How to keep a consistent ground.

[blan]

Hi guys, I'm new!
I'm trying to resist the urge to become a flashaholic. However, I just got my first cree flashlight, I went cheap, got the DX Simply Cree.
Unfortunately I got the one where the QC guy went on break.
It constantly flickers and randomly turns off. I resoldered a wire to the LED board since the wire was badly stripped.

In the process I learned that the LED board has to be grounded to the casing, right?
Well I'm pretty sure a bad ground is the cause of all my flickering/off problems. I put a tall blob of solder sticking out, "leaning" towards the wall. When I first do this and put it back in the flashlight works as intended (except for the huge, annoying donut hole). However, after moving the flashlight around a bit it goes back to the flickering/dimming and I have to hit it to get it back to regular brightness.

So I'm asking the experts, how in the world can I ground it permanently? Bigger blob???


Thanks!

 

[RebelXTNC]

You have to check all contact points, retaining rings, switches, etc etc.
Anything that's part of the circuit can cause a flicker.
I've had several DX lights that refused to ever stop flickering no matter how much cleaning I did and I think it was the switch itself. In one case the switch actually fell off its board when I removed it from the tailcap, the solder joints were broken. I got 3 of that model, the broken one, one that seemed solid but still flickered, and one that flickers very rarely but I won't depend on it. I also had a DX MTE light that flickers, but all the DX twistie lights (even the six $1.88 1AA 8-LED models I got) run smoothly.
And welcome to CPF! Get set to try out some more reliable and more expensive brands.

 

[blan]

They are sending me a replacement, hopefully it works correctly.

Thanks

 

[greenLED]

Glad you sorted it out. From your posts at EDCF, it was becoming obvious you had gotten a defective light.