Surefire Cree L1 owners with issues

[CallMeDave]

In the end, I returned my L1 (#A00081) to BrightGuy for a refund, due to the misshaped beam.

The photo below doesn't reveal it as well as the eye does, but note the arc of the circle between about 10 and 11 o'clock, where things are squashed towards the center. It's real annoying in person.

The red circle of the hotspot was calculated by temporarily adjusting input levels in Photoshop.

Maybe I'll try another one in a few months, when they get the kinks worked out.


Dave

 

[Valpo Hawkeye]

In the end, I returned my L1 (#A00081) to BrightGuy for a refund, due to the misshaped beam.

I'm all for getting what you paid for and such like things, but...

Are your expectations entirely realistic? That beam looks fine to me. If you're a painter by trade and you're using the L1 to inspect white paint jobs that your employees are doing, then fine, this light isn't for you. Otherwise, was it substantially worse in person than in that photo?

 

[LiteFan]

Well, since this thread seems to have a lot of complaints, I'd like to reassure folks that SF in indeed a stand-up company (again). I posted recently that they sent me a new tailcap for an original version L1 that was pure wear & tear...kinda like Ford replacing your tires after 100k, for free, I think. I had to call them again because my new E1e blew the bulb and left a vapor deposit of some kind on the inside of the window. A replacement is on its way, no questions asked.

I feel badly for folks who got a defective L1, but isn't the best and most reasonable course for SF to stop production long enough to fix the problem, then send out a new light when they're available? There isn't much sense in sending out another potentially defective light. Would it be better if this hadn't happened? Absolutely? Have things like this happened before, and will they again? Absolutely.

Agreed they recently sent me a new tailcap for my 6P that I purchased seems like 10+ years ago (laser products cap with round bezel). Seems all we do is drool over new Surfire lights, get impatient while waiting, ***** when they are late, and expect perfection. We give them no slack...and we should...IMO.

 

[luminata]

I dont know if anyone has noticed but every great Surefire response related in these threads seems to be A TAILCAP. SF is fantastic at sending out Tailcaps. AWESOME!!!!!!!!! They have the tailcap replacement down to a science . Quite impressive. If I ever need a tailcap I know where to go for sure. Now how about they work on the rest of the package they tout about in all their advertising. :twothumbs

 

[city cop]

I dont know if anyone has noticed but every great Surefire response related in these threads seems to be A TAILCAP. SF is fantastic at sending out Tailcaps. AWESOME!!!!!!!!! They have the tailcap replacement down to a science . Quite impressive. If I ever need a tailcap I know where to go for sure. Now how about they work on the rest of the package they tout about in all their advertising. :twothumbs

If your that unhappy with Surefire, don't buy them anymore! Lots of China made lights for ya buy. Personaly I'll buy the Surefire since my life can and does depend on them.

 

[JNewell]

I dont know if anyone has noticed but every great Surefire response related in these threads seems to be A TAILCAP.

First, 'tain't so...I've got a new bezel coming, as posted above...and have had bezels replaced on other occasions...but to the real point, there is a reason for this. In general, these things are so well designed and built that that's the only thing that goes wrong!

Surefire's not perfect, but a one man crusade doesn't change the basic facts about their excellent products and customer service, even if you post it on the internet.

 

[luminata]

Many, Many people are very happy with SF and that is great . :twothumbs

And good advice for sure to not buy SF anymore which is exactly what I intend on doing .
I have made a concerted effort to buy American in all aspects of my life in recent years but USA based companies are not making it easy . I broke down and went with Honda for my next vehicle after a blown head gasket on my Taurus at 80,000miles.
I left SF for terrible CS a ways back, returned for the L1 Cree and got burned again. I will not go to anything Made in China if I can help it though. So that doesnt leave me much in the flashlight world. I'm not gonna argue with Sf fans for sure though . Your beliefs are strong and your patience and pockets deep. I cant compete with that !!!

