What's the big deal about the piston lights?

I see that several high-end lights that have come out lately use the piston system. I wonder: what's so good about it that makes it preferable to a switch?

They claim that a click-switch will fail sooner or later, due to sparks at each switch on or off that destroy it piece by piece.

Maybe, but I wonder how many clicks you must do before it fails? 1.000? 1.000.000?

Lights in the 200$ range are told to have died this way...

Henk

I think it is for three reasons.

1)As far as the "switch" it is regarded as a more reliable design than a clicky. There is no rubber boot to wear out or tear. There are no moving parts inside to break

2)It is a McGizmo concept and is as close as most of us will ever get to a McGizmo Custom light which costs many many times more Dinero.

3)It is just plain cool and you can put a glow rod in it now also!!

In the McLux lights it is great because it is a twisty switch that allows for momentary as well. I use short bursts of light at times and it is nicer to push the piston for a second than have to twist the head on and off.

My toughs
1. Piston drive system sounds cooler than cliky switch.
2. Makes the light more waterproof.
3. Almost failproof

Piston lights? Hmmmm . well being from near Detroit I would say they would be great during normal uses, but when it really counts they would stop working.

Lol sorry a bit of sports humor.

Lee1959 said:

Piston lights? Hmmmm . well being from near Detroit I would say they would be great during normal uses, but when it really counts they would stop working.

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My wife is a Spurs fan, and when I told her this joke, she almost busted a gut laughing!!

I'm trying to decide on one, the D20 looks damn nice.

One thing I'm not so sure about is for an emergency light. If you get dirt on the tube while changing batteries, and don't have your trusty tube of silicone lube with you, then what? I read the switch can get flaky if not lubed properly. Are you stuck with a flaky light, or can still resort to momentary use?

Less resistance. The body of the light is not conducting current when you use a piston. This is really important when the body of a light is Titanium which has poor electrical conduction.

Bill

I've found the piston drive to be more tempermental. Sometimes the switch acts like it's in momentary mode when it really should be turning on and staying there. I've also double-clicked and held, which should bring on the bright setting, but found myself trying 3-4 times before it works.

I've also found the lack of tactical feel leads to improper operation. A sliding switch always results in positive contact without too much force applied to the switch. A perpendicular engagement of two non-precious materials results in unreliable contact unless strong force is used. The only time I find the PD works properly is when I push very hard and deliberately.

This system would probably work better if the mating surfaces were gold plated or similar. They aren't, it's stainless (or nickel plated steel) tube on brass. The brass presses against a gold finished board, but there is no way to get under there and clean/condition the surfaces. Really, the brass ring should be plated with gold for best operation, and removable for occasionaly cleaning.

I'm also not convinced that a thin steel sleeve is more conductive than a thick aluminum body.

I appreciate having one or two PD's, but when I want to reach for a light that's no fuss to operate, it's a simple tail button or twisty.

Fallingwater said:

I see that several high-end lights that have come out lately use the piston system. I wonder: what's so good about it that makes it preferable to a switch?

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I dunno, I never understood it either, I've always used my McLuxIII-PD as a twisty:shrug:

The 1AA is one of the shortest AA lights out there. Will fit in tight jeans pockets sideways.
I always end up carrying my 1AA clickies in belt holsters. The Civictor V1 is the only 1AA light I will carry in my pocket. The 1AA piston is only slightly longer.

im actually not to sure about piston lights. Sometimes when i put down my Ex10 butt down, on the table, for candle use, when it hits the table, it will flicker.

also, i dont like the fact that i HAVE to move the o-ring up and down with the piston when i turn on or off the light. To me , this is a water entry point, i would feel much more comfortable if there were two o-rings.

i have actually had water sneak its way in, a tiny bit, beyond the o-ring before.

also, can someone confirm for me, is the Piston on the D10 easier to press then the Ex10? as in, less "action"? seems like that for me..

