Zebralight reliability (the poll)

[sappyg]

mmm..... maybe i did the math wrong....
65 fails + 180 no fails is 245...
245/ 65 = 26.5%

anyone ever had a SF fail? me no
HDS/ Ra? me yes

that's 50/50 for really good lights (as the poll is designed). not withstanding that i have 5 SFs and 2 Ra lights (early production)... these are the best torches i have ever used. CS moves Ra into top gun category for me.... faulty swich replaced no charge.
i managed to break a tailcap on a SF myself. i called SF.... i was willing to pay for a replacement.... replaced no charge

we've all noticed the poll is skewed for various reasons but still i think it is quite telling. actually i believe the true # is much lower than is being reported here. even with more than a few issues ZL is taking care of customers. sure i think QC could be better but from the time this post was created until now they are able to deal with CS effectively and still bring new products to market.

i just left their web site and saw some flashlights on clearance and the straight language used was something like 'these have memory issues so we will throw in some doo dads and discount the price rather than send then back to the factory'...... that's straight up honesty prior to sale. certainly it's cheaper than shipping and repackaging to china and back but if you know it ahead of time and can live with it there is no failure. again, QC would fix the matter more effectively. personally i would just send them back but who knows what kind of contract ZL has with the producer?

 

[red02]

mmm..... maybe i did the math wrong....
65 fails + 180 no fails is 245...
245/ 65 = 26.5%

anyone ever had a SF fail? me no
HDS/ Ra? me yes

that's 50/50 for really good lights (as the poll is designed). not withstanding that i have 5 SFs and 2 Ra lights (early production)... these are the best torches i have ever used. CS moves Ra into top gun category for me.... faulty swich replaced no charge.
i managed to break a tailcap on a SF myself. i called SF.... i was willing to pay for a replacement.... replaced no charge

we've all noticed the poll is skewed for various reasons but still i think it is quite telling. actually i believe the true # is much lower than is being reported here. even with more than a few issues ZL is taking care of customers. sure i think QC could be better but from the time this post was created until now they are able to deal with CS effectively and still bring new products to market.

i just left their web site and saw some flashlights on clearance and the straight language used was something like 'these have memory issues so we will throw in some doo dads and discount the price rather than send then back to the factory'...... that's straight up honesty prior to sale. certainly it's cheaper than shipping and repackaging to china and back but if you know it ahead of time and can live with it there is no failure. again, QC would fix the matter more effectively. personally i would just send them back but who knows what kind of contract ZL has with the producer?

Your math is right. I dont know what I was thinking when I came up with those numbers.

I've got nothing agaisnt ZL, I think H501 is probably the most useful light I've ever had. Their QC needs to step up, I wish this poll read 100% - 0% in terms of non-faliures - faliures...

 

[AusKipper]

I just had mine fail on me

I only ordered a second one last week that i'll be collecting Monday.

There certainly does seem to be some reliability issues with Zebralights at the moment.

 

[flasherByNight]

ZL has claimed to have changed the manufacturing/ramped up QC...etc.

I'd be curious to see a NEW poll started for newer buyers

 

[Batou00159]

i have had all three of my h60 fail on me,the lens cracked in the first one and the same in the seckond(strait out of the package) and the third newer model the rubber switch boot at the top the walls were so thin that it has ruptured with minimal use:thumbsdow:thumbsdow

 

[AvroArrow]

I have a H50-Q5 from the original first run from almost 3 years ago (Sept/07) and a more recent H50bw that also works fine. The H50bw is a bit stiffer/harder to twist than the old one. I also agree with another poster that they should shorten the on-off timing because I still twist it too quickly sometimes so it doesn't switch modes properly unless I slow down my twist. I haven't read through this entire thread, but I get the feeling that most of the failures are with the clicky switch. I remember when the H30s first came out, some were leaky (not very water resistant) and the clicky switch wasn't very reliable (which was fixed in later runs), which is why I got a H50bw instead. 2-handed twisty operation isn't as convenient as 1-handed clicky, but if it's more reliable, then I'll stick with a twisty every time.

 

[hotlight]

After my failure I'm really reluctant to get another ZL. Even though ZL did right by fixing it, I won't be able to depend on it.

know what you mean.... I currently have 4 ZLs(3 501s, NW- NEW UI NW, and green led, and 1 SC50w)... NONE have failed on me(yet).

based on this thread/poll results I can't fully trust my ZL to not let me down. I carry backup/s anyway, so it isn't the biggest deal. to be fair, I can't trust/depend on any one light that I own(or read about). always have a backup.

I can't vote yet. need more time with them.

note:
my first ZL(501w, old UI) has been dropped numerous times(waist high-ish) and Ive had it for about 5 months, never had an issue. I only use nimh in my 501s. tried a 14500(aw) in my sc50w, but am sticking with nimh in that one also.

 

[lights]

I have had two H501s fail on me. One warm, one cool. Both have seen heavy use, but no abuse. I will often use them for hours at a time on high. First (cool) failed instantaniously, just quit working. Second (W) has been acting flakey for a week or so, and now wont work. The cool one was replaced, I bought a W and gave teh cool to my wife. Now waiting on RMA for the second....

Getting tired of this. Why wont some other chinese company rip the design off and make this light reliably?

 

[shao.fu.tzer]

Getting tired of this. Why wont some other chinese company rip the design off and make this light reliably?