 

[CallMeDave]

Are your expectations entirely realistic? That beam looks fine to me.

Yes.

As I noted, the low pixel dimension, compressed jpeg taken against a living room wall in less then optimal conditions does not show the issue as obviously as the eye sees. It's not just an issue of spill; the torch simply does not provide a balanced 360 degrees of light.

None of my other LEDs, Luxon or Cree, exhibit this behavior. They may not have perfectly razor sharp circles of light, but they don't look like a gibbous moon, either.

Compressing the input levels of the image suggests the imbalance occurring at the very center of the hotspot. The white pixels in this image sequence directly corresponds to what the beam looks like in real life.

(I don't have access to this same camera, and I haven't yet tried this on other lights, so please consider this to be just a rough attempt at image analysis):

(Below: shadow=249, highlight=254)

(Below: shadow=249, highlight=253)

(Below: shadow=249, highlight=252)

(Below: shadow=249, highlight=251)

 

[Warp]

Buy a few of the L1's and your problems go away.

Sorry, but no.

I, like many people I am sure, don't have $400+ to blow on a handfull of identical flashlights...no matter how great they are suposed to be (or how great they turn out to be)

 

[Gimmy]

Paying over a $100 for a flashlight, going thru the trouble of returning it and still have to wait a long time before being able to play with it again..... this sucks no matter how you look at it. But at least they are trying and will fix it for you. Not all company or dealers will do that. Not trying to change the topic but below is a link to my experience with a $300+ dollar knife. BTW, I believe Surefire is a good company.


http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=388672&highlight=mpc

 

[luminata]

Hey Gimmy. Good related thread on a defective product.

One huge similarity I noticed between the two situations is the guy who sold you the knife told you "there is nothing wrong with your knife , that is how it's supposed to be". when you and everyone else can see there is defintely a problem with that knife. The Cs person you dealt with also spent a significant amount of time arguing with you, disputing your claims and not solving your problems but actually just frustrating and upsetting you.

When SF is called about the L1 Cree and asked about the problem some are experiencing they claim ignorance , when they do know of the problem. They also , when asked too many questions (it seems there is a limit of one ) become beligerent and slightly hostile and after wasting time with slap downs and such will proceed to ignore any other questions other than , did you get the product back in your hands ?.

Is SF a "good" company? yes I think overall that they are. I believe they do have some issues though , just like any place will , no one is perfect.

This L1 problem has brought to light many of the issue SF still continues to have in Customer Service with seriuos attitude problems of the staff and supplying inaccurate information to the customer.

 

[Warp]

I, for one, just ordered a couple of Fenix lights instead of a Surefire.

The lights may (or may not) be as good, but I know that through Fenix-Store I can count on better customer service...and spend less money!

Surefire: take notice!

 

[Valpo Hawkeye]

Surefire: take notice!

No offense, but they don't care what you buy. They have gov't contracts and national chains like Bass Pro, Cabela's and others who carry their line and not Fenix. Don't get me wrong, I like Fenix too. My P2D CE exceeded my expectations in many ways. However, so did my Cree L1. :shrug:

 

[senna94]

I think it is funny that you should mention Bass Pro shops. Yesterday, i went in to the local Bass Pro Shop and found 2 L1s. One was the previous version and the other was the new Cree version. I took a gamble and went ahead and bought the Cree L1. When I got to the parking lot I turned it on and was impressed with the lights size and output even in broad daylight. I then did the dreaded run test. Sure enough within 4 minutes it started blinking. I called Surefire from my vehicle and told them about it. They offered to have it picked up and pay for S&H both ways. While impressed, I opted to walk right back in the store and return the malfunctioning light. I hated to do it because they didn't have anymore, but I think I would have hated waiting for it to be fixed even more.

