HDS Systems EDC #22

[Gaffle]

Hogo, dunno if this has happened yet or not. My INR 18650 that I bought with 650 tube grew into issues. The button tab was pushed in via the spring eventually moved away from contacts. The battery works in another light, and it charges no sweat. I suspect the 3 tabs are the issue. The other INR is fine, button is pushed in. I have not messed with them myself yet.

 

[desert.snake]

Hogo, dunno if this has happened yet or not. My INR 18650 that I bought with 650 tube grew into issues. The button tab was pushed in via the spring eventually moved away from contacts. The battery works in another light, and it charges no sweat. I suspect the 3 tabs are the issue. The other INR is fine, button is pushed in. I have not messed with them myself yet.

I had a similar situation, with different batteries in different flashlights. This time I dropped my golden dragon from a height of about 2 meters with glass on the floor, brown LG battery 3000 mAh got a dent in the head contact, but it continues to work fine in all lights. In HDS I see under the spring something like a plastic limiter of freewheel, apparently because of it a dent was made, without the limiter, the spring would compress more and absorb the inertia of the battery, but Henry hardly made this limiter for no good reason.

 

[Hogokansatsukan]

Thanks for bringing this up. I didn't know this was happening and will let Henry know when gets back out of the cave. Yes, he's going to be a few miles in a cave for the next couple days.

 

[Modernflame]

Very interesting. I wondered about this. I've only been running button top unprotected 18650s in mine.

 

[Daniel_sk]

I have a new HDS Rotary (first HDS). I am playing around with it and something it's acting a bit weird. I tried two different primary CR123A. I lockout the flashlight manually by unscrewing the head a little and then I tighten it back in (within a short period of time). Then I press the button and the flashlight turns on for a very short moment and turns off. After that I am not able to turn on the flashlight and I have to lockout again. It's not totally consistent though. I tried to reset (remove battery, wait 60 seconds, insert battery and hold button while the dim light is on) and it didn't help. Sometimes I get 4-6 fast flashes after tightening the head. I guess I have to play around to better describe the behavior.

 

[thermal guy]

What's the plastic ring/limiter for? Think if that limits the spring movement that it would do the exact opposite of what the spring was meant to do.

 

[RCS1300]

Try something simple. Take the battery out. Wait two minutes. Put the battery in. Do not push any buttons. Wait until the light goes out. Then try turning the light on.

 

[Daniel_sk]

There must be something defective with the light . It's definitely not reliable in situations where I lockout the head and then screw it back it. After this I turn it on and I start ramping up and it shuts off when near the highest output and I can't turn it on again (I have to unscrew the head and then screw it back in). It happens most of the time when I do this.

Basically I can reproduce the issue like this:
1) make sure the output is set to maximum (this is the most important step) with rotary control and turn it off
2) lockout the head by unscrewing it about half-turn
3) screw the head back in
4) dim light shows for 5 seconds (this is the reset indicator)
5) switch the light on. The flashlight will shortly turn on on the highest setting and then turn off automatically and stay off. I am not able to turn on the flashlight and I have to repeat the process (unscrew the head).

I tried the factory reset several times (remove battery, wait, turn on, hold and press button while the dim light is visible)

I guess it's going back :shakehead. I can get the flashlight into a state where it's impossible to turn it on, no matter what I try. I have to unscrew the head and screw it back it to make it work again. But then it usually gets into the same state if I ramp up the brightness. Oh well...

 

[id30209]

What a bummer

 

[Modernflame]

There must be something defective with the light .

You should definitely email Henry. Sorry you're having trouble. Let me take a swing at this, though. You can't lock out the flashlight by unscrewing the battery tube one half of a turn. The threads are not anodized, meaning that the circuit is not broken this way. However, a partial turn will disconnect the signal wire that connects the tail cap section to the head of the light. The elf in the flashlight does not know what to make of this.

Try a reset like this:

1) Switch the light on.
2) Detach the battery tube. A complete separation is necessary.
3) Screw the tube back on. The light comes on for several seconds.
4) Wait for the light to stop.

It should work normally after this. If not, please tell us how it behaves.

 

[Hogokansatsukan]

Definitely email Henry on this one. He won't respond until Monday. He's playing Batman right now and somewhere in the bowels of the earth.

