Armytek Wiz Pro misbehaves in cold temperatures. Normal?

Hello,
I just got an Armytek Wizard Pro v3 XP-L, and while testing it I took a walk outside in nice winter weather at temperature -17 C / 1 F. After about 15 minutes the light started behaving strange, it seemed to skip some modes and jump straight to the next and display that mode for two clicks, for example normally it's click-and-hold to swap between Low-Middle-High but now clicking it three times it was Low-High-High. Sometimes it was Low-Middle-Middle instead. Turbo mode was also not turned on sometimes when the button was doubleclicked, like it should.
When I got back inside everything worked normally, after it had warmed up.

Is this a normal limitation of the technology? Or should I get it exchanged?
If this behaviour is to be expected, is there anything I can do, like change to another model of the 18650 battery?

Thanks
Micke

Did you test it with lithium primaries to see if it's a battery issue?

mogs said:

Hello,
I just got an Armytek Wizard Pro v3 XP-L, and while testing it I took a walk outside in nice winter weather at temperature -17 C / 1 F. After about 15 minutes the light started behaving strange, it seemed to skip some modes and jump straight to the next and display that mode for two clicks, for example normally it's click-and-hold to swap between Low-Middle-High but now clicking it three times it was Low-High-High. Sometimes it was Low-Middle-Middle instead. Turbo mode was also not turned on sometimes when the button was doubleclicked, like it should.
When I got back inside everything worked normally, after it had warmed up.

Is this a normal limitation of the technology? Or should I get it exchanged?
If this behaviour is to be expected, is there anything I can do, like change to another model of the 18650 battery?

Thanks
Micke

Click to expand...

Get it exchanged. That's not normal.

Honestly I would test it with a few batteries first. Both a different 18650 and 2XCR123. I can't tell how many times a light issue was really a battery issue.

There have been issues related to Wizard Pros and low temperatures - I've got a V2 (or maybe a V1.5) and in low temps of around -13C the indicator under the switch flickered. The issue disappeared as the unit warmed up inside. I seem to remember there were a couple of threads where these issues were discussed.

I came to the conclusion that the temperature sensor was dodgy however at normal and hot ambient temperatures it is fine. I am leaning towards battery as a contributing factor now, at low temps batteries struggle to provide sufficient power which may lead to erratic behaviour.

Woods Walker's suggestion is good, try a different unprotected quality battery first and see if you have the same issue. I'm not a fan of protected batteries in decent torches, it's just another layer of complexity to go wrong. And longer too, and not quite as good performance compared with an unprotected twin.

I have had problems with my wizard pro v3 xhp50 and cold temperatures. I was using it (5 minutes or so) and turned it off since I wouldn't need it for a few minutes. Went to turn it back on and when I pushed the button it flashed red once and wouldn't come on. Tried a couple times with the same result. Loosened then tightened the tail cap and it did the same thing. Fully removed the tail cap, removed the battery, put it back together and it worked flawlessly for the rest of the night. It hasn't happened since. If it happens again I'll contact Armytek for a replacement. I was using a fully charged Panasonic unprotected 18650