lampeDépêche
Flashlight Enthusiast
- Joined
- May 15, 2012
- Messages
- 1,241
Okay, my first complaint about the HI. (And let me say that I generally love the thing.)
The pogo pins dent the sheet-metal buttons on the positive end of my cells.
Once the ends are dented, then a shock to the front or back of the light, while it is running, turns the light off.
I have this problem because I use the light on the handlebars of my bike as a head-light for the bike.
Every time I hit a significant bump--not pot-hole, not a bone-breaker, just a medium-sized bump--my head-light turns off and I'm in the dark.
Or sometimes it shifts down to a very low mode. Then when I switch it to H2 again it works fine. Until I hit another bump.
I tried to reproduce it at home by turning the light on, and whacking the side of the head against my hand. No problems. Stayed stable.
Then I tried hitting the back of the tailcap or the front of the bezel so that the force was in line with the long-axis of the battery.
The light immediately shut off. Or sometimes it throttled down to low. Sometimes one hit bumps it to M, then another hit bumps it to Low.
The cause seems pretty clear: the pogo pins are not maintaining contact with the cell when there is a shock down the length of the light.
When I put in a cell with an undented positive terminal, it works fine: I can hit the bezel with my hand repeatedly and not turn off the light.
Trouble is, if the light takes a *real* blow to the ends (e.g. being dropped from waist height and landing on the bezel), then it dents the terminal.
So a big shock to one end causes the pogo-pins to dent in the sheet metal. And after that, small shocks to the end cause it to lose contact.
See if you have this problem yourself. By the way, my cells are red-label AW IMR 20amp 3000 mah cells. Flat-tops.
The pogo pins dent the sheet-metal buttons on the positive end of my cells.
Once the ends are dented, then a shock to the front or back of the light, while it is running, turns the light off.
I have this problem because I use the light on the handlebars of my bike as a head-light for the bike.
Every time I hit a significant bump--not pot-hole, not a bone-breaker, just a medium-sized bump--my head-light turns off and I'm in the dark.
Or sometimes it shifts down to a very low mode. Then when I switch it to H2 again it works fine. Until I hit another bump.
I tried to reproduce it at home by turning the light on, and whacking the side of the head against my hand. No problems. Stayed stable.
Then I tried hitting the back of the tailcap or the front of the bezel so that the force was in line with the long-axis of the battery.
The light immediately shut off. Or sometimes it throttled down to low. Sometimes one hit bumps it to M, then another hit bumps it to Low.
The cause seems pretty clear: the pogo pins are not maintaining contact with the cell when there is a shock down the length of the light.
When I put in a cell with an undented positive terminal, it works fine: I can hit the bezel with my hand repeatedly and not turn off the light.
Trouble is, if the light takes a *real* blow to the ends (e.g. being dropped from waist height and landing on the bezel), then it dents the terminal.
So a big shock to one end causes the pogo-pins to dent in the sheet metal. And after that, small shocks to the end cause it to lose contact.
See if you have this problem yourself. By the way, my cells are red-label AW IMR 20amp 3000 mah cells. Flat-tops.