Zebralight reliability (the poll)

[JB5]

I got my H501 in april and have used it a whole bunch and have yet to encounter a problem with it. Its a great light.

 

[PhantomPhoton]

Unfortunately I've had my only Zebralight fail. My H60W appeared to be okay when I first put in a cell and fired it up but the next day when I took it out for a walk it wouldn't even light up. Checked cells and shorted the tailcap to ensure it wasn't a connection problem. Had to send it back.

My issue with the H60 is that they made the tolerances too tight. Most quality protected cells which end up being around 67mm just won't fit. I suspect, though I have no hard evidence that the reason my H60 failed is that the AW cell I used in it was simply too long and putting it in and tightening it down simply broke whatever is deep down at the positive contact.
:sigh:

 

[big vin]

I have a H60W, and it is the light i use the most. Beats my triple P7 mag on usability. I have it for about a half year now and truely love it! No problems at all...

 

[big vin]

I find the body a bit too short for 18650's too, forgot to mention it...

 

[vtunderground]

For a more accurate picture, maybe there should be model numbers in the fail boxes.

Here we go... I figured up the failures / non-failures from everyone's comments, sorted by model #.

H30: failure rate = 36%

H50: failure rate = 5%

H501: failure rate = 4%

H60: failure rate = 50%

unspecified model failure rate = 25%

for a total failure rate of 23% (just from the posts, not the votes in the poll of course).

As of right now, the poll results show a 25% reported failure rate.

 

[compasillo]

Got 1 H30, 1 H50, 2 H501 months ago.
No problem on none of them.

BTW, I don't understand why the third item of this poll and what has to do with democracy and/or the topic

 

[Owen]

This poll is completely meaningless in terms of establishing any kind of failure rate. Most people who own a Zebralight will never see it.
Besides, if I got a Zebralight yesterday, and it was DOA, and I voted "yes, I've had a failure", there would be no mention of my three perfect ones.
By the same token, if all three of mine had failed, they would only count as one failure.
It's obvious that the incidence of failure, whatever it may actually be, is way to freaking high, regardless, but let's not try to make this into something it isn't.

 

[ryan162]

I think it's still a valid poll since most people only own 1 headlight. quite a few here do own multiple lights but certainly not the majority of the 100 people that have reported in.

the thing I'm finding most interesting is that people are generally ok with the failure rate and will be repeat buyers. Let's be frank here...Zebra light is a Chinese light sold at nice websites for a healthy price with the H60 being the highest markup (H30 is really a decent value). Now if this same light were offered for $20 from a cheap website the reception to these failures would be the old "you get what you pay for". The lights would likely then be dismissed as junk.

The fact is they are not the only ones producing this type of light ATT. there are copies already...they are also Chinese...they are sold at the upper end of the price range where these failure rates are common/expected.

don't get me wrong they are wonderful lights and if money was no object id have two H60's coming in the mail with the great warranty and customer service they are entitled to. But right now I'm happy I was too cheap to spring for the originals

 

[davidt1]

This poll is completely meaningless in terms of establishing any kind of failure rate. Most people who own a Zebralight will never see it.
Besides, if I got a Zebralight yesterday, and it was DOA, and I voted "yes, I've had a failure", there would be no mention of my three perfect ones.
By the same token, if all three of mine had failed, they would only count as one failure.
It's obvious that the incidence of failure, whatever it may actually be, is way to freaking high, regardless, but let's not try to make this into something it isn't.

My concern with poll like these is anyone can vote including shills and haters. I think only verified owners of Zebralight products should be allowed to vote. The worst thing is there always are some poor saps who do not have first-hand experience and who can't or do not think for themselves who believe easily.

 

[RGB_LED]

My concern with poll like these is anyone can vote including shills and haters. I think only verified owners of Zebralight products should be allowed to vote.

davidt1, while I completely agree with you, that would be virtually impossible to verify. To uplite's point, we just simply have to take polls with a grain of salt since there is always some skewing of the results based more on opinion rather than fact.

The simple fact is that the Zebralights are the ONLY headlamps in their class: single cell, high-power LED, regulated, aspherical lens for pure flood, ultralight.-Jeff

110% agreed!

At the end of the day, if the retailer you purchased the light from is responsive, then any defective light should be replaced without any major hassles. If that is the case, then I wouldn't have a problem with failures either. As I mentioned, there are other well-known lights that have had failures, yet, with good client service, you still see people purchasing those lights.

