Tigerlight and UCL

After looking over these forums I purchased a Tigerlight from Tactical Warehouse and a UCL lens from Flashlightlens.com. I was very impressed with my purchases and took my light to work. On the third day of work I took my flashlight out of my coat to use it again and the UCL lens was shattered and the pieces of glass were in my coat pocket. I knew there had been an issue with this combination but I didn't realize that it was this fragile. I really like the idea of the Pyrex lens because a lexan lens tends to get very scratched and turn brown in my environment, which reduces light output significantly. Is there a trick to making the Tigerlight/UCL combination more sturdy? Is there another quality lens out there that is more durable?

Durability of a glass lens in the TL has been something that needs to be improved - for sure. Most of the problem has to do with the way the lamp assembly and lens kind of float above that rubber tube. You'll see what I mean if you simply press against the lens. It doesn't take much effort to push the lens in and break the seal from the bezel. This actually allows the lens to move (independent of the light itself) when it's dropped and contact the inside of the bezel with enough force to cause problems.

After performing a few tests with Michael Teig, we found out that actually removing the o-ring from behind the bezel tightens the whole system up and makes it more durable. The problem with that, however, is you jeopardize its water resistance.

I've thought of a few ways to get around this. The first idea was to have a silicone "U" channel built to isolate the lens from the bezel. The other option was to simply make the lens thicker - which is looking like the best option at this point. Because of the way the TL is designed, it can actually hold a piece of glass about 3.25mm thick.

My plan was to sell out of the 2mm thick glass and then make some lenses from 3.25mm thick UCL. I'll have to talk to TL and make sure this idea will work in the new 8" design and also check to see if a new 11" design will cause problems also.

I'll update everyone with my results.

dkelly - PM me and I'll see what I can do to help you out.

Excuse my ignorance, is PM paper mail, post messeage? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

PM stands for Private Message.

click on his name (flashlightlens.com) and once his profile comes up, click "send a private message"

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Thanks. I contacted him by PM and he seems to be a great guy and wants to be more than fair. Great customer support.

I've noticed something about my UCL since I've been using my Tigerlight (often for long periods of time). It seems that there are small (what looks to be like) droplets forming on the UCL, that isn't water because it doesn't go away when the light is turned off. Perhaps it is attributed to the heat of the beam, altering (or melting?) the properties of the anti-reflective or water repellent coating?

It would be perfect if Flens could release a Borofloat or B270 version in 55mm, that is highly scratchproof and durable. I would rather have that than the slightly higher light transmittance with the UCL.

P.S. Awesome new product layout on the site Chris! Very clean and professionally done. The logo blends very nicely. Keep up the good work!

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flashlightlens.com said:
Durability of a glass lens in the TL has been something that needs to be improved - for sure. Most of the problem has to do with the way the lamp assembly and lens kind of float above that rubber tube. You'll see what I mean if you simply press against the lens. It doesn't take much effort to push the lens in and break the seal from the bezel. This actually allows the lens to move (independent of the light itself) when it's dropped and contact the inside of the bezel with enough force to cause problems.

After performing a few tests with Michael Teig, we found out that actually removing the o-ring from behind the bezel tightens the whole system up and makes it more durable. The problem with that, however, is you jeopardize its water resistance.

I've thought of a few ways to get around this. The first idea was to have a silicone "U" channel built to isolate the lens from the bezel. The other option was to simply make the lens thicker - which is looking like the best option at this point. Because of the way the TL is designed, it can actually hold a piece of glass about 3.25mm thick.

My plan was to sell out of the 2mm thick glass and then make some lenses from 3.25mm thick UCL. I'll have to talk to TL and make sure this idea will work in the new 8" design and also check to see if a new 11" design will cause problems also.

I'll update everyone with my results.

dkelly - PM me and I'll see what I can do to help you out.

