Bad Father's Day - FENIX P1 Tragedy

What's up all. I think this is my first post, so i def need to say i'm glad to be part of this flashlight heaven here with all yall fellow torchnuts.

Anyway, today I thought I would impress my Pop with a FENIX P1 for Father's Day. I even couldn't resist and gave it to him early yesterday, as I couldn't wait to see his eyes "light" up

Here's the sad part. The P1 threw a nice bright light for 10 secs, just as it did when I first quality checked her from the Post Office, then decided to permanently produce a very weak and dim light.

I have swapped out fresh batteries and no luck.

I have read good stuff on FENIX, unfortunately my first experience with the product was a dud. I'm puzzled the P1 worked temporarily and seemed to have burn out. From what I understood these things are regulated to produce a consistent bright burn through out the batteries lifespan.

A 100% seller from ebay "seriouslights" out of Canada sent me the light so i'm currently trying to work an exchange. Hopefully we can work out something being his feedback is pristine immaculate.I've also contacted Fenix product support and dunno how that is going to work from China..

Bummer, was going for some cool points from Pops and pretty much didn't work out that way. He's not too concerned, though, i don't think he realizes it's a $50 pocket light.

..on the positive side, that sucker was bright when it worked. Just a stroke of bad luck I guess or there's a quick fix out there?

if you have got it from 4sevens, just talk to him / pm him. he is a real good guy.

Also suggest, if contact have some dust, clear it away by cleaning it.

No, I think he got it from SeriousLights in Canada. I'd suggest you send the Fenix back for a Peak. He's a new Peak dealer and I think you'll find the Peak way nicer. I do.

Yeah, my friends P1 did the exact same thing. But when he put in a CRC123 the emmiter fired right up. Leads me to believe the problem was with the driver not the Luxeon. Either way, you'll need to RMA it. For your Dad, may I suggest a gift card to Hooters?

Hooters? Slow service, overpriced drinks, lousy food. I love the place.
jc

jclarksnakes said:

Hooters? Slow service, overpriced drinks, lousy food. I love the place.
jc

Click to expand...

This one made me laugh. The suprise ending was funny.

jclarksnakes said:

Hooters? Slow service, overpriced drinks, lousy food. I love the place.
jc

Click to expand...

That's great

Best regards

____
Tom

FIREBLADE 43, I'll bet your dad did think it was a big deal that you remembered him with a unique gift that you had to go out of your way to obtain. He probably didn't want you to feel any worse by appearing dissapointed, himself. That was thoughtful of you to make the effort to get him that light; I'd like a P1 myself.

unfortunately, the P1 is nowhere near up to the QC of the rest of fenix's line.

i would not recommend it to anyone.

send it back for an L1P.

There are a few things you can try. From your description I'm not sure that any of them are appropriate, but it can't hurt to try.

Make sure the LED module is screwed into the head all the way and/or isn't loose. There are two small notches in the outer ring that can be used to screw it in (or out). You may be able to just push on one of the notches, otherwise there are some innovative suggestions on CPF.

Clean the positive contact on the LED module with a clean cloth, lightly moistened with a little rubbing alcohol. Try to clean the little nub (neg contact) at the bottom of the battery compartment in the center of the foam ring using a cotton swab with a little alcohol on it. I don't see how it could have gotten lube on it, but who knows.

A few of the foam rings in these first lights have had problems with certain brands of batteries. I would think that yours wouldn't work at all if that was the problem. If you have other brands of batteries, give them a try. You could also try ripping the foam ring out, a new and hopefully improved ring has been implemented by Fenix. The Fenix-Store is sending them out for free to people that bought from there. I still don't think it is the foam ring in your situation though.

It could be you just got a dud and the exchange is your only option. I can't think of any more suggestions. Good luck, and please post back here and let us know the outcome.

I disagree with assertions that the P1 has worse quality control than other Fenix products, though I do think Fenix has some quality control issues across the board. There have been a few complaints on P1s, but out of how many sold? Most of the complaints are related to the threading and the foam ring. The foam ring issue is being rectified, and on mine seems to be less of a problem now that the original ring has broken in. The threading on my P1 is very good, and at least up to par with Innova and Mag. I cleaned my threads and put new lube on as soon as I opened the package, so maybe that helped.

There are more happy customers posting on here about the P1 than unhappy.

So far I have three Fenix products (P1, L1P, & L2P) and they have all been find out of the box. Maybe my clickies will die at some point, but so far they work fine. The tints vary on all three, but my P1 is the best and I'm not disgusted by the others.

thius may not help today but would the RCRs be any better? i've heard that thay fit better. I've only used them in my P1. I think the quality is good and Fenix is a real success story so far.

jclarksnakes said:

Hooters? Slow service, overpriced drinks, lousy food. I love the place.
jc

Click to expand...

you think that's great? we have hooterless Hooters where i live!!!

Here is part of 4sevens' (fenix-store.com) comment in another thread

4sevens said:

Not all P1's have this issue.
But some have this problem from the foam donut being too tight.

Give this a try first. Remove the foam donut from the body.

Fenix pushes out nice products at breakneck pace. They realized this
problem only a few days after. They have in good faith contacted me
and are providing softer ones for those who are having problems.

Click to expand...

The foam donut issue was communicated to all Fenix Distributors.
If you can't get it to work, definitely arrange to return it to the dealer in Canada.

I got my new foam ring today, but I haven't changed the old one out.

hi all. I got a P1 and at first was dissappointed with it but after settling down and playing with it I have decided to keep it and now I really like it. I got it as a backup light to my primary and it will serve that purpose well I think. I wanted to have a 2nd lite instead of spare batteries . it is a little purple on tint and I know it doesnt put out 55 lumens or 75 (give me a break) even with r123a but for the incredibly small size it is brite easy to turn on and easy to carry. I am thinking maybe 30 lumens

I love my P1. I've noticed something about the regulation though that no one has really mentioned. When I twist it on the light fires up and then it seems that if I tighten in to more it noticeably will change brightness. It looks as if it is has two stages. It is pretty noticeable. I'd say at least a 5% increase in brightness. Do you think this is the regulation kicking in. Alll in all though I think it is a great very usuable light.

Hi all - just thought I'd post a comment here being as I was the dealer that sold the P1 to FIREBLADE. The foam donut issue is of course the first issue we looked at. Turns out it wasn't that. So at this point it probably is an emitter or electronic issue. He's returning the light and I'm getting a new one out to him! As far as Fenix reliability or quality control - I don't know about others experiences but this will be the first Fenix light I've had returned to me. I won't specify out of how many but let's just say it's quite a few. I'm not saying they are perfect by any means - just so far they haven't been bad for returned products.

I feel your pain. You got 10 seconds more light out of your P1 than I did from mine.

Fenix's "quality control" is sadly lacking - if it exists at all.