Are clicky tailcap failures common?
I'm not sure how common they are...
My family and I have never experienced one, and we've been using LED flashlights for over a decade.
Around 2010 I bought my first serious flashlight. It was the Klarus XT10.
I was used to old flashlights that would drain the batteries fairly quickly so I would turn it off and on all the time instead of keeping it turned on. The switch failed after a year or so but it was replaced because it was under warranty. Since then it worked flawlessly.
It took me some time to use it without thinking too much. The battery can get recharged easily.
Now with Anduril the anxiety is back lol.
Tons of clicks, a lot of modes…
We’ll see how they hold up.
I’ve never had one fail from normal use, but I have had a few die when a mod goes wrong and lets out the magic smoke
I have one (Romisen RC-G2) that flickers but otherwise they are quite robust.
The old suggestion was always to take it apart . clean it well and re-assemble it . works way more often than you'd think .
I’ve only had them fail due to heat - when soldering them, or from power-hungry mods.
The only clicky tailcaps that (IMHO) are notoriously fragile are of the SF 6P and 9P. Those require parental guidance if you wanna go above 3A.
In real life the regular 6x10 Omten is amazing foolproof, unless you melt it with a short. Or if you are tinkering with a lighted tailcap and a soldering iron. Once I shorted a driver with a tweezer, that melted the tailspring but the switch itself was still OK.
I have an original FW3A. I bought it April 2019. It immediately became my EDC. It is in my pocket every day unless it is in my hand being used. I carry it locked out electronically. Therefore, the e-switch is operated countless times a day. I could not even begin to guess how many clicks. I flashed a slightly later version of Anduril to it so when locked it has the two level (lo-higher) momentary when e-locked. That mode gets used a lot but it is also e-locked and e-unlocked many times a day. So, 2-2/3 years of daily use and we are still doing great.
Got my first UltraFire in 2010, and thought that with the tailcap being mechanical, was the part most likely to fail, so I even bought a second tailcap. I retired the flashlight in late 2021, so 11 years being my most used flashlight, and the switch is still like new (had to replace the rubber button a couple times though). I’ve had 3 drivers fail me during that time, no LEDs and no switch. Retired the light only because it’s so banged up that If I crack the glass I won’t be able to replace it. Also didn’t had any other flashlight tailcap fail, but I didn’t abuse my other lights like this one.
Usually microswitches of the sort used for e-switches are rated for tens of thousands of clicks at minimum.
i have not experienced that other than 1 time in about 50 lights
now SIDE switches are another story, never again!
The only tailcap switches I’ve had go bad were on some old led flashlights from Cheaperthandirt.com I got for 5 bucks each. And the switches they used were truly built cheaper than dirt.