 

[Daniel_sk]

Y
1) Switch the light on.
2) Detach the battery tube. A complete separation is necessary.
3) Screw the tube back on. The light comes on for several seconds.
4) Wait for the light to stop.Unscrew

It should work normally after this. If not, please tell us how it behaves.

This works normally. But only if I can get the flashlight to turn on - which is difficult if the flashlight is in the weird state caused.
Can you maybe try my steps (half-turn and max output) on your flashlight?

Because I can't believe this is expected behavior. I left the flashlight in this "broken" state during the night and in the morning I tried to turn on the flashlight. It wouldn't do anything. I had to disconnect the signal wire by doing a half-turn and reconnect it. I am not an electrician but it looks like the elf is in some wrong state and stuck. Now I know about this I can avoid doing it, but I don't think something like this should be able to stuck the flashlight in a turned off mode.
And sometimes it's really difficult to get the flashlight out of this state. I remove the battery tube and wait a long time, I screw it back it and it only briefly flashes and I can't press-hold the button fast enough to reset it. Then I have to repeat the process.

Right now I waited like 2 minutes with disconnected battery tube. Then I put it back and the dim light goes on, I press and hold for reset. And now I ramp up the brightness to max and the flashlight goes off when I get to maximum and it stays off (I can't turn it back and I have to repeat the whole process).

Here is a youtube video I made, it's not exactly the same process I described (I am doing a reset after the battery tube was removed for 2 minutes) but you can see the issues there.

 

[jon_slider]

the sst-20, I think it may throw even farther than... xpl-hi

high CRI throws less than Low CRI
you need measurements to know throw
a lot of people guess, wrong

XPL Hi throws more than HDS 250, which throws more than Golden Dragon, which throws more than 219b

HDS throw, from here

High CRI
109 meters lh351d
110 meters 219b

Low CRI
128 meters golden dragon
134 meters xp-g2
157 meters xpl-hi

Can you maybe try my steps (half-turn and max output) on your flashlight?

I agree with modern
the HDS design is not compatible with physical lockout

it does not work
it pisses off the elf
and he goes on strike

reevaluate the reasons you want to use physical lockout with an HDS

hint, if one of your reasons for unscrewing the head, is because your light has a raised button, and you want to prevent accidental activation,

use the button lockout option instead

here is the manual
see section 14
button lockout is option 3

if one of your reasons to use half twist is to eliminate the parasitic drain of the HDS eSwitch, abandon that strategy. It pisses off the elf, and he goes on strike until you cooperate with the design, which is NOT compatible with physical half twist lockout.

HDS parasitic drain can only be eliminated by removing the head completely, or removing the battery.

did I guess any of your reasons for trying to use physical lockout or are there others?

abandon all hope of physical lockout with an HDS
trust the elf, he knows when you try to unscrew him
and it pisses him off

I screw it back it and it only briefly flashes and I can't press-hold the button fast enough to reset it.

hint, hold the button down while screwing

then stop unscrewing to attempt lockout

 

[Daniel_sk]

I don't need a physical lockout - but I think this can happen also in unintended ways. For example the battery tube loosens a bit, so you screw it back in. And now you are stuck and have to remove it completely, wait, reset, try again. Try doing that in a cave . Or if you have to swap the battery in the field and you end up doing pretty much the same thing. Either my flashlight is defective (I think so) or this is expected behavior. But this can't happen for a light that is considered to be ultra-reliable, it has turn on every time I press the button unless something is physically broken or the battery is dead. I added a youtube video to my original message which shows that even a reset didn't help (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gN-vMwJ0Mo&feature=youtu.be).

