Pelican 1920 flickers on low but not high. Why would that be?

I bought a Pelican 1920 2AAA light a couple months ago. I love the light but for some reason it flickers on the low mode but not on high.

I've tried cleaning it with rubbing alcohol but that did nothing.

the retaining ring that holds the switch is tight so what else could it be?

I had this happen and found out that the batteries had leaked inside - bad enough that part of the body and tail cap had corroded away. Check that out and see - hopefully not as my light was essentially destroyed. Although - the certain copper top battery company did pay the replacement cost of the light.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Tim

I only use Eneloops in it so it's not caused by leaking batteries. I tried with another set of freshly charged Eneloops to and that still wasn't the issue.

Unfortunate to hear. If it's two months old, have you tried contacting Pelican and seeing what they say?

How often does it flicker? Like every one second? I'll look out for it on my brand new 1920.

jlomein said:

Unfortunate to hear. If it's two months old, have you tried contacting Pelican and seeing what they say?

How often does it flicker? Like every one second? I'll look out for it on my brand new 1920.

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Yes it flickers every second or slightly faster than that. It is constant. And I did contact Pelican. They told me to send it in, but I would rather try to fix it myself first.

Anyone have any ideas?

I'm not familiar with this particular flashlight. Can you post pics of the contacts between the head and body? And between the body and tail cap?

IMHO it sounds like the LED isn't getting enough energy to get a constant "on" at that output level. That leads me to think it's a driver issue. I would send it in for repair.

Javora said:

IMHO it sounds like the LED isn't getting enough energy to get a constant "on" at that output level. That leads me to think it's a driver issue. I would send it in for repair.

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I was was afraid of that. Thank you for the info.

It might be normal, if youre seeing the PWM.
There is no fix other than to buy a different ligh.

Some Pelicans have Pwm
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0136SGQR8/?tag=cpf0b6-20
"It would be a 5 star if the strobe/pwm effect at lower settings wasn't quite as obvious. "

jon_slider said:

It might be normal, if youre seeing the PWM.
There is no fix other than to buy a different ligh.

Some Pelicans have
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0136SGQR8/?tag=cpf0b6-20
"It would be a 5 star if the strobe/pwm effect at lower settings wasn't quite as obvious. "

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Thank you you for that info. I have heard about PWM but never understood what it is.

Here is one other possible explanation and something that I have experienced before with one of my lights. The bare aluminum threads will form a layer of aluminum oxide which will result in an increase resistance in the electrical path between the tail cap and main body. Alcohol will not remove this layer - needs either mechanical abrasion or a minor acid (just google removing aluminum oxide and you will find many excellent ideas). Once removed you can use an anti-oxidation, but still conductive, compound on the threads to minimize or delay the return of the oxide layer - I use a product called Penetrox A which is used when working with aluminum electrical wiring to prevent the oxide layer. Worked for me and might be worth a shot here.

Just a thought...

Cheers,
Tim

It's not a pwm issue.

Try what CobraMan suggested. If something that simple doesn't work send it back to Pelican.

That's why I was asking for a photo. I've used a fine grit sand paper to remove aluminum oxide from aluminum contact points on a different flashlight, but it depends on the design of the light. If aluminum oxide has built up on the threads themselves, then a chemical solution is better.

Thank you for the help everyone.

Lifetime warranty, should be a slam dunk. Send it in.

scout24 said:

Lifetime warranty, should be a slam dunk. Send it in.

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Im gonna try the sandpaper trick first. I really don't want to be without it for a couple weeks if I don't have to

Now's your chance to pick up a second one. Pelicanstore.com has them for $24.32, you'd have redundancy now, and backup if there's ever trouble again...

Edit- My apologies, it's thepelicanstore.com that has them for that price. There is a lighting section on that website. Thanks for the PM re:clarification!

Does anyone know why Pelican leaves their threads with the raw finish like they do instead of polished like most other manufacturers?

busseguy said:

Yes it flickers every second or slightly faster than that. It is constant. And I did contact Pelican. They told me to send it in, but I would rather try to fix it myself first.

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Fixing yourself you may not settle the issue and void the warranty Of course, it is not that expensive, but...