How many clicks does different types of switches on flashlights last?

Title says it all.

How many clicks can a reverse clicky, forward clicky or electrical switch last?

yliu said:

Title says it all.How many clicks can a reverse clicky, forward clicky or electrical switch last?

Click to expand...

Lots, lots, and more. The first two die quickly when used above their rated current. I believe the switch performance for forward and reverse clicks are the same. But it's all to do with the switch construction.

AnAppleSnail said:

Lots, lots, and more. The first two die quickly when used above their rated current. I believe the switch performance for forward and reverse clicks are the same. But it's all to do with the switch construction.

Click to expand...

Okay, well any estimates?

I've searched around, but could only find information about keyboard and mouse switches. Are switches used in flashlights anywhere similar to the ones used in keyboards and mouses?

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll pop?

The real issue is not the average clicks to failure (which would a be a reassuringly high number),
but the chances of an early failure (i.e. a normal distribution with a high standard deviation).

Definitely different animals, as all those folks with 1,000,000 hour MTBF 'crashed' hard drives can attest to ...

ABTOMAT said:

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll pop?

Click to expand...

Everyone (old enough) knows its 3...

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It's a good question. I would like to know as well. Most switches do have a designed cycle life; Is it 1k, 100k or a million? As mentioned, current draw is one issue with corroding contacts, but also the mechanical cycle life is a separate issue.

From the few specs that I've read, it seems like a lot are in the 10k click range. 100K for better switches. I think most of us at CPF get sell our flashlights or rotate them out before the switch goes south.

I modified my original Surefire 6P twisty tailcap to a clicky (Not a McClicky switch). In less than 1k clicks, the clicky switch got stuck and it's "on" all the time (went back to a twisty).

LowLumen said:

It's a good question. I would like to know as well. Most switches do have a designed cycle life; Is it 1k, 100k or a million? As mentioned, current draw is one issue with corroding contacts, but also the mechanical cycle life is a separate issue.

Click to expand...

Yes and no. Many "MTBF" numbers are laughably gotten. Example:

Get one thousand switches and test them. After clicking them all once, the MTBF is one thousand. Clicking them all twice, the MTBF is two thousand... "Accelerated Testing" hopes to capture the abuse and magnify it to study normal failure. In an electrical switch, this can be done with higher voltage or something. Other studies do real tests, or at least real abuse. But none of these account for YOUR situation. This is where the CPF mindset of "Clicky bad, twisty good" for durability comes from.

Once I had a clicky switch fail. The boot had cracked and let water in during my last swim/photography shoot, and the clicky sat wet for weeks. It failed open just before a trip where I needed the light! So I cut a penny into a strip and wedged it between the spring and outer contact ring. The anodized threading on the tailcap let me quickly turn the tailcap into a twisty so that I could see on the trip. I don't know WHAT would kill a twisty, because the 'switch' area is large, simple, easy to scrub clean, and has no tiny required-to-work contact points.

yliu: Mr. CPF...
Mr. CPF : Yeeeeesss!!?

yliu: How many clicks does it take to get to the failure mode of a clicky switch ?
Mr. CPF: I don't know, I always end up biting. Ask Mr. Fox, for he's much cleverer than I.

yliu: Mr. Fox, How many clicks does it take to get to the failure mode of a clicky switch ?
Mr. Fox : Why don't you ask Mr. Turtle, for he's been around a lot longer than I! Me, heheh, I bite!

yliu: Mr. Turtle, How many clicks does it take to get to the failure mode of a clicky switch ?
Mr. Turtle : I've never even made it without biting. Ask Mr. Owl, for he is the wisest of us all.

yliu: Mr. Owl, How many clicks does it take to get to the failure mode of a clicky switch ?
Mr. Owl : A good question. Let's find out. (He takes the clicky and starts licking) A One... A two-HOO... A tha-three..
(crunch)
Mr. Owl: A Three!
yliu:: If there's anything I can't stand, it's a smart owl.

McGizmo: How many clicks does it take to get to the failure mode of a clicky switch ?
(crunch)
McGizmo: The world may never know.

if it's a jetbeam switch, not a lot

AFAIK some flashlight manufacturers used estimated switch life in their ads. But Pak-Lite isn't your average flashlight and its switch isn't your average tailcap clickie...

Cheers

If I wanted to make a switch to last something like forever, reliably, I would probably use an electronic switch in a very sturdy tailcap housing. There are some MOSFET based switches here on CPF that use a tiny lithium coin cell to run a MOSFET rated for 12V and a few dozen amps. The MOSFET is rated to a ludicrous number of cycles, and uses very little current. Trouble is, it costs about $40. An alternative in low-current devices is a sliding switch, which gives self-clearing and self-cleaning attributes. If it doesn't rust in place, it can be worked clean again. But the small contact area and long slider length limits high-current uses. Also the slide mechanism is difficult to waterproof.

ZL uses electronic switches to get more input than on/off, and they use electronic switching to presumably control high currents better. There are no mechanical switches in the main current path of my SC600W. My torchlab triple, on the other hand, has killed a stock Solarforce switch from heat. I do not know the rating for that switch, but it's probably not meant for 9V / 2A+. It was mushy on the last turn-off and hasn't clicked on since. If the tailcap had anodized threads, I could put a metal shim between the spring and tailcap housing and get a twisty interface for hopefully-better reliability. Until then I've put an LEDLenser tailcap on it.

Any number of ways to obfuscate on the subject. The flashlight manufacturers don't have to answer to the same standards as a Boeing 767 cockpit. I still like the simple reliable twisty, and try to keep some spare clickies on hand as well.

just want to share my experience with my Fenix pd32UE and the PD35 both are forward clicky
my old pd32UE 1 year old my estimated clicks around 10,000 times i noticed when turning on the light on the Highest setting i can notice the light flicker just a little bit from the first click and then for the 2nd click sound it will flicker again before letting go of your thumb to turn it on. but on the lower settings there is no flicker

I've only had one switch fail it was in an older Malkoff MD2. All other switches are still working, and some of those lights have been turned on/off several times a day for several years.

Electronic switches - Zebralight used to specify this for their older models (i.e. H51). "Electronic soft-touch switch, with a 200,000 cycle operating life".

Now they just say "durable soft-touch switch", so we would have to know the company that supplies their new switches to be sure. But I'm guessing it's about the same.

den331 said:

just want to share my experience with my Fenix pd32UE and the PD35 both are forward clicky
my old pd32UE 1 year old my estimated clicks around 10,000 times i noticed when turning on the light on the Highest setting i can notice the light flicker just a little bit from the first click and then for the 2nd click sound it will flicker again before letting go of your thumb to turn it on. but on the lower settings there is no flicker

Click to expand...

That doesn't necessarily need to be the switch itself causing the flickering.
Maybe it's just time for cleaning the parts in the tailcap and tightening the retaining ring.
If' you do that, please let us know if it changes anything.

GunnarGG said:

That doesn't necessarily need to be the switch itself causing the flickering.
Maybe it's just time for cleaning the parts in the tailcap and tightening the retaining ring.
If' you do that, please let us know if it changes anything.

Click to expand...

the ring is tight and sprayed some contact cleaner to the switch

den331 said:

the ring is tight and sprayed some contact cleaner to the switch

Click to expand...

You probably need to disassemble it somewhat and clean. Anyway, just bypass it altogether with a paperclip (touch the neg batt terminal to the naked tube edge) - if there's no flicker on bypass, then it is something with the clicky.