Question: Why trust electronic lockout?

I always unscrew the tail cap. You?

not sure but i prefer electronic lockout, no issues doing that on my emisar d4s for example.

Yes, i think it’s easier and better (no parasitic drain) to physically lock out an e-switch light by unscrewing the tail cap a bit.

I trust (and use) electronic lockout.

I have no reason not to.

For me it is a confidence thing. I love the e-lockout on the FW and D series lights. They have proven to me that they work. I will carry a light for a good bit and if it does not fail, I use it.

I always use electronic lockout when I have an e-switch light in my pocket. I haven’t had any issues doing this yet. If I ever do, then I will use mechanical lockout with that light.

I unscrew.
Better to be safe than sorry.

I unscrew the head on the FW3, after having had some erratic behavior, a couple of hot pockets and strangeness (that cleaning up contacts appears to have fixed).
But I’m concerned that a whole lot of screwing and unscrewing is going to wear down the internal connection surfaces faster than the designers would have anticipated.

i rarely use either, so with say the FW3A, electronic lockout is fine, if i feel like i have to use it at all

never tried any other type on any other light

not sure what the issue is
if i am carrying it, and it comes on, either my pocket gets warm [high current], or it doesn’t [low current, no worry]

i guess also i don;t worry about parasitic drain for whatever reason either.
[for the ones just sitting around for weeks or months]
if the battery is dead i just swap cells and continue living normally… :slight_smile:

wle

Depending on the light I do one or the other.

But something about mechanical lockout bugs me:

What I think I understand is, anodizing is an insulator. Therefore, when a tailcap is unscrewed enough to open the circuit that is made at the unanodized end of the tube, electrical lockout is achieved, because the anodizing on the still-engaged threads won't pass current.

Which brings up my question:

How many times can even lubed anodized threads seesaw past each other by repeatedly twisting a tailcap 1/8 ~ 1/4 turn before the insulating properties of the anodizing is electrically compromised by wear, resulting in failure of mechanical lockout?

slmjim

Yep. I doubt any flashlight manufacturer has an automated test rig repeating that motion a few tens of thousand times to see what happens.

I do not like e-lockouts but I’m a Tactical guy. Tightening a tail cap is like the Tap Rack & GO in shooting a semi-auto.

Then there is the wear on the e-switch. Typically 4-6 presses (x2) are needed every time lockout is used. If the switch is rated for 10k cycles, and you lock it two or three times a day, you can expect it to last only a year or two.

Regarding anodizing: If it has a PCB in the tailcap that is electrically isolated from the tailcap then the anodizing is not an issue. It can have bare threads and still lock out.
There is a copper trace around the outside of the board that completes the circuit when the end of the battery tube is screwed in.
Not all lights are like this, check yours with a VOM and an exposed metal area of the tailcap to be sure.
My D4V2 and SC64 both have this design.

I trust electronic lockout for EDC, but, as others have noted, parasitic drain makes it problematic for longer term storage.

In some lights like those from emisar the tail PCB is electrically isolated from the metal tailcap. In this case the mechanical lockout doesn’t rely on the thread anodization.

I trust in multiple click electronic lockouts but don’t trust long clicks.

i trust it until i have reason not to.

I never use electronic lock out because I don’t trust it, because I have fear about things that I’m not knowledgeable enough to understand. I can wrap my finite mind around tail cap twist, therefore I trust it.

Metal dome switches typically have a lifespan of over one million presses so it’s probably not something to worry about. They will last much longer than a standard clicky switch.

Not all that many. I had some lights that wore bare-spots in the thread-ano. Usually if the threads are irregular and you can hear/feel them scrape when unscrewing, that’s where they’ll wear first.

Trying to recall which of my lights has it worst… gaah, can’t remember which, just that tclo is unreliable unless I unscrew well past the problematic point, almost a full turn.