A b!tch of a switch!

How hard is it to remove a existing switch machanism from the tail of the Pelican M6? How hard can it be? Really!

Hmmm.... brute force doesn't work! Maybe I am not strong enough. Heating will a drill bit (to make 2 holes for my long nose plyers) and then using brute force still does not work! What next?

I got tired of trying for several days and what the heck, I'll drill the sucker out. After much cussing and nearly getting burnt by the heat from the drilling, it finally came off. Now... it is not a condition to be reused again but alas, I can install the PM6 clickie from the Shoppe.

Surely, there must be another way? Anyone help? I have 2 more tailcaps to reswitch!

Yikes! I gave up on it a long time ago....

No pain, no gain... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

DOH! I just saw your post and promptly unscrewed my PM6 tail cap completely. Tools needed, a tweezer... I just unscrew everything!! Pics coming up! Hold on...

OMG Hottie! LOLOLOL /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hahaha.gif

I take the time to walk you threw it,,, and THIS is what you do !!!??? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ohgeez.gif

What in the hell did you do man? hehe

Mine was no problem. Some of the tailcaps were glued or epoxied together, some are not, I guess I got lucky.

Sorry you had so much trouble. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif Hopefully you like the new kroll switch you are about to install. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif

I re-switched 3 PM6's Tuesday, 1 black and 2 silver. All three had holes in the brass colored piece you had to drill. The black wasn't any problem at all, nothing was glued. Both silvers had the tan insulator, that's between the two screwed in pieces, glued in so I had to drill them to except needle-nose so I could break the glue bond. Before I could unscrew the brass colored piece under it I spent a lot of time cleaning the CLEAR glue out of the threads using a dental pick and a Dremel with a wire brush /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif. All together about 2 hours on the silver ones. Hotbeam I'm guessing it was that clear glue in the threads that caused you all the problems. Once I got the threads cleaned out they un-screwed without any effort.

These are the parts starting out from the right hand side.



And this is the tool I used



I simply used the tweezer to unscrew everything... not even much force needed! Maybe you got a bad switch. Mine's the old one where the o ring is exposed when it's in lock out position.

Nope, no glue or whatsoever...

I use this spanner wrench. It's solidly built, strong and adjustable and makes this type of work much easier. I filed the "prongs" down to points to better fit the tailpice's holes. There may be others that are slightly less expensive but I'm happy with this one.

SPANNER WRENCH FROM FILMTOOLS

Brightnorm

WOW! Howard you killed it, now I don't feel so lonely /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif

Later
Sway

Snuffy and Nerd are both right on the mark. If it's glued, you have to remove all the clear glue in the threads before it will unscrew. If not glued, it comes right apart with little effort. It appears that all new production now come with the glue :-(

Rookie: Since I had 3 clickies, I thought I had better persist and get it done /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

YC: /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twakfl.gif

Nerd: I think you got a very lucky one. Your tweezer might as well have been a toothpick in my case. It just would not budge.

Ticey: /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twakfl.gif too! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif After glancing at the posts below, I think I will dremel the threads clean (to get rid of the adhesive) before doing my next one. I couldn't see anything though.

Snuffy: I too had to drill through the tan insulator to make the 2 holes for the plyers. Will definately clean the threads for the next one. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Brightnorm: Will check out that wrench. Thanks /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Sway: I wished I didnt have to go through what you went through.

Lambda: Yep! Glue Glue Glue!

Woo! I'm plain lucky man.. but the tail cap shows quite some o-ring in the lock out position. It's a compromise I think /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

"He's dead, Jim."

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ohgeez.gifSounds like Pelican changed their assembly procedure since I put my clicky in my McModule M6 no glue in mine. Maybe it depends on where they are assembled.?! Admire you perseverance.
Mike

brightnorm,
Great tool! I ordered one immediately. There other things I could use that for - Surefire L4 switch comes to mind; watch cases for another.

hotbeam,
I converted 4 of them. 2 were easy, 2 were bears. I used the tweazer technique too. However, do not use your fingers to apply extreme force like I did - use an adjustable wrench on the tweazer. At first, I used just my fingers to apply the force to the tweazer. Big mistake. Before I realized what was going on, I had damaged some nerves in my fingers. It took about 8 weeks for them to regain normal feeling. (No kidding!) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif

I applied heat by boiling the switch in water.

Chuck

Hotbeam or anyone else....

The replacement switch that you have there has threads on it, but when I go to the Shoppe and look at the picture of their replacement switch, there are no threads.

I just got a PM6 and do NOT like the existing switch and would like to change to one that has a momentary on or a press for full on instead of this turn for full on crap.

Is the Shoppe the only place for such a replacement? Is it just a screw in type of replacement or something more needs to be done?

Thanks.

Hi Cue
Were you looking at the "Kroll "Classic" Switch Module" or " Pelican M6 Kroll Switch Module" at the McGuch Workshop section? The latter one is the one used in the PM6. You need the latter one for the PM6. The hardest part is to remove the damn /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif existing switch from the tailcap. They use some sort of glue that is super tough to break.

well, I just spend the last 2 hours trying to use the tweezer method above and NOTHING!!! No move no nothing. I am 99% sure that mine is glued in.

The switch I was looking at was the Kroll Classic Switch. I didn't see a specific one marked Pelican M6 Kroll Switch Module.

I REALLY REALLY want this upgrade as I cannot stand the existing setup. Is there anyone willing to do this mod for me and I will fedex them my tail-cap with pre-paid (return) and I will also pay them to do the work? I will greatly appreciate it.

Thanks.

Yeah, apparently at one time, Pelican did not glue it in. It is a real big PITA to remove it now, as you can see from the pic above. I'd offer to do it for you but I still have 2 other tailcaps here with the Krolls sitting in a *separate* plastic bag /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif

I understand Hotbeam and I appreciate the reply.

Anyone else willing to offer up some "hands-on" assitance?

Thanks again.