Nitecore HC30

Hi, I'm having problems with my nitecore hc30. A little metal part appears to have como apart, it appears it was soldered in place. Anyways, I contacted Nitecore and they told to contact the vendor because they are China. The thing is I bougth it at gearbest.com they told me I had to pay for shipping. I then contacted nitecore again and they told me the same thing. When I went to the post office to ship it, they told shipping was $22 and I had to fill out a customs form. Thats basically half the cost of the light. Neither if them are willing to help me, it seems to me they don't stand behind their product. Do you have any idea what I should do.

I suppose you could either solder it back or discard that piece and replace it with just a bead of solder.
Another alternative might be a conductive epoxy to bond that piece back to the board.

Buying from Gearbest and Banggood can be more of a gamble at times. Consider buying from a local reputable dealer that handles warranty issues next time.

May get more responses if you move this to the headlamp section or the general flashlight discussion section.

Tac Gunner said:

May get more responses if you move this to the headlamp section or the general flashlight discussion section.

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Moved to Headlamps. Q/P/S is not for product discussion.

nbp said:

Moved to Headlamps. Q/P/S is not for product discussion.

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Thanks

kalel332 said:

Hi, I'm having problems with my nitecore hc30. A little metal part appears to have como apart, it appears it was soldered in place. Anyways, I contacted Nitecore and they told to contact the vendor because they are China. The thing is I bougth it at gearbest.com they told me I had to pay for shipping. I then contacted nitecore again and they told me the same thing. When I went to the post office to ship it, they told shipping was $22 and I had to fill out a customs form. Thats basically half the cost of the light. Neither if them are willing to help me, it seems to me they don't stand behind their product. Do you have any idea what I should do.

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Have you tried the light to see if it works? I am pretty sure that is just the reverse polarity protection so, as long as you never put a cell in backwards, it shouldn't affect anything and the light should work perfectly fine. Keep in mind though, if you do forget and put a battery in backwards it will likely fry the light so be mindful.

As for Nitecore's service, I had a similar experience. Imo(based on experience) their lights have a lot of QC issues and their customer service is poor compared to many other brands. I don't buy Nitecore lights anymore for these reasons.

Tachead said:

Have you tried the light to see if it works? I am pretty sure that is just the mechanical reverse polarity protection so, as long as you never put a cell in backwards, it shouldn't affect anything and the light should work perfectly fine. Keep in mind though, if you do forget and put a battery in backwards it will likely fry the light so be mindful.

As for Nitecore's service, I had a similar experience. Imo(based on experience) their lights have a lot of QC issues and their customer service is poor compared to many other brands. I don't buy Nitecore lights anymore for these reasons.

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I haven't tried it without it, but I did put the metal part in its place and it works lile that. If its that, I think i won't have a problem then, I don't think I've ever put on a battery backwards. I don't think I'm ever another nitecore light.

I finally was able to test the light without the metal part and it does work, so I guess that's the reverse polarity protection, I just have to make sure of which side a put in the battery. I guess I'm not buying another nitecore, that's sad because I just bought Tip this past January. Thanks everyone for your help.

I stopped buying any flashlights or headlamps that have to be shipped to China for warranty work. Not worth the shipping.

kalel332 said:

I finally was able to test the light without the metal part and it does work, so I guess that's the reverse polarity protection, I just have to make sure of which side a put in the battery. I guess I'm not buying another nitecore, that's sad because I just bought Tip this past January. Thanks everyone for your help.

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That is indeed what it is. You'll be fine without it, though that is annoying. Notice there are actually 2 of those bars so I'm not sure if they work independently or not. (50\50 guess on whether reverse polarity protection still works.)

As for the international service, it's not just Nitecore. Several of the other big manufacturers do the same thing, Fenix included I believe. They've even posted on here to explain it.
Heres the explanation: Lights are distributed to specific markets for sale, with proportionate spares and parts. If you buy across markets (like from China to US), you have to get service from the original market as to not disturb their spares/parts allocations. The serial numbers identify the home market, so lying will do you no good.
If I can save $30 or more by buying internationally then I will, knowing this cost may come back around for warranty. Else i ante up and buy from domestic distributors.
But we can't have our cake and eat it too.

I was in Hong Kong recently and the cheapest I'd found for a HC30 was $288 HKD ($37 USD)...

Having spoken to quite a few torch shops in HK, their general view of Nitecore vs other brands is that they are cheaper to buy but they may not withstand being dropped or abuse as well when compared to other brands.