My Light Tried To Burn Me Down!

The other day while standing in the hallway in a Hospital all day when I notice a bright light coming from the coat!
I look inside where I keep my Zebra SC80 clipped in the inside pocket of my Carhartt jacket and the light is not only on but the thing is almost too hot to touch!!!!oo:

Somehow the thing got switched on while holding the coat across my chest with my arms crossed I guess and I don't know how long it was on but I have never gotten it this hot before out of the pocket much less inside the pocket.
I know the switch is deeply recessed on this light nut evidently not deeply enough?

So now I unscrew the tail enough to lock it off which is a pain but I am not walking into the light,at the hospital just yet.
I was just visiting!

Don't turn your back on the "Stripped Horse"!

Yes, this is a well-known Zebralight issue, with all but the latest Zebralight SC series.
Lock it out with the tailcap.

It appears that the new series 'may' have this problem solved with the new stiffer switch, but it remains to be seen if it truly is fixed.
Interestingly, even to this day, after MANY reports like yours, people are still in denial about this switch flaw, and even get publicly angry when somebody mentions the truth about it.

The switch on my SC80 looks exactly the same as on my SC52 so even if they changed it they are still too easily bumped I would say.
I also have mine modded with a SolarForce clip under the tail cap so when I lockout the clip lets the light just spin too.

Why would this report make anyone angry?
This is not something I want to be in the Dark about!

Pun of course intended!

AVService said:

Why would this report make anyone angry?
This is not something I want to be in the Dark about!

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"The Herd" can get very emotional.
They got my account suspended for a week last year, for pointing out the same thing that you just reported.

Yeah, some of the older style switches were too easy to activate in your pocket. My SC600 and 600W had the new switches, so they were recessed and I've never had to loosen the tail cap, etc, to prevent accidental activation.

I've had some twisty lights go off on their own, either they unscrew and the cells fall out...or, they tighten and go on.

When a light goes on in a pocket...especially a coat or other place where you might not FEEL the heat...the heat that WOULD HAVE been radiated is held in...so the light and pocket, can get very hot.

In my pant pocket, the few times I had a light go on...I could feel the heat through the pocket pretty easily, and had a lot of warning something was amiss.



BTW - Its not that you can't warn people about a light or defect, etc...its that you can't do it a lot in a thread for that light per se....you're supposed to make a new thread about it I think. If the mods feel you're being inflammatory or making too many posts on it, they do tend to flag you...so, everything in "moderation".

Its sort of funny,I was not making a report about ZebraLights at all I was telling the story that happened to me and it happened to just be a ZL this time.

I have little doubt that it can and likely will happen again to me and with any number of other "Torch" but right now the lights I carry in multiple pockets are ZL!

My HDS rides in a holster on my belt where it can breathe.

Also I a not sure a Preon can make a run towards the flames or not?

AVService said:

Its sort of funny,I was not making a report about ZebraLights at all I was telling the story that happened to me and it happened to just be a ZL this time.

I have little doubt that it can and likely will happen again to me and with any number of other "Torch" but right now the lights I carry in multiple pockets are ZL!

My HDS rides in a holster on my belt where it can breathe.

Also I a not sure a Preon can make a run towards the flames or not?

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Just load it with "Catch-Fire" cells.

TEEJ said:

Just load it with "Catch-Fire" cells.

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The reason behind 'spontaneous human cumbustion' in modern times.

