Fusion36 Maglite Drop In + Screw Electronics.

[belomeclone]

Alright, bear with me guys.

So apparently, the Fusion36 uses the screws to work as some kind of conduit or something. I'm not an electrician I don't know. All I do know is, when trying to repair a second drop in, I unscrewed my working one. Only a little bit, and I noticed it stopped working. The guy who had the unscrewed one told me that it uses the screws for whatever, and that is why it stopped working.

So, he borrowed it, and I have it back. I screwed the stuff back in, but it was dim. I recharged the batteries, and it's brighter... but I fully doubt that it is as bright as it used to be. (I have compared it with a similar flashlight from a past test and it doesn't compare at all.) So here's my question... what could be the issue?

1. Did I not re-screw the screws in enough?

2. Should I unscrew the whole thing, risk the wires breaking, and use new screws?

3. Should I re-recharge the batteries?

4. Seeing as how it doesn't really work, should I go "Screw it" and find something else? I was a fan of the drop in for a very bright in-house torch, as well as rather serviceable outside, and I do not know of another drop in in that price range (25 dollars shipped.)

It used that blue glue on the bottom of the screws. Does that affect this at all?

Seriously, what could it be? Should I just order a new one, toss it, and accept all the money lost on this venture as a learning experience?

Edit: Something does seem to be wrong electronically. It no longer works on 2D batteries, only my 6AA. The 6AA seem to be as powerful now as the 2D were when it was untouched. Any thoughts?

Edit 2: For the record, one of the screws is stripped, but it seems like it could be screwed in more. I'll head to the hardware store tomorrow and have them take it out and replace it, but does anyone think it'll matter, or just be more money spent on this?

 

[VegasF6]

Don't sound good to me. Why don't you dis-assemble it and document it with photos. It's going to be awful hard to diagnose without more information than that. Who knows, maybe it will even work again. If not, you can at least salvage 36 Nichia WW leds, they are probably worth a $1 each.

 

[belomeclone]

Don't sound good to me. Why don't you dis-assemble it and document it with photos. It's going to be awful hard to diagnose without more information than that. Who knows, maybe it will even work again. If not, you can at least salvage 36 Nichia WW leds, they are probably worth a $1 each.

From my experience with disassembling the first one, the wires inside will most likely break apart if you unscrew it completely and try to mess around with it. And can I really make 36 dollars on something I got for 25? Because I have spent a lot of money on this thing.

 

[march.brown]

Should I just order a new one and accept all the money lost on this venture as a learning experience ?

YES !
.

 

[VegasF6]

Well, new those Nichias might be worth that, I dunno it just depends what the market will support. Nichia leds in general are hard to find. Since you don't have any binning information from those, I suppose not. Personally, I would probably order up 10 or so the DX Fauxtons and swap them out. Except the leads are probably already cut off. Well I am sure you can find something to do with it, maybe make a night light, or a terrarium, or a dome light for your car/trailer/boat/ house on wheels 🙂

But like I said, at least you will be able to contribute to the board, I couldn't find any photos of the internals of this thing.

 

[belomeclone]

You can't quite see inside of it. It's a series of metal rings, one white wire, and one purple wire. My friend has one dissected that he is trying to repair but the wires are quite tiny, not to mention that just unscrewing it seems to destroy it so repairing it may not even be possible.