Zebralight Reliability

[Sarlix]

2 cold weather spontaneous cracked lenses on sc52s.

I've seen a few torture tests done on various lights where they've been frozen in ice/left in the freezer etc and the lenses didn't crack. Were were you that was cold enough to crack a freaking lens? Do you think they were defective to begin with? or did you drop them or something :thinking:

 

[jorn]

The freezer is not that cold. Same with ice. A ice cave can save your life if its really cold outside. Some pepole even makes a hotel out of ice for tourist to spend the night in

 

[markr6]

Last winter I was backpacking down to -14°F. I wasn't worried about the lens cracking, I but definitely kept batteries in my pocket all day and while sleeping. And water, phone, fuel, contact solution...man, winter camping is work!

 

[jorn]

I guess the lense cracking is because of the way its buildt. Zebra press fit the lenses, so it has no way to go when the aluminium shrinks in the cold.

 

[scs]

2 cold weather spontaneous cracked lenses on sc52s... 2 h502s with switch problems.... 1 random dead h600. with that being said my lights get hammered and I would expect anything to survive. I'm a fan.

Could abrupt temperature change from very cold to warm have been the culprit, not just the cold weather?
Glass is weak in tension. I've cracked glass containers pouring water that is too hot too quickly into them.
I'm guessing your lenses experienced rapid expansion due to a sudden temperature change from cold to hot, and cracked.

 

[jorn]

Could abrupt temperature change from very cold to warm have been the culprit, not just the cold weather?
Glass is weak in tension. I've cracked glass containers pouring water that is too hot too quickly into them.
I'm guessing your lenses experienced rapid expansion due to a sudden temperature change from cold to hot, and cracked.

If so, we would have seen some reports of lenses breaking in the cold from other brands. The difference between a screw in bezel and a press fitted one is that the screw in got some tolerances, otherwise the threads wont work. The press fitted dont have any toleranses.
Aluminium shrinks when cooled. So it might be like putting glass in a vise if a zebra with a press fitted lense/bezel is cooled down too mutch.

 

[scs]

If so, we would have seen some reports of lenses breaking in the cold from other brands.

My suggestion was it wasn't just the cold, but the rapid expansion due to an abrupt temperature change from cold to hot that caused the crack.

How much can the circular opening in the aluminum head contract to cause enough stress to crack the lens?

 

[Badbeams3]

I have one of the older SC600. Switch is bad. Only light I have that does not work right. Probably to old to expect repair. But it cost me around $100 and was hardly used, and looks new. So, I stay away from Zebra lights...

 

[cyclesport]

I have one of the older SC600. Switch is bad. Only light I have that does not work right. Probably to old to expect repair. But it cost me around $100 and was hardly used, and looks new. So, I stay away from Zebra lights...

Might be wise to ask if ZL's $15 flat rate service charge for out of warranty lights would apply here...not sure why it wouldn't?

 

[justanotherguy]

Might be wise to ask if ZL's $15 flat rate service charge for out of warranty lights would apply here...not sure why it wouldn't?

I just did that on a sc600 a few months ago!
Thing is, I have the same problem again.
And since I rotate the lights I don't know if it's the same light .
I'm going to try and send it back again
Tony

 

[Badbeams3]

Might be wise to ask if ZL's $15 flat rate service charge for out of warranty lights would apply here...not sure why it wouldn't?

Guess I could go through the trouble. Shipping costs...plus the $15 service fee. But...I have other nice 18650 lights that do the same thing and are just as bright and brighter. So it's kind of obsolete at this point. And I remember a few other people having switch issues with their Zebra's. So...I'm not confident that the same thing would not just happen all over again. Probably have improved the switch in the new models. But, left a pretty bad taste in me for the brand. My Nitecore EC25 has what I thought was a flaky switch. But has proven to be very dependable. My Olights (Batons) have electronic switches as well...none have failed me either. And all those lights were considerably less. $$$$.

 

[markr6]

Guess I could go through the trouble. Shipping costs...plus the $15 service fee. But...I have other nice 18650 lights that do the same thing and are just as bright and brighter. So it's kind of obsolete at this point. And I remember a few other people having switch issues with their Zebra's. So...I'm not confident that the same thing would not just happen all over again. Probably have improved the switch in the new models. But, left a pretty bad taste in me for the brand. My Nitecore EC25 has what I thought was a flaky switch. But has proven to be very dependable. My Olights (Batons) have electronic switches as well...none have failed me either. And all those lights were considerably less. $$$$.

I personally wouldn't want to mess with it. I would try to sell it cheap to someone wanting to attempt a mod then buy a new one if you liked it enough. Lots of nice alternatives like you said. Nitecore MN20 is a good one.

 

[WalkIntoTheLight]

I personally wouldn't want to mess with it. I would try to sell it cheap to someone wanting to attempt a mod then buy a new one if you liked it enough. Lots of nice alternatives like you said. Nitecore MN20 is a good one.

I've heard nothing but horror stories on Nitecore quality, in this group. Don't own any myself, as I was scared off considering them. If getting something more reliable that Zebralight is his concern, I'm not sure Nitecore is the way to go. However, perhaps the complaints are because more people here own Nitecore?

 

[markr6]

I've heard nothing but horror stories on Nitecore quality, in this group. Don't own any myself, as I was scared off considering them. If getting something more reliable that Zebralight is his concern, I'm not sure Nitecore is the way to go. However, perhaps the complaints are because more people here own Nitecore?

It's probably just a mix of (bad) luck, willingness to share experience, and percentage of NC owners here vs. not on CPF. The EA4 switch issue is one always in my mind (but I have two and never had a problem).

