Is there something wrong with my Predator Pro?

[Chicken Drumstick]

Bit of a tale with this. So please bear with me.


I bought an XHP35 Predator Pro (V3 I think) a few years back. A while back it completely stopped working. So having pulled it off the shelf recently, I contacted Armytek about a Warranty claim. I got as far as needing to video it not working. No problem I thought.

So I filmed it not working. Looked at the camera and realised I'd not hit record!!!! :shakehead

I chuckled to myself, that wouldn't it be funny if it worked when I re-recorded the video. Well bugger me, that is exactly what happened. The bloody thing went and turned on didn't it. Just as I was voicing about it not working.

Now the light was well and truly dead prior to this. It stopped working while left in a coat pocket for a few days (battery was non protected Samsung 25R, which had loads of power in it). I tried a number of different batteries and even 2 x 18350. But no joy. I check the battery tube and contacts when doing this. It just didn't work. Hence kicking off the warranty process.

So while filming, it had spontaneously came back to life, not 100% operational, but a big change from doing nothing. It worked, but only with the head tight, if you loosened it, it would just go out. So I thought, ok well I'll change the warranty claim to it only having one mode. And again thought to myself, I bet if I film this, the other modes will bloody work. And sure enough..... you honestly couldn't make it up. When filming again, sure enough loosen the head and you have moonlight and all the other modes back again.

So it looks like it has gone from dead, to working.


HOWEVER.....

I'm not 100% convinced it is working correctly. When you turn it on, the hotspot is superbright and the tint good. Just how I remember it. But as you watch it, from the second it turns on. The light slightly dims down and the tint shifts slightly to blue. Turn it off and back on and the same result. And use the momentary and it does the same thing. I've never seen this on a flashlight before and I don't recall it doing it previously.

This happens really quickly. From 1-5 seconds after turning the light on. Can anyone confirm if this behaviour is normal. Or if it looks like it is faulty? If left on, the head of the torch does heat up pretty quickly in this mode. But it just doesn't seem as bight as the specs suggest, or what I remember of the light before it stopped working. My XP-G3 Convoy C8 seems brighter in hotspot and spill after 20-30 seconds on time. Which doesn't seem to add up in my mind.

I've tried shooting a vid to show this (running a fully charged Samsung 30Q):



Ultimately. I want to know if I should still send it in for a warranty repair. I don't want to send it in, to have it returned as 'no fault found'. Especially as I'm in the UK and shipping it for a warranty claim will cost me a reasonable amount.

Thanks.

 

[bigburly912]

There's been a few other threads with similar issues. Armytek is not fantastic with customer service unfortunately.

 

[busseguy]

I was interested in Armytek a few years ago but heard to many horror stories about the quality and customer service.

 

[desmobob]

My Tiara C1 Pro failed this spring and was quickly replaced under warranty. I think I remember having to mail it to their NY address (and I'm in NY). My Wizard Pro failed this fall and I had to mail it back to China, where it has been sitting for nine days, so far, awaiting examination for warranty consideration.

I have a drawer full of different headlamps from different manufacturers and really thought both of those ArmyTek lights were the perfect headlamps; my favorites by far. Now that they have both failed, I'm starting to think otherwise. I keep reading more and more reports of failures and complaints about customer service.

It's too bad... I think the ArmyTek lights have the features, specifications and warranty to be the best choice out there if they could just figure out the reliability issues and do a better job with customer service.

 

[wweiss]

I had a Predator Pro V2 fail totally and I sent it back to them. They sent me a new V3 neutral which is great....

 

[wweiss]

I think their problems arise because they overclock their electronics to make very high performance stats. The drivers just don't stand up to the pressure.

 

[aginthelaw]

A few headlamps and 1 predator worked but not properly and they replaced them with 3 brand new latest batch rechargeable wizard pros in the box with all accessories, even though one return was a tiara. They sent me a free battery and a discount because of the mixup. Can't remember how the predator was taken care of but it was.

 

[desmobob]

I believe ArmyTek will honor the warranty, but first requiring I send a video of the light malfunctioning (I think that's reasonable), followed by the requirement to send the light to China at my expense, and now having to wait who-knows-how-long for them to get around to examining it and sending a replacement, is definitely not what I'd consider "good customer service". Especially not for a premium-priced product.

In two days, it will be one month since I reported the problem with my light and supplied a video. I use the light primarily for hunting. I have now been without it for the majority of the hunting season and may not get a replacement before the season ends. I have back-ups, so it's not a big inconvenience. But what if it was my only light? I recently had a fault with a new EagTac light and they had a replacement head for the light in my hands in five days. No videos required; not even the return of the faulty part. What a difference in customer service...

 

[TheArkbird]

Armytekk used to be great. I remember them sending me a new light with prepaid to ship the old one back. Then I dunno what happened, judging by what everyone else is saying their CS just went to the gutters. Now I recently saw they released a new Wizard C2, tried to order one. Can't even get one shipped from Canada, have to get it through the moon network, paying import fees.

I've noticed my predators have always been picky about battery. Some batteries work great, some others not so much. Have you ever had issues with your samsungs before?

 

[desmobob]

<snip>
In two days, it will be one month since I reported the problem with my light and supplied a video. I use the light primarily for hunting. I have now been without it for the majority of the hunting season and may not get a replacement before the season ends. I have back-ups, so it's not a big inconvenience. But what if it was my only light? I recently had a fault with a new EagTac light and they had a replacement head for the light in my hands in five days. No videos required; not even the return of the faulty part. What a difference in customer service...

ArmyTek finally acknowledged receiving my Wizard Pro and confirming it was faulty. But they said they didn't have a replacement in stock in China, so they offered me a Wizard Pro Nichia but without the compensation item for my postage expenses due to the Nichia version being more expensive than the normal one. Seems like the obvious thing to do would be to ship me the appropriate replacement from the US or Canada...

But I accepted that offer in an effort to just get a Wizard Pro of some sort back in my hands after suffering through the warranty process for over a month now. Four days after agreeing to accept the Nichia version, I still had no shipping confirmation. I e-mailed, asking the status of my replacement.

The response?
"Thank you for your email.
Our managers are very busy now, because of coming Black Friday, we'll rty to ship your warranty as soon as possible.
Have a nice day!

I guess ArmyTek is more interested in potential customers than they are in customers who have made four purchases from them already. This may be why you read so many reports of people being frustrated with ArmyTek's poor customer service. It's frustrating enough to have an expensive ArmyTek product fail. It's adds insult to injury when they drag their feet in honoring their much-touted warranty.

I did receive the light on Dec. 2nd, making it a total of 42 days from reporting the failure to receiving a replacement. My $17.25 in postage to return the light to China was not reimbursed due to the fact the replacement light, being the Nichia model, cost more than the normal replacement which was "out of stock in China" but showed as in stock on the web store. The replacement light was shipped from NY, not China, by the way.

Two of my four ArmyTek lights have failed. The first failure was handled quickly and in a manner one would expect. My second warranty experience was not good. I'm not sure what it would take for me to regain my confidence in ArmyTek, if I can at all. Too bad, because their headlamps are by far my favorite.

 

[timada126]

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