Faulty Preon II? - Utter Disappointment

I bought my Father a titanium Preon II for his birthday about a week ago and he loved it. I don't blame him, it's a fantastic light and I would certainly buy another for myself if I had the need for a 2xAAA penlight and wasn't intending on buying a couple of slightly bigger lights in the coming months.

Anyway, it hasn't seen much use just yet. I bought it for him to use at work, and he's off at the moment, so it's seen about an hour of use just around the house and in demoing it to him. I took it out tonight to do a beam and throw comparison with some other similarly sized lights that I own and was dismayed to realize that the light would not switch on. I greased the threads on it and gave it back to Dad just a couple of days ago and it was working fine. I've put new batteries in it, I've opened it up and checked that the Nyogel isn't insulating the switching contacts in the head and I've examined the switch and can't see anything physically wrong with the light - is it dead or does the PII have some sort of mechanism (by design or not) that has the light locked out?

Help! I don't want to send this thing back, I bought it after reading rave reviews and assumed they were very reliable.

[edit]

WEIRD. I picked it up just after submitting this thread and gave the rear section of the tail cap (switch housing) a twist and it came on. It seems that when tightened down all the way, the light won't come on. Is this normal? Surely the switch cover shouldn't need to be a half turn loose for the light to work?

i would keep this one for myself and order another for my father.

I had a preon II that worked about a week and then was faulty. It would work sometimes and then not others. I got in contact with 4 sevens customer support and they swapped me for another and I have not had any problems with the new one. If yours has problems I suggest you call them. I'm sure they will treat you right.

Matt7337 said:

WEIRD. I picked it up just after submitting this thread and gave the rear section of the tail cap (switch housing) a twist and it came on. It seems that when tightened down all the way, the light won't come on. Is this normal? Surely the switch cover shouldn't need to be a half turn loose for the light to work?

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Check the spring length - this is a non-warranty-voiding thing you can change about the light. But 4Sevens will take care of you. Let us know when they do so that the thread comes full circle

I don't know what the cause is but just about every Maglite I've ever owned has the same problem. If you tighten the tailcap all the way it won't work. If you untwist it about 1/4 turn from tight it works fine. I've never been able to figure out why.

4Sevens is a rather new as a flashlight manufacturer and is still wrestling with quality and quality control issues, so I wouldn't call their products reliable, yet.

Normally, I think the recommendation would be just to contact 4sevens and return it, but as you are in Ireland it is understandable that this would involve extra delay etc with shipping.

AnAppleSnail and Jay R have both helpfully suggested possible fixes, and there may be other suggestions too. However, if simple solutions that don't void the warranty don't work, I think you'll have to return it.

Thanks for the suggestions guys - I'll try those couple of things out when I get home later. I haven't removed the pocket clip from the light - that's how Dad will be carrying it at work. I don't really want or need to buy another of these for myself at the moment. I've mentioned before that I have been saving my flashlight equipment budget for a while to buy a couple of customs. A Jeff Hanko Titanium Nitecore D10 is first on that list

Also, the light was purchased from Flashaholics UK, so if I was returning it, would it be going to them for replacement due to "faulty on arrival" or straight back to 4-Sevens for warranty? I'm thinking the latter as it's not really the suppliers fault :shrug:

Usually the dealer should take care of you, and then deal with 4sevens on their own time. However, it is completely up to the dealer.

Well, if my previous experience with Flashaholics is anything to go by, I shouldn't have a problem. I've never had anything but first class sales and after-sales service from them

Matt7337 said:

Thanks for the suggestions guys - I'll try those couple of things out when I get home later. I haven't removed the pocket clip from the light - that's how Dad will be carrying it at work. I don't really want or need to buy another of these for myself at the moment. I've mentioned before that I have been saving my flashlight equipment budget for a while to buy a couple of customs. A Jeff Hanko Titanium Nitecore D10 is first on that list

Also, the light was purchased from Flashaholics UK, so if I was returning it, would it be going to them for replacement due to "faulty on arrival" or straight back to 4-Sevens for warranty? I'm thinking the latter as it's not really the suppliers fault :shrug:

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The seller has to sort this out for you,not the manufacturer,contract was between you and Flashaholics UK.If the fault has developed within 30 days of purchase, a refund or replacement as your choice,after 30 days it becomes there choice.

Hang in there, and I hope you get this resolved, because . . . . . .

I've been EDC-ing my Preon II for a month. It's a gem and you get a lot of light for a pen-sized flashlight. I accidently dropped mine from 5 or so feet onto concrete (oops) and it still works fine.

Good luck ! :thumbsup: