Problems with DX Cree C8 (6131) 2xAA

[greenpea76]

Hi everyone,

I received these lights (4) http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.6131 a few days ago and was going to be giving these away as gifts. I found some mixed reviews on it and decided to purchase it anyways. When these arrived, I tested all of these on a set of eneloops all at the same time to make sure they wouldn't be defective. The first 2 failed within 1 hour and overheated to the point they could not be held for for several seconds. I tried to turn the clicky off and they would not depress. The third one took about 1 hour of continuous runing before it suffered the same problem as the first two. I took the lights apart and inspected the clicky switches and found that they had melted as if the switches were acting like a resistor. Two switches melted to the point where they actually fused themselves to the metal contacts underneath and deformed. The third switch (uppermost in the pic) didn't depress at all.

I had one good remaining light left and tried that switch on the 3 defective lights that went bad along with a good set of fresh eneloops. I found all 3 LED's had been damaged due to overheating and they were extremely dim. I should mention the 4th light has been running fine and just getting warm with more than 1.5 hours of constant useable light on Eneloops. It dims noticably after that, but will continue for at least a full 2 hours. I'm afraid sooner or later the last light will suffer the same fate as the other 3.

I've contacted DX about this already for a refund or full credit as I don't wan't to replace these with the same item. Does anyone know why these lights would run so hot to melt the clicky switches? I don't see why a flashlight can't run a set of batteries until they expire without overheating and self-destructing. Could it be the switches that are bad or the drivers?

I have two other lights from DX that have run through sets of batteries continuously and have never had them damaged from overheating. In case you're wondering, they are the Romisen RC-G2 with a 7090 XRE-P4 emitter added to the stock driver and a stock WF-800 (18650) thrower. I'm not an expert at LED lighting and these flashlights, but I do have a prior electronics background and at minimum, basic equipment so I can mod these lights if needed be so that they don't have these issues. This LED stuff is quite interesting and this forum seems to be most supportive and I'm suddenly getting hooked!

Thanks for reading through this post and offering any input or advice that can help.

 

[Gunner12]

I'm guessing the switches were defective.

I'm guessing the LEDs should be fine, the driver might be busted. The leds might be dim because they are being directly driven by the 2 batteries, try taking them out and connecting then with 3 Eneloops, if they don't shine brightly, then they are cooked. If you didn't send the lights back yet, send them a few pictures and ask for a refund. Then you will have three flashlight bodies and maybe three LEDs to play around with.

How do you like the WF-800?

 

[greenpea76]

I'm guessing the switches were defective.

I'm guessing the LEDs should be fine, the driver might be busted. The leds might be dim because they are being directly driven by the 2 batteries, try taking them out and connecting then with 3 Eneloops, if they don't shine brightly, then they are cooked. If you didn't send the lights back yet, send them a few pictures and ask for a refund. Then you will have three flashlight bodies and maybe three LEDs to play around with.

How do you like the WF-800?

You're right Gunner! The LEDs are ok. I added the extra battery tube and ran 3 cells and they were as bright as new. So the drivers are bad along with the switch. What drivers can I ask them to send if I decide to keep the flashlight bodies? I haven't sent them back yet so I may hold on to them for a bit to see what they say.
I noticed you said to ask for a refund and send pics. Will having the pics as proof of the lights being damaged allow me to hold on to them and not send them back so they can refund the money?

I really like the WF-800. It works well, built well, and it's brighter than anything I've seen. I must compliment them on the machining that was done on this light. It is nearly flawless and the anodizing is very consistent. The threads on it are also really well cut. No thinning or chipped teeth. That Q5 emitter is a bit on the ringy side, but has decent spill out the sides for something with such a tight beam. The batteries also will run the light for more than 2.5 hours continuous before significant dimming. I was surprised with that using the Trustfire protected 2500's. Only issues I've had with that light is the glass lens was shattered during shipment from another small light impacting it when it broke out of its soft packaging. I'm waiting for DX to resolve that issue as they are willing to offer me some sort of discount. I've since reground an acrylic sheet to fit that I found at work just to keep the grit off the plated plastic reflector.

 

[Gunner12]

I'd wait to see what they say before doing anything else. Well, they sent me a replacement battery without asking for a return when I found out that one of the batteries was not working(well, I also said that I would prefer not to send the battery back).