Light failures thread

[black_ice_pc]

Just received a Xeno E03, CW in blue. It won't run off a NiMH AA period, and it's only drawing about 750mA from 14500 vs the intended 1.5A. Being promptly taken care of by the seller though
By the way, it seems I have the first semi-DOA E03 reported. I must be special

[Cypher_Aod]

My iTP A2 EOS flickers sometimes, but only in medium/high. in low it never does it.
i've tried cleaning the threads and contacts and relubing but it comes back.

if i tighten the head on quite hard and then give it a tap against something hard it stops though

[Outdoorsman5]

My wife, 3 kids, & I went on a day hike at Petit Jean Mountain here in the Ozarks a few months ago. It was getting late in the day, but we decided to take a trail down to a waterfall. Round trip we thought should be 2-3 hours which would push us close to dark. I had 3 flashlights in my pack, so we were covered. On our way back it did get dark, so I pulled out my Zebralight SC30, my Fenix P2D Q5, and my Fenix LD20 Q5. The LD20 would not turn on. I banged it around, and it flickered only. The head of the LD20 worked on the body of the P2D no problem, so the problem was somewhere else. The batteries were fresh lithiums, so that wasn't it. This was very frustrating because it was getting late & we had a ways to hike. We managed just fine with the two lights, and I knew I had back up batteries (so no real worries.) But still with 5 of us hiking up a steep trail, the third light was needed. My kids did complained a bit as my wife & I tried to light things up for everyone.

I got the light home the next day, and found that in the tail cap there is a silver cylinder with 2 dimples in it that had become loose. This cylinder can be removed so that you can change out the tail switch & boot. I simply tightened it, and it worked just fine. I now have a better understanding of how this light works.

Since that happend to us, we now hike with five small lights at all times.

[LightWalker]

My wife, 3 kids, & I went on a day hike at Petit Jean Mountain here in the Ozarks a few months ago. It was getting late in the day, but we decided to take a trail down to a waterfall. Round trip we thought should be 2-3 hours which would push us close to dark. I had 3 flashlights in my pack, so we were covered. On our way back it did get dark, so I pulled out my Zebralight SC30, my Fenix P2D Q5, and my Fenix LD20 Q5. The LD20 would not turn on. I banged it around, and it flickered only. The head of the LD20 worked on the body of the P2D no problem, so the problem was somewhere else. The batteries were fresh lithiums, so that wasn't it. This was very frustrating because it was getting late & we had a ways to hike. We managed just fine with the two lights, and I knew I had back up batteries (so no real worries.) But still with 5 of us hiking up a steep trail, the third light was needed. My kids did complained a bit as my wife & I tried to light things up for everyone.

I got the light home the next day, and found that in the tail cap there is a silver cylinder with 2 dimples in it that had become loose. This cylinder can be removed so that you can change out the tail switch & boot. I simply tightened it, and it worked just fine. I now have a better understanding of how this light works.

Since that happend to us, we now hike with five small lights at all times.

Hey Outdoorsman5, I was at Petit Jean a couple of days ago and had three light as well, a Fenix E01, Quark 123 mini and an Eagletac T100C2, no failures though. Petit Jean is a nice place to visit, here are a couple of pics I took.

[angelofwar]

I got some pics of that waterwall...beautiful place indeed...can't wait to make my way back up there...been a few YEARS! Devils Den and Lost valley are also nice places to use any newly acquired lights you may have...

[TyJo]

I got the light home the next day, and found that in the tail cap there is a silver cylinder with 2 dimples in it that had become loose. This cylinder can be removed so that you can change out the tail switch & boot. I simply tightened it, and it worked just fine. I now have a better understanding of how this light works.

This is common with a lot of lights, like Fenix and 4sevens (my HDS rotary has one too). When I get any light I clean it and lube it and then I tighten that retaining ring down real good with a small pair of needlenose pliers (I didn't do this to the HDS).

[LightWalker]

I got some pics of that waterwall...beautiful place indeed...can't wait to make my way back up there...been a few YEARS! Devils Den and Lost valley are also nice places to use any newly acquired lights you may have...

Ok, thanks. You should check out Blanchard Srprings caverns next time your in Arkansas, just don't turn your light on high, they dont like that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blanchard_Springs_Caverns

[Outdoorsman5]

LightWalker & AOW,
Arkansas is a beautiful state, and great for exploring. We moved here from Atlanta in 2009, and really like it. Petit Jean Mtn is our favorite & Mt. Nebo is a close 2nd. Blanchard Springs is awesome...and yes I took my lights...and no I didn't use high. Loved your pictures LightWalker; good to hear from you again AOW. I was tempted to put on a few pics myself, but am afraid we are getting too far off subject here. Really good to here from some Arkansas folks though.

That hike up from the waterfall where my fenix failed on me taught me a valueable lesson, and one I've thought about many times. I'm glad I was well prepared, and have been even better prepared since then. I like to hike with lightweight single-cell lights, so carrying five of em is nothing (weight-wise.) Last weekend we hiked Mt. Nebo, and we were WELL prepared (gear + 5 lights)....and no light failures.....this time.

[TwitchALot]

Quark Mini AA Warm White failed to turn on a couple of days ago. I don't use it too often but check it once in a while, and it didn't turn on the other day. Contacts were cleaned, spring checked, battery replaced, still no good. No known cause of failure - hasn't been dropped or used much. Sending back for RMA.

I got this light back from RMA, but today, it just failed again under the same circumstances. There's something loose in the head (audible). The light is rarely, if ever used, as it's a backup backup light (and my primary Quark AA hasn't failed yet), and it just lives with my keys and hasn't been dropped. Disappointing to have a second failure under these circumstances, especially since I gift the Mini AA often.

