P3D flickering on new batteries?

Sorry for the noobishness of my first post, but it IS my first post so...yeah.

Anyway, picked up my bitchen new P3D a month ago or so and it's smokes! THe 200+ lumen turbo output and strobe are amazing and the regulation looks solid. I went through the batteries in about month with normal EDC type use (looking at things regardless of needing light, showing off/demonstrating, letting kids dance to strobe light before bed, etc).

So I swap out my first set of dead batteries excited to put in a new pair..and whammo, I go camping and I get a REAL opportunity to use light. I load up my 3w LED 4D maglite, my X0 inova, and of course the only one I carry on my belt is my sweet new P3D with fresh Titanium batteries from BatteryJunction....

doh...about 15 or 20 seconds into using it on turbo..it flickers and dies. poop. No sweat, i try it on lesser modes...same thing. Again, no sweat, I happened to bring 6 of those titanium cells in my gear...put in another set figuring that new set was just depleted. Bam, happens again with second set. I try a third set of cells...same DAMNED thing! I take the first bad set, put them in my inova and have plenty of light all night long (seriously, I ran it a good 2 hours, no sweat).

Sooooo....I've scolded batteryjunction for the crap batteries leaving them 2 separate scathing reviews for my trouble (they must have been under 3.0v)...and then after that..i get to realizing that hey, maybe this light doesn't use that type of cells (titanium)!! Maybe they only use the name brand cells it came with (duracells i think..or panasonic)! Maybe i need the 3.7v batts! Or maybe one of those 18650 cells! Maybe i have a bad circuitry regulator in my new light...yet it worked fine for the first month.

Then I thought.."let's ask the pros at CPF!" So after prowling here for months, i now manifest myself in the form of these questions:

1) Think it's my light that needs to go back?
2) THink I should try different batteries..and maybe pick up a volt meter to test cells with that i buy from BJ?
3) Can the rechargeable 18650 cells be ok or are they too much voltage for my little P3D (anyone using 18650's, please let me know if they're ok)?


Thanks folks, and sorry for being so long winded!

1) try name brand cells
2) clean the light

The Titanium batteries should work.

Maybe you have bad contacts? Try cleaning everything.

Then test the batteries. The flickering could be the low battery warning.

18650s don't fit the P3D.

:welcome:

You know, I read that, then examined the threads for the head and the tail cap and I looked inside where the + contact hits the head and I can't see even a speck of dust. Should I exercise a greater degree of anality in keeping it pristinely clean, or does there have to be considerable garbage in the threads?

I was going to pick up some name brand cells but when i went to Longs, they were $8.44 each (or a bargain at $14.00 a pair!!) for the duracels. I would have bought them to test but didn't want to be foolish if it was the light..so I thought I'd ask first to see if it's a common flashlight problem.

I appreciate the replies. I'll take a clean, dry toothbrush to the threads and blast the tube with air and wipe that + contact in there and retest! Thanks friends!

Threads and contacts need cleaned with an alcohol swab. You'll be amazed what dirt and grime comes off. Every flashlight should be cleaned in this manner when first received.

Make sure the switch is snug to fairly tight in the tailcap. Sometimes they will work loose, if you have a small tip screwdriver you can tighten it up some (snap ring pliers are best). Nothing wrong with the Titaniums I've use in my P3D.

I think I have a bad light. Batteries are fine (i bought a friggen volt meter to test the cells), I thoroughly and carefully cleaned with alcohol followed up with compressed air blasting...

It can't be the switch or any combination of turning anything because it stays on for a good 15, 20 seconds on ANY mode before turning off. It almost seems like it's not able to withstand very much current before being shut down by the regulating circuit.

Dammit...now I gotta wait and see if fenix has any customer service and if they'll be charging me for their defective light... It's real hard for me to accept chinese products as being quality or having any product support, but I had to have this light. I'm probably cursed because I'm so prejudiced against chinese products like this. So hopefully they'll hook me up tomorrow (since they haven't returned my phone call yet as indicated on their voicemail message.

Sounds like the cells are dead. Open circuit voltage won't tell you too much, voltage under load will give you more of the story.

Where did you buy from?

Marduke said:

Sounds like the cells are dead. Open circuit voltage won't tell you too much, voltage under load will give you more of the story.

Where did you buy from?

