What is your most expensive or heart breaking flashlight/torch accident?

So, today I heard a bang and walked in to the kitchen to see my aspheric modified maglite on the floor. I picked it up and pressed the button... Nothing happened. I noticed a chip on the biggest lense of the two in a module thing that I took from a broken tv this afternoon and found to be perfect for my maglite (makes the dx lense look rubbish). Then I looked through the lense and couldn't see the LED. Confused and quite worried I unscrewed the head to see the shattered remains of the Cree XRE R2. The led must have been hit with a lot of force because it had shattered to very fine particles, coating the inside of the mag head and the lense.

The maglite must have hit the lino covered concrete floor head first bending the corners of the lense module and pushing it back into the led.

I'm not bothered about the money but I'm so upset because I've spent ages working on it.
On the plus side the drivers fine and the lense seems ok despite the chip now I've bent the corners of the module back into shape. I will replace the led tommorow.

Cost of this accident: £12

now let's hear about your flashlight accidents

JacobJones said:

So, today I heard a bang and walked in to the kitchen to see my aspheric modified maglite on the floor. I picked it up and pressed the button... Nothing happened. I noticed a chip on the biggest lense of the two in a module thing that I took from a broken tv this afternoon and found to be perfect for my maglite (makes the dx lense look rubbish). Then I looked through the lense and couldn't see the LED. Confused and quite worried I unscrewed the head to see the shattered remains of the Cree XRE R2. The led must have been hit with a lot of force because it had shattered to very fine particles, coating the inside of the mag head and the lense.

The maglite must have hit the lino covered concrete floor head first bending the corners of the lense module and pushing it back into the led.

I'm not bothered about the money but I'm so upset because I've spent ages working on it.
On the plus side the drivers fine and the lense seems ok despite the chip now I've bent the corners of the module back into shape. I will replace the led tommorow.

Cost of this accident: £12

now let's hear about your flashlight accidents

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Any idea on how it fell? Any pets running around?

My own stupidity. I put it down on the kitchen table and walked out of the room, I didn't think it was moving when I left it but the table must be slightly unlevel. I've had it roll off of tables before so I should have known better

When I moved out on my own after college back in 1984 I had this old chest that my parents restored and it contained alot of childhood memories. One was and old railroad lantern that used one of those monster 9V cells. I remember buying it and then slowly cleaning it and finding a PR lamp to run it. I must have been 12 when I purchased it. That chest got lost along the way and I wonder were it is...

Losing things that have childhood memories is very upsetting, and things that remind you of family members.

On anoter note I put a new Cree xre r2 in my maglite today. Works good, doesn't seem as bright as it did with the broken Cree though. Fortunately the chip in the lense doesn't seem to affect the beam too much, few dark spots in the beam when it's out of focus but when in focus it looks fine. now I'm going to try and make something to stop it rolling so this doesn't happen again

You can get an anti-roll ring for it, it's sold alone or in the accessory pack. I have one on my 3D LED and it works well.

Not an accident per se: I decided to disassemble my Novatac 120T because it was flickering even with new batteries and contacts clean. When I got the pill out I thought 'screw it, Im taking this apart as well'. After boiling it I got a little frustrated so I grabbed an x-acto knife and separated the positive contact PCB, and after 10 seconds I thought: 'Oh oh, I just ruined my 120T'.

Robin24k said:

You can get an anti-roll ring for it, it's sold alone or in the accessory pack. I have one on my 3D LED and it works well.

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Yeah those are nice, but they do affect the spill, atleast on my AA mini mags they do.

Thanks for pointing out the anti roll devices. In the end I put a stainless steel jubilee clip on the body just by the tailcap, doesn't roll now and looks kinda cool. Infact I strongly recommend jubilee clips for stopping roll, just make sure you put a strip of electrical tape on the body first so it doesn't scratch the anodising.

fl0t said:

Not an accident per se: I decided to disassemble my Novatac 120T because it was flickering even with new batteries and contacts clean. When I got the pill out I thought 'screw it, Im taking this apart as well'. After boiling it I got a little frustrated so I grabbed an x-acto knife and separated the positive contact PCB, and after 10 seconds I thought: 'Oh oh, I just ruined my 120T'.

