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Kind of a random thought, but I’ve seen several threads about durability/reliability lately.
Has there ever been any talk about developing a “budget” community light for folks who are interested in having at least one light built with durability prioritized over being moddable? Would it even be possible to offer a potted light with high-end features (emitter choices, UI, etc…) in say, the $30-40 range?
Realistically, Armytek sells potted lights at this price range with exactly the UI I’d want in an emergency light, when they go on sale - I paid $35 for my Partner C4 Pro.
If we could convince them to use a high CRI emitter and do a group by at that price in a light like the Partner C1 or C2, and use the right optic, I’d be very interested. If you’re talking about just filling a FET light from Astrolux or Sofirn with silicone, I still wouldn’t trust it to take a beating.
Potting matters less for overall durability than the actual design, quality of components and consistency of the manufacturer’s production.
Anyway, there probably is an interest in this, it’s what motivated the Sofrin C01 development.
In the first instance, I would like to know about the design principles of potting and/or that of a durable light. Then I would want to hear more how that proposed solution meets all of these. If the price is high-ish, could be cheaper to just buy an available product?
Since I already have plenty of lights - how difficult is potting the existing herd?
I’m definitely more ignorant than knowledgeable here, mainly interested in some discussion.
I’ve looked at the Pflexpro S2+ a few times, but they’re fairly expensive (I understand it’s a small shop,) the store is currently down, and while I’m an S2+ fan, they’re a bit big for edc. Will definitely look into Armytek, but just got to thinking about this again after ordering my FW3A this morning.
Design and production quality are important, but assuming they’re on point, proper potting should make a well-built light nigh indestuctible from vibration or impact, correct?
Diy may be feasible, but I’d generally rather just buy one that came that way.
Hmm… a potted light could be designed for easy emitter swaps… allowing some modability.
So the real question is, what makes a light reliable or indestructable? It isn’t simply potting. the electrical components have to be high quality, capable of running the light at it’s design specs for a lifetime. Potting is good for a weapon mounted light, not so much any other reason.
Case in point, Eagle Eye built an X6 for cheap monies with a military grade type III hard coat. Super tough relatively small light. While everybody else was drop testing it and driving over it I tossed it out the window of a car going 60 mph. The light got a slight few scrapes but was comparatively undamaged, the only real damage was that a couple of the impacts (I video’ed it) collapsed the springs so the light quit working. I replaced the springs and the light is good to this day (years later) Now , had it been potted it likely would not have been possible to replace the spring on the driver and the light would have been trash.
I’ve modded potted Army Tek lights too, they even stole my pictures because they had never seen inside their own light! Designed in Canada, made in China… they warranty by throwing away defective lights and replacing them.
So that, ultimately, is what potting does for a light… makes it gun proof and trash ready.
Oh, I’ve potted my own builds before, and I’ve cut through a driver on the lathe to get back inside and rebuild it. Manufacturers like to pot as a warranty measure, lock it in so people can’t mess with or copy their design, and for that I can hardly blame them.
Good gun mount potting is NOT silicone, normally those have a black epoxy that is hard as a rock. You just aren’t gettin in that one and have the driver remain intact. And for this flooding of epoxy, well, normally it comes at a price…
Good luck!
yes please!
Thanks for the post DB! Definitely a lot of good food for thought there.
I’ve had many lights fail over the years after seemingly trivial impacts or for no discernable reason at all (to me anyway). This had led me to question the durability of flashlights and to baby the ones I have now as a result.
Maybe potting isn’t as straightforward a solution as I thought, but I’m also not immediately convinced that it’s really only warranted for weapon-mounted lights either.
The prospect of manufacturers making more inexpensive spare parts available is a positive and another possible point against potting, but at the end of the day I’m interested in what it takes to make an affordable light that won’t break in the first place.
And yeah, I could “afford” to buy more expensive lights with a good warranty or whatever, but there are other reasons I don’t really want to go over ~$30-40 on a light in general these days. In the meantime I’ll start researching the most durable budget lights.
Please let me join you in thanking DB Custom - ineed a very interesting post.
This what got me potting a few lights. I’ve also found another reason, it’s water proofing and to some degree strengthening perpendicular board-to-board connection. I picked up a few Mateminco TK01 lights. A great and over looked light in my limited opinion. It’s got one glaring weakness. It’s charging port is too open. Meaning a gap around the Micro-USB leading right inside. I potted one for the pool test with the port cover off. After two days at 7 feet it came up dry inside.
Related to previously asked questions, but what kills a flashlight when it’s dropped? I assume it’s just components coming loose from the impact, right? I think I read somewhere that linear 7135 based drivers tend to be more durable for that reason, because all of the components are fairly low profile.
My S2+ lights get dropped all the time, like all-year-round. So far, nothing has ever happened to them? The cells look a bit dented, but that will buff out 
Lights are fine.
So what would potting bring in addition to the regular protection? Higher drops? break-resistant lens? different solder?
DBs post was excellent and gave me details I needed.
You need to restrict the movement of the battery from impacting the driver spring, which when bottomed out (coil bind) impacts the driver, Potting also aids in thermal transfer if you use the right stuff.
A related question:
In the future BLF projects…what can we do to make sure the lights are tough?
Do you mean that the spring should be long and stiff or that it should be short and not move much (like Emisar…or even more - DQG)?
Not really…. battery/cell stops in the battery tube, a shoulder restricting the cell from going too far forward on impact/recoil…usually a shoulder with an o-ring to eliminate abrasions to the cell wrapper.
. 
. Even a bumper on the tail cap….limits movement allowing the spring(s) to maintain contact
. 
Smart. 
Or just use dual BeCu springs.
They resist deformation against shocks extremely well, even in heavy lights.
One example of this was when I threw my Q8 on concrete. By accident of course.
Didn’t turn off at all during the bump.
Even hitting it on a wooden table with all my might couldn’t shut the light off.