Hi ZL[emoji112]
I want to say Hello and I love your products very much and I really wish that you listen to our voices
Please Could just do the following to SC600 IV & SC64 Series.
1. Please bring back Springs. No more pogo pins please!
2. No more Battery Rattles.
3. Perfect anodizing.
4. And if you could could you just make them PWM FREE Please?
5. This one is Special and let's just say am dreaming of Nichia 219b Hi CRI SC64!
Howdy Nichia!,
As far as your list of concerns goes:
1. Pogo Pins: I have no problem with the pogo pins, but I would probably prefer springs with some type of heavy duty wire connector attached. I've seen it done on my custom high current lights, so I know it's possible. I'm also a big fan of springs at both ends of the tube to help prevent accidental light off from a sudden jarring motion.
2. Battery Rattle: I imagine this is a tricky one for manufacturers. Make the tubes a bit too small and folks will complain that their favorite battery doesn't fit. Make them a bit larger to fit most available batteries, as well as new ones that might come in the future, and people complain about battery rattle. I imagine it's also possible that during an extreme usage situation (high current for an extended period), a battery might expand a bit, so it's quite possible that ZL (as they do with many of their design decisions) is playing it safe. If battery rattle is bothering you, wrap a small piece of paper part way around the battery, just enough to stop the rattle. My reasoning is that it's better to have the tube a bit too big rather than a bit too small.
3. Perfect Anodizing: Perfection costs a lot of money. I've gotten four lights with no flaws, maybe you just got unlucky a few times. I do expect my $100 flashlight to perform as advertised, but I'm a bit more flexible when it comes to it's appearance. Different color tails caps and bodies don't bother me. A small bit of missing ano probably wouldn't bother me, but if it did, I'd use ZL's 30 day return policy, pay to return the light, and then buy another one to see if I got a better ano job.
4. Ah yes, the PWM question: I've never seen any hint of PWM in any of my ZL lights (and I've looked), and I'm typically quite sensitive to it. My question to you is this: I'm interested in knowing, in particular, what you've noticed while using your light that is an issue related to PWM. ZL is known for their amazingly stable, efficient, and quite usable lower output levels. If you're seeing flickering, it's quite possible you have a defective light.
5. Nichia 219b Hi CRI: I finally stopped waiting for ZL to do that and found a modder here on CPF to mod my SC600 (old style with removable bezel) with a triple Nichia 219 setup. This is the light I use at work every night, and it's stupendous, so keep asking, and while your at it, ask them to do a TRIPLE Nichia 219b. the central hot spot is HUGE : )
If I did want to add anything to your list, it would be this:
6. Extreme Lower Levels on the rise: When you increase the output of your lights, please don't increase the lowest levels to try and keep the levels perfectly spaced. The ZL super low levels are your trademark, and your loyal customers LOVE and USE those super extreme low levels. I'd rather have those super low .01 and .05 levels, and give up a bit of the perfect spacing you are trying to achieve...... or even better........ give us a new driver with 14 or 16 choices in output, rather than the current 12. That way we can have our higher output lights AND keep the perfect spacing : )