Crenshaw

Crenshaw said:

also, can someone confirm for me, is the Piston on the D10 easier to press then the Ex10? as in, less "action"? seems like that for me..

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I'd say my D10 is a little stiffer. Maybe it needs some lubrication.

Crenshaw said:

i have actually had water sneak its way in, a tiny bit, beyond the o-ring before.


Crenshaw

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are you sure about that? how could you check? if you checked by pulling out the piston theres a very good chance that its just the water off the other side of the o-ring being left behind, the piston design is very good in my opinion, and it doesnt seem to bother McG, who is in the water with a PD light more than anyone.

Gator762 said:

I'm trying to decide on one, the D20 looks damn nice.

One thing I'm not so sure about is for an emergency light. If you get dirt on the tube while changing batteries, and don't have your trusty tube of silicone lube with you, then what? I read the switch can get flaky if not lubed properly. Are you stuck with a flaky light, or can still resort to momentary use?

Click to expand...

its not much of a problem, and you dont pull the tube (piston) to swap batts anyways.

There are 3 possible entry points for water on the Nitecore PDs. I think it has been mentioned in other threads that they are not quite as water resistant as other lights.
But I think it was issues with the moisture entering thru the front window seal on D10s? I would think they are good for most normal every day situations up to and including being dropped in a puddle and full submersion in a puddle type body of water?

I kind of compare the NC PDs to a watch with 50m water resistance against one with 100m water resistance. I would avoid swimming with a 50m WR watch.

EngrPaul said:

This system would probably work better if the mating surfaces were gold plated or similar. They aren't, it's stainless (or nickel plated steel) tube on brass. The brass presses against a gold finished board, but there is no way to get under there and clean/condition the surfaces. Really, the brass ring should be plated with gold for best operation, and removable for occasionaly cleaning.

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I'm pretty sure the tube is steel with nickel plating. Maybe the coating that is used on the CR2 Ion or Muyshondt lights (I want to say ChemKote, but that's probably wrong) would improve conductivity. I don't think that they can change to a brass tube, though, as it may compress/deform over time.

mossyoak said:

are you sure about that? how could you check? if you checked by pulling out the piston theres a very good chance that its just the water off the other side of the o-ring being left behind, the piston design is very good in my opinion, and it doesnt seem to bother McG, who is in the water with a PD light more than anyone.

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hmm, i dont have much experience with piston lights, so i wont make a judgement on them, but that one time, i pulled out the piston, and i saw some water on the "inside" of the piston, within the o-ringed area. Is there another explanation for that? id would very much reassure me if there was...:thinking:

Crenshaw

jag-engr said:

I'm pretty sure the tube is steel with nickel plating. Maybe the coating that is used on the CR2 Ion or Muyshondt lights (I want to say ChemKote, but that's probably wrong) would improve conductivity. I don't think that they can change to a brass tube, though, as it may compress/deform over time.

Click to expand...

No, I wouldn't suggest a brass tube. I'm just saying there isn't a current carrying advantage using a steel tube, considering the body of the flashlight is already aluminum ( a good electrical conductor ). Moreover, using a tube places an additional restriction to heat transfer from the battery to the enviroment. Which means if your battery starts to overheat, it's theoretically a bad situation compared to not having the extra "layer" of insulation.

I don't believe the electrical contact issue is between the steel and the brass. I believe it's between the brass and the board. The force actuating the brass to the board is the force you apply with your finger, minus frictional/suction forces along the tube, minus the spring force under the ring. You can press the piston to the board, but not always have the excess in force necessary to make contact. By plating the brass with gold, you can cut the force required by a factor of about 3.

Another issue is debris. If there is non-conductive material on the board, it takes a lot of force to smash this material down enough that the rest of the board makes contact. Which means any dirt under the ring leads to steeply increased force requirement and intermittent connection through a press stroke (read as multiple actuations). To eliminate this issue, the surface area of contact should be as small as possible, so that contact pressure at any given force is higher. This enables breaking throught the debris barrier with less force and higher reliability.