Streamlight Enduro woes (or, "the Doughnut Hole Blues")

[LightBen]

Hi everyone,

I originally bought a SL Enduro headlamp nearly a year ago. It may have had a rather blue tint and a narrow beam, but it was great for illuminating projects in the garage. I recently managed to destroy it, so I bought another...

I ordered my second Enduro from the same outfit as the first. When it arrived, I popped the included cells into the light and... nothing. The included Panasonic cells were dead. I tossed them and loaded a new pair of cells. When I flicked the light on, I was greeted by a beam so disfigured by a void in its center that the light was unusable. After receiving little satisfaction from the company that sold me the light, I contacted SL. Since the light was brand new, SL sent me a prepaid UPS label and I sent the old light back. My replacement light arrived today and...

It has the *exact* same problem as the previous defective one! It has now been three weeks since I ordered the first defective light, and I still have a defective light!

It seems to me that the problem is not with one or two isolated lights, but rather with an entire production run (or more). I say this because the void appears to be caused by the LED sitting too high in the reflector, and thus not at its focal point. I suspect that either: a.) the reflector manufacturer changed the specifications of the reflector without permission or, b.) the personnel assembling the PCB are not placing the LED flush against the board prior to soldering it in place. There are other possibilities, too.

I know that a makeshift solution to the problem would be to unscrew the bezel a turn or so, but I don't consider this an acceptable solution. I didn't have to do this with my very first Enduro, and I shouldn't have to with later ones. Although SL's repair department has been pretty responsive, I also sent a detailed e-mail documenting my observations and suggestions to their main e-mail address (twice) and I never received any reply. I thought that a bit odd, since I'm an electrical engineer (and I identified myself as such in the e-mail) and I know that most companies are grateful to receive thoughtful comments from customers.

Has anyone else recently purchased an Enduro with the problem I mentioned? I'm curious to know how widespread the issue may be...

 

[slvoid]

My girlfriend's enduro has that problem. I had to unscrew it about 1/2 to 3/4ths of a turn. Its not a doughnut hole though, just a weird jagged pattern. I was actually thinking of scuffing it slightly to blur it a bit.

 

[Hondo]

Mine are older "River Rock" models sold at Target, same light. No donuts on these, but I got bored with the blue beam and mediocre output. So I modded one with a Seoul P4, which is a bit tricky, but not all that great a feat. Wow! You would not care where the original LED was after you use it with the new LED in it. See my post #11 - http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=175295

No way you should have to mod it just to get usable performance, though. With regard to adjusting the bezel, I have unscrewed mine (with the original LED in place) to widen and smooth the hotspot. At no position did it develop a dark spot at the center. But until I added the P4, I never used one with the bezel screwed all the way in.

Hondo

 

[half-watt]

Hi everyone,

I originally bought a SL Enduro headlamp nearly a year ago. It may have had a rather blue tint and a narrow beam, but it was great for illuminating projects in the garage. I recently managed to destroy it, so I bought another...

I ordered my second Enduro from the same outfit as the first. When it arrived, I popped the included cells into the light and... nothing. The included Panasonic cells were dead. I tossed them and loaded a new pair of cells. When I flicked the light on, I was greeted by a beam so disfigured by a void in its center that the light was unusable. After receiving little satisfaction from the company that sold me the light, I contacted SL. Since the light was brand new, SL sent me a prepaid UPS label and I sent the old light back. My replacement light arrived today and...

It has the *exact* same problem as the previous defective one! It has now been three weeks since I ordered the first defective light, and I still have a defective light!

It seems to me that the problem is not with one or two isolated lights, but rather with an entire production run (or more). I say this because the void appears to be caused by the LED sitting too high in the reflector, and thus not at its focal point. I suspect that either: a.) the reflector manufacturer changed the specifications of the reflector without permission or, b.) the personnel assembling the PCB are not placing the LED flush against the board prior to soldering it in place. There are other possibilities, too.

