Any regulated flashlight failures?

Have any regulated flashlights had failures that caused them to be totally inoperable? Are they reliable enough to bet your life on in an emergency?

So far I've never had a problem.

There's no such thing as a totally foolproof device. If it's critical, bring a backup.

The best bet for betting your life in an emergency is to have at least one back up! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Seriously, regulated lights should keep illuminating in most cases, but it depends on what component fails and the circut design itself. It could slip into unregulated mode (possibility of overdriving the light) but should still provide light. This only applies to true regulated circuts, not boost circuts. If a boost circut component fails, you will be in the dark.

My advice is to buy a good, QUALITY light...you tend to get what you pay for. Browse through the forums and you should get a good idea of what brands are reliable and which ones to steer clear of. A good back up light would be an Arc AAA...highest quality & reasonably priced...bright too!

No failures yet with my LS but have come across a couple of quirky AAAs.

NOTHING is reliable enough to bet your life on(or anything else on, for that matter). Reg. lights usually have more parts than non-reg, so they're even more prone to fail. Failure of any one of four things: bulb/LED, circuit, switch, or battery, could leave you in the dark.
Things tend to fail at the worst possible time. Don't leave it to chance. ALWAYS carry backup. And if it's really critical, carry backup for your backup.
An ARC-AAA or Photon or other small light, at the minimum, should accompany your main light.

gyverpete brings up the core issue with this topic: the more parts there are to something, the more oppertunities for failure, usually at the worst possible time.

I've never had a regulated flashlight or bulb blow up, but I suppose anything's possible.

Two is one, one is none, so the CPF motto becomes buy four /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I've blown a EverLED, and I have an (unnamed) regulated light going back for warantee replacement. But I don't think either failure is related to the regulator.

as many above have wisely said, always carry a backup.

If it really counts, have a backup, but just for general knowledge, an eternaLight has been up Mt. Everest, one of the harshest environments above ground, and performed admirably.
Not a regulated light, but plenty of electronics in it, and what's more, it contained alkalines.

I've had friends question the reliability of the electronics in my LED lights because of the added complication, yet the Xenon bulbs they rely on WILL fail at some point even if the rest of the light is simpler.

So, looks the safest bet would be a multiple-LED light that is direct-driven by lithium batteries..........

* Multiple LED's in case one fails
* Direct drive so there are no electronics to fail
* Lithium batteries to provide longest shelf life

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/buttrock.gif

Most of people's worries on this issue are overstated. Yes it's true that, all else being equal, a device with fewer components will fail less often than a device with more. However, that implicitly assumes that the quality of each individual part does not differ between the two devices. But what if the simpler device uses cheap parts, while the more complicated one uses high-quality parts?

Not only is this situation possible, it is likely an accurate description of reality when it comes to cheap versus premium brands of flashlights. There are good quality unregulated LED flashlights available (e.g. Lightwave, Trek), but it is a mistake to automatically assume that unregulated equals reliable. I would trust a regulated Arc or Surefire light over just about any simple flashlight that you might pick up in your local department store.

[ QUOTE ]
kz1000s1 said:
I've had friends question the reliability of the electronics in my LED lights because of the added complication

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Tell your friends that MTBF's in the tens of thousands of hours is fairly common for electronics. The company I work for make electronic equipment with *demonstrated* MTBF in excess of 30,000 hours. How complicated is this equipment? Well there are over 1300 parts in there. A properly designed LED regulator should las as long as the LED itself. By that time, you would have lost the light, or it's been obsoleted by newer technology.

CM

By the way......my last post was meant as humor......

I mean damn, EVERYONE here owns at least 3 or 4 lights!

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I personally would much rather carry some type of regulated LED light (boost or buck) than an incandescent light, but as an emergency backup you might want to carry a quality non-regulated light (preferably current limited via resistors) for the following reasons:

-simple but reliable construction
-non regulated light means that it will get dimmer as battery supply weakens, but you are never suddenly left without light (dropout point on a regulated light--boost type only)
-longer useable runtime than a regulated light (if you consider 50% lumen output to be useable
-more efficent than a regulated light
-fewer components, remaining components extremely reliable (how many times have you heard of a resistor operating at a fraction of its power dissipation capacity dying?)

So, carry a regulated light for your primary, and some kind of very simple, well-engineered non-regulated for your emergency.

I once had three flashlights go bad in five minutes in a dark place. I sure wish I had four then. I had to feel my way out in the dark.
Now I carry better quality lights, but I never fail to take along a backup.
David <><

I have not been left in the dark since I changed to regulated led lights bb400, ARC aaa & LS,L1 and CMG infinity ultra.No burned out bulbs, no going from bright to yellow to nothing,in 5 minutes while back in some dark place.They may go to moon mode but you still have light.I know they could fail but none of mine have. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I didn't realize that the CMG Infinity Ultra was a regulated light? A battery booster yes...but is it actually regulated?

I think the CMG has a boost circuit just like the Arc AAA, but a lot of people (me included) tend to call this regulated while in reality< it is not.
bernhard

The Tek-tite Micra Lithium is probably about as simple and rugged as it gets:

http://flashlightreviews2.home.att.net/reviews/tektite_treklithium.htm

The CMG O4 is also small and waterproof (keychain coin cell light better sealed than most). Only available with 2x2016 and a white LED. If I had one I might mod it to use 1x2032 and a yellow or orange-red LED.