Fenix forward clicky switch life cycle?

Hello does anybody know how many cycles is the switch of a forward clicky ? thanks

Somewhere between 1 and 100,000 clicks is a great guess. Clicky switches have a lot more in common with a ballpoint clicker than you'd like for reliable service. Every click action degrades the spring and contacts. There are things you can do to enhance your experience:

0. Lubricate the O-rings.
1. Replace the O-rings and switch boot yearly. Keeps water and grit out of the mechanism.
2. Don't change batteries when dirty. If you do, wash and dry well.
3. Dry the switch if it gets wet.
4. Use recommended batteries. Higher voltage and current degrade the switch more quickly.
5. Lubricate the clicky with an appropriate lube.
6. Tighten the clicky retaining ring appropriately.
7. Have a spare because all machines fail.

thank you for your answer because i have a PD32UE on turbo mode if your turn on and hear the click of the switch you can see a slight flicker of the light but in low mode there is no flicker i sprayed electronic contact cleaner and the flicker disappeared after few hundred clicks the slight flicker comes back again

AnAppleSnail said:

Somewhere between 1 and 100,000 clicks is a great guess. Clicky switches have a lot more in common with a ballpoint clicker than you'd like for reliable service. Every click action degrades the spring and contacts. There are things you can do to enhance your experience:

0. Lubricate the O-rings.
1. Replace the O-rings and switch boot yearly. Keeps water and grit out of the mechanism.
2. Don't change batteries when dirty. If you do, wash and dry well.
3. Dry the switch if it gets wet.
4. Use recommended batteries. Higher voltage and current degrade the switch more quickly.
5. Lubricate the clicky with an appropriate lube.
6. Tighten the clicky retaining ring appropriately.
7. Have a spare because all machines fail.

Click to expand...

It's probably just the contact resistance when the switch is close enough for a spark to jump but not fully in contact yet.

It is fairly normal for a clicky switch to get a little dirty and develop some resistance and flicker as you noticed when it is being activated. It should not flicker once it comes to rest in the on position however.

Reverse clickies are typically considered longer lasting than forward clickies because the internal mechanism is a little bit less complicated but with the explosion of popularity of forward clickies they've become much, much more reliable in recent years. The most common problem that I'm aware of with forward clickies is that they stop latching properly in the on position.

For piece of mind, it's also worth learning how to by-pass the clicky on your light with a piece of tinfoil - takes up zero room in a wallet and can come in handy scavenging different sized cells in pinch.

I've noticed that my TK11 flickers *ever so slightly* when the 18650 is pretty depleted, but just for a second. When I charge the 3100mah cell back to full it goes away. So there are definitely a multitude of factors for that.

I have thought about the clicky as being the one part that will almost certainly fail on that light and keep it from being a light that could last 5, 10, 20+ years. I'm gonna buy a spare clicky for sure for the lights I really like.

Also for people who don't want to be "flashaholics" and are perfectly fine with a single tough-as-nails go to light like a TK11 that just works then the spare parts and maintenance become the most important parts. For people who own craploads of high end lights and use different ones all the time it's probably not quite as important.



---> This isn't exactly related, but could somebody point me to a very specific tool for opening the tail-cap retention rings on lights like a Fenix TK11 (for example). Is there a "right tool for the job". I don't want to buy a pair of pliers or something that "kind of works" if there literally is an actual tool that is made for doing just this. Thanks in advance!