Need help : SUREFIRE E1L dual stage ...received 1hr ago NIB and now....BROKEN !!???

I have just received 1 hour ago a dual stage E1L with KX1 head.
After playing a bit with it and comparing to my TIROS INOVAs ...now I realize that the light is STUCKED on the LOW level...it can't jump to the HIGH level anymore.

NEW IN BOX...1 hr ago received . Not dropped ! I didn't use a 3.7V battery...I did nothing illegal !
Is this the 'quality of SUREFIRE' . I read so much about that ....
I didn't have any pb with brands like FENIX / LUMAPOWER / TIABLO / EAGLETAC ...not even with the cheapy SOLARFORCEs or AKORAY .
And what is considered to be 'the most realiable brand on the market' is out of function after a few minutes of use ...almost 100$ paied for the light !!

Should I send it back to SUREFIRE ?? Already ? Spending time and money ? And I am located in Canada

Did you try a diff batt?

I dont know what your specific problem is but I once had a stuck tail switch (single stage)and put ONE drop of oil in the tail cap worked it around and problem solved.

If that does not work, and you can determine that the problem is with the tail switch, call SF and ask them to send you a new tail switch (without sending the light back). They have done that for me. While it was in transit I tried the drop of oil so now I have 2 working switches.

Good luck, you are not the only one who has had a DOA SF - but they will take care of it.

Badbeams3 said:

Did you try a diff batt?

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Yes...no effect !
So the light worked OK on LOW and HIGH for the first minutes...I left it for 45 min to take a meal and after that only the LOW is working now !

Looks like switch/ or circuit is acting up. Is it still not working properly? If you can not get it to work properly, call Surefire, do not email them. If they want it returned then ask them to send a prepaid box to you. I can understand your concern. Their customer service is very good and they will fix the problem for you at no cost, unless you pay shippping back to them. Yes, SF can send out a dud every so often, this can happen with other companies too, and I undertstand your concerns about their QA. Call them very soon, do not wait too long.

Bill

Bullzeyebill said:

Looks like switch/ or circuit is acting up. Is it still not working properly? If you can not get it to work properly, call Surefire, do not email them. If they want it returned then ask them to send a prepaid box to you. I can understand your concern. Their customer service is very good and they will fix the problem for you at no cost, unless you pay shippping back to them. Yes, SF can send out a dud every so often, this can happen with other companies too, and I undertstand your concerns about their QA. Call them very soon, do not wait too long.

Bill

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+1...with a big agreement on the phone...don`t bother with E-mail.

I tried to give them a call but they are working untill 5:00 PT !
On Monday then !

Sounds like a battery issue to me. If you can turn the light on and off, it's not a tailcap issue. You state you tried a different battery, but have you tried a BRAND NEW battery?

jchoo said:

Sounds like a battery issue to me. If you can turn the light on and off, it's not a tailcap issue. You state you tried a different battery, but have you tried a BRAND NEW battery?

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Well, I have tried a new TITANIUM battery received last year !
I am 100% sure it's not about battery.
The battery which came with the light is a SUREFIRE expiration date 2018...

Now I am wondering why the light worked when I did the first testings and now suddenly it's always on LOW.
If it had been on HIGH always I wouldn't have complained at all

Make sure the head is tightened all the way on.

I have also tried a DURACELL.
The head is tightened...
I have put the light in the fridge...maybe... :devil:

Should I tried it with a 3.7V RCR123 ? When people are sick a glass of whisky could be amazing )

The tailcap is to blame ? Is the tailcap which changes the level or the KX1 head ??

If you have a DMM check for current with the tailcap removed. Also, make contact quickly and then again quickly to see if low/high works. Do you have another E series tailcap to try?

