H602W problems

Hello, new to the forum here, I used to visit frequently years back. Anyway, I got my hands on a H602w floody, and I think the unit is bad. When I install the battery and hold down the button, it will power through the 3 default modes. If I leave it on the highest mode, it will stay on for around 10 sec, and the lighthead gets hot, not bad but I think hotter then it should get. Then it shuts off and the only way tyo get it to power back on is to remove and re-install the battery, and it does the same thing again. Just wondering if this is a known bug or if I just got a lemon. Any help will be appreciated.

Thank you.

Welcome back to the Forum! :welcome:

Sounds as if it may be a battery issue. What 18650 batteries are you using? Maybe try a different battery and see quickly if this solves the issue. If not, Email Zebralight and see what they have to say.

Here is a user guide that I came up with in case you do not have it. http://www.zebralight.com/assets/images/USER_GUIDE_V40_2013.pdf

Thank you!

As for the batteries, I have tried 3 different kinds of batts, all with a fresh charge on them. 2 of them are new Panasonic 3400mah and the other is a sanyo or something, all batts worked well in my fenix flashlight. I am concerned about the heat though, it just seems a bit excessive on the highest output mode. If I can get it to go to the next step lower, in the high mode, it stays on, but as soon as I switch to max power it shuts off. Almost as if it's a thermal switch that is getting triggered. And again, I cannot get it to come back on unless I take batt out and put it back in, then same thing. I ended up sending it back today and hopefully will have a replacement by the end of next week. I was going to get the new Fenix one, but then I saw that it is backordered on Fenix Tac site, and I don't want to get one off the bay as I tried to do a warranty return once with Fenix and they said since I got it 3rd party they couldn't do anything for me. Back to the waiting game....

Kind of sounds like the light is doing exactly what it is supposed to do. It's supposed to cycle through the modes if you keep the button down. It's supposed to get hot very quickly on the 1000 lm mode. And the PID system is supposed to shut it down when it gets too hot.

rojos said:

Kind of sounds like the light is doing exactly what it is supposed to do. It's supposed to cycle through the modes if you keep the button down. It's supposed to get hot very quickly on the 1000 lm mode. And the PID system is supposed to shut it down when it gets too hot.

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I understand about the temperature issue, but the light literally stays on for 8-10 sec in the highest mode? What is the point of having that feature if it's going to shut off in 10 sec, not just step down, but shut off completely. And when I cycle through, I should be able to turn it back on without taking out the battery.

I actually did a bit of digging on the boards and found an issue identical to what I am experiencing, it looks like it turned out to be the battery. I guess a high quality battery is a must in this light.

I doubt your batteries are the problem. Panasonic 3400 are good cells.

Regarding the heat on the highest mode, the H602 is a tiny light with very little mass, and the highest mode probably drives close to 3 amps through the LED. If it didn't shut down on its own, it would get too hot to touch in about 30 seconds.

I only mentioned the batteries just to rule them out first. The batteries are clearly ruled out as the issue.
Maybe it is a software issue and just needs to have the software reinstalled or updated?

rojos said:

I doubt your batteries are the problem. Panasonic 3400 are good cells.

Regarding the heat on the highest mode, the H602 is a tiny light with very little mass, and the highest mode probably drives close to 3 amps through the LED. If it didn't shut down on its own, it would get too hot to touch in about 30 seconds.

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Yes, but that is not how the light was designed to behave. It was designed to produce max output until it got too warm, then it would step down in order to regulate the temperature. The light was not designed to just blink out...especially after only a few seconds. I agree that the batteries are most likely not the issue as Panisonic cells are top of the line. The light is a defect, and the OP did the right thing by returning it.

Outdoorsman5 said:

Yes, but that is not how the light was designed to behave. It was designed to produce max output until it got too warm, then it would step down in order to regulate the temperature. The light was not designed to just blink out...especially after only a few seconds. I agree that the batteries are most likely not the issue as Panisonic cells are top of the line. The light is a defect, and the OP did the right thing by returning it.

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Oh I see what you mean. The light is supposed to step down instead of shutting off.

I hope the replacement works the way that it is supposed to.

Me too!! Hopefully I will be getting a new one sometime this week.

Just got my h602w yesterday. Mine was doing the same thing. I only have Ultrafire 3800mah batteries to try it out with until the Panasonic cells I ordered come in hopefully next week. I put the batteries in and it would switch down immediately to a lower level after about 4 seconds or so. I charged up the batteries and now the high output mode will stay on for quite a while. I just finished vacuuming under my desk with the light to try it out and it was on for about 3 - 5 minutes straight on high. So I'm thinking your light was defective.