# Surefire U2 bites the dust...Think problem solved.



## JasonC8301 (Dec 28, 2005)

EDIT: New tailcap arrived in the mail. Works good. Just took 16 days, not all that bad though considering 9 of it was in the mail.

This past weekend was my required reserve drill dates (Friday and Saturday.) While in the utility uniform, I have my Surefire U2 riding on my belt in a Maxpedition 5" tube sheath. I always keep it there even during the daytime because you never know when you need to light up a dark area inside the building or look into vents. 

The looking into vents was the thing that killed my U2 tailcap. There is a dryer (or something along those lines) vent near the roof of the building, about 4 stories up. I was sent along with someone else to go check out something that was clogging/blocking it. It was about 5:45 in the morning so it was still fairly dark. I had my U2 on when when I made a handoff of the light over, there must have been an error in communication and the light slipped and fell ~40 feet to the ground. I watched in horror as the light started to tumble and went crashing into the asphalt top. Luckily the corner of the tailcap was the point of impact and that took the brunt of the force. The light rested a few feet away in an unlighted manner. 












The above pictures show what happened to the exterior of the tailcap and the tip of the bezel. Not so bad, BUT when I picked up the light and twisted the tailcap there was a terrible noise coming on from the inside of the light. Like a crunching plastic sound. The light *CAME BACK ON*! I continued to twist the tailcap off until it was off the flashlight body. A spring came bouncing up to my face and I dumped all the internal clicky parts onto the ground. It was a mess of crushed/cracked plastic, a metal plunger type thing, a metal ring, and some other little bits. I picked them up off the ground and threw them out (didn't want to have crushed parts in my pocket all day.) I also threw out the batteries because the o-ring on one of the batteries was exposed. 






The above picture is the tailcap in its present state. All the internals are missing. Its just a metal shell with a rubber boot. The inside was illuminated with a Pelican M6 1 watt LED.

This past Tuesday I went over to a fellow CPF member's house and put my U2 through its paces using a SF G2 tailcap and a functional. 

The light still works! All 6 levels are present. The glass is intact and the threads and actions are smooth. I compared my U2 to another U2 and it appeared to be on par with it (although not exactely the same tint and brightness wise, slight difference) and nothing different was recognized in the beam after the fall. 






Notice anything wrong with the picture above? 






There is a picture of my U2 with working U2 tailcap and another U2 (difference is one is in mint condition with clip and mine is clipless and 'used'.) I also said why not, lets snap some pictures of other lights (all LED based minus the Tigerlights and SF M6 in the background.)

I am still amazed the light lived through such a fall. It could have been worse and the glass window could of shattered and that means I need to send in the whole light. I like my U2 with very 'slight' donut on the lower levels and slightly pink tint. I also prefer my serial # so I want to keep it along with the clipless body. 

I have put other lights through worse (falling from higher up, thrown with force, and used for a lot longer, years vs. months) but regular use of a light without intention of rough housing it is the worst when something does happen to it. Its similar to expecting a punch and opening a door and being surprised by a punch (lol, not that it has happened to me before.) 

Thanks for reading,
Jason

EDIT: New tailcap will arrive in ~3 weeks as per Surefire CS.


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## *Bryan* (Dec 28, 2005)

*Re: Another one bites the dust...*

Man o man, 
Your U2 gets more use than anybodies I know. Used a hammer, gets dropped 40 feet..man!

I say you call SF and let them know it survived a 40 foot fall. That is a awesome in itself.... :rock:


PS...I would recongnize some of those lights anywhere. I am however suprised that the HDS is not in the picture.
Sorry, I stand corrected by myself. It is in the pic.


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## IsaacHayes (Dec 28, 2005)

*Re: Another one bites the dust...*

The G2 tailcap matches the selector ring well!!  Time to get out the black sharpie and "paint" that bare aluminium!

BTW asphault is softer than concrete. Otherwise you'd see a lot more dent in the aluminum.


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## GarageBoy (Dec 28, 2005)

*Re: Another one bites the dust...*

That's luxlovers house, aint it?


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## luxlover (Dec 28, 2005)

*Re: Another one bites the dust...*



GarageBoy said:


> That's Luxlover's house, ain't it?


You should know the answer to that question Sonny Boy, since you have been there a few times. I like to call it "Luxlover's Laboratory", only when visitors bring their lights with them.