Accidental turn-on can happen with virtually any light unless you lock it out. After all, most tactical lights have protruding buttons rather than recessed ones. Thankfully, 1xAA/2xAA or 1xCR123 lights aren't powerful enough to melt things or set them on fire (yet?), the most you're risking is a dead battery. I've had a ZL H502d turn on once in a jacket tightly folded and tucked away inside a backpack, which I figured out afterwards by the dead battery. Some things you just have to avoid doing, especially if your light is more powerful.

eebowler said:

cumbustion

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Back in the day I used to EDC my SF G2 in a nice belt holster. One day when I was working on my computer, slouched down in the chair with my keyboard on my lap and my feet up on the desk, I noticed a hot spot on my side. When I checked, I found that somehow the way I was slouched had forced my G2 (bezel up) down into the holster far enough to hold it on. I wound up with two very depleted batteries and a bubbled lens. So I immediately got with SureFire and ordered a lockout tailcap for my G2 (shows you how old that G2 was, doesn't it), and got a boro lens replacement from flashlightlens.com.

I too have had the same issue with ZL'S however when I read this matter in other threads some people claimed it was a fault. A fault can only be a fault if the manufacturer makes something one way and it does not perform that way. On this basis I came to the conclusion the ZL switches were not a manufacturers fault but rather an issue that needed a design change which is what they did. I guess if they make the switch to stiff people will complain. I only have the SC51 and simply make the necessary tail cap adjustment when carrying the light and are happy to do so. It would be unfortunate if the new lights were having the same issue but it is not a deal breaker for me with my very much liking the ZL switches and other positives.

Every side switch flashlight I have owned has turned on unexpectedly in my pants pocket. Some while on my neck lanyard. I always lock out side switch lights. Rarely I have had tail cap forward clickie lights come on while carried. Never a reverse clickie light yet.

I just got a new SC52. To me it seems to be recessed and firm enough that it shouldn't turn on except it very extreme circumstances. My Preon 2 does often turn on in pocket though, somehow always ends up in high somehow too, it gets really hot since it's pushing alot of output and I have the titanium one so it gets hotter than the aluminum model.

Wiggle said:

I just got a new SC52. To me it seems to be recessed and firm enough that it shouldn't turn on except it very extreme circumstances. My Preon 2 does often turn on in pocket though, somehow always ends up in high somehow too, it gets really hot since it's pushing alot of output and I have the titanium one so it gets hotter than the aluminum model.

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I was thinking the exact same thing about my Preon 2. It always somehow ends up in high mode! I carry mine outside my shirt top pocket so put it down to accidentally hitting it when putting another thing in there. Still, quite odd how it always ends up being scorching hot on high. That light really can get HOT!!

moozooh said:

Accidental turn-on can happen with virtually any light unless you lock it out. After all, most tactical lights have protruding buttons rather than recessed ones. Thankfully, 1xAA/2xAA or 1xCR123 lights aren't powerful enough to melt things or set them on fire (yet?), the most you're risking is a dead battery. I've had a ZL H502d turn on once in a jacket tightly folded and tucked away inside a backpack, which I figured out afterwards by the dead battery. Some things you just have to avoid doing, especially if your light is more powerful.

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I agree 100% This is not an issue that is specific to Zebralights. Pretty much any light that has a switch that can be activated by a thumb/finger can be activated by something else accidentally. That's why some manufacturer's build in lockout functionality.

Lightman2 said:

I guess if they make the switch to stiff people will complain.

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They did make the switch stiffer, and yes, some people have complained ("You can't please all the people all the time" ).

FPSRelic said:

I agree 100% This is not an issue that is specific to Zebralights. Pretty much any light that has a switch that can be activated by a thumb/finger can be activated by something else accidentally. That's why some manufacturer's build in lockout functionality.

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Just had this happen with my Solarforce L2T while mounted in a holster on my belt. I think it got turned on high while I was pulling some wrenches about an hour ago. I was sitting here in my office wondering where the burning smell was coming from. I was catching a whiff every now and then for about half an hour. When I finally noticed that it was one, it was WAYtoo hot to touch with bare hands. I never knew it could get that hot! Hope I didn't damage the light or the cell. Scary!

Had it happen in my pocket once with my SC51. I lock it out with a slight turn of the tail cap if I'm putting it in a pant pocket now. It becomes second nature in a short period and can be done with one hand once you get the hang of it.