Problem With Solarforce L2

[gouldian]

Just back from taking my dogs for a walk. While scanning the fields for bunnies I noticed that the beam of my L2 would dim to maybe half of its full output. When I switched the light off and then back on it would return to full power for a minute or so before dimming again. Its a cold night - just a few degrees above freezing and the light would normally be on for less that 5 minutes at a time. It did not appear to be warm. The batteries are fresh but are probably not of great quality. The brand is Goldston and they must have come with some light that I bought. Could this problem be caused by the batteries. I'm going to get fresh batteries tomorrow anyway but I'd like to know what you guys think the problem could be. LED is a single mode R2 and the tailcap is a reverse clicky made by Spiderfire. Thanks.

 

[Owen]

Sounds like it may very well be the batteries. When they're low, they will sometimes be usable for a very short time following a rest, then the brightness will drop off again.
Check back after you get new ones.

 

[oronocova]

Hmm I have the same light, and do the same exact thing with it.. haha. And mine does the same thing. On a fresh charge (18650) it will not do what you are describing, but after using it for maybe a week taking the dog out it will start to do it. I thought it was more a function of the driver circuit because when it starts to do it I can check the voltage on my battery and it is still well above 3.6VDC. I have not thought to try it with two primaries to see if it does the same thing after a while.

I don't believe mine goes to half brightness but it is a very abrupt change after having it on for maybe 10-20 seconds. Then it holds at the lower level.

I too would be interested in anymore input.

 

[^Gurthang]

3.6V is essentially drained, any sag would drop you close to regulation limit. If the cell is more than a few years old its probably at the end of its career, time for a few AW cells.

 

[black kamagong]

3.6V is essentially drained, any sag would drop you close to regulation limit. If the cell is more than a few years old its probably at the end of its career, time for a few AW cells.

I agree:)

 

[pipspeak]

what's the voltage range of the dropin?

 

[gouldian]

The LED on my light is marked Solarforce L2 - no voltage range is indicated. I just tried it using a freshly charged AW18650 and its much brighter with primaries.

 

[black kamagong]

The LED on my light is marked Solarforce L2 - no voltage range is indicated. I just tried it using a freshly charged AW18650 and its much brighter with primaries.

your led drop in might be the old ones where there's no indication of voltage, newer ones have them

 

[oronocova]

3.6V is dead yes, but mine are "well above" that level. I meant that to be read as more like 3.9-4.0 when this happens.

 

[pipspeak]

Some of the newer R2 drop-ins have input voltages of about 4-8v, so a single cell will cut out before it triggers its own protection circuit. I just got a SF R2 drop-in rated for 0.8-4.2v instead for an 18650 -- it's called the "high power" version for some reason. However, the higher input drop-in should still work fine with two CR123 cells, however tired they might be

 

[godlight]

I have the same problem.
Tested with 3 18650 batteries full charged. Voltage: 4.15, 4.13, 4.06. Brand: Trustfire protected, 2xsilver 2500 mAh 3,7V, 1xFire 2400 mAh.

I also measured the current which the Solarforce L2 take out from the Batts:
Bat1 4.15V: 0,708 A
Bat2 4.13V: 0,703 A
Bat3 4.06V: 0,691 A

My Akoray K-106 with 1x14500 is brighter.
This was not always the same. It was very bright after i bought it....
Bad R2 Drop-In?

 

[Black Rose]

Who did you buy your Solarforce L2 from and what brand is the drop-in?

Sounds like a problem with the driver in the drop-in. Should be pulling more out of the cells than what you posted.

 

[godlight]

I bought it from the ebay-shop solarforcestore. Brand of the Drop-In... There is only a sticker labeled with "R2".

 

[rje58]

Sounds like you didn't get a real Solarforce drop-in. I have several Solarforce drop-ins; an older one doesn't have the voltage marked like the newer ones do, but they are all marked "Solarforce".

I bought a Solarforce L2 off eBay and it came with a generic R2 drop-in with no name on it... but it has worked fine... so far.

I bought it from the ebay-shop solarforcestore. Brand of the Drop-In... There is only a sticker labeled with "R2".

 

[godlight]

Ok, i made some pics of the Drop-In. Can somebody tell me if this is an original Solarforce R2 Drop-In? Mayby you also see the defect (bad soldering joints, etc.)

 

[Black Rose]

That is not a genuine Solarforce drop-in.

SolarforceStore was notorious for creating Solarforce packages that used non-Solarforce components.

You'll notice that SolarforceStore no longer exists under that name on eBay. Word is that Solarforce cut off shipments to them because of what they were doing.

 

[godlight]

Thank you for this information! Now i feel bad, cheap is not always good...
Are there some ebay sellers with original Solarforces?

 

[TechnoBill]

Thank you for this information! Now i feel bad, cheap is not always good...
Are there some ebay sellers with original Solarforces?

http://stores.ebay.com/INTERNATIONAL-TRADING-COMPANY

If you need to converse with them, the language barrier can be challenging, but they genuinely do try their best to do right by the customer.

First hand experience as a customer has confirmed this when difficulties arose. There was the "other side of the planet" shipping delay (Hong Kong), but they took good care of me.

DISCLOSURE: I have since received items gratis and reviewed them. Such as http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=248023

 

[rje58]

SBFlashlights.com is not an eBay seller (I don't think, they might be?) but they are a CPF supporter and have a lot of genuine Solarforce drop-ins available.

Thank you for this information! Now i feel bad, cheap is not always good...
Are there some ebay sellers with original Solarforces?

 

[Black Rose]

Thank you for this information! Now i feel bad, cheap is not always good...

But a cheap no-name drop-in gives you the opportunity to swap the driver :whistle:

One of the lights I bought from SolarforceStore actually came with a Solarforce drop-in. I can't stand the driver in it, but will not change it because it's actually a genuine Solarforce drop-in.

Are there some ebay sellers with original Solarforces?

As TechnoBill mentioned, eBay store ITC_Shop sells genuine Solarforce products.

I have also dealt with them and can confirm what he mentioned.