Zebralight H51

Ian2381

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Jul 26, 2009
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Philippines
Mine does that, flickering and wont light again when turned off. An indicator you have a depleted battery needed to be replaced.
 

jamjam

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Nov 15, 2008
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73
Thanks for all the replies. My H51w behave differently differently depending on the mode.

1) High - It will step to med, no flickering yet unless continue on current level (med) for extended period of time.

2) Mid - It will step down to low, no flickering yet unless continue on current level (low) for extended period of time.

3) Low - It will start flickering after roughly 100 hours of on-off routine use, it will continue to to flicker for roughly 20+ hours of on-off routine use. I am still doing the "L1 mode" test, and right now it has been running 4 hours daily for about a month.

The purpose of this test is to see how long it takes to completely drained a single "china brand" alkaline in a real world situation. I will not use alkaline for daily usage, but only as a last backup option. I also did a test on "H1 mode" with Energizer Primary Lithium", and the result is roughly the same to Selfbuilt review for the SC51.

The other lights in my test are the Fenix LD20/ LD10/ LD01 SS/ E01, Sunwayman M20C/ M10A, Jetbeam III M and Klarus ST10/ Mi X6. The Klarus X6 are doing pretty well with just a single AAA, hitting 80hours on "low" with 2 hours of usage daily. The LD01 SS only manage to reached 55hours before shutdown. This test are by no means as scientific as what other "Gurus" here had did, but more like an insurance for myself, to know exactly how long each light will last with different battery options.
 

Gregozedobe

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Nov 25, 2009
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Canberra, Australia
The purpose of this test is to see how long it takes to completely drained a single "china brand" alkaline in a real world situation. I will not use alkaline for daily usage, but only as a last backup option.

Please check your battery frequently - alakaline batteries are even more prone to leaking (and then damaging lights) when they are drained of all charge.
 

jamjam

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Nov 15, 2008
Messages
73
Please check your battery frequently - alakaline batteries are even more prone to leaking (and then damaging lights) when they are drained of all charge.

Thanks for your advice, I am ware of the risk of leaking. So I removed the alkaline after every test. I have experience with nasty alkaline leaking in my blood pressure meter many years ago. And if you are curious, I am actually not that old. LOL...
 

jamjam

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Nov 15, 2008
Messages
73
Please check your battery frequently - alakaline batteries are even more prone to leaking (and then damaging lights) when they are drained of all charge.

Thanks for your advice, I am ware of the risk of leaking. So I removed the alkaline after every test. I have experience with nasty alkaline leaking in my blood pressure meter many years ago. And if you are curious, I am actually not that old. LOL...
 

jamjam

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Joined
Nov 15, 2008
Messages
73
Thanks for all the replies. My H51w behave differently differently depending on the mode.

1) High - It will step to med, no flickering yet unless continue on current level (med) for extended period of time.

2) Mid - It will step down to low, no flickering yet unless continue on current level (low) for extended period of time.

3) Low - It will start flickering after roughly 100 hours of on-off routine use, it will continue to to flicker for roughly 20+ hours of on-off routine use. I am still doing the "L1 mode" test, and right now it has been running 4 hours daily for about a month.

The purpose of this test is to see how long it takes to completely drained a single "china brand" alkaline in a real world situation. I will not use alkaline for daily usage, but only as a last backup option. I also did a test on "H1 mode" with Energizer Primary Lithium", and the result is roughly the same to Selfbuilt review for the SC51.

The other lights in my test are the Fenix LD20/ LD10/ LD01 SS/ E01, Sunwayman M20C/ M10A, Jetbeam III M and Klarus ST10/ Mi X6. The Klarus X6 are doing pretty well with just a single AAA, hitting 80hours on "low" with 2 hours of usage daily. The LD01 SS only manage to reached 55hours before shutdown. This test are by no means as scientific as what other "Gurus" here had did, but more like an insurance for myself, to know exactly how long each light will last with different battery options.

