Rattle in Head of SureFire E1B?

Hi, Guys –

I'm just getting back into the world of flashlights after a long absence, and I was hoping you could provide some advice/guidance. I recently needed to replace my venerable Arc LS, and I decided to pick up a new SureFire before the price increase. Even though I own several SureFires (all incandescents), they were all purchased several years ago and I wasn't familiar with their current LED offerings. After reviewing the postings here, I decided on the E1B and placed an order with one of the forum dealers. The light arrived a few days ago and it seems to fit my requirements nicely, with one minor nit.

The problem is this: there is something rattling in the head assembly. I noticed it shortly after I removed the light from the packaging…it's fairly distinctive. It sounds like a small piece of plastic or metal rattling around near the LED (it doesn't appear to be the lens)…the noise is about what you would expect to hear from a pea-sized piece of material rattling around in a metal/glass enclosure. The functionality of the light isn't the least bit impaired (yet), but I'm having a hard time reconciling myself to this sort of annoyance in a light at this price point. I was wondering if any other E1B owners had experienced a similar problem…I don't know if there's a DIY solution or if I should contact the manufacturer to have it corrected. I've never had any trouble with my other SFs, so I don't know how responsive their customer service unit is…I'm leaning towards calling them tomorrow to look into returning the light for repair/replacement, but I thought I'd touch base with the cognoscenti here first . I tried the search feature and found some references to tailcap rattles in some lights, but I couldn't find any mention of this specific issue (I apologize if it's been addressed before). Any suggestions you might have will be most appreciated…

I've heard about this a couple of times with newer L1's but this is the first time on an E1B.

That's too bad, it's a great light and I think that you made a solid choice. I'd call SF first thing and ask for a replacement, there is no excuse for such a bad rattle.......................

Good luck and I hope you get it sorted, like I said it's a superb little light when it's in good shape!

Despite the lights apparent ability to work with this defect, the fact that it is there means the light wasn't quality checked, or that something broke after it was inpected. Either way, that's not a light I'd want to have. The E1B is an incredible light...return it and get one you can put a lot of faith in. Surefire will make it right, just give them the chance.

And if they don't, please report it here...because they have the reputation of being superstars in service, and if that's not true, we need to know about it.

It certainly doesn't sound normal. Give SF call, you'll probably need to send the light to their hq. They are pretty good when it comes to warranty repairs.

Call Surefire...

Their service is the best.

They will take care of it.

Thanks for the input, gentlemen. I contacted SF Customer Service today and made arrangements to return the E1B for repair/replacement...hopefully the wait won't be too long .