I haven’t come across much talk about swapping or modding switches so far in my short time here. Lots of mentions about spring bypasses in the tailcap, but not much about the switch itself - which has to be a non-negligible part of the entire light’s circuit resistance.
Before joining here a few months ago, I remember that McClicky switches were a VERY common swap on Solarforce and other P60 lights.
Are switches just not an issue anymore?
How can I tell if a switch is “good”? (resistance across switch = ?)
What are good options for replacement switches, if necessary?
You can not tell from the looks of a switch I’m afraid. You find out in use that a switch is finicky, flickering light output is a tell-tale, sometimes it only starts over time.
But any switch that is labeled ‘Omten’ always worked well for me. A bit weird that in really cheap switches there is already such quality variation.
Be kind to the switch if you are bypassing the spring, just remove it and reinstall after the spring bypass. They are sensitive to heat and will fail prematurely if subjected to heat. I have learned to hold the switch legs with a tweezers as I solder them. Helps to sink heat away from the switch.
Had 3 switches fail in short time in triple builds before I changed my build methods.
Many switches can be opened up. If the internal spring carries the current then it can’t take much current before heating causes the spring to lose its temper and become worthless. Some can be altered, some can’t.