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Got it from fenix-store. They're RMAing it for me and replacing/repairing it they say.

How would I test under load? Also, I did try about 4 sets of titanium batteries that all work in my Inova XO light just fine. One set burned for at least an hour in my XO before I shut it off.

If the batteries test around 3.3v without load, they should be pretty good.

Fenix Store is pretty good with customer service. I think they are the Fenix repair/replacement center in North America.

Gunner12 said:

If the batteries test around 3.3v without load, they should be pretty good.

Fenix Store is pretty good with customer service. I think they are the Fenix repair/replacement center in North America.

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The 4 sets of batteries I tested with were all at 4v. I tried some partially spent batteries from my inova that were around 3.6v each..same thing.

Yeah, I"m getting the impression that fenixstore is top notch and that they care about customers.


Now...if I could only find a guide for modding my 4d maglite into that ROP thing i can't find on this site. I'm looking for a way to go 200L+ with it since it's crap with the mag LED in it that fades as soon as it heats up.

Are these rechargeable batteries?

Normal CR123s should be 3.3v fresh.

This thread should help with the Maglite.

Gunner12 said:

Are these rechargeable batteries?

Normal CR123s should be 3.3v fresh.

This thread should help with the Maglite.

Click to expand...

Well, the volt meter I got from radio shack has 3 battery selector things on it (2x 1.5v and a 9v) so i put it on 9v and touch the contacts of the batteries...they go to 4v..sometimes 3.9ish if they've been used a little. Did I do it wrong? THese are Titanium PowPower 3v lithium cr123a batteries from batt junction. I have 20 new ones, and some old ones from about 6 months ago. I tried sets from each batch.

Yeah, I've seen that thread...was looking for more options for the 4d...something I can build out, and possibly be cheaper even. Nothing like a little project you did yourself!

when you change batteries do you do it by removing head or tail..im guessing if you do it by tail its possible the ring came loose?

qip said:

when you change batteries do you do it by removing head or tail..im guessing if you do it by tail its possible the ring came loose?

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I remove the tail cap on the p3d. What ring can come loose? The plate attached to the spring in the cap, or the rubber o-ring on the body at the end of the threads?

Is such a thing consistent with it flickering and dying after several seconds? I bet there's something that melted on the circuit board.

EDIT** just got a reply from batteryjunction after my hateful email...now i gotta go make nice on one of my claims that their batteries were depleted. poop.

just double check and make sure its tight to rule it out as a problem..find something with a point like maybe a knife/pen/needle nose etc and put it in one of the 2 pin holes and turn...if the ring plate is loose that can cause the flickering but as for dying after 15 seconds maybe the cirsuit decided to quit because the contact isnt secure enough

lronchef said:

Well, the volt meter I got from radio shack has 3 battery selector things on it (2x 1.5v and a 9v) so i put it on 9v and touch the contacts of the batteries...they go to 4v..sometimes 3.9ish if they've been used a little. Did I do it wrong? THese are Titanium PowPower 3v lithium cr123a batteries from batt junction. I have 20 new ones, and some old ones from about 6 months ago. I tried sets from each batch.

Yeah, I've seen that thread...was looking for more options for the 4d...something I can build out, and possibly be cheaper even. Nothing like a little project you did yourself!

Click to expand...

That is a battery tester, not a volt meter. Results will not be accurate for voltages. $5 will buy a decent digital multimeter.

qip said:

just double check and make sure its tight to rule it out as a problem..find something with a point like maybe a knife/pen/needle nose etc and put it in one of the 2 pin holes and turn...if the ring plate is loose that can cause the flickering but as for dying after 15 seconds maybe the cirsuit decided to quit because the contact isnt secure enough

Click to expand...

Crap...too late. Mail already left for fenix-store! Maybe they'll notice it if that was the problem. When I cleaned it yesterday, I think I recall that plate being pretty firm..no movement. Could be wrong there though.

Marduke said:

That is a battery tester, not a volt meter. Results will not be accurate for voltages. $5 will buy a decent digital multimeter.

Click to expand...

No, it's a multimeter..i made sure not to get the battery tester.

lronchef said:

No, it's a multimeter..i made sure not to get the battery tester.

Click to expand...

I hope you didn't pay that, because it was reading a very incorrect voltage. There is no possible way that Titanium CR123's could read that voltage.