After some observations. there are some weird behavior that I noticed on the H51w.

When the battery is almost depleted on L1 mode, it will start to go dimmer and flicker rapidly. When this happened, I do a quick double quick, it will go a tad brighter but without any flickering, then immediately shut down.

It seems to me that by double click on L1 mode bring me to L2 mode, which is still "regulated", and then shut down due to the low voltage. Or is it that the H51w actually step down to L2 when low voltage and start flickering, and when I do a double click, it bring it back to L1 which is still "regulated", and then shut down.

I wonder why Zebralight choose to use this flickering method instead of just stepping down to the next lower mode, or may be a few flashes every few minutes as a low voltage warning. Because when the light start flickering rapidly, it is really distracting and the beam is almost not useable. I will rather go with a steady but dimmer light, rather then brighter but flickering.

Not sure if anyone is on the same boat with me, but it would be interesting to hear all your comment on this. Thanks.
 

gcbryan

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Joined
Oct 19, 2009
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Location
Seattle,WA
I've got the H51 and H51f. I usually use Eneloops and have only seen it not go to high modes once the batteries get low. So if you try to cycle it just goes for L1 and 2 to M1 and 2 and then back to L1 and 2.

At that point I just recharge or put in new batteries. I haven't waiting until L1 and 2 is all it will do. I assume that's when the flickering starts but I haven't seen it as I would replace the battery before that.
 

LED_Thrift

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Mar 30, 2005
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Northern NJ, USA
I don't think my memory is as good as it used to be, although I'm not sure, but I think I recall reading that some of the lower settings on the ZL's were achieved using PWM. This would cause the fast flickering that is visible when the batteries are depleted. I have a Jetbeam that uses PWM and when the battery gets low, it gets really annoying. I have never noticed this on my SC51w, but I always put in a charged up Eneloop as soon as the one I'm using starts to get dim.

Thrifty
 

davidt1

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Sep 23, 2008
Messages
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Making and eating dinner with illumination provided by H51w.
Dinner.jpg
 

davidt1

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Sep 23, 2008
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Just another day at work for the H51w. While I miss the true flood beam of my lost H501, the H51w beats it in brightness and efficiency. I had to use the brightest mode on the H501 for just about any task. Battery life lasted for about less than 2hrs. With the H51w, I only need to use M1(26lms) for all up-close tasks. Battery lasts almost all day in this mode. Reading requires even less power. While the upcoming H502 will no doubt be a great light, I know my H51w will keep me happy for long, long, long time.

Doing a mod to EDC some super glue, and the H51w is providing hand-free illumination for this mod.
UsingH51asnecklight.jpg
 

davidt1

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Sep 23, 2008
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Using my H51w as a lighted magnetic pickup tool with lanyard headband.
Magneticpickup.jpg
 
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davidt1

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Sep 23, 2008
Messages
1,907
I woke up at 5AM and couldn't go back to sleep. So I used my H51w to make a case for a traveling dental care kit I am putting together.

Wearing it around the neck is my default way of EDCing and using the light. To reduce the thickness of the lanyard, I have changed from the 550 paracord to a thinner cord.
IMG_8378.jpg


Work was done and pictures were taken with the H51w set at M2(7lm).
IMG_8386.jpg


IMG_8388.jpg
 
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davidt1

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Sep 23, 2008
Messages
1,907
Fenix makes some nice clips that fit ZL lights very well.

Here is a stainless steel Fenix clip on my H51w. It's clamps tighter than the ZL clip and looks better too.
IMG_8664.jpg
 
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vēer

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Jan 5, 2012
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23
Quick question here, read half of this thread only, so pardon me if I have missed something!
Now, as I understand, back in 2010 H51 didnt quite have the runtime advertised on certain modes, H2 especially.
Can someone comment now, if someones got one in 2011/2012 how well are the run times and whether they are about the same as quoted on ZL's web page?
Thanks!
 
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