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Posted: 9/9/2021 12:00:09 AM EDT
I’m not sure where to go for help with this since Modlite has not been much assistance.
I bought the ModButton Lite about 6 months ago and once installed, it significantly decreased the light output from one of my Surefire M600 DF’s. When the button is pressed, the light is bright for a very brief moment (less than half a second) and then immediately dims to a little more than half the normal output with the Z68 clicking tail cap. I tried it on my other M600DF which had the same issue. I messaged Modlite and they sent me a troubleshooting link and blamed it on the (brand new) Surefire UE tail cap. I proceeded to buy another $56 tail cap which made absolutely no bit of difference. Both of my Surefire M600 DF’s went in for repair (dimming after one shot) and they sent me two free UE tail caps when they returned the lights back for the inconvenience. I now have four tail caps in total to test with. I was able to get Modlite to warranty the ModButton Lite, but the new one has the exact same problem as the old one. It dims as soon as the button is pressed, severely limiting the output of the lite when compared with the Z68 tail cap. I’ve tried four different UE tail caps and two different M600DF’s and they all have exactly the same problem. I can’t possibly be the only one with this issue. How is everyone getting these to work? Do you have to polish the contacts on the part that plugs into the tail cap? Seems ridiculous to have to modify a brand new part to make it work properly. Hope someone can help! I’m at my wits end with these pieces of crap! |
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[#1]
My experience is mod button was brighter for my modlite than surefire switches. You can send it to me for testing on my modlite.
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[#2]
Oh boy.
It's not the switch or the caps, it's the DF head itself. There's a few threads in here that talk about it. It really is frustrating after spending a considerable amount of money and getting instant headaches. My quick fix after sucking in my pride was replacing the head with an OKW head from Modlite (but a PLHv2 would work too) and swapped out the battery with an 18650. Problem solved. But it was a painful problem nonetheless. |
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[#4]
Quoted: Oh boy. It's not the switch or the caps, it's the DF head itself. There's a few threads in here that talk about it. It really is frustrating after spending a considerable amount of money and getting instant headaches. My quick fix after sucking in my pride was replacing the head with an OKW head from Modlite (but a PLHv2 would work too) and swapped out the battery with an 18650. Problem solved. But it was a painful problem nonetheless. View Quote Dang. That sucks. Why does it work with the Z68 tail cap then? These Surefire lights have been nothing but problems. Never had these kind of issues with Streamlight for 1/3 the cost! |
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[#5]
I recently picked up a surefire df and want sure if it was my imagination or what, but yeah it starts super bright and then instantly dims and remains at that level.
So is that just "part and parcel" of having #allthelumens? Nothing to be done about it other than replace the head? |
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[#6]
Yup. I've bailed on trying to mix the brands. SF gets SF switches or just use click cap. Modlite use Modlite switch. Not that big of a deal.
