Zebralight reliability (the poll)

[uk_caver]

What could be useful is an idea of the timing of faults.

That is, what fraction of faults tend to occur pretty early in a device's life, and how many happen in more regular usage.

Having an idea of that would at least let people know if it's worth going out of their way to exercise a device when they get it, in order to expose early faults.

 

[Sno4Life]

It seems to me that some of the failures are due to a need for electrical contact cleaning. Does anyone think Zebralights need more cleaning than other lights? Maybe the circuits are more sensitive that other lights? Maybe Zebralight owners just don't clean their lights like they should...

 

[zemmo]

It seems to me that some of the failures are due to a need for electrical contact cleaning. Does anyone think Zebralights need more cleaning than other lights? Maybe the circuits are more sensitive that other lights? Maybe Zebralight owners just don't clean their lights like they should...

I have a H51, which I absolutely LOVE, but after a few weeks it sometimes won't turn on. I just cleaned the positive connection and the spring with deoxit, and so far it's working. Is there anything that needs the deoxit other than the gold spring, the gold positive button, and the gold ring at the positive end? TIA.

 

[subwoofer]

This is why after two failures, I will continue to use my Zebralights. The combination of features is unique to this light. The form factor is pure genius. The beam, anodization, warm tint, everything about the light rocks.

For what it's worth, I failed to mention that my replacement H30 has had lots of duty and no issues. I am hoping my replacement H501w will be the same.

I'm perusing these threads as I am poised to buy a H51 (which appears to have a more normal torch beam).

I have to say, these comments are not exactly true, I own the Ultrafire H3 and H2. Apart from the parasitic drain of the H2 (easily solved by unscrewing the tail cap a turn) which drains a fresh LSD NiMh in a month, these have been excellent and I actually prefer the clip provided on the Ultrafire and its headband.

I am now a little concerned about buying a zebralight if there are so many problems.

 

[MetalZone]

I've had a H30 Q5 since it came out. No problems so far. Moderate use. I use it for caving, hiking, biking and fixing stuff in the dark. I did a 1 hour dunk test in about 1+ foot of water before and it stayed perfectly dry. Not exactly 1 meter as stipulated in the IPX8 rating but good enough for my use.

 

[zemmo]

I am now a little concerned about buying a zebralight if there are so many problems.

Well, my H51 works fine now, after the deoxit. I think you'll find most of the problems were with the pre-51 series, that's been my impression. And, while you were thinking about it, ZL has just released an upgrade of the 51. :naughty:

 

[Luminesce]

I haven't been reading the boards for some time & was surprised to see this thread still going on. I do have an experience to add to this thread, perhaps someone has had a similar experience.

This past summer I used the H501W (powered by alkaline batt's) as a nighttime walking light since most of the streets around my house are reasonably well lit and I didn't need a spot light, just close up lighting of the ground in front of me. I noticed that during times when the air temp was high 80+ several times I had a problem getting the light to directly into high.

At 1st I assumed the battery was low and the light simply didn't have enough voltage to use the high mode. But I found that if I unscrewed the tail cap, tightened it back up and then turned on the light it would now go into the high mode.

The light felt very warm to the touch when I was outside and had used it for a while so I thought it may simply be a matter of the circuit was reacting to the internal heat. Then one day the light did the same thing several times while indoors in a air conditioned room. It hasn't done this since the summer. In the fall I switched to Duraloops for the longer run times and have since started to use Energizer Lithiums, so far no issues while using either of these batteries.

It would seem the light acted up due to overheating while outside but when it occurred inside in a cool house what might be the cause? Temporary problem with the circuit in sensing clicks of the switch? Breaking the connection to the battery did solve the problem. Is it possible that the alkalines I used "may" have been the problem, bad batch and they didn't provide as good a complete circuit as they should have? Or can the connection to the battery have been the issue?

The connection to the battery always seemed to be solid, the light would always turn on just not directly into high unless I loosened the tail cap 1st effectively resetting the light.

 

[cy]

no problems with my original zebralight... really surprised to hear about all the problems.

 

[chicken dave]

I want to change my vote. Originally voted "No problems" (after a couple of months with H501w). In September, (after about 11 months of light use) it started flickering in high, sometimes dropping to a level below high, but above medium. I cleaned all contacts - no improvement. Contacted Zebralight and sent it to them for repair/replacement. That was 5 weeks ago. Still without my light. Two follow-up e-mails have gone unanswered.

I have also been using a SC50w for about 3 months. About 10 minutes use per day, every day, without any issues.

I love both of these lights, but am not especially confident in their durability. Also not thrilled with the speed of Zebralight's service.

Dave

Edit: Received a replacement after 6 weeks. I'm thrilled to have my light back! Hope this one lasts.

