Fenix L1P Question

Brighteyez

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I was just approached by someone who bought one of these lights last night and I'm not really familiar with them.

As many of you have experienced, the O ring on the back did fall apart as soon as the tailcap was removed (replaced it with one that came in the box.)

My question though is whether or not it is a normal characteristic of this light, that the tailcap has to be screwed all the way down (pretty tight) for the switch to work. Seems that this one has kind of a LOTC in that the moment you move the tailcap the slightest, the contact/circuit with the battery is broken. Additionally, I noticed that it flickered a few times from dim to bright though it seems to be okay right now. I'm not sure if this one is a dud.
 

UnknownVT

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Brighteyez wrote: "whether or not it is a normal characteristic of this light, that the tailcap has to be screwed all the way down (pretty tight) for the switch to work. Seems that this one has kind of a LOTC in that the moment you move the tailcap the slightest, the contact/circuit with the battery is broken. Additionally, I noticed that it flickered a few times from dim to bright though it seems to be okay right now. I'm not sure if this one is a dud."

The electrical contact is made via the tube end(s) both for the tailcap and the head on the Fenix L1 v2.5 (linked review). So the tailcap does need to be screwed down properly to make good contact - but not necessarily really tight - I find on my sample of one, finger tight is enough.

Some have found the body tube to be orientation sensitive - ie: if reversed the light might not work properly - I don't know why since the body tube looks to be symmetrical - however you might want to try reversing the tube to see if the light works any better?

Early reports had some problems with the switch assembly not being screwed down propely in the tailcap - that also might cause some problems seemingly requiring the tailcap to be screwed down really tight to make good contact.

Lastly it might not be the tailcap/contact - just in case check the head to body contact - I have read reports where a problem was traced to this area too.
 

Brighteyez

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Thanks Vincent. Yeah, I meant finger-tight, not ground into the tube. It sounds okay then if the cap does have to be screwed all the way in to make contact. I'm just used to lights that require a turn or two before it locks out the contact. The head appears to be secured with an adhesive, and since it's not mine and it belongs to someone who isn't really into this stuff, I won't break the seal.

Odd wording on the warranty statement though the English is a little better than normally expected. Limited lifetime warranty but there will be a charge for parts (?!) And since they do specifically state that breaking the seal on the head voids the warranty, I won't do that with this particular light.

Interesting little light thought, decent though not fantastic output. Aside from Fenix's strongarm tactics with their dealers, I don't think I'd be willing to trust this light for my usage because of that tailcap, but it really looks nice for the casual user, especially a business traveller. Unlike the Q3 it doesn't have a "combat" look about it, and would fit well into a brief/laptop case, and wouldn't look out of place even on a conference table.
 

RebelXTNC

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You may also want to check that no lube or aluminum oxide has built up on the bare metal end of the tube or the bare metal ring of the switch body.
As for the O-ring, my first L1P had a slicing tendency due to such a tight fit when putting on the tailcap. Plus the ring was dry but the threads did have some lube. My next two lights had both some lube on the O-rings and they had a perfect fit and probably wouldn't be damaged even if dry.
 

BlackDecker

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The o-Ring installed at the factory must not have been lubed properly. On my Fenix L1P, as long as the o-ring is kept lubed, it won't stick or get ripped by the tailcap.
 

Brighteyez

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Thanks, there was some lube on the end of the bare metal, but that was my fault ... and I wiped it off :) It seems to be working okay, maybe I'll just play around with it a bit more to see if it repeats that dimming.

RebelXTNC said:
You may also want to check that no lube or aluminum oxide has built up on the bare metal end of the tube or the bare metal ring of the switch body.
 
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