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Has the issue with the UCL lens on the TigerLight been worked out yet?

this_is_nascar - I'm not really sure what I can do with this TL thing. I ordered some 3mm thick glass and it fits fine in my TL, as well as others. However, I purchased one of the recent 11" deals and it didn't work. I could screw the bezel down without having the o-ring remain loose. I think the variation lies in the rubber isolation tube. I'd be asking for problems (reference - PM6 clickie nightmare) if I were to send a bunch of these out without knowing they'd definitely fit in everyone's lights.

Some of the explanation below is already quoted above in an earlier post:

The biggest problem is the design of the TL to begin with. Take a TL with a stock plastic lens and push on the lens. You'll probably notice that it pushes in REALLY easily and you loose the water resistant seal you once had. This is because of the isolation system for the LA. This scenario isn't good for the glass because it's like a person not wearing a seatbelt in a car accident - the lens actually has a secondary impact with the interior of the bezel when the flashlight gets dropped.

The thought of somehow surrounding the lens with some sort of isolation gasket has come up, but costs for having this type of item made have kept it from happening.

We do have some hardcoat polycarbonate lenses on the way for the C&C Mag's as well as TL's. These will kind of fill a gap for those who need the durability of polycarb and like the idea of higher scratch resistance.

I think the UCL's (especially for the TL) will always remain a lens for lights that don't get dropped or banged around. Does anyone know of any other flashlights that use a lens of at least 50mm made from glass? A lot of smaller lights (i.e. - SureFire) have glass lenses, but they are pretty thick for their diameter and the flashlight is pretty much designed for using glass and remaining durable. I've heard of SureFire glass breaking though too.

I'm open to suggestions from everyone on how we can make a durable glass lens solution for the TL.

[ QUOTE ]
flashlightlens.com said:
...I ordered some 3mm thick glass and it fits fine in my TL, as well as others. However, I purchased one of the recent 11" deals and it didn't work...I'd be asking for problems (reference - PM6 clickie nightmare) if I were to send a bunch of these out without knowing they'd definitely fit in everyone's lights...

...The thought of somehow surrounding the lens with some sort of isolation gasket has come up, but costs for having this type of item made have kept it from happening.

... Does anyone know of any other flashlights that use a lens of at least 50mm made from glass?... I'm open to suggestions from everyone on how we can make a durable glass lens solution for the TL.

[/ QUOTE ]

Chris,

The MagCharger's glass lens is just about 50mm and I haven't heard much about breakage, though it's not UCL.

The fact that the 3mm thick glass fits your Tigerlight and presumably many others is encouraging. Perhaps there is a measurement owners could make to verify proper fit for the 3mm lens before ordering it from you. (BTW, is that 3mm UCL?)

Even though an isolation gasket would be too expensive for commercial production, it could probably be modded if we knew the requirements.

Brightnorm

I think the MagCharger has a tempered glass lens - which is another option. A piece of tempered glass with AR coatings is really getting up in price though. Maybe I'll see if I can get some B270 tempered or something?

How much "up in price"? A few dollars more? Fine with me. I for one would be willing to pay more for tempered glass. (just my own opinion, though)

I do have to say that the magcharger lens is pretty tough. Mine has a small scratch/chip in it near the edge. I dropped it about 3 feet and it hit a corner of a heavy bag frame. Basically a metal beam.

Interesting, I use a UCL lens in my 8" TL, and have had no problems. I haven't loked at the lens set-up in a while, but I'm pretty sure I put a Magcharger lens gasket around the UCL lens in place of the original O-ring on the TL. This allowed a tighter bezel/head contact, and still had water resistance.

--dan

The surefire T-heads, and M-series lights have large expanses of glass on the front ends, and I have actually dropped my M6 nose first onto the concrete without any damage to the lens.

I looked into tempering glass. Apparently there is a complete lack of horizontal tempering facilities in the US. I don't know why. I have been told by more than one place that to temper a piece of glass as small and thin as one of these lenses, a horizontal tempering furnace is required. Anyone have any hook-ups outside of the US??

Dano - do you have a picture of this gasket or a link to a picture? If I could just buy a bunch of these, it would save some money of having to design and build some.