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[#7]
Quoted: I recently picked up a surefire df and want sure if it was my imagination or what, but yeah it starts super bright and then instantly dims and remains at that level. So is that just "part and parcel" of having #allthelumens? Nothing to be done about it other than replace the head? View Quote While using the ModButton Lite or the included clicking tail cap? Mine only does it with the ModButton Lite. However, the M600DF has a lot of issues dimming under recoil. Mount it up to the rifle, let the locked back bolt slam into battery on an empty chamber and see if your light dims, I’m guessing it will. I’ve had 7 of them and they all do the same thing. Surefire has been good about replacing them… but the replacements still have the problem as well. |
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[#8]
Quoted: Yup. I've bailed on trying to mix the brands. SF gets SF switches or just use click cap. Modlite use Modlite switch. Not that big of a deal. View Quote Well it’s a problem when it’s advertised as working with Surefire products. |
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[#9]
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[#10]
Quoted: Dang. That sucks. Why does it work with the Z68 tail cap then? These Surefire lights have been nothing but problems. Never had these kind of issues with Streamlight for 1/3 the cost! View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Oh boy. It's not the switch or the caps, it's the DF head itself. There's a few threads in here that talk about it. It really is frustrating after spending a considerable amount of money and getting instant headaches. My quick fix after sucking in my pride was replacing the head with an OKW head from Modlite (but a PLHv2 would work too) and swapped out the battery with an 18650. Problem solved. But it was a painful problem nonetheless. Dang. That sucks. Why does it work with the Z68 tail cap then? These Surefire lights have been nothing but problems. Never had these kind of issues with Streamlight for 1/3 the cost! |
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[#11]
Quoted: Yup. I've bailed on trying to mix the brands. SF gets SF switches or just use click cap. Modlite use Modlite switch. Not that big of a deal. View Quote False, lol. It was doing it with Surefire pads first. I had to buy the Modlite to see if it was just a Surefire thing. It's not the mixing of brands. It's actually the DF head from Surefire. |
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[#12]
Quoted: Oh boy. It's not the switch or the caps, it's the DF head itself. There's a few threads in here that talk about it. It really is frustrating after spending a considerable amount of money and getting instant headaches. My quick fix after sucking in my pride was replacing the head with an OKW head from Modlite (but a PLHv2 would work too) and swapped out the battery with an 18650. Problem solved. But it was a painful problem nonetheless. View Quote This. My M640 DF had a flickering issue under recoil so I replaced my KE2-DF head with a PLHV2 and just use 18650s (which is all I ever used anyway). I am thinking about picking up a Modlite OKW dual fuel head just to restore the dual fuel ability, but I like the beam pattern more on the PLHV2 more overall. I didn't put a Modbutton lite behind it until after I replaced the head, but from what others have said here, the dimming issue is related to the head. |
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[#13]
Piling on to the “it’s the DF light, not the Modbutton” answer. Plug in a non DF Surefire or better yet a PLHv2 and it’ll work normally
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[#14]
What batteries are you using in the DF?
I had a similar issue with modbutton when I used two cr123s. No issues with an 18650 |
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[#15]
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[#16]
If it’s the DF head, why would it work with the Z68 clicking tail cap?
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[#17]
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[#18]
Quoted: If it’s the DF head, why would it work with the Z68 clicking tail cap? View Quote Users here, myself included, experienced flickering, dimming, and other disfunction with the DF Scout light when using a remote pressure switch. There are two big threads on it in this subforum. It's been an issue since the DF Scout hit the streets. After months of frustration, many of us migrated over to the PLHv2. The DF does appear to work great with CR123 and when not using a remote switch. |
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[#19]
well shit, of course I found this thread after ordering a modlite switch for my dual fuel. The footprint was just too appealing to turn down.
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[#20]
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[#21]
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[#23]
Quoted: There's nothing wrong with the switch. It's the head. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: well shit, of course I found this thread after ordering a modlite switch for my dual fuel. The footprint was just too appealing to turn down. There's nothing wrong with the switch. It's the head. That’s expecting a lot out of members to read past the first post in a thread. |
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[#24]
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[#25]
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[#26]
Quoted: well shit, of course I found this thread after ordering a modlite switch for my dual fuel. The footprint was just too appealing to turn down. View Quote Can you report back how yours works? You’ll notice immediately if the output is decreased using the Modlite switch. |
