Maelstrom S18 Flashlight and Tailcap W/Pics

AverageGuy

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Aug 11, 2011
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I ordered an S18 and received it a couple of days ago. I debated between this and an Olight SR92, the SR92 doesn't have enough reviews yet and I liked that the S18 is "smaller". I wasn't so sure about the battery setup, but I went ahead anyway as I have some AW IMR16340's coming in the mail and will run it on those.

P1030150.jpg
P1030150.jpg


I deliberately left the word 'Problems" out of the description because for me I don't consider the issues I had with the tail-cap, problems. Like so many things I buy these days it seems that they all need some TLC and a little tweaking by ME as the end user to get it to work the way that I want. I am not saying this is right, but that is the way it is. For those that don't like messing with their stuff, or are not comfortable with it, this may be a problem.

When I got the light, I took the tail-cap off and put in some batteries, at that time I noticed that the battery holder had a little bit of movement to it. For those that don't know, the battery holder is attached to the tail-cap. While trying it out, I didn't like the feel of the tail-cap switch, it was "sticky", for lack of a better term, especially if you clicked the switch off center. Not sure if other reviewers had this issue.
As I was messing with it, taking the cap off and screwing it back on, investigating the "problem", I noticed that the battery holder was getting loose and the cap would not screw on as far. To make a long story short, I discovered that the ring that holds in the battery tube to the tail-cap was was making contact with the flashlight body and unscrewing it.

In this picture you can see the battery holder, the ring and the tail-cap. If you look closely, you can see the thin flange on the bottom of the battery holder that the ring seats against.

P1030151.jpg


Here you can see the bottom on the holder, the contacts and the flange. The tabs sticking out serve two purposes, they slide into cutouts in the cap to keep it from twisting, and provide positive stops for the adjustable settings at high and low. You can clearly see the cutouts in the ring to allow assembly, this ring slides over the battery holder and screws into the tail-cap.

P1030152.jpg


Here's the inside of the cap. Since I had it apart I decided to see if I could tweak my clicky switch.

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Close up of the contacts, these have some stout springs behind them. You can also see the groves cut for the battery holder tabs.

P1030155.jpg


Here you can see how the arrow on the cap lines up with the contacts.

P1030158.jpg


With the silver ring removed, the threaded part, that screws the cap to the body, can be separated from the tail-cap.

P1030163.jpg


Here is what it looks like completely apart.

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In this blown out pic, you can see the inside of the tail-cap, it is one solid piece, the machining is quite nice.

P1030165c.jpg


Here is the other side of the forward clicky switch, it is smooth and has a nice positive click.

P1030171.jpg


I tweaked the large spring that sits under the cap, put it all back together and it works great now. Only time will tell if the ring will stay tight, when I get a chance at work I will have to fab up a spanner wrench that will fit and give it proper tighten. I could see the thin plastic flange getting cracked or broken if the light is used with the ring not seated and tight.

P1030176.jpg


So far I really like the light, I would best describe it as beefy. It is bright, my brightest flashlight yet. I was playing around with it after I got it back together; my girlfriend was just getting home after her long day, it was dark, she pulled up to the mailbox in her jeep and I lit her up on high, it made her heart skip because she thought it was the police turning on their spot to pull her over. Funny stuff.
If there are any questions, I will try to answer them as best I can. For anyone that has an S18, or is thinking about getting one, I hope you find this helpful.

Edit: One thing I forgot to mention, I read it somewhere else here also but just to let you know, the Olight SR51 diffuser fits on this light and works quite well.
 
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SHADE02

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Mar 10, 2011
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Mountain CiTy..
would you say , this is a thrower light or a little with a ot of spill?

still deciding between this one and the sr51(which other guys say, have the same throw that the s18) but more defined
:s
 

AverageGuy

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Aug 11, 2011
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MI
would you say , this is a thrower light or a little with a ot of spill?

still deciding between this one and the sr51(which other guys say, have the same throw that the s18) but more defined
:s

While I find beam profiles and patterns easy to see and determine, brightness is extremity subjective. Everyone will see this differently. Even though the head diameter on the Sr51 and the S18 are the same, the reflector on the S18 is smaller in diameter, in part giving more spill.
I haven't had the chance to get out where I can compare them at longer distances but will give you my opinion of them at about 100yds. The Sr51 has a very nice beam with a tight, bright hot spot, the S18, to my eye, is brighter with a much larger hot spot. Do I think the SR51 can out throw it? Maybe, but not by much and I can see a lot more detail in a larger area with the S18, it puts out a lot of light, that was ultimately what I wanted.

The best thing you can do is check out the excellent beamshots by Tiforce, (you can clearly see the difference of the two), and others, and then decide based on what you need the light to do. If I needed a light that could throw I would have chosen the SR90 instead. I like both of these lights, for me they serve a different purpose and you can't go wrong with either based on your need.
 
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tre

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May 3, 2010
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Northern IL USA
Thanks for taking the tailcap apart and taking pics. It is quite different than other lights.
 

ti-force

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Jan 14, 2009
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Georgia, U.S.
As others have said, thanks for spending the time to take pictures and post this. It's unfortunate that the battery carrier was loose, but at least everyone can see the inner workings of this setup now. For what it's worth, the battery carrier on my sample didn't have any play in it. I must admit, though, I had no idea the ring held the carrier in. I figured the metal posts that hold the batteries in place were threaded into a plate in the tail cap or something like that.
 