 

[Warp]

No offense, but they don't care what you buy. They have gov't contracts and national chains like Bass Pro, Cabela's and others who carry their line and not Fenix. Don't get me wrong, I like Fenix too. My P2D CE exceeded my expectations in many ways. However, so did my Cree L1. :shrug:

Then why do they even bother selling to the general public?

Are you authorized to speak on behalf of Surefire?

If they do not care, at all, what I buy that's as good a reason as any NO TO. If they don't care about me, and they let it show, why on earth would I do business with them?



I do like Surefire lights. I just don't like to pay for them and I dread getting a lemon from them.

I will likey adopt a "let other CPF members be the guine pigs before I make the purchase" approach.

I really do like Surefire lights, and I want more (all I have is a stinkin' G2)....I just don't want to get hung out to dry waiting on slow/poor customer service!

BTW: The one and only Surefire light I have had to be sent back for a repair/replacement when I got it wet. All those ads where they show hteir products in a cave, you'd think it could handle quick dip in the swimming pool.

 

[Vinnyp]

If your that unhappy with Surefire, don't buy them anymore! Lots of China made lights for ya buy. Personaly I'll buy the Surefire since my life can and does depend on them.

Not sure I would be happy to be anywhere where my life depended on a flashlight but after a lot of tests we have just switched away from Surefire to Streamlight for our weapon lights because of all the problems we have had with SF. No idea what our plans are for L2 and L4s

No offense, but they don't care what you buy. They have gov't contracts and national chains like Bass Pro, Cabela's and others who carry their line and not Fenix. Don't get me wrong, I like Fenix too. My P2D CE exceeded my expectations in many ways. However, so did my Cree L1. :shrug:

Well they just lost this "govt contract"

 

[Art Vandelay]

I think it is funny that you should mention Bass Pro shops. Yesterday, i went in to the local Bass Pro Shop and found 2 L1s. One was the previous version and the other was the new Cree version. I took a gamble and went ahead and bought the Cree L1. When I got to the parking lot I turned it on and was impressed with the lights size and output even in broad daylight. I then did the dreaded run test. Sure enough within 4 minutes it started blinking. I called Surefire from my vehicle and told them about it. They offered to have it picked up and pay for S&H both ways. While impressed, I opted to walk right back in the store and return the malfunctioning light. I hated to do it because they didn't have anymore, but I think I would have hated waiting for it to be fixed even more.

I bet the big chain stores don't like giving refunds for defective products. Some amount of returns are probably acceptable.

I don't know what the percentage of L1's are returned. Threads like this make it seem like they are all bad. I doubt that. It probably seems like that if you got a bad one.

 

[Valpo Hawkeye]

Then why do they even bother selling to the general public?

Are you authorized to speak on behalf of Surefire?

Why bother with asinine questions? They sell to the general public, through retailers, because, as a group, that's a large market, a place to sell lots of lights. However, their 'real' customers are the retailers, unless you buy from www.surefire.com . Of course, I know that in the end, the end user is responsible for the market, but a handful of pissed customers isn't likely to cause Bass Pro to reduce their national order.

And, no, I'm not authorized to speak for SureFire.

 

[senna94]

Actually, I showed them what the light was doing and they were understanding and appreciative of the info I gave them regarding the light. Their only regret was not having anymore. Financially it is no sweat off their back as they send them back to their distributor for 100% credit or another light.

 

[Campdavid]

While I do not own the new L1 yet, I do have a collection of Surefire lights. The sad truth is that I have had trouble with every single one except for my G2 (their cheapest light...funny). Most problems were tailcaps but my U2 flooded at just the hint of rain. In the end the problems have all been addressed (except I am still not thrilled with the lens in my U2) and generally in days, not weeks.

Sadly I think I am going to take the advice floating around here and simply stop buying SF lights....let them focus on the military....I am done. It no longer makes sense to spend so much on a product that will undoubtedly have a bad tailcap, could leak and now flickers....

Funny, I have had a CMG Infinity Ultra for years....use it all the time....cheap and unstoppable....