Faulty 120P?!?!?!

[pltan]

So I received my 120P today in the mail...now I'm not sure what is going on, but the light even on the maximum setting is not bright at all...I'm not sure if it's supposed to be this way?

I'm not sure if this is a fair comparison but my Jetbeam III-M at less than 50% output blows the 120p(at max) out of the room...

I've tried using different batteries, fully charged AWC123s. I'm very disappointed.

Could I have a faulty light?

It's a Black 120P, I noticed it has the Novatac Logo on the side of the body with a serial number on the opposite side. However it does not say EDC120P on the side...just the Novatac logo. It says 120P on the tailcap, with Made in USA. I've noticed that pictures of the light on the web has the model number on the side of the light, so could I have a 'fake'?

I'm stumped here....I'm not sure if my expectations were too high or I have a buggy light...

Pls help....

 

[jzmtl]

Have you tried factory reset it? I have mines maximum set to 85 lumen not 120 since the difference is really small but longer runtime, maybe someone did that to yours as well?

 

[pltan]

Have you tried factory reset it? I have mines maximum set to 85 lumen not 120 since the difference is really small but longer runtime, maybe someone did that to yours as well?

I am trying the factory reset, but it doesnt seem to be working too well, ie. the light does not go into the Bright/Dim/Bright sequence to indicate the factory reset...

 

[pipspeak]

I seem to remember the factory settings do not include the max setting, so to get max have you tried pushing and holding the switch when the light is on?

My black 120P also just has "Novatac" on one side and the serial number on the other. It has "120P" and "made in USA" on the tailcap

 

[jzmtl]

Try to ramp up on any of the settings and see how bright it goes up to.

 

[pltan]

I seem to remember the factory settings do not include the max setting, so to get max have you tried pushing and holding the switch when the light is on?

My black 120P also just has "Novatac" on one side and the serial number on the other. It has "120P" and "made in USA" at the switch

Yes this is what I'm using to access the 'max' setting, i.e. click-press....

I managed a factory reset and it does seem brighter now.

 

[pltan]

Try to ramp up on any of the settings and see how bright it goes up to.

Tried that, it's about the same, ramps up to flickers twice to indicate max setting, then goes on to strobe settings...


Looking at beamshots of the 120P here:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=189809&highlight=novatec+120p

There is NO way my light is doing it on the max setting...

 

[jzmtl]

Wait till tonight and try a ceiling bounce test. Novatac is pretty floody so may be hard to judge brightness in daytime.

 

[pltan]

Well it's definitely bugged, my mountain-bike LED which is rated at 110lumens puts the 120P to shame.

I can't see more than 4-5 ft away from me with extremely weak beam on the max setting.

Now I'm just wonder if there's something I can fix without having to RMA the damn thing from Malaysia

 

[pltan]

Wait till tonight and try a ceiling bounce test. Novatac is pretty floody so may be hard to judge brightness in daytime.

It/s 4.30 am where I am now

 

[pipspeak]

Those beamshots look like they were done in PITCH black -- conditions that would make my little keychain photon look good

Now you have me wondering about my 120P :mecry:

 

[jzmtl]

Can't even see 4-5 ft at 4AM, that definatel sounds wrong then. I'm not sure if there's anything you can do besides return it.

 

[Zenster]

Take the head off and remove the battery and the big spring that goes around the battery from the head to the tail cap.

Do not attempt to stretch that big spring, but rather, gently do a sort of "unwind" action to it.
That will elongate it a little to improve it's contact between the head and tailcap.
Also, take a pencil with an eraser on the end, and rub the eraser over any contact areas you can. This will clean and burnish the contact areas without doing any wear damage to them.
At the same time, clean all the threads on the head, tailcap and body before putting it all back together.

If this doesn't make any difference, I'm afraid all that's left is to send it back for repair.

 

[pltan]

Sigh guess I'll have to. I'm trying to do a search to see if others have had such issues before. I personally think it's a buggy LED. On it's max setting I can stare comfortably at the LED without even needing to blink in a pitch black room from about 2 feet away from the lamp....i.e. it's in my hand...

I hope Novatac will pick up the shipping

 

[pltan]

Take the head off and remove the battery and the big spring that goes around the battery from the head to the tail cap.

.

I will try this right now....

 

[TCW 60]

Tell the customer support from Novatac your problems by e-mail. They will try to help you.

 

[Badger_Girl]

Tell the customer support from Novatac your problems by e-mail. They will try to help you.

+1

Exactly. I had a 120T problem, and they sent me a new 120T along with a prepaid sticker to return the old one...no questions asked.

 

[pltan]

I've emailed them...

How disappointing...the parcel was 'misdirected' by the post too, so it arrived today after a 2week delay..

And it's faulty...

 

[TCW 60]

And it's faulty...

Give them a little time to answer. I can understand you, a new toy and it seems to work not correct.

 

[Polar Light]

I'm trying to do a search to see if others have had such issues before.

I had with my 120E. It was difficult to reset and the light didn't give full power. And finally there was no light at all. Mine is returned and replaced. The new one works just perfect.

Is yours one with the 30000 series serialnumber?