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## wquiles (Dec 29, 2005)

*Re: Surefire U2 bites the dust...*

Glad your U2 still works. Pretty tough lights!.

I would definitely contact SF and share with them your story and photos. They might use it for their sales/marketing - your story might become famous 

Will


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## greenLED (Dec 29, 2005)

*Re: Another one bites the dust...*

:twothumbs
I've decided mine's a keeper.


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## luxlover (Dec 29, 2005)

*Re: Surefire U2 bites the dust...*



wquiles said:


> Glad your U2 still works. Pretty tough lights!.
> 
> I would definitely contact SF and share with them your story and photos. They might use it for their sales/marketing - your story might become famous
> 
> Will


Will is right, Jason. With SureFire's knowledge of your "harrowing" experience, you could become rich and famous, and we would all want to rub shoulders with you so that some of your U2's good fortune would happen to us too. How do you feel about having 12,000 good buddies?

P.S: Mine is a keeper as well, most recently being fed with an LG Chem unprotected 2,400mAH 18650 Li-Ion pup.


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## revv11 (Dec 29, 2005)

*Re: Surefire U2 bites the dust...*

I have put other lights through worse (falling from higher up, thrown with force...)

Sounds like you have had some interesting flashlight experiences. I'll bet there's a good story behind "thrown with force..."


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## JasonC8301 (Jan 14, 2006)

*Re: Surefire U2 bites the dust...*

Just got a new U2 tailcap in the mail from Surefire! Works fine, just have to put some lubricant on the dry threads.


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## JasonC8301 (Jan 27, 2006)

*Re: Surefire U2 bites the dust...Now lives on..then dies!*

Today I was over at CPF member luxlover's lab and was playing around with my U2. Nothing abusive or abnormal to a CPF'er. Just sitting at the table turning my light on and off. Then the tailcap has a brain fart. I keep clicking and it goes on and off, until I hit one point after 5 clicks on/off and the tailcap locks and doesn't click on. I was like WTF and have luxlover look at it. He twists it on and off and it doesn't work. I then hand it over to another CPF member and he tries to make it work by twisting the tailcap on/off and it still doesn't work. 

In under 2 weeks the new U2 tailcap is broken. Should not happen on a $270+ light. I tried luxlover's tailcap on my U2 and it works fine. There has been no hard use on my U2 for the past 2+ weeks. Just sits in a holster either on my waist or in my bag. 

Time to call up Surefire Monday morning. The U2 is a nice light, it has replaced all my 2 X CR123 lights (incandescent and LED.) I am just a bit pissed because now my light will sit on the shelf unused until this problem gets fixed. I am contemplating sending in my light BUT I like my tint and fairly small donut hole (only visible on white walls and on lower brightness levels) plus the serial # means something to me. I'll see what happens when I call up SF.

Thanks for listening to my rant,
Jason


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## greenLED (Jan 27, 2006)

*Re: Surefire U2 bites the dust...Now lives on..then dies!*


Jason, take the tailcap apart and lube the innards. Also, adjust the height of the metal tabs inside the switch. Changes are, one of those (or both) things will fix your switch.


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## JasonC8301 (Jan 27, 2006)

*Re: Surefire U2 bites the dust...Now lives on..then dies!*

Thanks for the tip greenLED. 

I am going to do this once SF gets a new switch to me. I don't want to tinker with a switch and do something wrong with it and be stuck with a even more broken switch and no replacement from SF. 

This problem should not have happened considering the price of these lights.


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## greenLED (Jan 28, 2006)

*Re: Surefire U2 bites the dust...Now lives on..then dies!*



JasonC8301 said:


> This problem should not have happened considering the price of these lights.



That's what I kept saying to myself (and anyone who would listen)!  Hopefully your tailcap will arrive promptly; my replacement took 3 weeks.


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## wasBlinded (Jan 28, 2006)

*Re: Surefire U2 bites the dust...Now lives on..then dies!*

I certainly agree that Surefire needs to make a better effort to permanently fix their clicky tailcaps. I haven't had one fail myself, despite having at one time 3 different U2s, but I have repaired a couple sent to me by others, and it just isn't that hard to do.


I guess we know why most SF tailcaps are twisties, not clickies. I'm not sure there is a clicky out there by any flashlight manufacturer that hasn't had some CPFer posting about a failure. I personally like twisties better...


