I broke my Eternalight!!!

Darn, My 2 year old son (of a devil ) was playing with my light the other day when in his fine judgement tought it was good to throw from 2nd. floor, needless to say some of the leds wen´t inside the case from the hit, I am pissed but thank God it wasn´t one of the SF´s

well I open the case and adjust the batteries wich had moved slightly by the hit, and proceeded to adjust the leds, they were OK! tested the buttons, no problem there! I was starting to be amazed about the punishment the little light could take when I notice that one of the posts that hold the screws (The left one close to the leds if you see the light rightside up)had taken off some plastic threads (about 5 mm)and now that screw does not engage the threads so there goes the water proof feature!

Well what should I do? is the plastic repairable? I was thinking Crazy Glue kind of repair or maybe get a bigger screw so it would engage the threads down below, but am affraid if I torque too much or if the screw is too long the case could crack, Can I get a Xray Case to install the circuitry or just get myself another one? Is the 3AAA shipping ?

Thnx
Alex

eMail Techass...

IMHO>...
Sell this model in the CPF sell area...or get it fixed and give to your wife.

Buy an new one with the STAINLESS screws and metal inserts. They WILL NOT BREAK.

I was very pleased with the new model. If you shop around, the "new model" is referred to by its features...."stainless screws". Do a GOogle search...or go to Brock's site..

http://www.uwgb.edu/nevermab/led.htm

FYI....They will fix it for free for you.
YOu will probably have the same problem again. They will again fix it for free.
Pretty nice folks. I got so I fixed it myself and saved postage. None of my fixes held however.

I have been unable to break my NEW one.

In a private email with MFG he told me they took it to the concrete parking lot and flung it as high as they could several times....very small scuff of case.

I dropped mine out of the car on concrete at 35mph by accident screwing around with a friend.
It has had SEVERAL other accidents....and will continue to have more.

I have Model 4x Elite X-Ray ( with the night light feature that shines a blue LED inside the blue transparent case)


Gone for the weekend....

Alex, which model do you have? Tech *** addressed this issue in their later models by making a brass threaded colar that inserts where the old models used a plastic post. They've always been real helpful in the past, and I'm sure this will be no exception. Good Luck!

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=000849

AlexGT....This may be of interest to you!

Yes,it is an older model Ergo, I think I´ll try the longer screw trick and see what happens, if it doesn´t work I´ll send it back for repair and get me a new model also, thanks for your help.

Couple of questions, does the Elite Xray float with Lithium Batteries? Is the magnet removable?

Thnx
Alex

Yes, the Elite XRay floats with Lithium batteries. The magnet actually fell off somones, so yes, it is removable (even if by brute force)

Originally posted by AlexGT:
I think I´ll try the longer screw trick and see
....

Alex

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Wooah!
I hope you did not get this idea from me.
Don't do it!
It will mess up worse.

Here is the deal.
PROBABLY...the post that broke on you was one of the front ones. Measure them and you will find them a tad smaller. Of all the ones I broke...total about 6-7 times..it was always the 2 thinner front ones rather than the 2 thick back ones.

Things I did to help.

Found some aquarium tubing and slipped over the front posts to make them stronger.

I noticed that the posts "SPLAYED" rather than stripped.... This caused the stripping feeling.

I coated the screws with light lube and filled the holes with a mixture of plastic shavings and epoxy...pushed the screws in...waited for it to harden...then screwed it out. This worked for about a month.

Epoxy a brass insert for a water faucet over the front post to keep the splaying down.....fill with epoxy and do the screw thing. THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN PERFECT EXCEPT THE CASE TOP DID NOT FIT DOWN....scratch yet another Eternalight. I took the guts and made a home brew case.

Took the back posts that were perfect from the above eternalight case...and tried to mount it in the front...and epoxy it in. This did not work...
Scratch another Eternalight.... Made a home made case for this one.....gave to grateful friend.

SO...why not give up with them altogether. I love the functionality of the Eternalight more than any light I have. It is a night light...and a bright light.....USES LITHIUM batteries for the cold weather where I live... it is a toy!

The new case design fixed all of MY particular problems. I admit, I am very rough on things. The new design is perfect. I am not too crazy about the magnet. I want to remove it and put a piece of alien skin in the "hole".

I have not removed the magnet as I hate to do anything to this model that is working perfectly! I am afraid I will screw something up!

FYI...here is the last trick I did yet on another eternalight.

Take out all the screws, remove the rubber insert, and put the case together with a high quality PLASTIC electrical tape. It suprisingly looks ok.... I wrap one continuous piece from the top of one side...around the bottom...and back to the top of the other side. No water tight etc...but I don't dunk mine...

I gave that one away to a friends daughter. She loves it. She keeps it beside her bed and sleeps alone now! She keeps just one white light on at night. Her dad made me an all brass INFINITY base for thanks!

Yeah call techass- they can help.

Alex, just an FYI, the cheapest place that I know of for the X-Ray, not the elite model is hosfelt

Hosfelt Eternalite X Lights

For $35 bucks, I think that will be my next purchase. The only differences that I'm aware of between this one and the Elite series is the Rank of LEDs they use and the lack of a magnet on the regular model. Supposedly the Elite uses brighter LEDs, but how much brighter I don't know. At least it would save you the trouble of removing the magnet. The price savings is substantial.

Does anybody know how much brighter the Elite is over the regular X-Ray?

Ed

I haven't had them side by side to compare brightness but IMHO the big difference is the case. The Elite is polycarbonate with the aforementioned screw inserts. Much more rugged, than a 2 year old? Better get a Tonka truck

Originally posted by Ed Wood:
Does anybody know how much brighter the Elite is over the regular X-Ray?

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">
Both new out of the box.

Ed...You sure for (less than because shipping incl.) $20 more you don't want an ELITE?

As far as toughness of either model Here is the testimony I keep reposting for the less tough Ergo X-ray...

http://www.techass.com/el/testi3.jpg

perhaps fill broken area with shoe-goo type stuff, and trim it, drill a hole where the
screw needs to go, and that might help it.

otherwise, ask the nice eternalight folx
to mail you another shell, fix your light,
give your child something that cannot be
broken (use a lanyard), and viola?

I have the same problem with my ergo. It's about 1-1/2 years old. Front right screw won't hold anymore and one of the LED's is a funny color. I am sending it back today. I e-mailed them last week about the problem.

IMHO Eternalight should replace the whole case with an upgraded one if their fix doesn't work. I like the product but wouldn't buy another one if the fix doesn't last.
Too many good LED lights out there.