Your chance to Speak up on glued flashlights!

I think this is a worthwhile thread. I’m concerned though with the distributor actually making this happen.

I’ve seen a few threads where the tint of the light was wrong when received and BG wouldn’t remedy anything based off the fact the customer received a fully functioning light that was ALMOST what they ordered.

You’ll pay a small upcharge and then receive a glued light anyways. If BG doesn’t empathise when they send you a CW instead of NW they’re going to consider the glued light you received as a bonus that saved you from a light that could’ve fallen apart!

I was not referring to you specifically with that remark, but more as a general “there are other opinions out there, even on the opposite end of the spectrum from what we think but they are still perfectly valid” remark.

No offense meant. :slight_smile:

The upcharge is not set, well really none of it is.

The upcharge was more an idea of helping to incentivize them to offer unglued versions.

Put simply the manufacture has proven that gluing lights reduces the number of warranty claims they have to deal with. This costs them money of course. So there is very little incentive from their point of view to leave lights unglued since that leads to more issues they have to fix. I fully believe this as well, it makes sense honestly.

The upcharge was simply an idea to help offset any extra issues they may have to deal with. I wanted to see what BLF thought of it before I pitch it to them as a way to mitigate losses from extra warranty claims.

Also these unglued versions would be sold outside of BG for sure, banggood requests glued lights for the reasons above, it reduces the number of issues they have to deal with. The idea of complaining to banggood is it would make it’s way back to the manufacture and give them motivation to offer unglued versions for those that want it.

All of this is completely unofficial at this point. So far I have only succeeded in beating my head against a wall, I am simply trying to get some facts to see if I can move things along.

Please no glue. I won’t buy the light if I know it is glued.

I really hope Sofirn will also listen to our request to stop using glue.

Makes sense. Maybe the discussion should circumvent the distributors like BG entirely. If the mfg has the opportunity to make the entire mark-up and an added upcharge for a non-glued light then I feel like they would be more interested.

I’m curious though how many mfg would offer this with the exception that it voids your warranty. I know modders know they lose their warranty but even then if there’s a problem with the driver or other warranty related claim they can’t repair?

maybe the loss of warranty for those who desire it would be enough for the mfg to jump on board. No possibility for warranty claims should be a very appealing proposition

No glue please.I don’t mod my flashlights but I do clean them. Many lights have some dust or moisture that creates a fog in the head and that is a deal breaker for me. Sometimes chips or wires break their welds and the flashlight (that is glued) becomes useless. If it were not glued it can be repaired or modded by the end line user. I cannot think of an upside to the ELU in favor of permanent glue.

The unglued versions having no warranty is another option I have pitched as well. I have been kind of shotgunning ideas in hopes something sticks but up to now they just don’t believe me that enthusiast really care that much about the glue since the general public (which is who buys the vast majority of flashlights) doesn’t care at all.

Step one is to prove to them there is a sizable interest in unglued lights.

Step 2 is convincing them there is a reason for them to offer unglued versions (for example people bombarding banggood with requests for unglued versions to the point they report it to the manufacture, apparently the boss at the manufacture puts far more weight on what comes from banggood then other places).

Then after they see the desire and need for it, figuring out the best method for offering them can actually be worked on. Up to this point it has just been me tossing out every idea I could think of to motivate them to sell unglued versions but I have pretty much been ignored. The boss just doesn’t think there is enough demand to make worrying about it worth the effort.

Chances are that unglued versions would be made on a limited run “group buy” style of some form but that is unknown at this point.

Also, if one manufacture does this, then it would be much easier to get other manufactures to do it in the future.

I don’t want glued flashlights, I want to mod all my lights without risking damaging the anodizing. The first thing I do is changing the led to my favorite one (tint,bin). I also never claim warranty because I fix all my lights myself.

Several lamps, which were delivered defective, I repaired myself and did not request a solution from the seller.
These lamps were not sealed.
If a lantern was delivered that was defective and also sealed, I requested a warranty solution.

There is a better option for both retailers and manufacturers if I solve the problem myself.

Yes, with tracking and includes $200 insurance. It’s a flat rate. 7-10 business days.

Priority Mail International small flat rate box $34.65.

They are glueing flashlights for reasons, none of them good for the warranty voiding enthusiast.

Did you straight asked Mateminco about the reasons, Texas_Ace? The enthusiast community may account for a decent slice of the sales, but we're a minority of the customer base. Knowing precisely what are they trying to “protect” can be of help. The glue thing smells of warranty fears and design secrecy, overall sickening stuff imho. It is something which deserves a nice kick in the ass.

Yeah, I have asked and long and short of it is that every time they start gluing a light after having high warranty claims, the number of claims is noticeably reduced. I have heard this from enough people to know it makes a noticeable effect on the bottom line which is why most lights are glued.

That is basically it, when they are not glued, they have more issues with returns / warranties then when they are glued.

This is of course understandable, I would not want unnecessary warranty claims when a drop of glue could stop that either.

Glued lights are a no go with me.

Hehehe… I love McLarens but $7K for an oil change is a little steep for me…

I bought 10x astrolux S41 for modding purpose and after opening it, it is obvious that some people on the assembly line really do not care about what they are doing :
Uncleaned MCPCB full of flux, dirty LEDs dome with solder residue, cold joint on wires on the driver or MCPCB, not fully tighten down front bezel, etc.

I will never buy an Astrolux flashlight if glued parts are reported.

IIRC Bangood/Astrolux started gluing with the S41, after some justifiable criticism here of some poor detailed design and shoddy workmanship, not least by me. Making it far more difficult to prise them open for the necessary corrections. It felt like spite.

Consider: the A6, X6, X5 etc. would have been less interesting to enthusiasts if glued up, and may not have been such a success for Banggood, still steady sellers. Perhaps they forget their heritage.

The original MF01 would also have been unacceptable if glued up. Driver failures in MK1 only satisfactorily resolved for some by gutting it and retro-fitting a BLF based design at additional cost, poor assembly in MK2, stripped threads, loose stripped MCPCB securing screws rattling about inside the head, inadequate thermal compound, I’d have been stuck if I couldn’t correct mine myself, it would have been returned and if necessary Paypal involved if not satisfied, which would cost the supplier far more.

I understand the temptation to glue things up to discourage meddling, but reject it. Particularly on enthusiast torches, where the supplier seems to have forgotten that some of these things owe a lot to our input and improvements. And buying power.

Frankly, if the next-gen. MF01, for example, is glued up I would see that as a disrespectful, arrogant, ungrateful kick in the teeth to us. They should accept that nothing is perfect, and that some wish to make their own changes, or just fix simple problems ourselves. Even just to inspect, and satisfy ourselves that the assembly is well done.

My attitude might be different if Bangoood’s responsiveness to correcting problems of their own making was good. But it is not, far from it.

This is exactly my opinion.

I want to be able to repair (most important thing to me) and maybe mod (not important) all the flashlights I buy without too much trouble.

I prefer non glued lights. I have a Surefire P3X and P2X and looking at he P3X lens yesterday, Wow!!! I have a ton of scratches on that lens, and would like to be able to replace it myself.

That makes the Elzetta lights look more appealing to me, plus they are fully potted.

Nice post. :beer:

I did not buy the MF01 due to them gluing them.

I have a habit of taking all my new lights apart to look them over and inspect them. Am I the only one?

Anyway, there is usually enough competition among flashlight companies that I can choose someone else’s unglued light.