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## turbodog (Jan 28, 2006)

*Re: Surefire U2 bites the dust...Now lives on..then dies!*

If it hangs up, try to turn the rubber button to the left while clicking.

I agreee that SF's tailcaps are overall pieces of crap. I have had dead/quickly broken ones on 1/2 to 2/3 of my SF lights.


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## IsaacHayes (Jan 28, 2006)

*Re: Surefire U2 bites the dust...Now lives on..then dies!*

Seems all clickies aren't that robust. Krolls, SF, and Fenix. Is there any clickie that people have never had a problem with? My SL jr Luxeon clickie has lasted a lot of abuse, but others say theirs go out though...


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## turbodog (Jan 28, 2006)

*Re: Surefire U2 bites the dust...Now lives on..then dies!*



IsaacHayes said:


> Seems all clickies aren't that robust. Krolls, SF, and Fenix. Is there any clickie that people have never had a problem with? My SL jr Luxeon clickie has lasted a lot of abuse, but others say theirs go out though...



I've never had a problem with a mag clicky.

Mag sells an entire light for less $ than a typical SF clicky.


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## greenLED (Jan 28, 2006)

*Re: Surefire U2 bites the dust...Now lives on..then dies!*

I'm partially with TD on this one; the actual mechanism on Mag clickies has never failed on me, but the rubber button is not durable (they get crummy and fall off).


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## ZeissOEM2 (Jan 29, 2006)

*Re: Surefire U2 bites the dust...Now lives on..then dies!*

edit


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## IsaacHayes (Jan 29, 2006)

*Re: Surefire U2 bites the dust...Now lives on..then dies!*

TD well, your'e right. I didn't think of the switches on MagC/D lights. Of course they are MUCH larger than tail-cap clickies, so I would think that they would naturally be more robsut...

Perhaps I should of re-phrased that to Tail Cap Clickies...


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## LouRoy (Jan 29, 2006)

*Re: Surefire U2 bites the dust...Now lives on..then dies!*

I wore out several switches on my Magcharger. Of course, I used it every day and would turn it on and off at least 100 times per day. I would just send it back to Mag and they would replace the switches under warranty. 

I now use a Streamlight Ultrastinger. Same thing--the switches last less than a year before I have to send them back for replacement. They are probably failing after 10,000 clicks or so. Most people would never use the switches that much, so their switches are not failing. 

Maybe these companies could hire me as a switch tester.


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## JasonC8301 (Feb 3, 2006)

I called up CS a few days ago and they are sending me a new tailcap. 

With that in mind; I go over to CPF member luxlover's lab with the intention of fixing my busted tailcap.

The tailcap that came with the light broke due to an accidental slip. The second tailcap broke because the plunger or something inside got stuck just from regular use. Nothing harsh or abusive just normal CPF on and off (done often to compare with other lights on a white wall, lol.)

This tailcap issue was really making me angry. I really wanted to know what was wrong with it. So luxlover comes into the picture with his knowledge on the U2 tailcap. 

This is what my tailcap looks like disassembled. 







The first picture is the switch when screwed apart. The second picture is the switch (middle thing in first picture) taken apart. The third picture is the entire switch in order of how comes assembled. 

The switch was taken apart and cleaned/lubed with Nyogel 759G. Nothing seemed wrong with it. Some springs were stretched (well that long one second from the right in the middle picture) and we proceeded to put the light back together. Voila, the 'clicky' tailcap works.

We cycled it for a few hundred on/off's and it worked without a miss. 

Then I get the smart idea of twisting the front of the bezel to see if I can fix an off centered gasket/o-ring. 

A few clockwise and counter-clock wise twists and the thing came off.






Here is a picture of the bezel without the front part, and on the right is the lens, o-ring, gasket, and retainer screw part.






The 12 o'clock piece (retaining screw part?) then moving counter-clockwise the small o-ring goes into the retaining screw part, then the domed pyrex glass goes into it (with bowed out part facing out), then the gasket goes on. This assembly then gets screwed onto the flashlight body.

Here is the finished product all cleaned and lubed with Nyogel 779ZC (o-rings) and 759G for the threads.






I now have a working U2 with a spare tailcap in the mail to me. I don't think the 'average' person would spend $279 on a flashlight then proceed to tear it apart.

