Surefire Tailcaps

I have probably touched 300+ Magswitches in my days and not had one failure. The 4 Surefires I have owned all of the tailswitches have died!

-E2D Tailswitch lasted a couple months then needed to be replaced *TWICE*

-2x U2's Tailswitch's died within a month of hardly any use

Brand Spanking new 6p Defender I bought yesterday switch was pressed 5 times and is now perma-stuck Also the upper sealing ring was not seated properly.


Surefire REALLY NEEDS to do something about their switches and QC. They know they are horribe and STILL do nothing about them....what gives.

Mac

Re: Surefire

sometimes its just more reasonable to go back to twisty
I still find myself from time to time engaging my Z57 and locking it out to turn it off....

Re: Surefire

One of our CPF'ers was doing some free fixes on the E series clickies awhile back. He is still around but I can not think of his user name. Once he did the fix, there were no more problems.

Bill

Re: Surefire

Bullzeyebill said:

One of our CPF'ers was doing some free fixes on the E series clickies awhile back. He is still around but I can not think of his user name. Once he did the fix, there were no more problems.

Bill

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I think you're talking about Litfuse...right?

Re: Surefire

Illum_the_nation said:

sometimes its just more reasonable to go back to twisty
I still find myself from time to time engaging my Z57 and locking it out to turn it off....

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Many other "cheaper", "lower quality" companies can design a nice clicky, but SureFire can't? And because they seem to have so many failures, we should all just start using twisties?? I don't think so, and for me, twisties SUCK! Most of the time I'm operating the light with one hand, and a clicky is easier, for me, than a twistie. We need to get SureFire, Inova, and Mag to all go together to design a really nice light! :nana:

I'm not bashing SureFire, I EDC 2 of them, my U2, and my L4. I haven't had any switch failures yet, but there sure seems to be a lot of them. I also realize that most people only post when they have a problem, so that may skew the post somewhat. I don't recall making any posts about how good my 4 SureFires have been, but if one of them has a problem, I'll probably post about it. Its human nature, I guess.

Just my $.02,
Roger

Re: Surefire

It sounds like Surefire needs to take a lesson from Mag or take a look at how Mag switches are built. And I'd have to agree they seem very solid. I really do wish Surefire well but I think they are going to wake up one day and realize how much business they have lost due to things like this. It certainly doesn't seem like it needs to be this way as they are charging a premium price on their lights. I'd love to see them get QC up much higher.

Re: Surefire

I've used my Pila clickie tailcap for almost a year, no problem.

Dudemar

Re: Surefire

Are these the same Surefire's our troops and law enforcement use?? :thinking:

Re: Surefire

cmacclel said:

Surefire REALLY NEEDS to do something about their switches and QC. They know they are horribe and STILL do nothing about them....what gives.

Mac

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Telling us doesn't solve anything (although it helps us learn more about products)

Have you told SureFire?

If you feel strongly perhaps writing a letter (rather than email or phone call) is a better means of helping them understand that you consider switch failure is unacceptable?

Re: Surefire

Size15's said:

Telling us doesn't solve anything (although it helps us learn more about products)

Have you told SureFire?

If you feel strongly perhaps writing a letter (rather than email or phone call) is a better means of helping them understand that you consider switch failure is unacceptable?

Click to expand...

I disagree. When you call Surefire customer service and tell them you have a tailcap failure the Customer Service Rep goes into autopilot mode and without a single question besides asking for your address sends you a new tailcap.

I'm pretty sure Surefire knows how many replacement tailcaps they are sending out for free each month

I'm not a Surefire Hater or Follower I'm pretty neutral in the endless flashlight war. We all know where you stand.

I do expect regardless of manufacture for their product to work for at least a year problem free.

Did you see the Titan thread? Talk about horrible QC a LIMITED EDITION $500 light looking like that....I'd be pissed.



Mac

Re: Surefire

I think I own ~30 Surefires, mostly E-series and varients (L) and have to admit I don't usually carry one. (Not counting the Titan, which has been EDC since I received it.) I don't discount the multitude of failures that have been noted here on CPF! I personally, have never had a failure! :shrug:

And Al, snivelling to SF about a green tint on my recent L1 purchase would make about as much sense as snivelling about all the times I won the "lottery" from SF! (<- reply in wrong thread.)

Larry

Re: Surefire

One issue is that the switch may very well have been redesigned and the lights you have had the early switch. That has happened to many people buying surefires. I have to say comparing a maglite switch to a tail cap clicky is not even apples to oranges. It's more like apples to carrots! Tail cap switches are so much smaller and have so much less resistance the engineering of the two types are not interchangeable. As fare as the mag switch they do work very well but I've replaced about 2 dozen that have failed and a half dozen mag charger switches so perfect they are not.

Re: Surefire

bones_708 said:

One issue is that the switch may very well have been redesigned and the lights you have had the early switch. That has happened to many people buying surefires. I have to say comparing a maglite switch to a tail cap clicky is not even apples to oranges. It's more like apples to carrots! Tail cap switches are so much smaller and have so much less resistance the engineering of the two types are not interchangeable. As fare as the mag switch they do work very well but I've replaced about 2 dozen that have failed and a half dozen mag charger switches so perfect they are not.

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The light is the brand new released this year 6p Defender.

You are the first person that I have ever heard a Mag Switch failing in. Heck people here are running 10+ amps through them. I guess my luck with Surefire's and your Luck with MagLites is the same

Also this has nothing to do with design, tailswitch and sideswitch is all the same design. The actual switch in the Maglite would fit into a tailcap no problem.

