Dead LED? LED LENSER story

[d2eux]

Hi CPFers,

Just want to throw this out there: LED LENSER is...an interesting brand. Bought a M1 multi-mode 1 cell C123 torch back in 2012, and it always had finnicky UI (would not change modes like instructions said). You're supposed to click twice fast for low, and 3 times fast for strobe, but it took several trials to get to any of them.

So in 2016/2017 I requested a replacement under LL's 5 year warranty. Got a new light, this time, great UI, clicks the mode just the way it's supposed to.

Then, just the other day I click to turn on, light won't turn on. So I switch out the cell for another cell. And another. And another. Long story short, it appears the LED is dead, in less than 2 years of VERY LIGHT use.

This is not a reliable light. Which is a shame because I used to have their 3x AAA T1 light that seemed to be fairly reliable.

I emailed LL again today about the dead LED and am waiting to hear back what they say. We will see!

 

[Boris74]

I have had a LED Lenser V2 that takes 3aaa cells since 2005. I had it mounted on several M4s and even mounted it on a M249 (11B so it wasn't just hauled to chow and back) for one tour. It's sitting next to my chair right now and it just lit up like it always has. It's well above 30,000 rounds of 5.56 recoil on it and it is beat up bad, but it always lights up.

Its either just a bad model and you got some bad luck.

Its not my go to brand it is the only LED Lenser I have ever owned or bought. It's a low tech dinosaur these days but it destroyed the 6P I had at the time in brightness and battery life. It's my old reliable. When it dies it will end having served me well.

I hope they sort it out for you.

 

[d2eux]

I have had a LED Lenser V2 that takes 3aaa cells since 2005. I had it mounted on several M4s and even mounted it on a M249 (11B so it wasn't just hauled to chow and back) for one tour. It's sitting next to my chair right now and it just lit up like it always has. It's well above 30,000 rounds of 5.56 recoil on it and it is beat up bad, but it always lights up.

Its either just a bad model and you got some bad luck.

Its not my go to brand it is the only LED Lenser I have ever owned or bought. It's a low tech dinosaur these days but it destroyed the 6P I had at the time in brightness and battery life. It's my old reliable. When it dies it will end having served me well.

I hope they sort it out for you.

Thanks! Maybe it's just a bad model, or LL works better with lights that have simple UI vs multimode UI

 

[herektir]

The failure is likely a switch or board component fault. The led itself is quite tough unless overdriven.

 

[XR6Toggie]

I used a P7 for quite a while. I replaced it with another P7 after it got contaminated with blood. They were both decent lights and free to run because my employer provides AAA batteries. There are far superior options out there but I don't think I ever had a technical problem with them.

 

[tsask]

Hi CPFers,
Just want to throw this out there: LED LENSER is...an interesting brand. Bought a M1 multi-mode 1 cell C123 torch back in 2012, and it always had finnicky UI (would not change modes like instructions said). You're supposed to click twice fast for low, and 3 times fast for strobe, but it took several trials to get to any of them.
So in 2016/2017 I requested a replacement under LL's 5 year warranty. Got a new light, this time, great UI, clicks the mode just the way it's supposed to.
Then, just the other day I click to turn on, light won't turn on. So I switch out the cell for another cell. And another. And another. Long story short, it appears the LED is dead, in less than 2 years of VERY LIGHT use. This is not a reliable light. Which is a shame because I used to have their 3x AAA T1 light that seemed to be fairly reliable.
I emailed LL again today about the dead LED and am waiting to hear back what they say. We will see!

your story has been all to common for the past 15 years. Coast/LED lenser was one of the first LED flashlights to gain entry to the us retail market at places like Home Depot etc. While their ability to market their product is superb, this ability added to the the nice packaging can not hide the lack of quality control and an unreliable product. it is a shame because many people had that as their initial led experience and were disappointed. these lights are IMHO NOT suited for ANY EDC use. Fenix or O light & Skilhunt can be found at some retailers now I would suggest that as an alternative.

 

[lightfooted]

I have had a LED Lenser V2 that takes 3aaa cells since 2005. I had it mounted on several M4s and even mounted it on a M249 (11B so it wasn't just hauled to chow and back) for one tour. It's sitting next to my chair right now and it just lit up like it always has. It's well above 30,000 rounds of 5.56 recoil on it and it is beat up bad, but it always lights up.

Its either just a bad model and you got some bad luck.

Its not my go to brand it is the only LED Lenser I have ever owned or bought. It's a low tech dinosaur these days but it destroyed the 6P I had at the time in brightness and battery life. It's my old reliable. When it dies it will end having served me well.

I hope they sort it out for you.

That's quite a comparison! I owned an LED Lenser, the 80 lumen version and my incandescent 6P was still what I would call competitive. Then I discovered aftermarket P60 drop-ins and there was then no comparison, my 6P was suddenly relevant again with a 250 lumen XR-E drop in I think it was.

d2eux I would just replace it with something more current. Plenty of lights can be had that would exceed the Lenser's output and likely be far more reliable, although I won't say they will be at the same price point.

 

[Boris74]

That's quite a comparison! I owned an LED Lenser, the 80 lumen version and my incandescent 6P was still what I would call competitive. Then I discovered aftermarket P60 drop-ins and there was then no comparison, my 6P was suddenly relevant again with a 250 lumen XR-E drop in I think it was.

d2eux I would just replace it with something more current. Plenty of lights can be had that would exceed the Lenser's output and likely be far more reliable, although I won't say they will be at the same price point.

I have been through three surefires since I bought the V2. After the last one died I realized I was buying a great warranty and cosmetically good looking light. Their response to my last ones inquiry on repair had me scratching my head and I don't have time to duke it out with the front lines just to get it to someone in the rear echelons to maybe repair it. I tossed it and moved on. I've bought a lot of surefires since the 90s and I don't have a single one left. I used every single one to its death and the money spent was worth the use. They just don't seem to hold up for me. I'm over buying a warranty that got more difficult to use in recent times.

I bought a streamlight protac, a Nitecore and a Olight for comparison, all for less money combined than the surefire I was looking at to replace the latest dead one. No regrets. Some have just as good a warranty and one has a warranty the same length of time at the average life span I got from surefires. If a $60.00 light lasts 5 years and a $220.00 light lasts me 5 years, I'm going with $60.00. If they don't fix or replace it I'm right where I started with less $$$ spent per year of use. It's just economics for me.

I know surefires are good lights but increasingly difficult to use warranty with lights that dont last me long, not worth it. I'm not into legoing or dropping in until I find what I'm looking for. I want out of the box performance.

My V2 LED Lenser has out lived every single surefire and many of them combined in years. It's also endured abuse beyond several of them combined. I am aware it's just one and maybe I'm lucky but it's my experience so it's worth posting about.

 

[tabetha]

I have two LED LENSERS, the P7 one has artifacts in the beam, the other a P7PRO killed it's on/off switch, started by staying on dimly to flatten batteries then switch jammed solid, around 3 years old around 5 hour of use total for each, frankly I think they are junk lights and at their price shouldn't be.
Recently I bought a ULTRAFIRE WF501B which really is 20 times better WAAAAAAY brighter the spill lights area better than P7 ever did the spot is awsome, batteries don't get chewed like AAA, and it costs under £6, if I can't make the P7 fdecent they are going in the bin.