Only time will tell if I need to use the new tailcap if this one fails.

Thanks luxlover for the tremendous amount of help and greenLED for suggesting tearing apart the tailcap. I am one happy camper right now. 






I had to buy this SF E2e in HA black to hold me over, lol. Also because the E2e was my first SF (my first one was HA Nat. but something about black HA....)

Thanks for reading!
Jason


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## greenLED (Feb 3, 2006)

> Thanks luxlover for the tremendous amount of help and greenLED for suggesting tearing apart the tailcap.



That's quite al'right, you can blame me for that one 

I wonder how tight that bezel ring is attached in my light - there's a certain piece of lint that "doesn't bother me" but I wouldn't mind getting rid of either  So, no loctite anywhere?

You *had* to show me that BK E2e, right? Now I want one! The day they make a BK L4, I'm doomed.


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## JasonC8301 (Feb 3, 2006)

greenLED - there was loctite on it. It was black shards when it came off. Remember to point the reflector facing down so all the stuff (tiny black crumbs) fall onto a towel or something that can be disposed of later. 

It wasn't too difficult, just some moderate strangth coming for a ~140 pound dude. 

You are DOOMED. There are black KL4's floating around. Not too hard to find one if you look


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## GarageBoy (Feb 4, 2006)

They're part of the SF weapons light system, I suppose you could always call SF for it


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## luxlover (Feb 4, 2006)

GarageBoy said:


> They're part of the SF weapons light system, I suppose you could always call SF for it


Yo Leo. Where have you been hiding, man? You should have been here with us at THE LABS. It was a very productive day, and "the eats" were good too. How does "100% beef cocktail frank size pigs in the blanket" sound, with a peach cobbler cake for dessert? It was a day that will live in infamy!" As you have read, Jason left a happy camper, and I am so happy that his U2 is back in "fighting form."

You and Jason must visit The LABS after I get back from the Shot Show. Both of you _homeboys_ can teach me some more about the proper use of my digital camera. This old man is all ears, when it comes to you "youngins'."


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## JasonC8301 (Feb 20, 2006)

Recieved new tailcap on Feburary 16, 2006. I am going to have to take apart the new one. It feels really soft and 'mushy' I don't like it. It needs to be stiffer. It also takes a while for the tailcap to engage. Thank goodness I got my older tailcap to work.

Jason


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## greenLED (Feb 20, 2006)

While at SHOT, I spoke with a SF Engineer and he mentioned the plastic ring that holds the clip may be a tad too high (similar to what happens with the A2 clip), which doesn't allow the tabs inside the tailcap to make proper contact. Thus, there might be an occurrence or two where the tabs are OK, but still don't make contact even if you tighten the tailcap *really* hard. Re-bending the tabs back up as described here should fix the problem (and so would making sure the ring is positioned as far down as possible - don't know how to check/deal with this, though). Anyway, I thought I'd add that to the knowledge pool.


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## JasonC8301 (Feb 20, 2006)

Cool greenLED  Not an issue in my case. I'm clip free.


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## greenLED (Feb 20, 2006)

JasonC8301 said:


> I'm clip free.


How'd you remove it?


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## Valhalla (Feb 22, 2006)

greenLED said:


> How'd you remove it?


 
I removed my clip this way.

Unscrew the tail cap. Pull back on the plastic ring that holds the metal clip in place, enough to see the metal clip. Use a pair of needle nose pliers that have duct tape wrapped around the jaws to aid in metal to metal grip and to protect your U2 if you should slip in the next step. 

Place pliers, with the jaws closed, where the clip makes a 90 degree bend into the body of the light. Open up the pliers and the jaws will spread the clip wide enough for you to stick a finger or a popsicle stick, between both sides of the clip and the body of the light. The popsicle sticks will help you expand the clip further. The clip is not a full ring around the flashlight so you need to spread it wide enough to slip it off.

I did not remove the plastic ring because it hides the groove that the metal clip was sitting in. Aesthetically pleasing to me with it left on. The plastic ring also helps to keep a homemade rubber grip ring (similar to the rings on SF M2, M3, M4) in place when I have the light between my index and middle fingers with the switch on my thumb.

I do miss my U2



. It has been gone for about 2 weeks to be fitted for a leather holster. I can't wait for its return with its new protected holster for EDC.


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## GarageBoy (Feb 22, 2006)

Who made the holster?


