Streamlight ProPolymer Luxeon 4AA problems

Dorkwheeler

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Does anyone have problems with this light? Sometimes it fails to turn on and has to shaken/hit to work. I already took it back to Streamlight for repair and it is acting up again. Not too impressed with the reliability of this light.
 

etc

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Searching in the old posts, it seems it had problems with the switch? Apparently another SL product affected by it was SL Junior Lux, although I had 2 with no problems.
 

thezman

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Mine went in the trash, if that helps answer your question. :thumbsdow
Switch problems.
 

ringzero

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Dorkwheeler said:
Does anyone have problems with this light? Sometimes it fails to turn on and has to shaken/hit to work. I already took it back to Streamlight for repair and it is acting up again. Not too impressed with the reliability of this light.

See this thread:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/1606000#post1606000

I've had two failures to turn on, which were both fixed with a quick whack to the body. Think it's due to the batteries slopping around inside the body and becoming slightly misaligned.

Streamlight designed this light with more slop in battery compartment than is really needed. The battery rattle on the light is sort of annoying, but it's a decent light for the price.
 

thelightdude

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ringzero said:
See this thread:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/1606000#post1606000

I've had two failures to turn on, which were both fixed with a quick whack to the body. Think it's due to the batteries slopping around inside the body and becoming slightly misaligned.

Streamlight designed this light with more slop in battery compartment than is really needed. The battery rattle on the light is sort of annoying, but it's a decent light for the price.

I have had both the 7 led model, Luxeon model, and 3c versions do this. I agree with the quoted message. Although it could be the switch, it appears to me that the batteries or head being out of alignment causes the problem. Instead of whacking the light I unscrew the head shake the body and batteries and screw down the head again . This usually makes it work again.
 

jtice

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I had one of mine do this, its a switch problem.
Was going to return it, but i fixed it.
Ready for the solution? ok, write this down, its real technical.....

Sit there and clcik it about 100 times. lol
Mine seemed to smooth out and works just fine now.
SL will have no problem giving you a new one, but this might fix yours also and save you the trouble.

~John
 

ciam

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May 31, 2006
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Is yours a new or old one? I had the new Class One Division One version and it worked flawlessly. I've given it to a friend but I plan to acquire another one for myself shortly.
 

thelightdude

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jtice said:
I had one of mine do this, its a switch problem.
Was going to return it, but i fixed it.
Ready for the solution? ok, write this down, its real technical.....

Sit there and clcik it about 100 times. lol
Mine seemed to smooth out and works just fine now.
SL will have no problem giving you a new one, but this might fix yours also and save you the trouble.

~John


Thanks, I will try this the next time my light doesn't work.
 

garageguy

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My switch started acting up the first day that I got it. I agree with John, cycle the switch a lot and it will fix it. After doing that I have not had a single problem with my SL PP Lux. I also remember a post about problems with the positive battery terminal making contact with the LE. Something about the ring of plastic surrounding the positive contact on the LE interfering with with the positive battery contact. I searched but I can't seem to find it.
 

thelightdude

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garageguy said:
My switch started acting up the first day that I got it. I agree with John, cycle the switch a lot and it will fix it. After doing that I have not had a single problem with my SL PP Lux. I also remember a post about problems with the positive battery terminal making contact with the LE. Something about the ring of plastic surrounding the positive contact on the LE interfering with with the positive battery contact. I searched but I can't seem to find it.

That is correct. It is a spring loaded small pin surrounded by a collar. I would imagine if the positive battery contact is very large on a given battery, it could hit the collar instead of the pin when you drop the light module into the body of the light.
 

jtice

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Mine are all the first SL 4AA Luxeons that came out.
i was not aware of a newer version.

~John
 

tsask

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I had the same problem a year ago. I returned the light and they made it right. IIRC the problem is fixed in the new versions.
 

Brighteyez

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I have 6 of the SL4AAPP Lux, 2 SL4AAPP 7LEDs, 2 SL3CPP Lux, and haven't experienced a problem at all. But some people say that it is a common problem, so it must be.
 

BlackDecker

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Like Brighteyez, I have not had a single problem with my 4AA SL ProPoly Lux. Lights up everytime I press the tail switch. Have noticed some battery rattle, but it's not a light I take jogging... I save that for the Sam's Element with the tightly packed 3AAA carrier. No rattle with that light.
 

Illum

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never had a problem with the switch assembly...one of the battery springs was pushed in tho...a pull with a screwdriver worked....then i taped the 4 AAs into two long cell packs...that eliminated the flickering when i mounted it on the bike with a couple hose clamps
 

Ikonomi

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I've had no problems with my 4AA. The batteries do rattle a bit, but it's not enough to be terribly annoying. No problems with battery position or switch.

I use it biking offroad at night as my handlebar light and it does not even flicker.
 

ringzero

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BlackDecker said:
Like Brighteyez, I have not had a single problem with my 4AA SL ProPoly Lux. Lights up everytime I press the tail switch. Have noticed some battery rattle, but it's not a light I take jogging... I save that for the Sam's Element with the tightly packed 3AAA carrier. No rattle with that light.

After using the light daily for several months, i.e. turning it on and off hundreds of times, I've experienced exactly two failures to turn on. Both times, a light tap to the body of the light fixed the problem.

That is a failure rate of some small fraction of 1%. An issue that occurs this infrequently is hard to diagnose and troubleshoot, but I suspect it is due to battery misalignment.

If turn on failures occured more frequently, I'd try to fix it by inserting a thin piece of cardboard or similar down one side of the battery compartment to prevent the batteries from slopping around.

The battery rattle on my light can be annoying. If carried in the long tool pocket in the thigh of my carpenter jeans, the batteries audibly clank back and forth with each step.

I'd guess that Streamlight oversized the battery compartment to allow the light to take slightly out of spec, oversized cells from el-cheapo manufacturers. And, to make it easier for swollen or leaking cells to be removed without jamming.
 

Dorkwheeler

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I messed around with the light for a little today and it made no positive changes. Looks like I'll be making a trip to Streamlight in the near future. At least its a short trip.
 
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