 

[MerkurMan]

I should've kept my distance from this thread! I packed my H60w in my inside jacket pocket today, like I do every day. Used it a couple of times at work. Come home, and pull it out to use it, and....nothing! No flicker, hum, buzz, no signs of life at all. Never should have bragged about its reliability. Or maybe it's jealous that I ordered one of its little brothers last night. :thinking:

It seems that cell pressure on the driver board is affecting it. If I pull off the tailcap and short the battery to the tube, it works. If I push down on the cell, it turns off. I could probably help the situation by trimming the tailcap spring, but I don't want to perform any irreversible mods like that. Currently, I have a brass spacer ring sitting in the tailcap to lessen pressure on the spring, and it seems to work, but it leaves the o-ring exposed. :sigh:

I guess it's off to ZL for repair/replacement. Kind of worried about the 1 year warranty now...

 

[Luminesce]

:...It seems that cell pressure on the driver board is affecting it. If I pull off the tailcap and short the battery to the tube, it works. If I push down on the cell, it turns off. I could probably help the situation by trimming the tailcap spring, but I don't want to perform any irreversible mods like that. Currently, I have a brass spacer ring sitting in the tailcap to lessen pressure on the spring, and it seems to work, but it leaves the o-ring exposed. :sigh:

I guess it's off to ZL for repair/replacement...

While you're at it, ask ZL about purchasing a replacement tailcap for the light. I got one for my H501 so I could experiment with it and come up with a way to connect a split ring or lanyard on to it. This would give you a spare tailcap and spring, you can compare the two tailcaps in use. Hopefully ZL solves the problem for you by simply giving you a new light.

One guess is that the pill assembly may not have seated properly and sits too low in the tube, if that's possible. Or the tailcap may be the issue. The outside milling of my replacment tailcap is slightly different from the original, the internal specs seem to be the same, it functions just fine with either cap in place. And make sure you go through the Texas facility, faster response or so I'm told.

 

[Bimmerboy]

I take every comment or poll on this forum, whether good or bad, with a huge grain of salt, because -- let's face it -- this forum exists mostly for vendors to sell their flashlights and compete with other flashlight vendors.

Odd statement. Not sure how this conclusion was arrived at, but it's completely incorrect.

This forum exists mostly for flashaholics to enjoy their hobby. Vendors selling their wares here is a natural consequence of the site's popularity, and the hobbyist's demand for cutting edge product. But if one cares to research the history of this place, one will find that the goose came before the golden egg.

As an aside, something I've observed throughout my experiences... When people preface an idea with "let's face it", they're usually wrong.

 

[Zendude]

My concern with poll like these is anyone can vote including shills and haters. I think only verified owners of Zebralight products should be allowed to vote. The worst thing is there always are some poor saps who do not have first-hand experience and who can't or do not think for themselves who believe easily.

I don't think its fair or nice to refer to people as saps when they draw conclusions based on what they read on CPF. If they base their opinion on one instance I would agree with you but you seem to have an "If it hasn't happened to you then shut up." attitude. A lot of people come here specifically to find out if a product is crap or not before they get "first-hand experience" with it. If you read enough first hand accounts(good and bad); I think you can form a valid opinion one way or another without it actually happening to you.

I have been following ZL since the H50 came out. I don't remember reading any posts about lights leaking until the clicky models came out. I thought there might be a design/manufacturing problem so I started a thread to voice my concern. Does that make me one of the gullible saps you are refering to?

Tossing out the poll #s and going on the posts here(and other threads) of respectable CPFers, I'd say ZL has had more than its share of problems(even though I have had no problems with my own). Guess I am a sap.😱

 

[davidt1]

Apologies to those offended!

 

[Flying Turtle]

I got H50's for my son and I when they first came out. Both had problems. One had a chipped lens and the other only one level. The replacements have been fine. I would not hesitate getting another.

Geoff

 

[fa__]

I use one of my zebra every day, between 30mn and 2 hours

H60
H501
H50
H30

Never had any problem, but most of my use is indoor (night reading)

The one I take most often if H501 (reading) , H50 (reading, for my wife), H30 for general house work ; H60 stays in my backpack but works every time I need it 😉

I like theim a lot :thumbsup:

 

[DM51]

This forum exists mostly for flashaholics to enjoy their hobby. Vendors selling their wares here is a natural consequence of the site's popularity, and the hobbyist's demand for cutting edge product.

That's an extremely good and concise summary of what CPF is about.

anyone can vote including shills and haters

If you come across one of those, please let me know and I will attend to him...

 

[Swedpat]

Three Zebralights. Now failure yet.

Regards, Patric

 

[Gregozedobe]

I've had my H501 for about a month now, probably run it for 25-30 hrs. Absolutely reliable, and is a great little headlamp for close work. I haven't tried it for waterproofness, but that wasn't a requirement for me.

I prefer the UI to that of most of my other flashlights.

I get a random single flash very occassionally when replacing a battery or (sometimes) when switching it off, but it has always worked exactly as requested.

It does the low frequency flashing thing when the battery is getting down, but will switch to Low or Medium brightness without any trouble.

If the new Zebralight flashlights are as good (reliability and performance and small size) as my H501 and have a floody beam I will almost certainly buy one (or more 😉 ) when they finally come out.