SUREFIRE P6 QUIRK - HELP

Hey folks,

I have a quick question for yall.

A while back I purchased a Solar Force drop-in LED (LIKE THIS) for my SureFire 6P.


http://store02.prostores.com/solarforcestore/catalog/LED.jpg


At $18.00 shipped to my door, it was the best investment I've made in a looooooong time. It totally changed my 6P into a different creature.

But here's my question: Every blue moon I'll reach to turn on my light, and it won't turn on. Neither depressing the clicky switch nor turning the end cap works. But as soon as I give it a small "tap"...it turns right on again.

Wassup with that?

It has not been a problem for me in the past. (A little love tap is all it usually takes to turn it on). But now that I am reading and learning a few things here, maybe I can find a simple remedy for this little quirk. (Something to do with aluminum foil)?

Oh yea...one more thing before I forget. When I first put in the drop-in LED bulb, the light was soooooooooooooooooooooooo bright, that I was amazed by the difference and didn't see anything else. But after coming across this forum, I read that someone saw little "spots" in their beam when they shone it on a white wall.

When I read that, I looked at my beam, and "Sho Nuff"...I had three little dots as well.

Well, the post said that it was a bit of "stuff" that had fallen on/under the Cree bulb, and a quick cleaning would do the job. I cleaned it, and now it's totally spot-free.

Cool. :thumbsup:

Welp...that's it. I'll be looking for your responses.

In Christ: Raymond

RaymondMillbrae said:

Hey folks,

I have a quick question for yall.

Every blue moon I'll reach to turn on my light, and it won't turn on. Neither depressing the clicky switch nor turning the end cap works. But as soon as I give it a small "tap"...it turns right on again.

Wassup with that?

In Christ: Raymond

Click to expand...

Hi Raymond -- Intermittents are everyone's favorite glitch! . . . When "tapping" on an electrical whatever -- and it suddenly springs to life -- often times is a good indication that a mechanical problem has reared its ugly head. Several that immediately come to mind are: a not-springy-enough spring (which flashlights are historically famous for), a warped/bent body, wherein the batteries don't always properly align; oxidation of any one of the contacts, which can serve to break overall continuity in the circuit; and last, but certainly not least -- a part, or parts, may be on the verge of breaking and are left hanging-on by a miniscule thread of material -- that, when given a small "tap" . . . mechanically close the otherwise open/intermittent connection.

S-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g a problematic spring sometimes 'fixes' the not-springy-enough spring (short of replacing it). Rolling a flashlight's body (sans lens assembly and tailpiece) provides a quick-and-dirty eyeball test for determining a flashlight body's mechanical linearity (i.e., its FLATness ). Applying top-quality (what else would a CPFer use? :kiss contact spray (or similar liquid from a container and manually applied via "Q-tip") and followed by an oxidation inhibitor "chaser" -- can make a dramatic and lasting difference in virtually everything electrical/electronic where oxidation occurs.

I hope I've helped a little -- and not put you to sleep.

Best of luck, Raymond - and God Bless. Merry Christmas!

-Clive

Clive,

thanks for the response.

Here's what I did to find/correct the situation.

First I tried to recreate the situation in which the SolarForce Q5 bulb would not work. I found that when in a specific position, and tapped, it would render the flashlight useless. (Only in this one, specific, position).

So I then removed the SolarForce drop-in, and reinstalled the original P60 bulb. Once that was done, I tried to recreate the situations in which the SolarForce Q5 would fail - it couldn't be done.

So by the process of elimination, I deduced that it was the SolarForce drop-in, or it's connection to the host, that was the cause of the problem.

The next step was figuring-out why it was doing that.

Upon some close-up looking and thought, I realized that the drop-in was not "supported enough". When it was in a certain position, and tapped, it would somehow shift out of alignment/contact, and fail. (Tapping it from the opposite position resulted in it's realignment/proper contact, and turned the bulb back on).

So I just reinstalled the original spring (which SolarForce Store told me to remove), but cut a 3/4" inch section from it.

The head could not fully screw on like before, but that's OK, as it's an indoor light and I'm not worried about it being totally water-proof.

The light works perfectly now. No matter what position it's in when I tap it...it stays on.

So a word of caution. Double check everything - completely - before removing your spring. It may be better to not have the cap fully screwed on, than having the light NOT work when you really need it. (Bullet-proof reliability is a must on ALL my equipment).

Kudos, yall.

In Christ: Raymond

If you were to post a new thread, very short, just something like this.

"6P. Non Surefire drop-in. Must be reliable. One word answers only please."

The one word answers would all be the same.

Malkoff

You have your Solarforce drop-in working well now so all is well, but if you ever want to treat yourself and your 6P to something special, Malkoff M60.

RaymondMillbrae said:

Clive,

Thanks for the response.

The light works perfectly now. No matter what position it's in when I tap it...it stays on.

In Christ: Raymond

Click to expand...

Raymond -- You're most welcome. You certainly did a commendable job: demonstrating remarkable investigative talent and "bonafide" Journeyman-level technical repair skills. I'm happy for you, my man! :twothumbs

Hope you continue to enjoy your SureFire_6P + Solarforce_Q5 combo!!! :thumbsup:

Best Regards,

-Clive

Niconical said:

If you were to post a new thread, very short, just something like this.

"6P. Non Surefire drop-in. Must be reliable. One word answers only please."

The one word answers would all be the same.

Malkoff

You have your Solarforce drop-in working well now so all is well, but if you ever want to treat yourself and your 6P to something special, Malkoff M60.

Click to expand...

Now THAT'S what I call an accurate statement! Great post!!!

-Clive