hate relationship with it. It is in daily use and as long it works, I love it. My Mag charger stays mounted next to my 10X and I carry a Strion as immediate backup.

I guess the 10X is like a gorgious woman: wonderful companion, she lights up your life, frustrating at times, you get many admiring comments, expensive to aquire and to own, not to reliable, high maintenance, but you put up with it because she rewards you with so much excitement.

Now, if I could find a good looking woman that came with the same great warranty, I would be all set.....

Good report Starfish. Glad to hear SF has stood behind the 10X. Although the $9 a
pop shipping is adding up fast!

seery said:

Good report Starfish. Glad to hear SF has stood behind the 10X. Although the $9 a
pop shipping is adding up fast!

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Ehe, it is StarFLASH, please. This is not the fishing forum. Thanks for the comment though.

here fishy fishy!! :lolsign:

I can't believe all the issues! Do you feel it's a build quality issue or engineering?

My initial guess is that his experience is very unusual. I've not heard of such constant bulb failures before.

Law

I've had a very similar 10X. While I have dropped only once and the light was fine. The bulbs and batteries are a problem. Batteries so much so that I finally replaced the cells with CBP A 2500's and replaced the flimsy wires in the battery pack. I bought mine (early 2001) when it first was introduced by surefire. At the time you could buy one for $235.00 online and the battery packs for $45.00

Pros:


More output than an M6

High and Low setting
Rechargeable


Cons:



Fragile battery pack wiring and cheap unreliable 1700 A cells.

Short bulb life. (comes with the territory)

Not serviceable in-field without an allen head wrench.

Impractical shape.

That's why you need two of them, one to use and the other in for repair. Both my lights , one charger and two for the batteries have made the trip to Surefire, one battery twice. Yes, I have paid for shipping many times, I think a total of 7 times. I have learned how to fix and upgrade the batteries myself. With the lifetime warranty, I hope to live a long life.
Dave

Put a WA 01160 bulb in your Magcharger. Total output will be comparable to the 10X and it will cost you just $5 or so.

paulr said:

Put a WA 01160 bulb in your Magcharger. Total output will be comparable to the 10X and it will cost you just $5 or so.

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I did go that route too,but did not work out. Yes output is great, but the metal reflector clouded up from fumes of the bulbholder. Cleaning it distroyed the chrome finish. I think I got it from the Lightedge. I tried to contact them and never heared from them ever. Why the coating has to be sooo fragile, nobody could explain that.

dwminer said:

That's why you need two of them, one to use and the other in for repair. Both my lights , one charger and two for the batteries have made the trip to Surefire, one battery twice. Yes, I have paid for shipping many times, I think a total of 7 times. I have learned how to fix and upgrade the batteries myself. With the lifetime warranty, I hope to live a long life.
Dave

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Could you give me some pointers what batteries to use and where to get them? Thanks already.

Manzerick said:

here fishy fishy!! :lolsign:

I can't believe all the issues! Do you feel it's a build quality issue or engineering?

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I think it is a bit of both. Did you see my thread about Dominator bulb repair in this section?

Re 01160: hmm, ok, in that case try a mica heat shield or one of Kiu's ceramic bulb holders. There are also some better reflectors you can use than the stock ones.

paulr said:

Re 01160: hmm, ok, in that case try a mica heat shield or one of Kiu's ceramic bulb holders. There are also some better reflectors you can use than the stock ones.

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It is not Kiu that make them for MagCharger, it is Fivemega. You can get them here.

Haha with all the trips back to surefire, they've practically replaced your entire light, short of the polymer midsection (they replaced batteries, reflector, bulbs, lens, am I missing anything?).

I played around with one for a few months and resold it in the same condition for a $20 profit. Great light. Sort of awkward looking though.

Oops computer boo boo

PaulR no way does a 1160 = a 10X. I have both. You all know me. I don't pull no punches when it comes to comparing lights. The 10X is smaller than a 3D Mag and way more reliable than some of the modded Mags. The WA1160 does work well but definitely needs a heat shield and metal reflector to hold up for constant usage at that brightness level in the MC. It also is not as white as the 10X by ANY means.

The MC may be a bit stronger but an WA1160 aint 500 Lumens in that light at that color temp. And it does not recharger in 1 hour like the 10X. I like both lights for what they are. That price on the 10X was a steal.

I too bought the early version of the 10X for work. I have not had any problems with it to speak of.

I think Starflash was fishing for justification to buy a SECOND Dominator.

So what's up with Surefire anyway if they cant even stand up quality n build wise against a magcharger? It's crazy paying so much for Surefire stuff nowadays expecting quality, and they expect these stuff to be used by police/military guys... what a joke.