surefire l4 making me sad

some of you may remember last week i was looking for a small high output light for my basement.

what i wanted didn't really exist. so i "settled" for a l4. boy did i settle! don't get me wrong, the output is amazing to me. very white and i'd say brighter than my e2e's without quite as much throw.

now the bad news. the clickie is defective. i do not mean it is stiff as has been discussed here many times. i mean the light 5 times out of ten turns on and takes three or so clicks to turn off! sometimes it turns on (constant) without even clicking!
it gets worse! there are three large flaws in the ha.
the threads on the clickie side are what i would call 'mag' quality.
ive read all the other posts of people with like problems.
i seem to have got all the issues in one unit.
i know you guys are going to say send it back to surefire and they will fix it. i know they will. it just makes me sad that i just spent $135 on a light that needs to be rma'd out of the box. get with the program here surefire!

please don't take this post as an insult to surefire in general. i have more than a few great lights from them. i am just steamed about this particular one.

nitebrite.

Boy, did you ever have bad luck with that L4. I bought a KL4 and put it on an E2 body with the standard tail cap just so I could keep it simple and avoid the extra complexity entailed by a clickie. And besides, there didn't seem any compelling reason to even continue with an incandescent bulb on my E2.

I'm sure that SF will set things straight with you.

I have one of the L-4's that turns on by itself. The beam, color, threads and finish are perfect. I'll show it to the Surefire rep at the shot show.

nitebright,

One of the first L4s I bought had a switch like the one you describe. I called SureFire. The guy was quite interested in the problem. He asked me to send him the switch after I got the new one that they would send me. I got the new switch in about two weeks.

Paul

I sent mine back the same day I received mine, it is quite upsetting. Mine had a donut shaped beam and was just a bit too green for my liking. I had to suffer about a month till I received the replacement. At least the replacement was worth the wait.
I feel for yah!
imgadgetman

i can understand if you are an officer or something and the department buys this for you. if it doesnt work it ain't that big a deal then. but surefire knows they have a following of flashaholics. their reputation proceeds itself. that is why someone like myself that is not really rich spends $135 on one of their lights. for them to let down the general public like this upsets me greatly. even if they say the lights are maybe not for the general public. if someone buys a mercedes they would expect better. and thats what this is supposed to be. the mercedes of flashlights. i know surefire will fix or replace it. the problem is i don't feel keen on sending in my new expensive toy right when i get it.
many people have had problems with this light. one problem or the other. i even have a donut hole! but that doesnt even really bother me. what i just don't understand is why their finest 'e' size light has so many issues? you would think they wan't their top of the line product to really represent them. if an officer or emt/firefighter where to get a tailcap sticking like this they couldn't even bother to carry it! i don't know if surefire reads these forums but i hope they do!
now i would like to ask you guys, in light of all the problems with this model is it really worth twice the price of an e2e just to get a whiter beam? should i see if i can take it back in trade for another e2e? yes, it is higher technology. yes, it provides a more pleasing beam to look at. but, it has too many problems. i am really skeptical since i have heard surfire has replaced this model three times for people that finally gave up on it. i can't even understand that their first effort on a clickie is so bad. i mean gee whiz even garrity has fine clickies! and the ha-III being all screwed up, whats that about? they have been doing ha-III on these lights just fine for ages. it is like a seceret joke that they make the most expensive light in it's class a dud!

ok, sorry for such a long post. i am just really upset about this. i could have sent it back today, but i am torn! i want to use the darn thing. thats what i bought it for! geez!

nitebrite.

nitebrite,

If you will e-mail me your mailing address, I'll send you a L4 body and clickie that I think you will find acceptable. After you get them, you can send me yours and I'll deal with getting the clickie replaced. I have more lights than I need or use and won't miss the body or clickie like you would.

- Don

don, great offer! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif @ Don

Klaus

thank you so much for offering this don!
i am really impressed you would do this! but before i take you up on that offer, i think i will go to the store where i bought it in the afternoon and see if they have a better one. that way i will be happy right a way and i have not imposed on you any. i do know as of yesterday they had 4 more in stock. i should have just taken the display one with new batteries like they offered. the display one seems much better than mine. this should teach me to open any expensive purchase before i leave the store. i know the guys at this place (iv'e bought lots of other stuff there) so i am sure i can exchange it for another.
on the other hand, if they open a fresh box and i don't like it i don't think they will be too happy about opening all in stock. so i guess i'll just take the floor sample which sits in a locked case and seems fine to me.

since i am bringing it back to the store i wan't to ask you guys something. is the e2e really a better light 'overall'. because i am sure they would give me an e2e plus store credit for the rest of the purchase if that is what i wanted. i think the light is much more 'pleasing' to the eyes from the l4 but it looks like these lights may be more of an unproven novelty than a tank like the rest of the sf line. dare i say that?

oh crud! i just thought of one more thing. one of the imperfections is on the kl4 head anyways. it is like a crack that is finished over or something. so i'll just bring it back in about six hours.

