I guess it had to happen sometime.

I've got a fairly small collection of Surefire, and several of them are clickies. I've had my E2D for about a year and a half. Well, yesterday the tailcap on it failed to turn on the light. After trying several things, including dropping a little Hoppes oil into the inner workings of the tailcap, I called SF.

Got a new tailcap coming for my E2D, but my question was how long is the norm for some of their clicky tailcaps failing? Does it ever happen to the twisties?

It wasn't a good feeling either when I realized the probability of me eventually having to ask for a replacement tailcap for the rest of my SF clickies.

SF clickys can fail from the moment they come out of the box to never, although they do seem to be more fragile than many other brands when it comes to drops.

I have only rarely ever heard of a twisty failing (twist momentary), and they are generally considered to be the most reliable type of switch.

I find that for evey SF clicky you have it's a good idea to have a back-up twisty for it. But as a rule I always go overboard on the "just in case" stuff. Must admit it does feel pretty silly since I have never had a bad SF clicky!

Might be why I swapped in an Aleph tail with McClicky. Now that I've said that, watch my clicky go south.

Spent $112 on my E2D and the tailcap fails. I should have (politely) told the SF rep that.

I think they might have started addressing this. The E1B clickies feel much more robust and stronger than previous clickies.

litetube said:

I think they might have started addressing this. The E1B clickies feel much more robust and stronger than previous clickies.

Click to expand...

really? pity, i don't see the tailcap sold seperately. i wonder if it fits my E1L...:thinking:

litetube said:

I think they might have started addressing this. The E1B clickies feel much more robust and stronger than previous clickies.

Click to expand...

SureFire have indeed redesigned their click on/off tailcap mechanisms. They should be much more reliable now. They feel quite different to the old tailcaps.

Regards,
Tempest

Only slightly related to the OP, here's my only experience with a clicky 'failing'. I put a Z59 on my G2Z and it wouldn't illuminate, despite being threaded down pretty tightly. I thought I had defective clickie until I removed the lanyard ring then reinstalled the Z59. I had to screw it all the way down, really tight as a matter of fact almost to the point of fearing it would strip the threads, and it started to work properly. I know this is an isolated case, and the metal tailcaps are not designed to work in conjunction with the nitrolon bodies specifically, but I wanted it that way. The liner sleeve in the nitrolon lights has a narrow flange for the switch to make contact so that's what happened initially. Inevitably, you're bound to run into issues when LEGO'ing, that's my lesson learned.

I was just about to ask what exactly fails on the Surefire clicky. Does is stop clicking or it still clicks but does not light? Just what happens? My 2 stage E1L has not been having a consistent solid click, sometimes feels a little soft. It was otherwise working fine, but as I type, I'm clicking it to listen/feel and it now will not lock on high. grrrr.

I bump it to high and click, it goes to high and as soon as I release the button, it drops back to low. I thought it was a low battery, but it will stay on high when used as momentary and I hold the button. Also if it is clicked ON, I can loosen and tighten the head to go from low to high and it will stay on high. So I'm thinking the switch is making flakey contact and producing another off-on pulse as I release it. Tried my L4 cap on and it works fine.

The light has had very little use, I only started using it on a daily basis a couple of months back when I upgraded to a KX1 head.

Till said:

Does it ever happen to the twisties?

Click to expand...

I personally have never had a twist-type switch fail on any light, regardless of brand. My AA minimag twist head failed once after a hard drop, but I just re-bent the metal contact piece inside and its fine.

brighterisbetter said:

Only slightly related to the OP, here's my only experience with a clicky 'failing'. I put a Z59 on my G2Z and it wouldn't illuminate, despite being threaded down pretty tightly. I thought I had defective clickie until I removed the lanyard ring then reinstalled the Z59. I had to screw it all the way down, really tight as a matter of fact almost to the point of fearing it would strip the threads, and it started to work properly. I know this is an isolated case, and the metal tailcaps are not designed to work in conjunction with the nitrolon bodies specifically, but I wanted it that way. The liner sleeve in the nitrolon lights has a narrow flange for the switch to make contact so that's what happened initially. Inevitably, you're bound to run into issues when LEGO'ing, that's my lesson learned.

Click to expand...

I, too, tried this and had the same results as yourself.

Marduke said:

SF clickys can fail from the moment they come out of the box to never, although they do seem to be more fragile than many other brands when it comes to drops.

I have only rarely ever heard of a twisty failing (twist momentary), and they are generally considered to be the most reliable type of switch.

Click to expand...

sometimes a failure have already occurred but you will not notice until the time when you go and change the batteries. by experience using Z57s they almost always fail as in self disassembly...but I haven't had an experience where it engaged and got locked on "on":shrug:

I keep two new style Z57s and one E2D TC as spares...my Z61 on the E1e-BK is my biggest concern:candle:

If I contact SF again and ask them to send a replacement tailcap for my most commonly used clicky lights (my E1E and 6PD) even though they haven't failed yet, would that go over well? You know, just to keep those as a spare/backup.

Because I'd hate to wait until they actually do fail, ask for a replacement then, and then have to put that particular light on hiatus for a week until the new tailcap gets here. :shrug:

Not going to get a warm reception with that.

Imagine telling a maker upfront you want extra parts because you don't have faith in their product and that you ought to get the back up items for free.

I myself don't have 100% percent faith in it clicky's but that's why I bought extras. I think the free replacement policy without having to pay for shipping in the dead part is generous enough.

how long is the norm for some of their clicky tailcaps failing?

Click to expand...

My E2L let go after about a month ... the E1L lasted less than a week. The redesigned units seem better.

Does it ever happen to the twisties?

Click to expand...

Not that I'm aware of ... no moving parts, per se.

When I am headed into a situation where I must have the most reliability, I switch over to the standard twist/push tailcap on my 6P, when I am using it around the house, and just want convenience, I run the Z59. No problems with either so far.

Sgt. LED said:

Not going to get a warm reception with that.

Imagine telling a maker upfront you want extra parts because you don't have faith in their product and that you ought to get the back up items for free.

I myself don't have 100% percent faith in it clicky's but that's why I bought extras. I think the free replacement policy without having to pay for shipping in the dead part is generous enough.

Click to expand...

True; my idea was mostly speculation.

I never had a problem with the clicky on my E2D or the rest of my two dozens Surefires.

The E2D is my EDC for the last couple of years and is one of my most use, abuse light.

.