Help!!

[Straydogrich]

Have several high lumen flashlights.. My barska 1200 lumen flashlight will light up for 1 an instant, and then not at all unless I let it rest for 10 min... But will never retain connection, despite new batteries, cleaning connections, etc.. Have had this problem with other flashlights, but have never figured out why, or how to fix?

 

[socom1970]

First things first, :welcome:

It's possible your switch may be bad; that is one of the most common problems.

If it is a tailcap switch, remove it from the light. Next, take something metal and short the end of the flashlight body to the battery contact. If it lights up, the switch is faulty.

For an inline body switch (like a c/d cell maglite switch), that is a bit more complicated. If you can take it out, you could test it with a continuity tester on most any mulitmeter or ohmmeter. If there is little to no resistance or ohm value, it's good. If extremely high or infinite resistance, it's faulty. If you can't get the inline switch out, not sure what to tell you at that point. Maybe someone else can suggest something.

Hope this helps. Good luck.:)

PS: If it is an incan bulb, swap with a known good bulb. You could also test the bulb just like the inline switch with the same procedure.

 

[Cataract]

Have you tried all these steps:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?338889-BASIC-FLASHLIGHT-TROUBLESHOOTING-GUIDE


Your problem is so unusual to me that I would tend to say it is a faulty light, but you say you've had that before, so I'm inclined to think there's something you're doing or not doing, or you have a battery problem. Bad or discharged batteries will give a sign of life after some rest. Batteries that cannot give enough current for your application will also display similar behavior. Low discharge NiMh batteries do not have as much current output as non-LSD's (found out the hard way with my TK70).

What batteries do you use (type, brand)?
What other lights have you had this problem with?

 

[HotWire]

I agree with Cataract. Seems like a battery or charger problem. You should check battery voltage at termination. Should be just under 4.2v for each cell hot off the charger. If the light does not work with properly charged batteries.... you should inspect the driver board for bad soldering or heat-damaged parts.

 

[Shurefire]

IIRC, there are many reviews floating around of this flashlight. Virtually all of them were negative.