I’m Neil and I live in the UK. I own 3 “proper” torches, 1 tiny torch and 2 cheapo bits of plastic that pretend to be torches. I’m a complete novice with these things and thought I’d join up as I have a couple of questions and y’all look like a friendly bunch. If I become addicted to buying new lights - it’s your fault!
Am I allowed to say “torch” is that a bannable offence? We don’t have “flashlights” here in the UK.
Rather than start another thread elsewhere I was hoping someone could put my mind at rest about a scratched PCB. I treated myself to an Eagletac G25C2 a couple days ago and tried it out with a brand new Keeppower 18650 3400mAh. The battery seems to fit OK but after giving the torch a go I opened it up to check on the battery. There is now a rather obvious S shaped scratch on the middle of the PCB. I’ll add a bad picture taken on my phone below.
Is this something I should be concerned about or should I stop being a big girls blouse? It doesn’t appear to be a deep scratch. I can’t feel anything on the negative contact in the tail-cap so I’m unsure how it’s gotten scratched. I know the Eagletac 18650 3400mAh has a metal plate on the bottom but I opted for the Keeppower to try and save some money …
I don’t see a problem with it, but I would file down the culprit spring that did that. Does the battery fit lengthwise? Maybe it’s getting too compressed.
First off, WELCOME to the end of your “disposable income”!! You’ll like it here. “Torch” and “Flashlight” are interchangeable, and both imply some pretty primitive personal illumination technology, so use whatever words you choose as YOU see fit. It will be OUR job to translate.
Second, seek the Root Cause!!!
EDIT: After your reply, I’m completely confused. Where is this PCB located? The picture you posted made it look like it was in the head, which is why I replied as I did. If you figure it out, please be sure to let us know?
Thanks for the welcome everyone! Jerommel, that torch is on fire.
I did check the length measurements before I ordered the Keeppower 3400mAh. The Keeppower is 68.8mm and the Eagletac is 68.3mm. Maybe that 0.5mm makes all the difference? As you’ve seen, the G25C2 doesn’t have a spring on it’s tail-cap. There is no “white blobby part” in the tail-cap - I think that’s the head end. Here is a picture of the tail-cap and contact causing the scratch. It feels completely smooth when I rub my finger over it -
I’ll probably not worry about it at the moment but will monitor it to make sure it doesn’t get any deeper.
The FLASHLIGHT is actually pretty good. I had a Jetbeam from a few years ago and this is noticeably brighter. It’s got a nice weight to it and feels good in the hand. I partly bought it for the flip-up filter holder although the shop didn’t have that in-stock so will be sending that later. The only concern (apart from the PCB scratch) is the black coating on the body. It’s already got a couple of scuffs on it! Still, I didn’t buy this to sit on a shelf so it will eventually get more marks on it!
There can be small metal shavings left over from manufacture that can cause this and other more serious problems. Many of us confessed flashaholics (torchaholics?) will tear down any and every new light we purchase to see how it’s made to clean and lube threads, o-rings, etc. the extra .5mm may have been enough to compress the spring cap and trap a piece of grit between the pcb and the plastic.
I’ll try not to confuse anyone with my posts. You have to admit that the word “flashlight” seems a bit of an odd word for a torch that is usually used as a continuous light source! It’s a bit like a “touchdown” in American Football - the ball doesn’t actually get touched down! Anyway, probably best we leave the English language ding dong debate for another day …
Welcome to the forum Neil, just confuse the hell out of the rest of the world and call them lights, most of the members probably don’t like the flashing modes anyway so lights aught to be correct.
Say goodbye to any spare cash that you thought you had and come on in.
Wow - I wasn’t expecting this thread to give me a headache!
The official dictionary definition for “torch” (in a British dictionary) is - A portable battery-powered electric lamp. Bah! I’ll just call them “lights”.
What do we call a torch? I presume you mean one of those sticks with fire on one end? We call them fire sticks! Only joking, we would call one of those “a torch”.
