Is This Optic Damaged / Defective? Gladius Creemator Upgrade (Pics)

I received this light recently and was surprised to see that the optic seems to have the following issues:



1. There appears to be a huge network of thin lines, almost like a spiderweb, at the rear of the optic.



2. There are many visible pieces of dirt/dust and a fingerprint or two on the optic or between the optic and the rear of the window.



3. There are several places where the adhesive or sealant securing the window to the bezel has extruded out from the rim of the bezel (the biggest is visible at around 9:00 in the first picture below and 11:00 in the middle picture below).



4. As a side matter, the window itself, which was originally anti-reflection coated and free from scratches, has been severely worn, so that none of the AR coating is visible any more and there are a number of scratches in the glass.



Your thoughts and opinions are requested. Pictures below (it was very hard to get decent pictures; I hope these are useful).

have you contacted Strategos and got back any answers regarding the issues?

I remember this thread from earlier, before the crash. You should send the light back, and request a new optic. That one looks pretty bad.

Yes, I'd be interested to hear how this turns out. I've got one here waiting to go for an upgrade, but I think I'd rather wait to see what the outcome is here. I'd be very disappointed to get it back looking like that. Good luck if you send it back - and do let us know how it turns out.

I have been in contact with them during the crash and have returned the light to them. I also spoke to them by telephone. I was told that there was no way they could assure that a light was reassembled with its original window. That means some other lucky customer got a perfect window while I've got one that is...to be very diplomatic...less than perfect. I expect them to replace it with a new one, but we will see. That presumably means that there is no assurance that you'll get your original tailcap back, which is a non-trivial issue because there were several different versions of the tailcap, and at least the first version was actually a defective design.

It turns out that I still have all the subscribed thread emails for this thread with the poster's ID and the post. I may post them back into this thread if I get a few minutes of quiet.

I will keep this thread current with updates.

Remind me not to send a light to these people to mod. Whoever he/she is doesn't seem to take their work seriously.

shao.fu.tzer said:

Remind me not to send a light to these people to mod. Whoever he/she is doesn't seem to take their work seriously.

Click to expand...

Everyone fouls up from time to time. The real test is whether/how well they will resolve this. Strategos has the light and I am awaiting a response from them. I will post here as things develop.

Here are some of the replies from earlier posts lost in The Crash. According to the emails, they were all posted on 2/20/2011.


shao.fu.tzer has just replied to a thread you have subscribed to entitled - Is This Optic Damaged / Defective? (Pics) - in the LED Flashlights forum of CandlePowerForums.

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Beyond looking scratched to all heck, it does look like there's a major crack in the optic.

Sgt. LED has just replied to a thread you have subscribed to entitled - Is This Optic Damaged / Defective? (Pics) - in the LED Flashlights forum of CandlePowerForums.

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New lens, new optic, good to go.

mrlysle has just replied to a thread you have subscribed to entitled - Is This Optic Damaged / Defective? (Pics) - in the LED Flashlights forum of CandlePowerForums.

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I would return that light PRONTO! If you bought it as a new light from a reputable dealer/manufacturer, they should be willing to replace it or refund your money.

Hello boys ( and girls)
don't be worry about the " adhesive or sealant securing the window to the bezel has extruded out from the rim of the beze" These are the parts of the optic that help line up the optic with the optic holder to make sure nothing shifts. optic was smooth on the outer part it would spin in the holder so they have bevels in it to keep it in place.

I have exactly the same "issue" when i receive my 2 gladius from stratego, i look at the first one and i first think, hey, the lens is broken, but i have exactly the same on the second....

so i send and email to stratego and they explain me why.

I have dust and fingerprints on them to, and it's not acceptable for this kind of flashlight

So i open it...
clean it
and break it when i scree the bezeel...

Because of the star that is just glued with bouble sided thermal tape, and the o ring on the front glass ( it's the original glass). When you screw the head, the o ring betwen the front glass and the lens, force the lens to turn and then the led star to turn and the wire to break ( sorry for my bad english)

well, i solder the wire ( and i do a bad job) and i'm waiting for something to glue the star....
not sure i can repair it one day.... it's not possible to screew the head completely without breaking the wire.

Here you can see the lens and it's holder

and here the star

The review...

Before i break it it work very well, nice beam,


Foreign customers, big warning....

If you are not living the USA...

Big warning, Stratego, even if you pay $69.99 for the mod, declare $179.97 to UPS
i had two gladius to mod, ( a friend give me one to save on shipping cost) it cost me $40 shipping cost france to US, $140 for stratego, + $40 shipping cost for return and.....140$ of customs taxes because stratego declare $370.00 to customs...

So, i paid $360 for this mod ( 180 / for each five year hold gladius). The price of a new one in fact...
I send a mail to stratego to ask them to send me a paper explaining that the cost of the mod was 69.99 (*2) to have a refund to the custom.

They refused explaining me they don't want to give me a "false bill", because the "actual" price for a gladius is 175$.... even if my gladius have 5 years old and is "definitively out of stock" every where in the worlk...

I pay $179.97 to stratego and i can't understand how they can put $370.00 on the UPS paper.....

Well, because of the heavy cost and the dust inside the lens, I'm very unhappy about this deal.