I know that a makeshift solution to the problem would be to unscrew the bezel a turn or so, but I don't consider this an acceptable solution. I didn't have to do this with my very first Enduro, and I shouldn't have to with later ones. Although SL's repair department has been pretty responsive, I also sent a detailed e-mail documenting my observations and suggestions to their main e-mail address (twice) and I never received any reply. I thought that a bit odd, since I'm an electrical engineer (and I identified myself as such in the e-mail) and I know that most companies are grateful to receive thoughtful comments from customers.

Has anyone else recently purchased an Enduro with the problem I mentioned? I'm curious to know how widespread the issue may be...

i've seen this phenomenon with not just the SL Enduro, but occasionally with other lights as well.

changing the depth/location of the emitter in the reflector, often by just tightening or loosening the bezel is all that is required to achieve a major improvement in beam appearance. sometimes a "shim"/spacer, of sorts is required to raise up the reflector a bit.

give it a whirl and see if making the emitter sit either deeper or shallower in the reflector cures your Enduro's problem.

BTW, the SL Enduro is one of my favorite little headlamps.

 

[LightBen]

Thank you all for your replies. Slvoid and half-watt, you are both correct: unscrewing the bezel about a half-turn improves the situation noticeably and makes the void mostly disappear. Still, there's no point at which I would say that the beam is normal (i.e., like my old Enduro--which was without any major artifacts at all). I still get some of the jagged pattern that slvoid mentioned. I'm going to have SL replace the light once more; if the new one still has the flaw, then I'll experiment with scuffing the surface of the LED or adding an orange-peel texture to the reflector with clearcoat. Or, I may just mod it like Hondo mentioned. I really like the size and design of the light, which is why I'm willing to invest so much effort in getting a good one. I also have (and like) the Rayovac 1AA headlamp but I feel that the Enduro is a bit better made, and it is also more stable on my head.

-Ben

 

[half-watt]

forgot to mention that i have, as a quick down-and-dirty method of cleaning up a lower power beam, taken some light oil and wiped it over the reflector surface with my finger tip - essentially adding a simulated LOP texture. generally works well for lower power (less heat) lights *AND* is easily removable with a little soap and water unlike scuffing up the surface of the LED encapsulating material (which, i would agree, is a probably a better solution than the oil on the reflector even for lower power beams, but is essentially irreversible by its very nature).

 

[Hondo]

I really like the size and design of the light, which is why I'm willing to invest so much effort in getting a good one. I also have (and like) the Rayovac 1AA headlamp but I feel that the Enduro is a bit better made, and it is also more stable on my head.

-Ben

We have much in common here. Also, the runtime on the Enduro is FAR better than my Rayovac 1AA, for about the same size. And, after the mod, the total output is as good as the Rayovac. I mostly use mine for fairly close stuff, so I also added a disc of Glad Press'n Seal food wrap on the front of the lense for a diffuser. Works well, does not kill all of the throw, but it is wierd in that it makes the hotspot a bit oval. Works for me on a headlamp, as I can orient it horizontally.

Hondo

 

[cedarcreek]

One thing to consider is how well the LED is centered in the reflector. If you still have your old one, compare them. Another thing you might check is if the LED is too high or too low. My check for that would be if by turning out the reflector, you can get a tight beam that then gets bigger. If you can't minimize the spot, the LED might be too high or low.

I've got a RR with a very out-of-center LED. I'm saving it for a mod. Paid $3 for it, though.

 

[sORe-EyEz]

We have much in common here. Also, the runtime on the Enduro is FAR better than my Rayovac 1AA, for about the same size. And, after the mod, the total output is as good as the Rayovac. I mostly use mine for fairly close stuff, so I also added a disc of Glad Press'n Seal food wrap on the front of the lense for a diffuser. Works well, does not kill all of the throw, but it is wierd in that it makes the hotspot a bit oval. Works for me on a headlamp, as I can orient it horizontally.

Hondo

ah, i thought i was the only 1 who uses a plastic film to diffuse the beam. there's many kinds of film that could do the same with different intensity of diffuse.

- sticky tape, the murky white film safe type.
- phone protective film or digital cam screen protector
- cling wrap (mentioned by Hondo)