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## JasonC8301 (Feb 22, 2006)

greenLED said:


> How'd you remove it?



Like Valhalla, remove tailcap. My technique differs from then on.

Rip the clip off, and slide plastic retaining ring to reveal the broken ends of the clip that hold the actual clip part onto the body.






I don't care for the clip or the plastic ring, so I keep both off. Doesn't matter to me anyway since I holster the U2.

Garageboy I think Valhalla sent it away for one of those custom holsters made by; darn the name escapes me at the moment.


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## Valhalla (Feb 22, 2006)

GarageBoy said:


> Who made the holster?


 
I have not received the holster yet. I want to make sure the holster is up to spec before putting out someone's name over a public forum.

The holster should arrive by the weekend



, and if its up to spec, I'll post pictures and the name of the maker in a new thread. I'm new to CPF, so if I continued on this thread, I believe it would be hijacking the thread.


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## Valhalla (Feb 22, 2006)

JasonC8301 said:


> Like Valhalla, remove tailcap. My technique differs from then on.
> 
> Rip the clip off, and slide plastic retaining ring to reveal the broken ends of the clip that hold the actual clip part onto the body.


 
Wow! Your method is short and to the point. The U2 is my first "premium" light and I still try to baby it, clip and all, as much as possible. I guess it shows in my newbie, convoluted methodology



.

BTW, great pictures and story about the U2 falling 40 ft















.


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## JasonC8301 (Feb 28, 2006)

Thanks Valhalla.

The replacement tailcap I got from SF stuck again today (the new one, not the one that was taken apart and re-assembled.) I tried to take this new one apart but it seems like it is Loc-Tite'd in place. I have the working tailcap (my second tailcap) on my U2 and will be sending this tailcap back to SF with a letter explaining my story and why this shouldn't happen.

Jason

EDIT: Guess I lose the tailcap lottery.....


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## GarageBoy (Mar 1, 2006)

Thanks! I thought it was from Lifter


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## LEDMaster2003 (Apr 4, 2006)

Is the tailcap supposed to rattle? That's what mine is doing. I can feel something hitting the rubber when I shake it. I never dropped it or anything, the night it conked out, it was in my back pocket. I didn't feel anything "break". I am going to email SF now and see if they'll sen me a replacement tailcap. After it comes (if it comes) I might try to take this one apart and fix it. I agree this shouldn't happen on a $270+ light. But I still love it, and my A2.


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## Frenchyled (Apr 17, 2006)

Thank you JAson for these nice explanations on the clickie tailcap !!
On my U2, when the clickie was on.. I heard a noise like a rattle in the switch...I finally opened the tailcap and put some Nyogel like you explained !!
And now no noise and no rattle !!!


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## Handlobraesing (Oct 29, 2006)

Your feelings were the same as mine when I accidentally dropped my digital camera down the elevator shaft. Total loss in my case, of course, and out of pocket expense.


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## NewBie (Jan 9, 2007)

Nice job Jason!


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## Braddah_Bill (Jan 9, 2007)

Hey Green......just get a KL4 BK or KL1 BK then you can Lego system it.










greenLED said:


> You *had* to show me that BK E2e, right? Now I want one! The day they make a BK L4, I'm doomed.



My U2 switch was taken apart and lubed with Rad Shack Lube Gel......works great now.

Bill


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## JasonC8301 (Jan 11, 2007)

Thanks Newbie!

Good to see people are working out their issues with the tailcaps. I have heard that SF has redesigned their clickie tailcap switches to be more robust.

Black HA is one thing but Satin Gray/Gun Metal is a good spin off on the regular BK and NAT colors. I like my current E2e in SG.


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## 65535 (Jan 11, 2007)

On my new U2 the tailcap crapped out within 5 hours, I just used some ring plaiers (with the pins bent at 90 angle) and twisted it off. Then I got the thing apart and un jammed it as of now it isn't lubed but it will be soon. I may ask for some nyogel anyone got anything they want me to say to the guys at SF's headquarters. I need to have them take a look at my selector ring since they are soo close its about the easiest thing for me to do.


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## JasonC8301 (Jan 11, 2007)

I should move right next door to SF, if I have an issue just walk it in versus mailing it.

Bring them the U2 and have them fix it, doesn't hurt to ask for some gel too, they must have a lot on hand.


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