[syntax]

FourSevens Quark 123^2 Tactical running in 18650 configuration. Failure of low modes, probably driver related. I have owned it for probably about a year and used it extensively.

[STR]

The Light is the TerraLux LightStar 100 model. The button seems to be iffy at least on mine. Several times now the light for no reason at all shuts off on it's own during use. Comes right back on after this but no rhyme or reason as to why this happens. Seems to make a sound like something is moving position or shifting in the switch when this occurs. Other times rather than shut off it just changes settings on it's own. That event has only happened twice though. Even working correctly this light is not what I thought it would be with the very narrow almost too narrow beam its pre-set at. This switch issue is the real worry though. Nice light other than this. This one will be going back for a repair/or refund here shortly.

[jamie.91]

My ITP a3 Eos one day just decided to stop working, i tried the usual, new cells, clean threads and check contacts but no glory

At a guess i would say the led remains but the driver is at fault

[l337m4n]

The tail cap switch on my romisen rc-n3 has broken twice in the two times i used it. It's now on the third one and probably doesn't even have 5 mins of runtime .

[bronzet]

Olight M20 R5 low,medium and strobe works but the highest setting does not work.Rarely used and never been dropped so no idea how it broke.

[cland72]

Fenix LD20 failed to turn on with alkaline AA's (they were not leaking). After taking it apart the LED board in the head was loose. I thought about sending it back to Fenix but they only offer a 30 month maximum warranty (I've owned it for 4 years) so I threw it away rather than incur repair charges.

[eg1977]

I bought a new old stock Nitecore EX10 (XP-E R2) back in October. After receiving it, I checked the light to make sure everything was in working order. The light was then stored and not used. Yesterday, I decided to power it up and nothing happened. I tried several batteries with no luck. Not sure what to do at this point.

[BullsEyeLantern]

My Eagle Tac p20A2 worked great for about five days. Now it is terribly weak with freshly AA charged batteries. Contacted retailer, tried cleaning, tightening, etc. Replacement module is on the way apparently.

[MarNav1]

My little iTP Ti (AAA) model stopped working. Cleaned the threads and tried a different cell and it's dead. No clue why it stopped working. It just didn't work one day when I tried it. I guess I'll just throw it away, don't know what else to do with it ...........

[bronzet]

Just curious what lights you owned that failed with just regular use.So far i have 2.

The Klarus XT10 just compltely died on me.I have never dropped it and its main use is when i walk my dogs at night,not to mention its only 2 months old.Its too bad since i love the UI and their tail switch

Olight M20 warrior partially works meaning the highest mode is gone but the medium and low works fine.Basically it was my "walk the dog" light till the Klarus came along.

[jabe1]

The only two I've had fail are an Ultrafire 602c (first high power LED light), which I fixed, and a Solarforce with a bad solder job on the pill (also fixed).

All the rest have been flawless.

[parnass]

These flashlights failed to light or went dim suddenly:

Arc AAA-P DS (received dead from Arc, replaced by Arc)
Peak 3-LED Matterhorn (replaced by Peak)
River Rock 1AA 1 watt - died after 2nd battery (replaced by dealer)

These flashlights failed or became intermittant shortly after purchase:

Gerber Tempo (returned to dealer for refund)
Inova X1 2nd generation (replaced by dealer)
Inova T1 tailcap (tailcap replaced by Inova)
Inova X5 several of the 55 lumen variety, flashing LED (replaced by dealer)

This flashlight became intermittant after modest usage:

Snap-On penlight, pushbutton switch began to flake out.

Lost 2 Maglites due to alkaline battery leakage.
Maglite Solitaire became intermittant


For more flashlight failures, see the earlier thread entitled What lights have failed on you?.

[bronzet]

For more flashlight failures, see the earlier thread entitled What lights have failed on you?.

Geez i guess i was searching in the wrong places I was looking for a similar thread so i have an idea what brands are prone to failures.Thanks for the link.

[snakebite]

1 arc-aaa that flickered and died getting very hot.suspect converter death via short.
replaced by arc.
brass peak 3 led aaa.
bad engagement of oring let head fall out and get lost.
replaced by peak.
all others not to be considered failure.battery leaks,dirty switch,ect.
several arc-ls torn down and upgraded as better led's came along.

[jorgen]

I've also had 2 fail. the first was a Brookstone AAA. I got it about 6 years ago. t was my first Led. I liked it a lot but dropped it once too often in about a year.
The second was a Nitecore D20 with an alky battery leak. I applied Deoxit and I got it to turn on again but it would not ramp. After a couple more application I can now change brightness with some difficulty. I never cared too much for this light even when it worked right.

[Sgt. LED]

Ra Twisty
And lots of others but I knew they were shit going in.

[LedTed]

Not counting the LED FLs I received not working, my SpiderFire C-013 locked in programmable mode after only about a month of casual EDC use.

[whill44]

Three out of three itp aaa standard (single mode) all failed within 14 months. All three were gifts. One died after coming apart in the washing machine. The other two were carried in their owners pockets and use daily and of course dropped on the ground from time to time. It was after one of these drops (the last one as it turns out) that both lights failed.

[Numb]

4sevens mini AA and CR2. The first stopped working after being dropped from waist high the other just stopped working. A nightcore D10 got wet inside (bad O-ring).5 Lots of cheap lights that I kind of knew was going to break when i bought them. And of cause the lights that I dropped i the sea, lost in the woods or drove over with the lawnmower. ;-)

/N

[Kestrel]

I have merged this new thread with the main 'Light failures thread'.

[don.gwapo]

4sevens Mini CR2. Just died on me. Did everything but still no good.