So the first two pictures show one of your lights as returned to you by Strategos after performing the Creemator upgrade???

zifnab69 said:

Hello boys ( and girls)
don't be worry about the " adhesive or sealant securing the window to the bezel has extruded out from the rim of the beze" These are the parts of the optic that help line up the optic with the optic holder to make sure nothing shifts. optic was smooth on the outer part it would spin in the holder so they have bevels in it to keep it in place.

I have exactly the same "issue" when i receive my 2 gladius from stratego, i look at the first one and i first think, hey, the lens is broken, but i have exactly the same on the second....

so i send and email to stratego and they explain me why.

I have dust and fingerprints on them to, and it's not acceptable for this kind of flashlight

So i open it...
clean it
and break it when i scree the bezeel...
Because of the star that is just glued with bouble sided thermal tape, and the o ring on the front glass ( it's the original glass). When you screw the bezzel, the o ring betwen the front glass and the lens force the lens to turn and then the led star to turn and the wire to break ( sorry for my bad english)
well, i solder the wire ( and i do a bad job) and i'm waiting for something to glue the star....

Here you can see the lens and it's holder

and here the star

The review...

Before i break it it work very well, nice beam,


Foreign customers, big warning....

If you are not leaving the USA...

Big warning, Stratego, even if you pay $69.99 for the mod, declare $179.97 to UPS
i had two gladius to mod, it cost me $140 for stratego, + the shipping cost and.....140$ of customs taxes because stratego declare $370.00 to customs...

So, the shipping cost to the US + the Mod, + the shipping cost to france + customs taxes cost me mutch more than the price of a "new gladius"...
I send a mail to stratego to ask them to send me a paper explaining that the cost of the mod was 69.99 (*2) to have a refund to the custom.
They refused explaining me they don't want to give me a "false bill", because the "actual" price for a gladius is 175$.... even if my gladius have 5 years old and is "definitively out of stok" every where in the worlk...

I pay $179.97 to stratego and i can't understand how they can put $370.00 on the UPS paper.....

I'm very unhappy about this deal.

Click to expand...

Two bad upgrade reports now. Not a good sign.

Hey, where can I find out more on ordering this mod? Thanks.

you can go here

http://www.order-gear.com/Gladius-CREEmator-Upgrade_1890/Gladius-CREEmator-Upgrade_11226/

I was thinking about doing this upgrade, but I am thinking of getting the Thrunite scorpion instead.

@JNewell
Yes, the picture i join to my post are "after" the creemator upgrade.

If you are living the USA, the creemator upgrade may be a greate ( and i think last) improvement for your gladius . if you do it yourself or don't have problem with dust, fingerprint and probably waterproof problems...

IF you are in another country, with shipping cost and eventually custom taxes, i'm sure it's better to buy a new flashlight light Thrunite Scorpion ( still waiting for a review to validate this point)

Stratego Creemator upgrade and waterproof.

My gladius, after the upgrade have its head completely screewed. i open it and when i want to screew it again, it break the wire ( hope i can repare it one day, but not sure)
It break only if i want to completely screew it again

The other one ( the gladius of a friend i send with my owne to save money on shipping cost) came back with the head not completely screewed ( 1 mm space).
So i'm not sure this flashlight is 50m waterproof now

This is a very interesting thread but I am still trying to get my brain around it. On one hand it appears that there is a lack of "fidelity" between a vendor of upgrades and the French customs office. The vendor appears to have tried to claim the value of a parcel as the cost of the upgrade plus the original retail cost of the product being upgraded (the Gladius light). While this may or may not be legitimate, it is certainly the case that all customs fees and taxes were paid on the original light prior to the upgrade. I imagine if there is any ability to appeal to the customs office, it would on the basis that the parcel contains an item that was shipped out of country and then returned to the country.

The second issue is more troubling. From the photos, it sure looks like this is a very amateur modification to a flashlight and the vendor is charging a professional fee for the service. If done properly, the service has substantial appeal. Have others used this vendor and had similar experiences. In my experience the qualified modifiers that advertise and do business on CPFMP have been largely top notch. This work doesn't look top notch but it may be too small a sample to draw any conclusions. More data points might help serve us. Anyone?

@andrewnewman
Stratego indicate only the price of a new gladius, not the price of a gladius + the price of the upgrade. (thanks to them)
I can understand why. For "insurance security", if the gladius is damaged or loosed during shipping, i'll be refunded.
But Stratego must indicate this on its web site. when i validated my order for the upgrade I know i'm going to pay customs taxes, but in my mind it is for 70$ value not 175. If i had known i have to pay taxes for 170 i never ship it...

In this tread there is already 2 differents flashlight with dust in it ( 3 with my friend gladius, but i don't have photos)

Justin Case said:

Two bad upgrade reports now. Not a good sign.

Click to expand...

I am officially treating mine as still under discussion/in process, but the pics posted give me some additional concerns.

Very interesting thread, thanks for the updates. A thermal epoxy should stop the wires from being cut when the bezel is screwed back after cleaning the lens. Good luck!

JNewell said:

I am officially treating mine as still under discussion/in process, but the pics posted give me some additional concerns.

Click to expand...

Any updates?

akajimmy said:

Any updates?

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I am going to have to do my best Joe Friday impression.

No updates other than awaiting parts, still in process.