Accidently stuck in dead batteries and fried my Fenix? Plausible?

[bill_n_opus]

Well, I don't know enough about electronics and batteries to make an educated guess so here goes:

- stuck in some dead nimh batts that I meant to put aside briefly before going to charge them
- when I realized my mistake I swapped out the dead ones for some fresh charged nimh and ...

my flashlight failed to turn on. It was working moments earlier but not anymore. Did all sorts of troubleshoooting within my limitations and nothing worked. Strange.

The light is Fenix, model L2P.

perhaps it just gave up the ghost ... kinda sad because it was my first led light and I still really like it despite having more powerful lights since then.

Any ideas? Guess it's going back to 4sevens for warranty work.

 

[TigerhawkT3]

I can't really think of any way that dead NiMHs could damage an L2P. :thinking: That's pretty weird.

 

[TorchBoy]

Applying no (or too little) voltage to something doesn't kill it. Perhaps it died by chance, or there's some other non-terminal problem that's not easily found.

 

[edap617]

To isolate the problem, why not stuck in fresh alkaline batteries to make sure that it is not a problem caused by dead batteries.

 

[zipplet]

Could you have accidentally put the batteries in backwards - either the old or new ones? I did that and fried my L2D.

 

[Meterman]

Ptomaine?

Wulf

 

[bill_n_opus]

Thanks for all replies.

yah, when I was doing my troubleshooting/data gathering I tried a bunch of things:

- checked the polarity, it was correctly inserted
- put in some alkalines, nothing happened
- put in some fresh nimh, nothing
- swapped clickies with my l2d-ce and nothing happened, did the reverse (put the l2p one on the l2d-ce and it worked fine)

don't remember what else offhand ... it does seem quite coincidentlal.

Oh well, warranty time.

 

[BabyDoc]

Here's something else to try. Sometimes, when changing batteries, you can unscrew the tailcap and and loosen the retention ring on the inside of the tailcap. (This actually happened to me when I changed batteries last week with one of my lights.) If the retention ring is too loose, the light won't turn on.

 

[BIGIRON]

BabyDoc beat me to it. The ring thing has happened a couple of times to me. Allthough you seem to have eliminated that with your swapout trial.

edit - just checked mine and it was almost a full turn loose. Needlnose pliers will tighten it up. Now must check others.

 

[BabyDoc]

BabyDoc beat me to it. The ring thing has happened a couple of times to me. Allthough you seem to have eliminated that with your swapout trial.

edit - just checked mine and it was almost a full turn loose. Needlnose pliers will tighten it up. Now must check others.

Sorry, I missed seeing that you had swapped out the tailcaps. That would eliminate the retention ring problem.

Although I can't imagine you haven't done this, given everything else you have tried, be sure all the contact surfaces are clean.

 

[bill_n_opus]

You guys rock!

I just reread this thread and found the last two responses.

I grabbed my l2p and unscrewed the tailcap. I pressed the spiral contact ring inside the cap itself with some pressure ... I heard a small "click", tried the light and now it works again!

I've been too busy/lazy to send the l2p in ... now I don't have to.

Thanks again everyone for your troubleshooting.

 

[hopkins]

some thread lock goop on the retention ring would prevent this problem.
Unless there is a reason to take the tail cap apart?
Suppose you changed batteries out in the boonies and this part came unscrewed and you didn't have a tool to tighten it?
I'd say you'd be Fenix'ished

 

[Bullzeyebill]

Congratulations on the fix. About the only weak link the Fenix has, and it is easy to fix.

Bill

 

[mdocod]

it's a common problem amongst various tailcaps in the industry. I have 2 ultrafires from YEARS ago that are still working, but I have to tighten up that ring on the switch in the tailcap almost every time I swap the batteries, the action of removing the tailcap almost always loosens that ring.

Eric

 

[carbine15]

This sounds like a job for LockTite! in the blue bottle.

 

[WDG]

I had the same problem with the L1D-CE, so I finally just stopped removing the tailcap. Simplest fix is to take off the head to change cells, instead.

 

[kuprith]

congrats for the fix.

 

[greenLED]

One reason to change batts through the front.

 

[bill_n_opus]

Dang, I spoke too soon.

Well, it does look like a tailcap problem ... tried "tightening" it, manipulating it etc ... no worky. Guess I will have to send it into to 4sevens afterall.

 

[Marduke]

Did you tighten the retaining ring though? Not just press on it.