P1D CE Q5 after 30 months EDC now terminally ill

[tsask]

After about 30 months daily keychain EDC use, my beloved "silver limited edition" Fenix P1 D CE has now shown signs of a terminal illness.
Regardless of the fresh cell the light on high or medium stays on for about 20 seconds then start to blink.. On low it's still ok but that defeats the purpose of this once might pocket powerhouse.

I am now going to try to EDC my cherished Raw Ns instead. I may have a "need" to buy the aluminum version next

 

[cave dave]

Have you tried a good cleaning with an alcohol soaked rag and qtip. Also what brand battery are you using and how old are they?

 

[chmsam]

Let's try to rule stuff out (and most of this should be basic preventive maintenance for any light -- you should do this stuff on a regular basis for all your lights and that's maybe every 6 months or so for heavily used lights).

First, try to absolutely rule out the easy stuff. If you are using a rechargeable, try a primary cell to be sure that is not the problem. If the batteries aren't a major brand primary cell, try one that is.

Alcohol alone might not remove oxidation from the contacts. Try using Caig DeOxit and be advised that a tiny little amount is all you need. Radio Shack carries it in tiny spray cans and it is a bit pricey. If you find that you like the Caig products, they are available in different sizes (you'll save a bit in the long run) so check out their web site. You could also try a spray electrical contact cleaner (but DeOxit works better, at least for me anyway). DeOxit is a cleaner/deoxidizer and DeOxit Gold prevents oxidization from coming back. Remember to clean the contacts for both terminals in the light and both terminals on the battery as well. Allow a few minutes for the cleaner to dry. In a pinch try a soft pencil eraser and a light touch but remember to remove all of the little bits of eraser that rub off.

Is there a build up of oxidation and/or grease on the cap, the contact spring, and the tube of the light? Is the spring making good contact with the tail cap? That can cause poor electrical contact as well. Oxidation and poor contacts will in some cases act just as if the battery were weak or dying (too much resistance). Too much lube can do this -- use only a small amount when lubing fittings or o-rings.

All of this should take no more than 10 or 15 minutes. A lot cheaper than buying a new light for what could be no reason.

But if this stuff does fail then you might be looking at a reason to search for a new EDC light.

Good luck.

****

And of course, intermittent contact from a compressed contact spring is a quick fix -- just stretch the spring gently. You can easily diagnose it by seeing if the light has a new rattle sound when you shake it. Virtually any decent light should not rattle and unless it's a Faraday light (a.k.a a shake light), you should never be able to actually feel anything move in the flashlight when you shake it.

 

[Ninjaz7]

Clean it ...then cross your fingers

 

[bhuber]

I was having problems with my P3D where the head was loose, and a tight grip, or shake would cause it to switch modes, or turn off. I cleaned it, put fresh batteries in, still acted funny. It was dropped on a tile floor awhile back, so I thought that was it. Finally I put a fresh o ring in on the head last week. It works good as new now, and that seems to have solved my problem.

 

[tsask]

thanks for the info

I had checked the batteries and changed them. I then read the helpful replies here and cleaned it out. Sadly,:shakehead it's still going back 4 Sevens for an "autoposy".