Have I damaged my Zebralight H60W?

[MikeF]

To start with I am very pleased with the H60W. The color is great with no green cast and I will probably also use this as an on camera light or for highlighting visual elements in backgrounds to illustrate a visual component. I received my H60W last week and have been using it quite a bit. The shipping time from ZebraLight was very fast with a free upgrade to EMS for orders of $79 or more. The shipping from Shanghai China to Denver took only 7 days. The size is much smaller than I expected and not much larger than the 18650 that it uses. The lowest setting is great for my work tasks of setting up my camera kit and truck in the early morning darkness. The beam is a flawless flood with no hotspots and if anything the default low setting could be lower. I may make a mount adapter to attach it to my camera or a magnetic mount to attach to metal surfaces to increase its versatility.

I think with my fumbling through the settings I've either damaged the driver or caused it to lose its programming. As it came from ZebraLight the UI is operated by pressing and holding the switch and it cycled through the default settings of low (3lm), medium (15lm), high (110lm) as long as the button is pushed until you see the level that you want. To access the secondary settings of super low (0.4lm), High/Medium (37lm), and Turbo (157lm) when in the similar low, med, high selection a double click selects the options. ZebraLight says on their website that all outputs are out the front Torch Lumens and the lumen ratings I've referred to here are from their website. The numbers seem to be appropriate and this will be a very useful tool. The cycle time between steps is fairly rapid so I sometimes have to let it hit my desired level the second or third time it is visible.

When I was getting used to the light and UI I did notice that if I selected a secondary setting by double clicking, when I powered off and then back on it would have only two levels instead of three until I went to the level that I changed and reset it to default. Then it would cycle through all three levels again. Anyway, I am not sure how I modified the programming but currently when I press and hold the switch the light powers on in high and then cycles to what seems like two additional high FLASHING settings with no medium and low settings at all. What have I done wrong and how can I get it back to Default? If I quickly click without holding it it comes on in High and remains on.

 

[MikeF]

Anyone out there?

 

[davidt1]

Have you tried contacting Zebralight? I wouldn't know how to help you since I don't have the same light.

 

[MikeF]

I have sent them an email. Thanks DavidT1.

 

[Scott Packard]

Try turning it on then unscrewing the endcap. Let it sit a minute then screw it back together. I'd hope you could reset it to default settings by depriving it of power.

I clicked mine a few dozen times and couldn't find any hidden mode.

And I agree, the beam is beautiful. I was using it a few days ago for some air conditioning troubleshooting. The wide even light it emits is just brilliant.

 

[MikeF]

I think the problem may be due to the type of battery. I have an old 18650 battery that I think is un-protected. It is blue and marked "LIR 18650 1800 mAh 3.6v ". With that cell is in the H60W it runs just as advertised, when I hold the button down the light is at the lowest level and it cycles through the three levels as expected. When I use it with either one of the Two Trustfire batteries I got with the 18650 EDC from Sabrewolf or one of the 3.7V AW 2200 mAh cells I just got it will only go to the brightest setting, will not cycle through the three levels and will not shutoff until I unscrew the tailcap. All three styles of the batteries come off the Trustfire All-In-One charger at 4.22VDC.

According to the Zebralight website the acceptable range of input voltage is from 2.8-4.5. Zebralight has never replied to my email that I sent when this problem first surfaced.

I will start recharging the no-name cell in my Pila Charger since it is marked 3.6v. The only thing I have done to the H60W is attach a disc magnet to the tailcap with adhesive so it can be attached to ferrous surfaces. Since the operation is the same with or without the magnet in place with the different styles of batteries I don't think the battery is the issue.

 

[kwarwick]

I think the problem may be due to the type of battery. I have an old 18650 battery that I think is un-protected. It is blue and marked "LIR 18650 1800 mAh 3.6v ". With that cell is in the H60W it runs just as advertised, when I hold the button down the light is at the lowest level and it cycles through the three levels as expected. When I use it with either one of the Two Trustfire batteries I got with the 18650 EDC from Sabrewolf or one of the 3.7V AW 2200 mAh cells I just got it will only go to the brightest setting, will not cycle through the three levels and will not shutoff until I unscrew the tailcap. All three styles of the batteries come off the Trustfire All-In-One charger at 4.22VDC.

According to the Zebralight website the acceptable range of input voltage is from 2.8-4.5. Zebralight has never replied to my email that I sent when this problem first surfaced.

I will start recharging the no-name cell in my Pila Charger since it is marked 3.6v. The only thing I have done to the H60W is attach a disc magnet to the tailcap with adhesive so it can be attached to ferrous surfaces. Since the operation is the same with or without the magnet in place with the different styles of batteries I don't think the battery is the issue.

Based on my experiences with the H60W, most protected 18650 cells are just a bit too long to fit without using excessive force to screw down the tail cap. I think forcing these cells to fit can lead to damage, perhaps cracking some of the solder joints on the surface mount components of the driver board. The H60W seems particularly fragile in this respect so I strongly recommend caution selecting cells for use in this headlamp. Personally I've been using the green Ultrafire non-protected 2600mah (DX sku#26248) cells which fit perfectly.

It may be that you've got a damaged driver in your light and the pressure when you use a protected cell is causing the board to flex enough to cause the problem you're describing.

 

[MikeF]

Thanks Kwarwick. I will measure the length of the cells and post them here. The Zebralight product description on their website says lengths of 65-66mm are acceptable. I ordered two AW IMR 18650 cells yesterday. I have one cell out of five that works properly so I appreciate the tip on the Green ultrafire cells. If the IMR cells don't work the ultrafire cells will be my next purchase.

 

[Scott Packard]

I tried 65mm 3.6V and 3.7V cells in mine just now. Both work fine.
I have a 68mm and a 67mm cell also. Not fine, or at least I'm not willing to screw down the tailcap far enough to have it make contact with the tube, as it seems it would deform the tailcap in the spring and is difficult to continue to tighten.

 

[MikeF]

I've been using the IMR 18650 cells from AW for a week now and they work just fine. I'm wondering now if the magnet that I JB Welded to the tailcap may be strong enough to interfere with the protection circuit in the Trustfire batteries?

 

[matrixshaman]

I think the protection circuits are usually under to positive end so that's not too likely but I wouldn't rule it out. Magnets usually don't interfere with circuits in that way and it generally takes a strong magnet that is spinning to actually damage a circuit. I think the length issue is probably causing this problem and the longer cells may be pushing on the PCB enough to break a connection point temporarily or short something under pressure. While I've got a bunch of Zebralights I don't own this particular one but I've found some seem to be fairly fragile and have 2 dead ones sitting here that may be the result of battery length.

 

[MikeF]

Thanks for all of the replies. The most important thing for me is that I can now make it work reliably for me whenever I need it to. It works as advertised with the 2 IMR cells I recently purchased and with the old unprotected cell. I am very pleased with the H60W.