Does your H30 have any UI problem?

Re: Does you H30 have any UI problem?

Just couldn't give up - tried again with the battery that never got any light at all - the short rechargeable after doing my 'fix' of shorting positive pole to the side and it worked fine. My conclusion is that something in the circuit is maintaining a small voltage that following a battery swap leads to start up problems. That's why some users report it's okay if it sits for a couple hours probably. This IMO is a faulty design of sorts that needs to be fixed. While it's not too difficult to fix with just a paperclip or similar (I used a Swiss tech tool - just fits right to do a quick 3 second short out) it's not something I'd want to have to do all the time when swapping batteries.

Re: Does you H30 have any UI problem?

Did the same test again with yet another battery and got the same results so this is consistent - shorting to the side works to reset and then the light works fine.

Re: Does you H30 have any UI problem?

Matrix, that is very useful work indeed you have done there - maybe you have found the problem.

So on changing the battery, all you need to do is short the contacts when the light is empty, before putting in a new cell, then it works fine?

Re: Does you H30 have any UI problem?

To avoid further confusion and cross-posting I have now closed the original thread, and discussion can continue here.

Re: Does you H30 have any UI problem?

Hi Matrix
Have you tried taking the battery out while the light is on -maybe that would do the same thing?

Good detective work BTW
Cheers
Dom

Re: Does you H30 have any UI problem?

It must be a memory thing, because I can take the same battery in and out all day long, and it doesn't get the stuck momentary problem. But as soon as I switch to a different cell, blamo! Stuck on momentary.

It takes screwing and unscrewing a couple of times and usually fixes it, but I think your shorting procedure is much more reliable. I'll have to try it, a simple paperclip or two straight pieces of metal should do the trick.

Either way, Zebralight needs to fix this problem.

Edit: just tried it. Works like a charm. Nice discovery Matrixshaman.

Re: Does you H30 have any UI problem?

tino_ale said:

You are saying you bought two headlamps and that they both have the same UI problem?

Awww that doesn't sound good at all.

I have canceled my fenixs-store order. Not that I'm not interrested in this lamps anymore, but since it would cost me 25+ USD to ship it back if it was defective, I prefer to wait for this issue to be totally under control. I'll order one or more as soon as this issue is adressed though.

I'm sending a PM to Zebralight. They might not have seen this so far...

Click to expand...

Don't need to get too worry and in fact, it doesn't bother me that much due to my findings:

I don't think this is defective. Instead, it's a hidden "function" on the circuit. Do the following:

1) While the light is on, unscrew the tail cap to turn off the light (instead of press the button)
2) Re-tighten the tail cap, now pressing the button won't turn on the light.
3) Uncrew the tailcap again, retighten the tailcap, pressing the button would turn on momentum.
4) Uncrew the tailcap again, retighten the tailcap, the light become normal.

You might be able to reproduce this. Please note that uncrewing and retighten the tailcap in step 2), 3) and 4) might be time-sliced related.

If Zebralight has time, they might be able to write instruction (troubleshooting) about this.

Alan

Re: Does you H30 have any UI problem?

I received 2 H30's yesterday.
One of them has no problem about the UI. This one works perfectly.

The other sometimes works but suddenly it turned off.
And it took much time to make it work again. Unscrewing the tailcap for times may help.
Changing batteries always causes problem.

Re: Does you H30 have any UI problem?

We have identified the problem.

The problem is related to the reset circuit to the microcontroller. Since H30s use pushbutton switches, the reset circuit was not designed as robust as the one in the H50s, in which all operations are resets triggered. However, when you screw the tailcap back on after every LOCKOUT or battery changing, resets happen. When you twist the cap back on, the microcontroller can get a clear reset signal most of the time, but sometimes it may not. If the microcontroller is not reset properly, it may misinterpret the pushbutton operations, among other things.

During the production, our QC workers did see the reset problems occasionally, but kept thinking it was because of bad contacts of batteries, because twisting the tail cap again the problem usually disappears.