 

[jon_slider]

I could be totally wrong, do ask Henry

I found this in the manual

"There are two methods for disabling the button. This is useful when you are transporting your flashlight and to not want the button to be accidentally activated.
7The first method is to enable and use the Button Lockout feature. See Button Lockout in Customizing Optional Features(section 14) for details.The second method is to unscrew the battery compartment from the head by one half turn.This will leave the O-ring completely covered. You restore operation of the button by screwing the battery compartment completely into the head"

edit
I just watched your video, and you are unscrewing and rescrewing within less than 60 seconds, I got really confused by all the different ways you tried to reset without doing a complete separation of head and body

congratulations on figuring out a way to **** off the elf

dont unscrew half way and then attempt the factory reset?
dont factory reset unless you first separate the head form the body?

afaik
when changing a battery, the ground path to the switch, and to the head is disconnected
but when unscrewing half a turn, only the ground path to the switch is disconnected

I look forward to learning how you avoid pissing off the elf

my present thinking is youre screwing around too much, no offense intended

 

[LuxTacGear]

high CRI throws less than Low CRI
you need measurements to know throw
a lot of people guess, wrong

XPL Hi throws more than HDS 250, which throws more than Golden Dragon, which throws more than 219b

HDS throw, from here

High CRI
109 meters lh351d
110 meters 219b

Low CRI
128 meters golden dragon
134 meters xp-g2
157 meters xpl-hi



I agree with modern
the HDS design is not compatible with physical lockout

it does not work
it pisses off the elf
and he goes on strike

reevaluate the reasons you want to use physical lockout with an HDS

hint, if one of your reasons for unscrewing the head, is because your light has a raised button, and you want to prevent accidental activation,

use the button lockout option instead

here is the manual
see section 14
button lockout is option 3

if one of your reasons to use half twist is to eliminate the parasitic drain of the HDS eSwitch, abandon that strategy. It pisses off the elf, and he goes on strike until you cooperate with the design, which is NOT compatible with physical half twist lockout.

HDS parasitic drain can only be eliminated by removing the head completely, or removing the battery.

did I guess any of your reasons for trying to use physical lockout or are there others?

abandon all hope of physical lockout with an HDS
trust the elf, he knows when you try to unscrew him
and it pisses him off



hint, hold the button down while screwing

then stop unscrewing to attempt lockout

So XPL HI would easily throw farther than xp-g2 (250) and xp-g3 (325) If your findings are compatible with the current Hds reflectors, I'm still convinced HDS should introduce this emitter.

I assume a low cri sst-20 6500k could have more or similar throw than an XPL HI then. I forgot that the high cri sst-20 are not as powerful than the low cri.

 

[LuxTacGear]

I don't need a physical lockout - but I think this can happen also in unintended ways. For example the battery tube loosens a bit, so you screw it back in. And now you are stuck and have to remove it completely, wait, reset, try again. Try doing that in a cave . Or if you have to swap the battery in the field and you end up doing pretty much the same thing. Either my flashlight is defective (I think so) or this is expected behavior. But this can't happen for a light that is considered to be ultra-reliable, it has turn on every time I press the button unless something is physically broken or the battery is dead. I added a youtube video to my original message which shows that even a reset didn't help (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gN-vMwJ0Mo&feature=youtu.be).

Then I see no reason to partly unscrew the battery tube from the head, other than a battery change or a reset, and then you have to unscrew it completely. My battery tube has never loosened. But I have not heard of that weird behavior in an Hds yet. So I think something is wrong with the elf. I'm sure Henry can fix it.

I have heard of people damaging the wire somehow though.

 

[Daniel_sk]

Sure. But even unscrewing the battery tube completely will not help at all times, if I don't wait 60 seconds (I can swap a battery faster). I just did that right now - flashlight works correctly, set the output to maximum, unscrew battery tube and put it back in (in less than 60 seconds), flashlight blinks and then won't turn on again. This is something that can happen during regular use. Unfortunately I don't have a second HDS to compare the behavior and test if this is a defect or general issue. There are just to many ways for me to break it :-/.

 

[usdiver]

Daniel_sk
I m no expert but I ve done a video on the tube of the easiest way to reset that I ve found and it works. Also what battery are you using and is it rechargeable or primary, is it new or old?
I ve seen things in an HDS that most have never seen and only had to send 1 back for a re install and that was an old 200 with the old zip lock bag. I don't think your light is defective I do believe your elf is severely pissed and I personally have never ever had a HDS to unscrew itself unintentionally and I ve never used the twist it halfway to lock out.

Do you have the triple click lockout still enabled?

 

[usdiver]

Ps: if you do what you have been doing and the light does the dim light thing then start clicking fast till the light stops flashing and then goes solid. At that point hold the button down and it will do the ramp and it's then ready to reprogram