SL TL-3 help needed

gbaker

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Oct 20, 2005
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My Streamlight TL-3 just quit working. Thought it was the batteries but after I changed them it still doesn't work. I took the bulb out and it looked ok but I went on and changed it out with the spare bulb and still no light. Anybody have any other ideas?
 

not2bright

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gbaker said:
My Streamlight TL-3 just quit working. Thought it was the batteries but after I changed them it still doesn't work. I took the bulb out and it looked ok but I went on and changed it out with the spare bulb and still no light. Anybody have any other ideas?

Have you tried bypassing the switch?

You should be able to do this by shorting the bottom of the bottom cell to the case with something like a knife blade.
 

gbaker

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not2bright said:
Have you tried bypassing the switch?

You should be able to do this by shorting the bottom of the bottom cell to the case with something like a knife blade.


It just has a screw in bottom no switch, but I took the end cap off and touched the bottom cell and case. Still no light. This is odd because it worked last time I used it. Its just been sitting on the nightstand.
 

CostcoAAcells

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Have you confirmed that your 'new' batteries are not duds? Do you have a battery tester?

If you have a multimeter with continuity check, you can test the bulbs to make sure they're good.
 

AlexGT

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This may sound stupid, but I know of a person who actually did that (Don't ask!)

Have you checked if the bottom plate where the spare bulb goes is attached?


AlexGT
 

gbaker

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CostcoAAcells said:
Have you confirmed that your 'new' batteries are not duds? Do you have a battery tester?

If you have a multimeter with continuity check, you can test the bulbs to make sure they're good.

Well I gues that was it. I have 15 new batteries from Battery Station and one was bad. I suspose its better than it being the flashlight. I must not have unscrewed the cap enough the last time because the old batteries were working last I used it. I don't think this is a regulated light anyway.
 

67L48

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My ~2 year old TL-3 also just started having intermittant failures. This light has seen very, very limited duty and was only on its second set of batteries. No rough usage at all. I put in a set of new batteries and noticed no light. Tried the old batteries, that I knew still had some juice, and still no light. Checked bulb and it was fine.

Finally, I found that by slapping it around some, the light would come on. That solves the problem for a while. Eventually, the light will stop working. Each time, if I slap it around, bang it on my leg, it will start working again. Something is loose, but I'm not an electronics guy, so I don't even know where to look to fix it.

Does your light recover at all?
 

Brighteyez

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Your light has a lifetime warranty. You might want to consider contacting Streamlight or one of their warranty stations to see about getting it fixed/replaced. Sounds like something is not making contact.

67L48 said:
My ~2 year old TL-3 also just started having intermittant failures. This light has seen very, very limited duty and was only on its second set of batteries. No rough usage at all. I put in a set of new batteries and noticed no light. Tried the old batteries, that I knew still had some juice, and still no light. Checked bulb and it was fine.

Finally, I found that by slapping it around some, the light would come on. That solves the problem for a while. Eventually, the light will stop working. Each time, if I slap it around, bang it on my leg, it will start working again. Something is loose, but I'm not an electronics guy, so I don't even know where to look to fix it.

Does your light recover at all?
 

gbaker

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67L48 said:
Finally, I found that by slapping it around some, the light would come on. That solves the problem for a while. Eventually, the light will stop working. Each time, if I slap it around, bang it on my leg, it will start working again. Something is loose, but I'm not an electronics guy, so I don't even know where to look to fix it.

Does your light recover at all?

Mine is working fine now. Just one bad battery out of 15.
 

Paladin

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Feb 2, 2006
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67L48 said:
My ~2 year old TL-3 also just started having intermittant failures. This light has seen very, very limited duty and was only on its second set of batteries. No rough usage at all. I put in a set of new batteries and noticed no light. Tried the old batteries, that I knew still had some juice, and still no light. Checked bulb and it was fine.

Finally, I found that by slapping it around some, the light would come on. That solves the problem for a while. Eventually, the light will stop working. Each time, if I slap it around, bang it on my leg, it will start working again. Something is loose, but I'm not an electronics guy, so I don't even know where to look to fix it.

Does your light recover at all?

One TL-3 I got was DOA right from the package. First I checked the batteries, then went thru the bulb changing procedure without success. And even jumpering the simple as dirt tailcap failed to provide photons!

Careful inspection of the LAMP HOLDER revealed a copper ring on the underside, and a defective spot weld for the connection to the lamp. I could see where the small silver connection was lifted away from the copper ring on mine, and pressing it into contact gave continuity with an Ohm meter.

Streamlight promptly sent me a replacement lamp holder, and all was well.

Paladin
 

Lucero

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I know I can send this off to SL, but I have intermittent tailcap switch failure that defies logic --- yet, must be something simple. Actually, I have more failure than lighting. I have unscrewed / rescrewed and for a brief moment, the light will flicker as I am re-attaching the tailcap. Maybe somebody here has experience in clearing this? Thanks in advance.
 

davidra

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Feb 17, 2004
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TL-3's frequently have a problem with the red O ring pulling the bulb slightly out of contact when the head is twisted for focus. If you do a search you'll find lots of threads about this. One solution is to just remove the red O ring. For an intermittant problem, that's one thing to look for.
 

Lucero

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OK, thank you. I'm on it. Disassembly next.

Believe it or not, an Advanced Search is what led me to this thread. Is it just my keyboard here, or does anyone else experience some type of "partial results" phenomenon from their searches??? Can't say why I didn't locate these particular threads. No answer needed to that one.

Lucero

 
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