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Lol, sounds like me. When I try and fix things I usually make them worse.
Did novatac repair it for you? I heard they have a great warranty and customer service

I put my 6P down on the night table 3-4 months ago and it toppled... onto my glasses. I now have 3 small marks in the corner of the lens (my glasses - the flashlight has nothing) but at least it's out of the way. I'm due to get a new pair, so if flashlight manufacturers can stop releasing models I want for a month or two I'll go see my optometrist.

I put my SPY007 in my jacket pocket to walk the dogs. Didn't notice my Iphone was in there. The Ti did a really nice number on my screen. $200 plus tax for a new screen. Won't do that again.

Last newyear, We have relatives spending the holidays with us, I let my two nephews play with my maglite 2D and RQ w/ strike bezel. After hours playing with the lights and drained batteries, I got the lights back but was surprised at what I saw, the Lens in the 2D is scratched pretty bad to think only have the light a few weeks. It seems the kids bump the lights at each other. Lens vs Strike bezel.

Ian2381 said:

the Lens in the 2D is scratched pretty bad to think only have the light a few weeks. It seems the kids bump the lights at each other. Lens vs Strike bezel.

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this is why I'm not going to have kids. Atleast you've got an excuse to change the maglite lens for a glass one now

Not all that expensive, but pi$$ed me off.
I lent my Q Mini123 Neutral to my daughter for a camping trip. That was fine, it made it home, but she left it in her overnight bag. The cat peed in the bag and got the lanyard. So my wife took off the lanyard to wash, and "thinks" she left the light on the counter. Well that was 2 months ago and there is no sign of the light. I have the lanyard, but no light. Me thinks she accidentally tossed in the the trash with some other casualties of the cat incident.

JacobJones said:

Lol, sounds like me. When I try and fix things I usually make them worse.
Did novatac repair it for you? I heard they have a great warranty and customer service

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Nah, next morning I thought about a mod I can do on it so I cleaned everything and started getting parts. That was a couple months ago, haven't finished yet. You can see my avatar, that is the light in process.

I was working in my garage, packaging my maxabeam for shipment to the mother ship to repair the power plugs. Turned around and dropped the light, shattering the lens. Went from a free repair to about $85.00 Ouch!

Not an accident but.....I had a Jetbeam RRT1 that I used a couple of times, went to visit my brother to show it off, turned it on and "poof" smelled it burning and it wouldn't turn on. The place I bought it from wouldn't answer emails, Jetbeam rep wouldn't exchange it even though it was only about 6 months old and used a couple of times so I sent it back to China and they returned a different one, three months and $20 in shipping later, in worse shape than the original and STILL not working, won't turn on, control ring just spins around. So much for their lifetime warranty or whatever they claim. I just said screw it and won't buy another jetbeam.

I had an old 2D MagLite that was my dad's favorite light. I upgraded it with a Malkoff XP-G module, aluminum lop reflector, and glass lens. We were a good ways out on Lake Michigan two years ago with a few friends and thier kids, watching the fireworks on Taste/July 4th weekend. I usually kept in in the engine room bulkhead tool kit, but must have left it somewhere else. So my oldest daughter was using the light, somehow it got aloft, above deck, and ended up in the water. She was crying "daddy I dropped your flashlight in the water, I'm sorry..." Told her it was ok, at first figured it was one of the many waterproof Pelican lights or SF 6Ps that we keep on board. "But it was your favorite one" she sobbed. Could not be mad at her, I obviously left it out. Was one of only a very few lights that have sentimental value to me, so that one was the most heartbreaking.

Most expensive was a custom light I had built. Started out as a SF M6 Guardian, had 6 MC-E neutral LEDs in it, side switch added to change through 5 level modes with light on. Tail cap switched on to whatever mode was last set, or two quick pushes put it in highest mode. A friend of mine who has a machine shop made a custom titanium head, body, and tail cap for it to my design/specs. Had a Picitinny rail machined into it, was also threaded to be able to go on a tripod or camera mount. To this day I have no idea where it went, it just disappeared. I usually kept it in the house, but it may have been in the pole barn. I first realized it was gone a few weeks after the pole barn was broken into, so it may have been out there and one of the things that were stolen.