Please explain "Reverse Clicky" - Mini-D, etc.

What is this? Why do I need it? How do I use it?

I'm sure I'm not the only one wondering...

A reverse clickie cannot turn on the light when you press the switch half way.

A regular clickie can turn on the light when you press the switch half way. In my words a true meaning of a "tactical light".

A Maglite C or D cell works this way.

Ernsanada described it pretty well. Both switch types have their own advantages. The normal clicky has the 'tactical' momentary function like Ernsanada said. But the reverse clickie has a few advantages too:

- mechanics can be made smaller
- less sensitive to accidental activation in a pocket
- easier (IMHO) to switch to the desired mode on multi level lights with a multiclick interface

Momentary can be done with a reverse clicky too, first give it a full click, then hold the button halfway to turn the light off again and release it when light is desired. The bad thing about this is that you have to hold the button all the time until you need light. A good thing is that when you accidentally drop the light, it will turn on making it easy to find.

Thanks for your excellent replies!

FYI, the Lumapower D-Mini doesn't have a standard clicky - the default mechanism is a lock-out tactical cap, where you can screw on just enough for press-on action for instant on, or continue screwing for constant on (i.e. there is no "click"). The extra switch included is a reverse clicky, as explained above.

I know it looks a little misleading, since the tailcap looks like it is for a clicky by defauly. The reason for that is so that you can use it with the reverse clicky mechanism. Actually a pretty good arrangement, giving you the choice.

Normal Clickie: Make, break, make , break so on,
Reverse Clickie Break, make, break, make so on

A customer just emailed me and asked if I had any Reverse clickies and pointed me to this thread.

The correct switch terminlogy would be either Normally open or Normally closed

Then you have the other factors such as spst, spdt, dpdt, Momentary, etc

It sounds like you are describing a NO (Normally open) clicky switch

SOMEbody's an electrian...What kind of customer do you have that knows about this thread...and asks if you have reverse clickies? Just wonder'n.

EL34 said:

A customer just emailed me and asked if I had any Reverse clickies and pointed me to this thread.

The correct switch terminlogy would be either Normally open or Normally closed

Then you have the other factors such as spst, spdt, dpdt, Momentary, etc

It sounds like you are describing a NO (Normally open) clicky switch

Click to expand...

But NO flashlight manufacturers that I am aware of use those terms. Those may be correct for general electrical wiring or whatever but not in this industry. Forward and reverse clicky are the standard terms, so describing them as normally open or normally closed would confuse even further the people who are still having a hard time understanding the already ubiquitous forward and reverse terminology.

Plus, they're just plain easier. Does the light turn on when the button is going forward or when the button is going in reverse? Simple. We like simple.

Yes, exactly what nbp said. I would hesitate to call the sum knowledge of CPF equivalent to an entire industry, in this case, the portable lighting industry, but I will say that "forward" and "reverse" are the only two terms by which I have heard switches called. I remember the time before reverse clickies, when the only real distinguishing feature was whether the forward clicky had momentary or not. These days, reverse clickies make it far less likely a light will activate in one's pocket, and make changing modes while a light is on a breeze. You do lose momentary, though.

If you want to attract/keep customers, it is probably best to use the terms commonly accepted, regardless of the formal electrical lexicon.

I also will continue to use the clickie terminology. It is a good way to simplify the otherwise complex definition of the type of switch the clickie really is -- a multi-mode toggle/momentary switch.

A momentary switch like a doorbell button is going to have a default position either on or off (a doorbell button is normally open, off). A toggle switch such as a light switch in a home doesn't have a normal position - the switch is mechanically stable in either the on or off position.

Our torch clickies are a combination of toggle and momentary. Take a fwrd clickie. When the toggle mode is "off," the momentary mode is enabled and it is normally open (a half press momentarily closes the switch). When the toggle mode is "on" the momentary mode is disabled.

So describing a clickie only as normally open or closed is only half the story. A forward clickie is a toggle switch with a normally open momentary mode when off. A reverse clickie is a toggle switch with a normally closed momentary mode when on.

I've been told that I resemble Tommy Lee Jones so, I'll use my MIB Neuralizer to forget all of this and just remember clickie . . .

Sorry, been into electronics many many years.
I am used to describing switches by the same names that switch manufacturers use.

Use whatever terms you want. No one was trying to get you to change your descriptive terms.

All I was doing was trying to figure out what my customer was wanting.
He wanted a reverse clicky and now I know what you guys are calling them and what that translates to in real life switch terminology used by the switch manufactuers I deal with.