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[#27]
Quoted: Can you report back how yours works? You’ll notice immediately if the output is decreased using the Modlite switch. View Quote Que? Once I switched heads from the DF to the OKW, zero issues. It was always the DF and NOT the Modlite switch. That same DF that dimmed was doing it with Surefire pads first. It was still doing it with the Modlite. It even did it with the Hot Button. Once I had replaced the DF head with the OKW, no more dimming. I think that you should finally accept it that it's the DF head and not the Modlite. |
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[#28]
Since I have two threads similar in topics, I’ll post the same thing here as well:
Reporting in after selling off my M600DF and picking up a couple Modlites. No more flickering issues, no more diminished output using the ModButton Lite, and a much more usable beam pattern. I’m sad that Surefire, such a staple in the lighting game, cant get their shit sorted, but I’m happy that I’ve found a working solution. |
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[#29]
The scoutlight pro mounts are still better than anything anybody else has. I wouldn't sell the whole light, just the head
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[#30]
The issue is with the dual fuel heads themselves having the spring loaded head contacts, when under recoil these leave the battery positive head for a split second causing the flickering/dimming
I had this issue with the streamlight protac rm2 as well (3 of them to be exact) In essence the SF DF and Streamlight RM2 models are mediocre because of the DF feature. |
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[#31]
Quoted: The scoutlight pro mounts are still better than anything anybody else has. I wouldn't sell the whole light, just the head View Quote This. I use the Surefire Pro 18650 (DF) bodies with Modlite heads and Modbutton/Lite. Excellent setup. Attached File |
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[#32]
Quoted: well shit, of course I found this thread after ordering a modlite switch for my dual fuel. The footprint was just too appealing to turn down. View Quote @david_the_greek Dammmit. Me too! Ordered a DS00 switch and the mod button lite a few days ago to go with a M600DF I also have in the way. Does this dimming occur with the DS00 tailcap or when using 123A's? Can anyone please confirm? This sucks. |
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[#33]
Quoted: @david_the_greek Dammmit. Me too! Ordered a DS00 switch and the mod button lite a few days ago to go with a M600DF I also have in the way. Does this dimming occur with the DS00 tailcap or when using 123A's? Can anyone please confirm? This sucks. View Quote Again, it's not the tailcap or the switch causing the problem |
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[#34]
Quoted: Again, it's not the tailcap or the switch causing the problem View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: @david_the_greek Dammmit. Me too! Ordered a DS00 switch and the mod button lite a few days ago to go with a M600DF I also have in the way. Does this dimming occur with the DS00 tailcap or when using 123A's? Can anyone please confirm? This sucks. Again, it's not the tailcap or the switch causing the problem You're right. Reading is fundamental. I wish Surefire would have this figured out by now. It sounds like they just swap heads if you send it in for repair. |
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[#35]
Quoted: @david_the_greek Dammmit. Me too! Ordered a DS00 switch and the mod button lite a few days ago to go with a M600DF I also have in the way. Does this dimming occur with the DS00 tailcap or when using 123A's? Can anyone please confirm? This sucks. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: @david_the_greek Dammmit. Me too! Ordered a DS00 switch and the mod button lite a few days ago to go with a M600DF I also have in the way. Does this dimming occur with the DS00 tailcap or when using 123A's? Can anyone please confirm? This sucks. It's the head, so it does it with both 18650s and CR 123's. I had already switched to a Modlite head by the time I got a DS00 tailcap, but I don't expect it would make any difference. Quoted: You're right. Reading is fundamental. I wish Surefire would have this figured out by now. It sounds like they just swap heads if you send it in for repair. Which doesn't solve the problem because it is a design issue, not a QC issue. |
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[#36]
I just thought I'd chime in here and say that my I have two Surefire DF lights (1 m600 and 1 M640) and both of them flicker, dim and generally suck as describe here and elsewhere when paired with either one of my 2 Modbutton liites and UE tailcaps. The same setup works fine with any of my ST07 tape switches and even the really old style Surefire tape switch.
On my Arisaka the Modbutton lite acts like a rheostat and can control the brightness of the light by varying the pressure on the button. I agree that the DF head is a contributing factor, and doesn't seem to manage less than perfect electrical flow from some switches. But, for me, the Modbutton lite is only part that consistently causes problems in my setups. YMMV ...wish I had an OKW or PLHv2 to mess with... |
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[#37]
Ive not used the modbutton lite but i have used the modbutton with bith surefire and modlite lights. The surefire was the df and it malfunctioned with both surefire and modlite switches. It was worse with the modbutton, it could have something to do with the reduced restriction in ohm load using the modbutton, then again i know people that dont have problems using either switch. Personally i think the surefire m600df is just a pos.
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