AverageGuy

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Aug 11, 2011
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You're welcome guys. Even though I enjoy tearing things apart to see what makes them tick, I am not sure I would have torn this apart just for fun, eventually I would have because of the switch.
I would hate to see someone go through the hassle and expense of sending their light back because of a loose ring; and yes, this is a unique system, I haven't seen anything like it.
 

AO JAR

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Joined
Aug 15, 2011
Messages
39
Good review average guy and thanks for sharing your problem with the s18. This was on my short list of flashlight to get, but might cross it off. I am new to this, and don't want to have a bad experience with my first high lumen light.
 

AverageGuy

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Joined
Aug 11, 2011
Messages
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Location
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Good review average guy and thanks for sharing your problem with the s18. This was on my short list of flashlight to get, but might cross it off. I am new to this, and don't want to have a bad experience with my first high lumen light.

That's too bad that you would write it off, it is a nice light, but I totally understand your apprehension. We really are fortunate to have so many choices, it can be overwhelming at times.
I can only hope that this was an isolated issue, as ti-foce pointed out, he didn't see this and it wasn't mentioned it the reviews I read by others.
 

Got Lumens?

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Mar 12, 2011
Messages
2,458
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Champlain Valley
I ordered an S18 and received it a couple of days ago. I debated between this and an Olight SR92, the SR92 doesn't have enough reviews yet and I liked that the S18 is "smaller". I wasn't so sure about the battery setup, but I went ahead anyway as I have some AW IMR16340's coming in the mail and will run it on those.

I deliberately left the word 'Problems" out of the description because for me I don't consider the issues I had with the tail-cap, problems. Like so many things I buy these days it seems that they all need some TLC and a little tweaking by ME as the end user to get it to work the way that I want. I am not saying this is right, but that is the way it is. For those that don't like messing with their stuff, or are not comfortable with it, this may be a problem.

When I got the light, I took the tail-cap off and put in some batteries, at that time I noticed that the battery holder had a little bit of movement to it. For those that don't know, the battery holder is attached to the tail-cap. While trying it out, I didn't like the feel of the tail-cap switch, it was "sticky", for lack of a better term, especially if you clicked the switch off center. Not sure if other reviewers had this issue.
As I was messing with it, taking the cap off and screwing it back on, investigating the "problem", I noticed that the battery holder was getting loose and the cap would not screw on as far. To make a long story short, I discovered that the ring that holds in the battery tube to the tail-cap was was making contact with the flashlight body and unscrewing it.


So far I really like the light, I would best describe it as beefy. It is bright, my brightest flashlight yet.

If there are any questions, I will try to answer them as best I can. For anyone that has an S18, or is thinking about getting one, I hope you find this helpful.

AverageGuy,
I wish I had seen this thread yesterday. I got my S18 in the mail yesterday. I noticed that the Tailcap and battery holder was loose, and had quite abit of wobble to it. I thought this was normal. When I tried to put the tailcap/battery holder back on the light, It would not screw on past the o-ring :eek:oo: :thinking:

I examined the tailcap closer, and noticed a crack in the plastic, and thought that was the cause of it not screwing on past the O-ring. I now know based on your post that it could have been fixed by tightening the retaining ring :(.

I had posted the question and observation in the S18 sales thread. About ten minutes later, at ~8:30 last night, I got a reply from David. He said that there was a definate problem, He wanted to look at it, and would be sending a replacement in Mondays outbound shipments.

I would like to thank you for the pictures and the time you took to give a better look at the Tailcap/battery carrier of the S18. I would like to add to your post, that when the battery carrier is not fixed, or is loose, that the selector switch will rotate 360 degrees, and it is possible to screw back together with the selector rotated 180 degrees from the 5 settings on the selector ring.
GL

Here's a closeup of the defect that I thought may have been causing my problem.
 
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AverageGuy

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Joined
Aug 11, 2011
Messages
11
Location
MI
AverageGuy,
I wish I had seen this thread yesterday. I got my S18 in the mail yesterday. I noticed that the Tailcap and battery holder was loose, and had quite abit of wobble to it. I thought this was normal. When I tried to put the tailcap/battery holder back on the light, It would not screw on past the o-ring :eek:oo: :thinking:

I examined the tailcap closer, and noticed a crack in the plastic, and thought that was the cause of it not screwing on past the O-ring. I now know based on your post that it could have been fixed by tightening the retaining ring :(.

I had posted the question and observation in the S18 sales thread. About ten minutes later, at ~8:30 last night, I got a reply from David. He said that there was a definate problem, He wanted to look at it, and would be sending a replacement in Mondays outbound shipments.

I would like to thank you for the pictures and the time you took to give a better look at the Tailcap/battery carrier of the S18. I would like to add to your post, that when the battery carrier is not fixed, or is loose, that the selector switch will rotate 360 degrees, and it is possible to screw back together with the selector rotated 180 degrees from the 5 settings on the selector ring.
GL

Here's a closeup of the defect that I thought may have been causing my problem.

As a matter of fact, I did see your post at CPFM, I wanted to link to this post but I have not taken the time to register separately for that Forum, besides, I saw that David had already responded to your problem and I know they will take care of you.
I do not have any cracks such as you have in the plastic, if so I would have sent mine back also so I think it was unavoidable in your case. Sorry to here that you also experienced this, I think they may have to take a closer look at these before sending them out.
Thanks for adding the comment about rotating the contacts past their stops, I noticed this also but forgot to add it in, the ring has to be pretty loose to do this.
 
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