Someone already did:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.39671

 

[uk_caver]

Someone already did:

Even ignoring the looks, that doesn't look like any kind of competition.

1300mA out from CR123A or AA?
3 modes, 280lm, 100lm, and a strobe?
XP-E at 1300mA
50 minutes runtime?

To be honest, with reliability as a goal (which with my Zebralight being my first-line caving backup, it is), I'll stick with the Zebralight for the moment.

 

[strinq]

OMG... 26.8% failures?
That's just terrible! I didn't know it was that bad!
Suddenly putting the "American Owned and Operated" on their website seem like a bad idea...

Gosh...this poll is actually turning me off from getting one...and i always wanted one...

 

[Blindasabat]

I don't own a Zebralight, but I want to be able to vote anyways. Yay democracy!

Love it!

But I voted "No problems ever" since all three of my ZL have been stone reliable.

 

[toos]

I have a 501W that I got 10 months ago and I really love the light, unfortunately I had to send it back under warranty. It would fail to start reliably. I think the problem is related to the end cap, which you twist to stop the light from going on inadvertently in your pocket. When I would screw the cap back in, the light would not start unless I removed the battery, waited several minutes and then reinserted the battery. Perhaps the connection in the end cap is not quite what it should be or the electronics has some issue. Very weird though and not related to the switch AFAIK.

Anyway, like I said, I love the form factor and utility of this light and am looking forward to getting a new one under warranty. I also like the form of the light so much I probably will get one of the H51 headlamps as well in the near future. I just hope I don't have the same problems.

EDIT:
I received the light back from warranty service on Monday. Looks like they may have replaced the tail cap. It works now, although I have to screw the tail cap on pretty tight to make contact. I really like the design and have ordered an H51 to add to my collection

 

[ak645]

I have an h50 q5 from the first run and an h501w.Haven't had any problems as of yet.I hope Murphy is not reading this post.

Andy

 

[TRITON]

I have a H30 which I've had for about a year, carried it and used it every day for a few months or more with no issues.

I thought it was brilliant so I then bought a H501 for the AA batterys, much easier to find in a pinch. I put the H30 in my back pack with tailcap locked out and new battery.

I've been using the 501 every day with no issues and then came across this thread a while ago thinking I must be lucky, I've got 2 zebra's that are great.

So I bought A SC30 and A SC50, so far no problems with them, but when I took the H30 out of my pack for a bit of a play it did this really strange strobe mode thing and would not go into low or medium at all.

So me thinks pull it apart and give it the deoxit treatment, well no change ? (w.t.f.) so a little disapointed and pissed off I checked the battery with DMM, yes it was a little down so in goes a fresh cell which read 3.23 volts ( I only use primaries).

I hold the switch down for about 20 seconds with the spasmo strobe thing happening and then it kicked into low mode, I kept turning it on and off a dozen times and it did behave itself after that ????.

OK ,I thought i've got a gremlin in my circuit board but it seems to be ok now so I'll lock out the tailcap and put it away again.

Well I just came across this thread again and thought I'd better try the H30 again, F@@@@######@@@##k it did the spasmo strobe thing again. So, I pulled the 3.6 volt cell out of my RAW added a couple of magnet spacers and wacked it in the H30 and hit the switch.!

It had a spew for 2 seconds with spasmo mode and then went to high mode, so I turned it off took the 14250 cell out, put in the slightly used 3 volt primary in and YOU BEAUTY its working properly again.???

I dont feel I can rely on the H30 anymore which is a shame because it is one of my favorite lights but at least I can get it working again if it does the stupid spasmo disco mode thing.

I really hope I dont have any issues with my other Zebras because they are in my opinion quite tricky little lights, Only I wish they would make a SC50 in AAA size:huh: . TRITON.

 

[Changchung]

I vote I've had a Zebralight fail on me.

but I have to say in favor to Zebralight that I receive a very good costumer service with a new one in replacement... I will love to buy any of the new models...

 

[GhostReaction]

ditto, I m with ya! Product failure at field really sucks and not worth the money saved at all.
Otherwise to be used only as toy or in situation where there are backups.

I count 36% failure rate at current numbers...

I've made this argument before; no matter how good the warranty and CS are it doesn't matter if the light fails in the field or on a trip. While its nice to know your 50-70 bucks aren't completely wasted, but for that trip your light is busted and so is your preception of dependability for that light.

After my failure I'm really reluctant to get another ZL. Even though ZL did right by fixing it, I won't be able to depend on it.

 

[nick-nack]

I have two. One failed within days. But ZL was very good and sent me a brand new one.
Both have been doing fine since.

 

[royi kien]

I really don't like the poll for this purpose, members who had never experienced failures may have failures in the future and cannot change their vote... And the 3rd option skews the percentage of failure/non-failure.

Just venting.

I think this makes sense to vote to help zl see their own problems, make better quality products! Its purpose is not is not finding fault, but rather to help users like zl can buy better products

 

[Gregozedobe]

The % reliability figures this poll is showing cannot be relied on as an indicator of true ZL reliability for several reasons:

- Many people have more than one ZL (I currently have four, and am considering buying two more). But I only get one vote, so the other three lights aren't counted.

- Polls like this tend to attract people who have a problem with their lights, but the many who don't have issues aren't looking for a place to vent their dissatisfaction (self-selection bias).

- Non-CPFers won't know about this poll, and so won't respond.