twist on flashlights

[Bubble Blower 479]

P.S. if you need to know which lights they are to help me out, they are: princton tec pulse, princton tec locator, and Underwater Kinetics SL4. The one that works is a princeton tec shockwave 2

thanks everybody

I've learned by experience that Princton is true to their lifetime warranty. After 15 years of hard use, both in and out of the water, they replaced my light that quit working. Send them an email and they will take care of the problem.

 

[pipedope]

Im sorry, the sl 4 that i have is a switch flashlight, it just happens to be one of the lights that has stopped working, i dont twist it to turn it on. It was the especially strange one because i tested it one week and about a week later i saw that the lens was very cloudy and it wouldnt work, i untiwsted it and it actually popped off. I didnt know if it was a battery leak so i just used some crap lying around to pick the parts up and throw it on the tool bench. It was also a long time after i had dived/snorkeled with it (almost a year).


Doug

I don't know why I didn't see this one earlier but with the light sitting unused for more than a year it is almost certainly batteries dieing of old age and leaking. This produces the internal pressure and also corrodes the metal contacts in the light. It may be possible to save it or it may need to be replaced.

With ALL battery operated equipment, if you are not going to use it for a long time (i.e. more than a month or two) it is better to remove the batteries.
Many battery makers have a warrentee to repair or replace items damage by their batteries.

 

[zboss]

Don't turn off twist lights at depth... when you twist them off the pressure at depth causes the twist to remain slightly tight but as you surface and the pressure decreases, the twist can loosed up slightly causing the light to flood.

BTW - this happened to me last weekend. I got a nice big splash of slat water and battery acid all over the deck of the boat when I opened it... so if that happens be careful. BTW - once I cleaned my light insides with fresh water and used some fine sandpaper to help clean the contacts it works just fine.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I've heard far more complaints about a switch being an actual failure point than a twist on-off mechanism. That's why the Halcyon Scout is designed like it is - it's not bright, but when you absolu-frickin-utely need a light to turn on, it will come through for you.

Not always ... did you talk to Snowbear about her Scout when she was out there? Thing flooded on the first dive.

My Dive-Rite overpriced-mini-Scout-wannabe made it through two dives before it flooded.

They're cheap and weird-lookin' ... but still the most reliable back-up I've come across is the Ikelite PCa.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[jonnythan]

The only time I unscrew the end of the SL4 is when packing to prevent accidental turn on.

I have that problem, but I don't think that anything I do with my backup light is really going to help..

 

[spstar]

I just got a Pelican SabreLite LED #2020
its a twist light allready had on one dive worked great and is really bright with the reversed led

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I like both the pelican Sabrelite and the UK 300. The UK 300 is a single o-ring light and is not technically a dive light. You have to fill the hydrogen vent with superglue as it is only rated to 10 feet, but after doing this, I have had zero problems with UK300's down to 150 ft.

Both the Sabrelite and UK300 should have the clips removed as they are not much more than an added place for things to snag.

I also like the Mini Q40. It is quite bright for it's size and fits into almost any pocket making it a good daylight or backup to your backup light.

I am also fond of the Ikelite mini-C light. I have never had one fail and I recently recovered one that had been lost under water for 4 years. I was pleasantly surprised with a nice warm beam shining through all the marine growth when I tried the switch after finidng it. It cleaned up very nicely and is still in perfect condition internally with a couple of minor stains externally. Unlike many C sized lights the Mini-C lite offers a wide enough beam to be useful at night and also has a concentrated spot that does an excellent job as a day light.