Mac

Re: Surefire

Maybe you just have bad luck dude. :twothumbs

Re: Surefire

I don't know about the 6PD but the E2L switch got a new design, late this year. The switch I got with my E2L failed after 1 week. I saw here that there was a new design. The replacement I got was of the old design and failed after 3 clicks. The 2nd time I called I asked for the new design and I got it! This one seems a lot more reliable, the click action is smoother and much more consistent. But the two old design tailcaps have been repaired by opening them and lubing the plastic parts. No more failure after lubing and many hundreds clicks.

cmacclel said:

The light is the brand new released this year 6p Defender.

You are the first person that I have ever heard a Mag Switch failing in. Heck people here are running 10+ amps through them. I guess my luck with Surefire's and your Luck with MagLites is the same

Also this has nothing to do with design, tailswitch and sideswitch is all the same design. The actual switch in the Maglite would fit into a tailcap no problem.

Mac

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Re: Surefire

cmacclel said:

I disagree. When you call Surefire customer service and tell them you have a tailcap failure the Customer Service Rep goes into autopilot mode and without a single question besides asking for your address sends you a new tailcap.

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I am suggesting that calling SureFire is perhaps not the best way in communicating your message to them in a way that will make the most appropriate impact.
When a letter of complaint is received it has significantly more weight than a complaint heard over the phone, and a printed letter carries more weight than an email.
Letters are a physically representation of a customer's interaction with a supplier - I'm not saying its right but they do tend to be taken a lot more seriously.

I'm pretty sure Surefire knows how many replacement tailcaps they are sending out for free each month

Click to expand...

This is not the same as knowing how many dissatisfied customers they have.

I do expect regardless of manufacture for their product to work for at least a year problem free.

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This is not unreasonable of course. If a manufacturer does not seem to be responding to a problem in the way the customer expects then one course of action the customer can take is to try to make sure the manufacturer understands what the customer wants. A letter is one of the most powerful methods.
Another course of action is for the customer to withhold future business from the manufacturer, and they can also ensure that their experiences are shared with other prospective customers. This has limited effectiveness on larger companies that produce large quantities of product to a wide range of markets over which the individual customer has little to no influence.

Did you see the Titan thread? Talk about horrible QC a LIMITED EDITION $500 light looking like that....I'd be pissed.

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Mac, yes I saw the thread. You know what - if my Titan broke would I be pissed? I think I'd be embarrassed for both myself and SureFire. Would I be surprised or feel in some way hurt? No not really. Reading CPF I sometimes find it strange that people are surprised when their SureFires fail - after all SureFire is constantly having faults and issues highlighted by CPF members.
I expect everything to fail until such time it fails to fail and has earned my trust.

I am fully aware that any SureFire I buy, no matter how expensive can act up. I don't see the Titan as any different or special in this regard.
However, SureFire support their products and I know they will fix things.
They will provide me with products that I can depend on. I've learnt the path to this point is not always easy but without doubt I think its worth it.

Al

Re: Surefire

Al I fully agree with you and maybe I will send a letter in to Surefire explaining my bad luck.

The Titan I mentioned did not break it was assembled with flawed parts and the rotating head to change the brightness levels was severely cocked.

Mac

Re: Surefire

This is sad...

This is the first post I've read of yours (MAC) on this forum besides your own sales pitch section.

You post this topic simply as "Surefire" ... with a thumb down. Clearly you have a negative opinion of more than just a tailcap or your post would have been titled "Surefire tailcap problem" or something of the like.

Have any of your lights failed? Do YOU have the same no-questions asked replacement policy as Surefire?

Maybe someone could start a "Thumb Down" thread with the title of "Mac's Customs" ???

:thumbsdow

Re: Surefire

SolarMan said:

This is sad...

This is the first post I've read of yours (MAC) on this forum besides your own sales pitch section.

You post this topic simply as "Surefire" ... with a thumb down. Clearly you have a negative opinion of more than just a tailcap or your post would have been titled "Surefire tailcap problem" or something of the like.

Have any of your lights failed? Do YOU have the same no-questions asked replacement policy as Surefire?

Maybe someone could start a "Thumb Down" thread with the title of "Mac's Customs" ???

:thumbsdow

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Congratulations on your thorough read on the first post in this thread!

Larry

Re: Surefire

SolarMan said:

This is sad...

This is the first post I've read of yours (MAC) on this forum besides your own sales pitch section.

You post this topic simply as "Surefire" ... with a thumb down. Clearly you have a negative opinion of more than just a tailcap or your post would have been titled "Surefire tailcap problem" or something of the like.

Have any of your lights failed? Do YOU have the same no-questions asked replacement policy as Surefire?

Maybe someone could start a "Thumb Down" thread with the title of "Mac's Customs" ???

:thumbsdow

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Pretty Pathetic and Tastless post I MUST say.

Do my lights Fail? to tell you the truth in all the lights that I have made only one has come back to me with a failure and it was a switch that failed.

Maybe I should have worded the title of this thread differently but how WOULD YOU FEEL if out of the 5 Stock Surefires you have owned 4 of them have had switch failures??? Notice how I said OWNED. I typically don't EDC lights so any lights that I due own get MINIMAL use.

As for posts other than sales pictches maybe you should try reading some of my posts

Here is the Titan thread I was talking about Al

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/2234242&postcount=101


Mac