We have been working on various solutions for a few days. A reset circuit similar to the one in the H50 was added and tested it under thousands of cap twistings of various types (e.g. unscrew when High, Med, Low, or Off, twist back on after different 'off' period), all without problems. Starting yesterday, new orders are all shipped with the improved reset circuit. We'll provide our distributors in Asia, Europe and North America with new lights soon. We'll also provide replacements for anyone who bought the H30s from our website or from our distributors. We sincerely apologize for all the inconveniences that has caused.

Re: Does you H30 have any UI problem?

ZebraLight said:

We have identified the problem.

We'll also provide replacements for anyone who bought the H30s from our website or from our distributors. We sincerely apologize for all the inconveniences that has caused.

Click to expand...

Hi Zebralight, thank you for identifying the problem. Is this a problem to all earlier H30s light? If so, will you be doing a mass recall of these lights?

Re: Does you H30 have any UI problem?


Thanks MATRIX , for all your detective work and all the details.
.

Re: Does you H30 have any UI problem?

ZebraLight said:

We have identified the problem.
...
Starting yesterday, new orders are all shipped with the improved reset circuit. We'll provide our distributors in Asia, Europe and North America with new lights soon. We'll also provide replacements for anyone who bought the H30s from our website or from our distributors. We sincerely apologize for all the inconveniences that has caused.

Click to expand...

:twothumbs Thanks. You fixed the problem really fast.
I'll order one H30 directly from your website right now.

Re: Does you H30 have any UI problem?

DM51 said:

Matrix, that is very useful work indeed you have done there - maybe you have found the problem.

So on changing the battery, all you need to do is short the contacts when the light is empty, before putting in a new cell, then it works fine?

Click to expand...

Thanks - yes that is correct just use some small metal object to short the center contact in the head to the bare aluminum on the tail of the body.
This is a good temporary fix to any misbehaving H30's until we can get the revised ones. Thanks very much to Zebralight for taking care of this so quickly! This is a very exciting new light. I can see the high quality thoughout and it's great to see Zebralight pin this problem down quickly and take care of us. :twothumbs

Re: Does you H30 have any UI problem?

dom said:

Hi Matrix
Have you tried taking the battery out while the light is on -maybe that would do the same thing?

Good detective work BTW
Cheers
Dom

Click to expand...

I did think about trying that after I was off to sleep - it is possible but I was concerned it might put a series of spikes into the circuit as the tail spring began to lose contact and I was concerned that might not be good for it if it was drawing a lot of current - especially if the light was on high. But it looks like we won't need to be concerned much longer about this little bug since Zebralight is taking care of it as they are well known for great customer service (my own experience with a problem on an H50 was taken care of by their customer service to 100% satisfaction).

Re: Does you H30 have any UI problem?

matrixshaman said:

Did the same test again with yet another battery and got the same results so this is consistent - shorting to the side works to reset and then the light works fine.

Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for your findings!

Re: Does you H30 have any UI problem?

So I can order an H30 now!! Thanks a lot Zebralight for fixing the issue so fast :wave:

Re: Does you H30 have any UI problem?

They found that solution very fast.
:twothumbs


I may be wrong, but this sounds similar to what the HDS EDC required after a battery change. With the HDS, it was just a matter of pressing the button in a certain way to let the flashlight know the battery had been changed.

Re: Does you H30 have any UI problem?

Before I pull the trigger for two H30, can someone quickly comment on the LED tint? thanks!

Re: Does you H30 have any UI problem?

Well, I'm still waiting for my Zebra to arrive (from the 1st 18), so does this mean I have to send it back to the Fenix store?

How will these exchanges be handled?

Re: Does you H30 have any UI problem?

Zebralight, thank you for your quick attention to this issue and fixing the problem very quickly! For those of us with the "defective" H30's, do we need to return them to the dealer, or would we simply receive a 2nd replacement at no cost?