Surefire 6P isn't waterproof? Gotta be...

Surefire 6P isn\'t waterproof? Gotta be...

I was just looking at the reviews of my lights at Flashlightreviews.com and it said the 6P wasn't waterproof!! I thought they were all waterproof to 33ft. I let my son play with my 6p in the bathtub the other day and it seems fine. Is this just old info or should I be worried?

Re: Surefire 6P isn\'t waterproof? Gotta be...

No Surefire lights are "waterproof" unless they are rated so (6PN, 6PSN, etc) but they are highly water resistant. As long as you keep your o-rings in good shape and all lubed up your 6P should be fit for bathtub duty.

-Mike

Re: Surefire 6P isn\'t waterproof? Gotta be...

[ QUOTE ]
Xrunner said:
The secret to keeping Surefires water resistant it to keep the o-rings and threads lubed up and in good shape. IIRC the only light that Surefire sold as waterproof to the general public was the 6PSN. There were also some M3s that have been tested and certified (if that is the right work) but I don't know if these were sold to the public. Also, for a while Surefire would test your light for a couple of hundred $. Another important factor in if your light is really water resistant is the tolerances of the individual pieces. While all lights meet general standards, I believe the somewhat waterproof ones met tighter standards.

One of the mail problems with using Surefires (such as the M3) at depth is you will get to a certain point where the water pressure will activate the tailswitch and you won't be able to turn off the light.

To sum things up, as long as you don't take your Surefire swimming or diving with you should be good to go (and some people do but they know the risks). I would recommend not taking LEDs underwater because of increased risk of damage to the electronics if they did get wet, but I never hesitate to use any of my Surefires because of the weather conditions or the like… and if it happens to fall in the water during use, I take it out, dry it off, and make sure to rinse it with fresh water when I get home. Hope this helps.

-Mike

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The above quote was taken from here. You can find some more info on waterproofness (if that's a word /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif) in that thread.

-Mike

Re: Surefire 6P isn\'t waterproof? Gotta be...

Yeah, it kinda depends on how you're using "waterproof". If you're talking about bathtub or shallow pool duty, I'd think you'd be alright if you didn't mess anything up. I've seen pictures (on here, you could find them in a search) of Surefire lights at a reasonable depth, I'd guess somewhere around 15-20 feet. Any deeper than that I'd personally look at something else. I like the Barbolight, but if you're on a budget, you can get a ton of different lights from Princeton Tec that will get the job done to a sufficient depth for the average SCUBA diver. .

Re: Surefire 6P isn\'t waterproof? Gotta be...

At the beginning of every SureFire product review on Flashlightreviews.com it says

[ QUOTE ]

UPDATE: Surefire has affirmed that all current Surefire lights should be waterproof to about 33 feet/10 meters. Some reviews were posted before Surefire made the affirmation that their lights were watertight to 1 atmosphere depth. Any new Surefire lights you purchase now should be considered waterproof to 33 feet/10 meters.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hope this helps

Re: Surefire 6P isn\'t waterproof? Gotta be...

Well I guess they're ok to 33 feet then. I'm planning on getting some O-rings and lube and adding them to all my lights so I have double o-rings on each end. This should ensure that they are indeed waterproof to at LEAST 33 feet. I don't plan on taking any of my lights more than a few feet underwater anyway, I just want to know that the ability is there...

Re: Surefire 6P isn\'t waterproof? Gotta be...

If you assume that the seals between the components you are not supposed to be responsible for are correctly and sufficiently sealed, the seals that you can keep an eye on (specifically the TailCap-to-body seal) are all that you need to keep an eye on.

O-rings should not be worn, nor damaged. They should be lightly lubricated with a correct lubricant.

Following submersion these parts should be cleaned carefully.

If you need to rely on your flashlight (any flashlight) to perform underwater, or perform after a trip underwater, you should check that it can by trying it first.

Re: Surefire 6P isn\'t waterproof? Gotta be...

Surefire once told me the standard of the 6p. It can withstand 33ft (10m) like most surefires does.
The 6PN can withstand 99ft of presure due to the extra O-ring(which u can juz purchase outside) at the tailcap area. BTW you'll need a twisty for high water pressure areas as most switches activates at around 15-20psi of presure when in momentory or when using a clicky (tested by me)

Re: Surefire 6P isn\'t waterproof? Gotta be...

SureFire have the Z21 Closed End TailCap...

Re: Surefire 6P isn\'t waterproof? Gotta be...

would like the default 6p tailcap though... can use it as a twisty too

Re: Surefire 6P isn\'t waterproof? Gotta be...

If I might say, how do you tell the difference between the 6p and the 6pn? and will the 6pn actually survive at 90 ft? Only asking because I've compared the two, but they look identical to me.

Re: Surefire 6P isn\'t waterproof? Gotta be...

If you remove the tailcap, you should see that the 6PN has an extra O-ring.

I didn't actually see it but SF's customer service told me the only difference between the two of them is that extra O-ring.

Re: Surefire 6P isn\'t waterproof? Gotta be...

[ QUOTE ]
AtomSphere said:
SF's customer service told me the only difference between the two of them is that extra O-ring.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is very interesting, because most stores that sell the 6P and the 6PN charge about double (around $110) for the 6PN. Hmmm, maybe I'll have to buy a 6P and increase it's value 100% by adding a 99 cent O ring. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinser2.gif

Found one on ebay with some good pics here.

Re: Surefire 6P isn\'t waterproof? Gotta be...

i just searched past post about 6pn and MAYBE the tailcap is different.

But i presure tested the default tailcap at 40PSI of water pressure and there is no leakage

Re: Surefire 6P isn\'t waterproof? Gotta be...

The "-N" SureFires have each been individually subjected to pressure testing. They are prepared with additional o-ring(s) where required and lubriciated for underwater environment.
(I assume that those familiar with using kit underwater know how careful you have to be to ensure seals are watertight)

You are paying extra for the testing.

Some SureFire's have switches that are specifically designed to be harder to press so that they don't activate at depth. That I'm aware of this is not an option for the standard LockOut TailCap 'type' push button pressure switch TailCap - it's a WeaponLight option for tape and rocker switches.

Al