Opening the light to re-center the emitter. Is this generally hard (and wise) to do?

I have recently purchased Eagletac SX25L3, and upon receiving it, realized that the emitter is somewhat off center. I don't have the batteries yet to test if the pattern is visibly offset because of this, but I won't lie, paying so much for a flashlight and then seeing an imperfection where it matters the most is already annoying. It's like buying a camera and getting a scratched lens or something.

Now, I know I can ask the dealer for a replacement, but I also know they will charge me the shipping for the return, and I'll have to wait a week or so for the back & forth, so I was considering that it might just be an easy fix to open the light up and recenter the emitter. However, I'm a complete newbie when it comes to this, I don't even know to which lengths these manufacturers go to lock the access to the emitter. Will the dust get in when I open it? Is it all glued together so I would have to break it apart? Do they get the air out of that chamber while closing it up so it's kept in a somewhat of a vacuum? I have no idea. My experience is only really with cheaper lights that you normally can just unscrew the head off and get to the lamp that's inside to replace it if it burns. This particular light has four small screws visible in the underside when you unscrew the head, so if there's typically no glue involved with Eagtac lights, maybe I can just unscrew them and access the emitter. But then will I be actually able to move it at all, or is the emitter itself usually glued to the heatsink (using glue there seems like a terrible idea to me, but what do I know)?

Opening the light to re-center the emitter. Is this generally hard (and wise)...

Leave it, doesn't really affect the beam unless it is way off (which I doubt). You'll void warranty, get dust inside, fingerprints/scratches on the reflector, etc.

Re: Opening the light to re-center the emitter. Is this generally hard (and wise)...

I say leave it alone as well (unless it is way off in which case, call and see IF that is a warranty claim)
Real use - no effect. Beamshots onto a white wall is probably the only scenario you'd notice anything.

Re: Opening the light to re-center the

RubiconSS said:

Real use - no effect. Beamshots onto a white wall is probably the only scenario you'd notice anything.

Click to expand...

Yeah, you will see a lot of problems with your beam when white wall hunting but in most cases, you won't feel a thing when you are using it outside.
So when you get your batteries, try it out first.

- JonK

Re: Opening the light to re-center the

Lots of good advice ^ about centering the LED. Like the posters before me I'd wait until you can try it with batteries in a real-world environment. A small offset should not make much difference. Welcome to CPF!

Re: Opening the light to re-center the

Can you show us a pic of what you are talking about? Here is a pic of that same light that I owned a while back. The hole in the reflector and the size of the emitter are almost the same. I am just curious how much you are talking about and if it would be relevant to actual use or not.

Re: Opening the light to re-center the

Mr. Tone said:

Can you show us a pic of what you are talking about? Here is a pic of that same light that I owned a while back. The hole in the reflector and the size of the emitter are almost the same. I am just curious how much you are talking about and if it would be relevant to actual use or not.

Click to expand...

Of course, here it is. You're right, there' not much wiggle room there, the opening is just slightly bigger than the emitter. But you can tell from the picture it touches the left side of the reflector and there's some space to the right. With a glass half-empty mindset, you could say that it's almost as bad as it can possibly get On a more positive note, It took me several tries to even make a photo where this was going to be somewhat visible. It's really maybe 0.5-1 millimeter offset from the ideal center, and I guess it's a bit more obvious when looking at it with both eyes due to 3D perception.


In selfbuilt's review you can see one that seems perfectly centered:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff97/selfbuilt/2013/SX25L3028.jpg

Re: Opening the light to re-center the

I would not let that little bit bother you. I personally don't think it would be worth the time and effort but that is your call. It can be tough to get a totally flawless light. Especially with the orange peel reflector you will never see that in real world use. Even against a white wall it should be rather minuscule.

I received mine yesterday. It outputs an amazing wall of light! I got the MT-G2 LED neutral tint version.

Re: Opening the light to re-center the

T-roc87 said:

I would not let that little bit bother you. I personally don't think it would be worth the time and effort but that is your call. It can be tough to get a totally flawless light. Especially with the orange peel reflector you will never see that in real world use. Even against a white wall it should be rather minuscule.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm thinking the type of the reflector, plus the width of the surface from which the light comes out of should render this a non-issue. Thins sort of thing shouldn't affect the strength of the light output either, I guess. Still waiting on those 18650 batteries from fasttech, but reading how there's all these shipping delays with them so who knows when, or if I'll get them :\

Re: Opening the light to re-center the

Marconelly said:

Yeah, I'm thinking the type of the reflector, plus the width of the surface from which the light comes out of should render this a non-issue. Thins sort of thing shouldn't affect the strength of the light output either, I guess. Still waiting on those 18650 batteries from fasttech, but reading how there's all these shipping delays with them so who knows when, or if I'll get them :\

Click to expand...

What a bummer, to have such a cool light in your hand and no batteries to power it up!