also i thought of one more thing here! once i get a good l4 body and kl4 assy. i can just put the lock out tail cap from one of my e2e's on this right? that would work best i think! then i will have a light with no flaws in the finish and a tail-cap that is much more fool-proof.

i really don't like that people have had to modify the z57's to get them to work with a washer. i know many of you are quite capable of doing this. however, having to re-engineer a product from a company that outfits military units seems pretty poor to me.
really though no offense to surefire they are still a great company in my opinion.
i also have a z48 that is really stiff. maybe they did this on purpose? i mean if garrity can make a buttery smooth clickie i know sf can!

in case you did not read this whole long post,
-DON, THANK YOU-
for the offer! that was a really stand up thing to do /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif!

nitebrite.

I found using penetrating silicone lube sprayed in to the switch assy from the battery side and manually compressing the tailswitch tension spring to effectively shorten it does wonders for stiff clickies and it didn't require disassembly for mine. I might have done fairly well in the clickie lottery to begin with.

maybe i'll try that when i pick up the replacement today.
like i said they may have done this on purpose. these are made for robust military operations. for a home light though it doesnt work out great. half the problem is i am buying tactical flashlights to do the job of a energizer. lol.
the one in the case i think i will take has a fairly stiff switch but as i remember it does turn on and off reliably. and the finish looked good because i actually scrutinized that one. it's strange though that the finish is generaly better on the e2e which is the same part!
since you mentioned spray lube i actually have something much better than wd40 to try. is militec or marvel conductive?

once again i would like to thank everyone here. especially don!

nitebrite.

sorry for waiting so long to let you guys know what happened. well, i got a new one. the ha-II is aceptable. the clickie works as it should but it is stiff. the guy gave me 2 free sf123 batts for my troubles which was nice. i also bought a e2e style lockout cap to forego the clickie.
i feal it is just wrong to have to re-engineer a part on a brand new $100+ light. while i was there they also let me have a pt40 for 10 bucks. it was dark when i went outside so i compared the pt40 and l4. next to the pt40 the l4 looks stunning,lol.
my new one has less of a donut hole too. it has a little less light in the center of the beam but by no means a hole. i guess led's are just a different animal than incans.

now where i really stand after this experience is that i have to seriously scrutinize any new purchases from sf that are not the proven models. i think the l4 is worth maybe $20 to $30 more than the e2e not twice the price. yes, it has a nicer beam to look at. however it still has it's anomalies. i really also wan't a l5 but i am afraid i will be disapointed again. i think for now i will just be happy with sf incans. i think the e2e is the most impressive light they made ever. it looks yellow only when compared to a good led lamp. otherwise i wouldn't even notice. the e2e is just awesum performance for it's size whereas the l4 does not seem as good a deal. then with the l5 it throws further but is not as impressive to me as the e series body because of it's realitive size. if i want to go the bigger is better route i could just get the 10x haha.
if they would just make a 14 that throws like an l5 with smooth black or silver ha-III that other companys use, with a lockout tail cap...... thats my wish list. i guess no one light has it all. that's why we are flashaholics, right?

so does any other company make an incredible 5w led that is tiny and readily available?
the l4 has given me a taste of what can be done here but i wish for nicer!

seriously though, i would like to thank everyone that offered help and support in this post.


thank you,
nitebrite.

I think after nitebrite's experience I can count myself very fortunate! I've probably got the only L4 in Israel, waited 3 months for it but... It's perfect! Now I'm saving for an L5.

I ordered a Z57 clickie for my E2e/Kl1 combo a while ago. Pretty disappointing: it just didn't work. Click it on, it stays on, click it off, it stays on. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif

Got very frustrated with it and just went back to my normal E2e tailcap. My Z57 is now sitting gathering dust, shame. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Hellz

The clickie is a new design and there's been some problems with it. There's a guy here on CPF who takes them apart and fixes them by adding a shim or something, but I've forgotten where that thread is.

the CPF member paulr referred to is litfuse /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Hi guys /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink2.gif

Yup, the Z57 has issues. Fortunately they are pretty easy to fix. The shim mod will totally transform the clickie. You will love it post-mod, it's a *great* switch when it works properly. I will never use a LOTC again. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Of course you shouldn't *have* to do this, but this subject has already been flogged to death here. I find it much easier to just fix the switch myself than to get SF involved. There is a fair chance that the replacement they send you will be worse than the original.

It's a shame SF can't get their act together on this one, they are well aware of the problem. I have spoken to pk personally regarding this, apparently to no avail. I just got a replacement Z57 last week that was the worst ever! I guess maybe they're to busy coming out with new models too worry about making the L4 work properly. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thinking.gif

Peter

Hellz, PM sent.

Peter

Hellz could always donate it to me so I can prototype an idea for making it high/low beam like the mod I'm doing for the ARC lS. I'd send it back to him if it works.

Daniel

The L4 IS a nice light.

Daniel