 

[Changchung]

I hope the Zeblalight people read this thread... Any way, I am ordering two new ZL... :candle:

 

[Sarlix]

I've had a Zebralight for some weeks now and so far so good. I have it attached to the strap on my bag. it goes out with me to work each day and has been exposed to the now cold mornings and nights. And is exposed to rapid temperature changes each night as I'm always in and out with my work. No cracked lens as others have experienced.

I'd wager that if a similar poll was done with any other brand, Nitecore for example you would probably see similar results.

 

[africanexperience]

I haven't read the entire thread, but taking away the 'haven't owned' category it means a 25% failure rate. That is pretty high. I have a H501 and it recently failed after almost a years use - maybe used a couple of hours a week. The design, the concept, the feeling of small but quality build is amazing. I would love (and probably will) to try another one and my supplier is very kindly going to try and get a replacement. But in my heart of hearts I will not rely on them - use one yes, but if I was off on a two week canoe trip I doubt I would take it. Sad really, I can see why we all love them, but 25% failure rate in a tool for me is a risk. Hopefully they continue to evolve, but if they want to really get a name (like SF or whatever) then they really need to work on durability in the head torch game. I also find it interesting that they sort of seem to be targeting the 'flashaholics' market in my opinion - sticking with fancy single cell but hi tech format. Maybe they should slow down and get what is a fantastic design right. Don't get me wrong - my partner is getting one for Christmas as she loved mine, but I am likely going for a Petzl or Silva headlamp. That way we have the best of both worlds, and if my H501 gets repaired or replaced then fantastic, but that and a Jetbeam failure have sort of coloured my view of Chinese lights that jump out the woodwork every week.

 

[Bolster]

Africanexp: you are aware of the known issue with Zebralights early 2009? Several weeks or months of insufficiently sealed H501s and H60s left the factory, and cause a large uptick in failure rates that spread out over months (and years), giving Zebralight a black eye for reliability. Zebralight is up front about this:

"First few batches of H501 and H60 had problems with leaking switch caps and lens, causing mulfuntions of the lights. They have been addressed long time ago with revised/modified machining and assembly process."

Even though Zebralight fixed the problem relatively quickly, so many were purchased during that time period (and later, from dealers) it's had a negative effect on peoples' perception of reliability. Not that they're perfect but you are not seeing nearly the volume of complaints with more recent (or earlier) releases. Take out that bad batch of lights and Zebralight would probably have a normal-looking number of failures. A shame it happened though, and I suspect they learned a valuable lesson. No reports of a similar problem since, that I'm aware of.

One other thing to consider. Imagine that brands A and B both have failure rates of 2 out of 100. Brand A is wildly popular on CPF, and hardly anybody on CPF buys brand B. Which brand will have more reported failures on CPF? Now look at rankings of relative popularity.

Take me for example...I own 5 Zebras, have given 2 as gifts, and talked my sailor friend (who is torturing them slowly to death) into buying 2. So I'm keeping an eye on 9 of them. No failures. BUT, I didn't buy any of them in 2009. I bought both earlier and later, just by luck. The sailor uses his constantly in a salt environment that will eventually kill them, but they've held up so far. When he does kill them, I'll report.

For the record I own Zebralight, Spark, Petzl, Icon, and Energizer headlamps. (Looking forward to my first SF when they make a decent AA version.) For mission critical tasks, I don't "completely trust" any of them; they're just inexpensive mass produced items. I always carry a backup. If I owned a custom Horton or a $600 Scurion, I might feel differently.

 

[michman]

Looking forward to my H51w... Fingers crossed.

 

[insanefred]

Only problem with Zebralight's, is that they get attacked by Lions.

 

[TedTheLed]

...get it ? Li ons ?? lol!

 

[africanexperience]

Thanks Bolster, I hear what you are saying. And yes I don't fully trust a single light, and living where I do that means that I have ordered a Malkoff and a Peak as I really need reliability as much as possible. I have exhaustively read the threads on cleaning the contacts etc and keep trying it. My H501 keeps sometimes working and sometimes not. Extremely frustrating. I don't carry a back up headlamp as I always have a lamp in my pocket or hand and for me a headlamp is really just for chores and carrying for camping or in a vehicle in case I have to work on it. As I say we will try another ZL as they are a fantastic design, no doubt. Interestingly I bought mine end of 2010 and it has never been wet really... Now to try to find a light that has a low as low as ZL, as that is really one of the best features for me. Awesome work on your headlamp threads BTW.

 

[TheRegulator]

Just ordered a 501 for reading. Hope it works out.

 

[pelks]

Have 1x H30 and 1x H31, no problems at all. Have had the H30 for years and use it at work installing cables in roof spaces.
Love 'em.

 

[robostudent5000]

anybody think there would be value in re-running this poll excluding the H501 's and H60 's that had the replaceable switch covers? i'm kind of curious to see what the results would be if we just asked owners of 2010 and 2011 models.