Side button problems............bee

Hey all, been awhile

Wanted to upgrade my Fenix pd32 to and XML led. I ended up with a NiteCORE EC25 Cobra. Great light. Would have stayed with Fenix, but the T6 led kills it for me. Anyhoo.....My issue lies not with my new light, but more with the lighting trend of side buttons. Damn thing ALWAYS gets pressed one way or another. Even when locked out, a long press will unlock and turn them back on.

So, What are the rest of you doing to get around this? I'm on my 5th set of batteries and I've only actually used half of 1 set!!! Bring back the TailClickies!!!!!



Thanks for listening / commenting on my rant!

Basically I'm stayng away from lights with both rear and side switches. I don't have anything against side switches provided they are the only switch on the light and are big enough to be located and pressed with ease. Rear clickies with turning heads are far from perfect but realized this week using my lights with gloves all the time that they are a good compromise, IMHO the best one. Surprisingly side mode
switches seem to be all the rage... curious too on how people deal with them.
Sent from my ST27i using Tapatalk 2

I love side buttons! Keep them coming! Most flashlights on the market, I guesstimate 90%, are tail clickies. Boring!

Your problem of inadvertent activation may be due to how its being used or the flashlight design.

1) I have a side button Fenix E25 - it has never been inadvertently activated but I don't ECD it either so that may be why.

2) Some users had problems with inadvertent activation with their Zebralight SC600 side buttons so the design was changed to recess the button deeper into the flashlight and make the button stiffer. Problem solved. No one out of zillions of owners complains about the problem anymore. Everybody is happy with their side button SC600.

3) For many users, the underhand grip with side button is a way more comfortable and natural position then the overhand with tail button position. Overhand is more for tactical users - of which most of us aren't (nor pretend to be).

4) I suspect side buttons - being closer to the electronics at the head - is a better position for designers working with electronic buttons - the newer trend in design technology. Tail buttons are easier for designers using mechanical clickies - which tend to be older designs (boring again).

5) Electronic buttons are able to be used with high-power lights with more amps while mechanical clickies top out at 4 to 5 amps before burning out due to arcing - hence for lower power flashlights (did I say boring?).

6) Zebralight is coming out with electronic buttons on the tail - just like their Spark counterparts. This may be the ticket for you.

7) I'm sure you know all this stuff already but just needed to vent and let out some steam to feel better and relax again. We hear ya. Your flashlight's design regarding the side button probably isn't as recessed as it could be. Looking at the pictures of the EC25, it looks that way to me so I'm not surprised with your problem.

I've also have a Fenix E25 with a side button for half a month already, carried daily either in cargo pockets, coat pockets or a bag, it's never turned on accidentally. It would rather sometimes NOT turn on when not pressed for long enough.

what if the side buttons were recessed, or protected from being accidentally pressed without making them difficult to access?

i enjoy the simplicity of the tail clicker, but it is relatively limiting when you have to cycle through 5 modes just to get to a different brightness level.

I have always avoided lights with side buttons, and always will.
In my view, they are a horrid design flaw.

Side buttons usually mean electronic switches and these can offer some interesting UIs, and features like battery meters. The downside is that they seem to add an additional layer of complexity and another point of potential failure. This is purely anecdotal, but it seems to me that I've been reading about more and more electronic switch failures in lights, including legendary HDS, that you just don't see with mechanical clickies. Makes you wonder if the dedicated electronic switch companies (Asian), like Zebralight and Spark, only have 1 yr. warranties for a reason.

Ditto that..! Thats why I only trust twisties for SHTF scenarios... nothing much to go wrong except a dead cell..!!

A side button works well when using a light with a long battery tube, like the Inova T4. It is too difficult to press a tail switch if you want to change modes without changing your grip on that long flashlight.

It's really strange to see posts from longer term members, Sieg Heiling the mechanical clickie as if we didn't see problems with them all the time. In the past it was a regular session to complain about the failures of SF clickies and later Fenix for failures or soft feel. I think it's safe to say that we just see failures period and electronic switches are just the newest point of failure. I'm not married to either format but haven't experienced an electronic switch failure yet, unlike the mechanical clickie failures that seemed to happen with regularity. I just had another clickie failure within the last week with my preon1 EDC, my third failure of that switch on two separate lights. Yes, the friction head is generally reliable but so was the Model T Ford. I prefer more options and flexibility from my lights so appreciate the progress made.

With regards to inadvertent activation, that's a hard one. I've got a Nitecore EC2 that does that depending on how I carry it. Sometimes redesigning the shape of the switch or increasing the pressure required to press it can help. I just make sure that I don't put it in my back pocket because that will do it every time. You might have to adjust you're carrying of that particular light or switch to another.

I always lock out or disable side switch lights when transporting them. Loosen the tailcap or remove the batteries.Guaranteed they will come on if I don't. Neck, pocket, or belt carry I have had a side switch light come on.

I have a pair of older Streamlight Scorpion's one with a side switch and one with a rear switch, I always found that I prefered the rear switch. and if I would grab the side switch light by mistake would be frustrated with it. When you need light right now the rear switch is always right where you think it is, the side switch you have to feel for, and I never liked that, for quick use. Once you start using lights with an overhand grip for the rear switch, it just seems like the natural way to use them, at least for me. JMHO...

The nitecore TM15 electronic side button has made me keep this light at home. I'm working in underground tunneling project and lights are important to me daily. Its not good to see my lights already in turbo mode when I retrieve it from the holster. I'm fine with side switches but not so 'soft-torch'like the tiny monster whereby a single squeeze against the light in the holster would activate it. Right now, I'm using the eye40 as alternative, it's rotary switch design and it's UI aren't the one I like but at least it won't power up inadvertently.

AAAAAAAAAAAAArghh, happened to me too! Gr. I carried it in... not even a back pocket, but somehow due to friction or God knows what pressure the E25'd turned on. Don't know for how long it's been on and on what mode, now it looks the same on all modes... gr. I hope it doesn't happen again.

I have EC25. So far I have not had this issue, but it does seem the design (or UI) needs tweaking.

I think changing the UI so on from lockout was three quick clicks rather than one long click would likely solve most issues.

But overall I like the button functions and tailcap lockout is easy and effective.

greeny1 said:

I have EC25. So far I have not had this issue, but it does seem the design (or UI) needs tweaking.

I think changing the UI so on from lockout was three quick clicks rather than one long click would likely solve most issues.

But overall I like the button functions and tailcap lockout is easy and effective.

Click to expand...

I'm fine with the nitecore UI, actually. It's only if they can bury the switch a little below the torch surface...the current button is protruding a little way too out.