Problems - Sunwayman T45C and Fenix TK35UE v2

[Nick the gooner]

I've had the Sunwayman T45C for some years. Recently it's been increasingly turning itself down, and off, even when using newly charged batteries. I've bought a battery/analyser to check the batteries, but also have new ones. It's a discontinued make and there's not much information online. Does anyone know if it's possible to buy a replacement switch/circuit/emitter assembly? Annoyingly the manual doesn't show where all the o rings go and I have to guess when re-assembling.

Re the Fenix, I bought it as a replacement. I suspect it may be faulty as it turns itself off after a couple of minutes, again with fresh batteries.

Any ideas or suggestions?

thanks

 

[aznsx]

I've had the Sunwayman T45C for some years. Recently it's been increasingly turning itself down, and off, even when using newly charged batteries. I've bought a battery/analyser to check the batteries, but also have new ones. It's a discontinued make and there's not much information online. Does anyone know if it's possible to buy a replacement switch/circuit/emitter assembly? Annoyingly the manual doesn't show where all the o rings go and I have to guess when re-assembling.

Re the Fenix, I bought it as a replacement. I suspect it may be faulty as it turns itself off after a couple of minutes, again with fresh batteries.

Any ideas or suggestions?

thanks

I know nothing of SWM, but regarding the Fenix, you might want to divulge the model. Re: the Fenix, does this happen on all / most output levels, or just full beans? Problem could use more definition.

 

[Nick the gooner]

Hi, the Fenix is TK35UE v2 as per topic title, but it would have helped to include it in the post. Yes, all light levels.

Hmm, it's been said to me that the torch is designed to work with hi drain batteries, which might not be what I've got, so maybe I'll get some Fenix ones. More expensive though., The Sunwayman worked ok (before) on the cheaper batteries.

 

[aznsx]

Hi, the Fenix is TK35UE v2 as per topic title, but it would have helped to include it in the post. Yes, all light levels.

Hmm, it's been said to me that the torch is designed to work with hi drain batteries, which might not be what I've got, so maybe I'll get some Fenix ones. More expensive though., The Sunwayman worked ok (before) on the cheaper batteries.

I apologize. I don't know how I could have missed that:-(. Clearly I wasn't cookin' on the front burner. I'm glad I wasn't doing something critical at that moment - it could have been ugly!!

Is the Fenix a new light that's had this problem out of the box, or a light that's worked normally in the past and has 'failed' in service?

That Fenix clearly is going to have a rather high current requirement of those batteries, specifically at the higher output levels. At those levels, it will need all they can provide. It is, however significant that the light also shuts off unexpectedly at the lower output levels as well, when maximum current is not being demanded of the batts. That would not typically be the case if the batts were simply not up to the task, as the current requirement of the light should be relatively low at the lower output levels.

Particularly in light of having a very similar sounding issue with 2 different lights, which is itself somewhat odd, is it possible that your 18650s are not in fact being properly charged by your charging equipment? That could be a possible root cause issue in both problems you're having.

If you happen to have a volt meter, it would be interesting to remove them and note the voltage of the cells after the light has shut off as you describe.

Assuming you're running the Fenix on 18650 cells, if you have access to 4 CR123A cells, testing the Fenix using those in place of the 18650s would also be a very worthwhile thing to try, as it would effectively eliminate the specific batts you're using, and any questions regarding their state of charge, as the likely area(s) of the cause.

 

[Nick the gooner]

Thanks - no need to apologise, and that's really useful advice. I received the analyser, and one 3500mah battery comes up as 3150 and 4.17v. I don't know if that's particularly good or bad, and the other batteries are similar in result but don't say what their rating is. I've set them all to refresh.

I'm getting the hi drain batteries today and will let you know what happens.

Edit:
With the hi drain batteries it doesn't turn off after 2 minutes, so it's quite likely that was the issue. I'll do more testing.

The annoying thing is that having taken the Sunwayman apart it doesn't work now when I put it back together, and if I can't get a replacement part I've buggered up a good torch for no reason.

 

[aznsx]

Thanks - no need to apologise, and that's really useful advice. I received the analyser, and one 3500mah battery comes up as 3150 and 4.17v. I don't know if that's particularly good or bad, and the other batteries are similar in result but don't say what their rating is. I've set them all to refresh.

I'm getting the hi drain batteries today and will let you know what happens.

Edit:
With the hi drain batteries it doesn't turn off after 2 minutes, so it's quite likely that was the issue. I'll do more testing.

The annoying thing is that having taken the Sunwayman apart it doesn't work now when I put it back together, and if I can't get a replacement part I've buggered up a good torch for no reason.

That's good progress, and likely a favorable result so far! Happy to hear it.

I didn't know you were going to get an analyzer; which was probably not necessary to diagnose this problem, but is good to have anyway. Keep in mind that depending on what current it discharges the cells at for testing, etc., it may not be conclusive proof that the original cells don't have an(other) issue, nor that their not being 'high drain' was the only factor in this. You didn't simply replace them with higher drain cells, but significantly with new / different cells, and that alone could have produced the positive results, as there were 2 variables involved.

The annoying thing is that having taken the Sunwayman apart it doesn't work now when I put it back together, and if I can't get a replacement part I've buggered up a good torch for no reason.

Yeah, you did skip a vital step or 2 in your troubleshooting, but we've all learned the lesson to avoid doing that at some point, so don't feel too bad. I'm sure you find it annoying though, as we all do when we make such mistakes. I analyze problems for a living, but I assure you I learned the same lesson decades ago, and undoubtedly learned it 'the hard way' also.

Cheers!