Bill

Nope Bill, I don't have a DMM to CHECK the current ! That's my only SUREFIRE.
The light is out of the fridge now ...I have tried clicking very quickly tightened the tailcap and the head for the n-time...NO RESULT !
Aaargghh ...SUREFIRE ...quality control ? Made in US ? Most reliable flashlights ?
I have dropped my ROMISEN RC-N3 twice on the concrete road while I was cycling ...and it was still working ! 23$ flashlight !!!! What a heck !

radu1976 said:

Nope Bill, I don't have a DMM to CHECK the current ! That's my only SUREFIRE.
The light is out of the fridge now ...I have tried clicking very quickly tightened the tailcap and the head for the n-time...NO RESULT !
Aaargghh ...SUREFIRE ...quality control ? Made in US ? Most reliable flashlights ?
I have dropped my ROMISEN RC-N3 twice on the concrete road while I was cycling ...and it was still working ! 23$ flashlight !!!! What a heck !

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Calm down. These things happen. I know you want to rant, and you have some right to do that, but do not get carried away in your frustration. As you get more and more flashlights, if you do, you will find that some tools will be necessary, or should be necessary. A DMM is one off the most basic of them, and can give you some info about what is going on with your lights and your batteries.

Also, as you read more and more here on CPF, you will find threads about issues with Surefire's, particularly the switches, and these switches over time should have been fixed by Surefire, but there is no real certainty with any manufacturer. Some of the people who own your same brand of lights may have had issues with them, ever so often. Nothing made by man or machine is perfect, so please do not expect so much from this brand or that brand of flashlight, and do not get sucked in by the stuff going around that this or that brand is the best and will never fail you, and is the most reliable, though some brands, looking at the big picture, do seem to hold their own against others. I look at flashlights this way: if it works it works, if it doesn't it doesn't, and it should be fixed.

Bill

You don't need a DMM to troubleshoot the light. You need a good piece of stranded wire conductor. Take the tail cap off, touch the wire to the back end of the battery and the other end to the exposed bare metal end of the flashlight housing to complete the circuit. See if the light comes on at full power. Make and break the contact several times and see if the light switches high to low or simply stays on at high or stays on low whenever contact is made and report back.

You may also want to completely unscrew the head make sure the threads are clean and put it back together one more time, nice and easy.

do those things and get back to us.

MrGman said:

You don't need a DMM to troubleshoot the light. You need a good piece of stranded wire conductor. Take the tail cap off, touch the wire to the back end of the battery and the other end to the exposed bare metal end of the flashlight housing to complete the circuit. See if the light comes on at full power. Make and break the contact several times and see if the light switches high to low or simply stays on at high or stays on low whenever contact is made and report back.

You may also want to completely unscrew the head make sure the threads are clean and put it back together one more time, nice and easy.

do those things and get back to us.

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I did all those .
The threads are very clean.
While using the piece of wire the result is not changed : the light always stays on LOW !
It seems that the tailcap is not to blame...right ?

That would be my deduction, since you achieved the same results when you eliminated the tailcap from the equation. Since you're sure the battery is good, that only leaves two more places that could be causing the problem - the interface between the body tube and the head, and the driver circuitry itself. Try this - separate the head and body, and using your wire as a conductor (some electrical tape might be helpful here, to hold the wire against the ends of the cell) connect the cell directly to the positive and negative terminals of the head (positive is the center terminal). Connect/disconnect this several times, as quickly as you would to switch modes with the switch. If it switches modes, then I would think something is amiss with the negative connection from the flashlight body to the head - corrosion, excess lube, etc. Wipe it clean (it is the shiny silver ring of UNanodized aluminum at the end of the threads, perpendicular to the axis of the light body where it screws into the head) and also check the mating terminal on the head - make sure it is clean and shiny as well.

If none of this works then I would think it is the driver - but since the light worked earlier, I tend to dismiss the driver as good and would concentrate on dirty connections or a bad battery.

Are you positive it wasn't a single-stage KX1 to begin with? Not all KX1's are dual. If the serial# starts with an A its a single stage.

If it is broken, SureFire will take care of you

matt0 said:

Are you positive it wasn't a single-stage KX1 to begin with? Not all KX1's are dual. If the serial# starts with an A its a single stage.

If it is broken, SureFire will take care of you

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That's what I've been thinking as I read this thread...

If radu1976 shares a photo of his KX1 bezel showing the serial number etc we can easily tell whether this is an early version of the KX1 (single output), or a current version of the KX1 (dual output).