L3 Illumination L10C - Nichia 219 - Breaking Easily

I recently purchased a L3 Illumination L10C equipped with the Nichia 219 emitter and 4 brightness modes in the natural grey color. First off let me start with the fact that I love this light. AWESOME emitter, great reverse clicky, nice deep carry pocket clip and you cant beat the AA cell availability. Well, after totally falling in love with this light and looking to buy a few more for myself and maybe for a few family members, the L10C ceased to produce light after just 4 days of use. At first i thought it was the rechargeable cell (eneloop 3rd gen) i was using was fully depleted of charge as i was using the light extensively since i owned it as part of my EDC testing of the new light. So i threw in a fresh rechargeable AA cell and it still produced ZERO light. I then thought maybe this cell is also dead and put in a standard alkaline cell, still no light! I contacted the dealer/seller for an RMA and explained my issue. Currently the light is in there possession and i am awaiting replacement. Has anyone else had these issues with the L10C? I did a quick thread search and only found L10 issues (u might have seen my posts there) and no thread on the L10C. I really loved this light and its perfect for my uses as it is very well suited to be my EDC light. 4 mode for any situation, AA for convenience, clickly for ease of use and cheap enough to replace if lost/stolen. The only issue i have with the light (besides it breaking for no reason, i didnt drop it i swear) is that i would like hidden beacon mode(s). The EDC light that it replaced was a FourSevens preon1 in gold, if you must know. However, the preon1 is back and is more than happy to gain the EDC title once again.


I just have few questions for the CPF members here.
1. Anyone else have a L10C light?
2. Has anyone had an L10C light die on them out of the blue or in general?
3. Has anyone modded the L10C to be more durable such as doing you own potting with epoxy? I read about the L10 (not the L10C) having issues and were poorly (if at all) potted and was later revised to alleviate the issue.

Time Line
2014-09-24 Ordered L10C light
2014-09-29 Light in my possession, started using IMMEDIATELY and knew it was the perfect (8.5 out of 10 perfect) for me.
2014-10-03 Light died. used it during the day at work, when i was home later that day and needed it, i found it to be non-operational.
2014-10-06 Contacted Dealer for RMA
2014-10-07 Back and forth emailing of the issue.
2014-10-08 Shipped light back to Dealer
2014-10-10 package delivered, L10C reaches Dealer.
2014-10-20 emailed dealer if there is an update on the situation.
2014-10-20 dealer emailed back stating that replacement has been shipped with tracking number
2014-10-22 received replacement L10C light. seems to be working. side note, anodizing seems to have a green tint to it. the first L10C anodizing perfectly matched my L10. no biggie
2014-10-29 light is running strong. (i will admit i dont use it as much as i did the first 1 as i still dont trust it.)
2014-11-13 light going strong.
2014-12-01 bought another light for the cyber monday sale. (black, 4 mode, nichia 219)
2014-12-22 never received the light i ordered on the cyber monday sale. in other news the replacement light died as well. I will be asking for a refund for the light i never received as i dont want it anyways because its built like cheap glass.

I suggest that you request and RMA from your vendor and return the light for replacement.

Mine has been fine from the beginning. Did you check the switch retaining ring before sending it back? It may have been something as simple as a loose component.

My AAA version of the light, the L08 with the Nichia emitter quit after about 6 months. It shorted and started heating up with an Eneloop. Sad because I otherwise liked the light. I am looking for a more durable alternative.

HotWire said:

I suggest that you request and RMA from your vendor and return the light for replacement.

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As i stated in my post, i already contacted the vendor and RMAed the light. Also, the light has been in their possession since 2014-10-11.

jabe1 said:

Mine has been fine from the beginning. Did you. Heck the switch retaining ring before sending it back? It may have been something as simple as a loose component.

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Yes i actually did check the switch, cleaned the contact terminals tried tapping the light to get it to work again, and even let it rest without a cell for a day before trying again. haha didnt work. *sad face*

Naam Penn said:

My AAA version of the light, the L08 with the Nichia emitter quit after about 6 months. It shorted and started heating up with an Eneloop. Sad because I otherwise liked the light. I am looking for a more durable alternative.