 

[Amelia]

I've heard nothing but horror stories on Nitecore quality, in this group. Don't own any myself, as I was scared off considering them. If getting something more reliable that Zebralight is his concern, I'm not sure Nitecore is the way to go. However, perhaps the complaints are because more people here own Nitecore?

I own 3 Nitecore Defender Infinitys, a CU6, a CG6, a SRT5, and 3 SRT3s. I also gave another SRT5 (which I'd been EDCing for about a month) to a friend a few days ago. I've had no problems of any kind with any of those Nitecore lights - they've all been solid. BTW, one of the Nitecore Defender Infinity lights has been my car glovebox light for over 3 years, abused by long rides over bumpy backcountry roads and exposed to 110 Deg plus and 0 minus temperatures for the whole time. That's a TOUGH light!

 

[jorn]

My suggestion was it wasn't just the cold, but the rapid expansion due to an abrupt temperature change from cold to hot that caused the crack.

How much can the circular opening in the aluminum head contract to cause enough stress to crack the lens?

When it's press fitted the glass might aleredy be under tention, so the shrinking of the alu can send it over the top. The edges of glass is really really fragile.
Worked for 6 years making aluminium doors and windows, and have seen my share of broken glass .So i do got some experience about aluminium and glass. Some times the glass broke just because it was too big for the door/window, but it got installed anyway. And in winter, the shrinking alu got to the edges of the glass and cracked the glass when it got really cold. So i know for a fact that shrinking alu can break glass. If this is the case for the zebra, i dont know, but i suspect it since it's a press fitted design

 

[Badbeams3]

This thread made me go look through a bottom drawer where I keep some of my old lights. I found a Nitecore D10. It had some limited run emitter in it that had a nicer tint, can't remember what it was. It was a great light in it's day. Required cleaning and lube fairly often. It is a single AA light, you push the button in the tail and it ramps up, stop where you want. Push again and it ramps down. Put a battery in it and it lite right up and worked great!

I also found an old 47's 123 X 2...had a lithium 17670 battery in it (odd size). Pressed the tail button and...fired right up. Pretty bright too. Surprised me.

And I found a Fenix L2D...same thing, put some batts in it and it also jumped to life.

Even found a old red Photon light. The only led lights there were if I remember right when I first joined CPF. There were the hotwire guy's (rich Surefire guy's) and the poorer Streamlight folks.

And led's were just not there much (red Photons were about it, and not very bright). Later the 7 led Ccrane light came out...might have had 15 lumens. It was the holy grail of led's. Still had one laying around until a few years ago when I found it...batteries had leaked inside and ruined it.

Little trip back through time for me...

Think I was member 54...lol. Still manged to have fun even though there were few members. Incredible how much the interest has grown

 

[CelticCross74]

Ive read lots of ZL QC horror stories but my SC600 MkIIw L2 which Ive had since its release is built like a brick house and still functions flawlessly. As for Nitecore for a long time their QC was atrocious and their designs poor. They really seem to have stepped it up for 2015 my new MH20 is flawless and its design is world class.

 

[run4jc]

My second time to state this, but I've had no problems. IMHO, the percentages are kinda inaccurate as it relates to the question of reliability. If you don't own any or don't use what you have or don't even know what a Zebralight is, I'm not sure of the relevance of the statistic in a reliability vote? Some may disagree, and I do appreciate the thread and the poll so this isn't intended as criticism - just an observation.

So in that vein, let's take out the last 3 categories in the poll and see how it affects the results:

"Garbage…"	2	1.74%
"More failed than…"	6	5.22%
"Pretty reliable..."	20	17.39%
"Rock Solid…"	87	75.65%
	115

So 93% have been either rock solid or pretty reliable, skewed heavily towards rock solid. 7% failure isn't good - no doubt - in the OP poll that is more like 6%, but the 2 reliable ratings were only 80%, when of those actually owning and using the lights, again, it's much higher. And less than 2% are really unhappy.

It might even be interesting to know how many lights each voter has - each light represents one vote. I currently own 6 so I'd have 6 "rock solid" votes? I've probably sold more than that, and none of them failed...

YMMV. And as I said, this is a good thread and poll - no criticism. Just observation.

:twothumbs

 

[Badbeams3]

My second time to state this, but I've had no problems. IMHO, the percentages are kinda inaccurate as it relates to the question of reliability. If you don't own any or don't use what you have or don't even know what a Zebralight is, I'm not sure of the relevance of the statistic in a reliability vote? Some may disagree, and I do appreciate the thread and the poll so this isn't intended as criticism - just an observation.

So in that vein, let's take out the last 3 categories in the poll and see how it affects the results:

"Garbage…"	2	1.74%
"More failed than…"	6	5.22%
"Pretty reliable..."	20	17.39%
"Rock Solid…"	87	75.65%
	115

So 93% have been either rock solid or pretty reliable, skewed heavily towards rock solid. 7% failure isn't good - no doubt - in the OP poll that is more like 6%, but the 2 reliable ratings were only 80%, when of those actually owning and using the lights, again, it's much higher. And less than 2% are really unhappy.

It might even be interesting to know how many lights each voter has - each light represents one vote. I currently own 6 so I'd have 6 "rock solid" votes? I've probably sold more than that, and none of them failed...

YMMV. And as I said, this is a good thread and poll - no criticism. Just observation.

:twothumbs

I think if the poll was limited to later models you would find an even better reliability scoring. Looking at the current SC600 on Amazon, I see no reliability issues (a few people complaining about it being complicated). The switch problems I (and a few others) had has likely been addressed and fixed a few years ago...