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I did notice that the L10C will still heat up as if the emitter was still shining. i left it "on" apparently while trying to figure out what was wrong. I went to grab a snack and when i came back it was pretty hot, not like on fire hot, but hot enough to surprise me. oh, and the emitter was still producing ZERO light. hopefully my L10 (twisty) that sits on my keychain lasts more than 6 months!

There's another one to avoid. Thanks.

Hope you find something that works.

Im hoping it was just a fluke cuz i really like the I3 Illumination L10C.

on other news. my Foursevens MINI ML died about 2 weeks before my L10C and foursevens notified me by email today that it was unrepairable and a replacement it being sent to me along with a tracking number! it was a no hassle replacement! +1 to foursevens

I have an L10 (for one year), an L08 (6 months), and an L10C (4 months)... and I've given away two L10s to family members. While admittedly they are not carried every day, none have exhibited any issues.

Other than a disappointing L10 removable clip ($2.50), I've found their products to be well-built for their price-point, and reliable. I'm sorry to hear you had bad luck with yours, but given how new it is, I'd be surprised if the vendor didn't make it right.

Ok. Now I am worried :sick2:. I have 2 x L10C Nichia 219's on the way to me in the mail now. I hope that this was just a single "lemon" incident. I have been hesitant to order this as I somehow am endowed with the ability to destroy absolutely anything. I was planning on this being my new work EDC light. I will be staying tuned in here to see what happens.

Good luck.

@ronniepudding and @throttlemonkey, i am hoping that it was just a lemon or some other type of isolated incident. If i abused it or it was old i would be less concerned and just get a new light. i have not heard back from the dealer about what will be done about the light. i will say that foursevens received a broken light from me the same day the dealer for my I3 illumination L10C and foursevens already issued me a replacement and is in route to me. i really cant wait to get a new L10C and if that one passes the 3 month EDC mark i want to buy more of them!

I tried to replace the clip on my L10C but the screw holes stripped out very easily, if they weren't that way to start with. I've accepted it for what it is, a cheap way to get a Nichia. It isn't a light I have any expectation of long term use.

jruser said:

I tried to replace the clip on my L10C but the screw holes stripped out very easily, if they weren't that way to start with. I've accepted it for what it is, a cheap way to get a Nichia. It isn't a light I have any expectation of long term use.

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thats stinks. were you replacing it because it was bent/distorted?

liquidrazer said:

thats stinks. were you replacing it because it was bent/distorted?

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Was trying to replace it with a titanium clip.

I received my L10C's in the mail on Friday. I have been using one as my EDC. No issues so far. I have not put a battery in the second one yet but will hopefully in a couple of days. So far so good though. I am hoping that yours was a one of issue. Also, for what it is worth, I am just going to run regular old AA's. I have not gone down the battery "rabbit hole" yet chasing rechargeable's and such. Just plain Jane energizers and duracells.

Sadly, it's just not very well-made. Right out of the box, mine didn't work. I put it in a drawer for a couple of months, tried it again and it works.

I just don't trust it. Even the clip seems weak.

Mine is going back in the drawer -- I have too many other lights that are just so much better.

The folks who make and sell this seem really nice over the phone, so it pains me to say this. Maybe their next model will be an improvement.

Dropped my L10 twice already. Still working fine. It's one of my bathroom lights -- lights I don't need but somehow bought anyway. As a justification for owning them, I use them instead of the house lights in the bathrooms.

David, that's a wonderful suggestion, since I wouldn't trust mine to keep working outside.

This amuses me. It is sad that you can't trust your torch outside or to be carried, but I find it humorous that you have justified your purchase to reside in the crapper and save energy by using it there. I like your logic on this. Sounds like something I would do.

On a serious note, I am going to carry a backup light while I edc my L10c just in case it craps out on me. No pun intended lol.