Fenix P1 quality issues?

I ordered a Fenix P1 from 4sevens last week as a gift for a friend. It came in today and was DOA :-( I know he'll take care of me, so that's not really an issue. It will get sorted out (although his birthday is this weekend!). However, it makes me a little concerned about the quality. Since I'm giving this as a gift to a good friend who has admired my lights, I want to make sure all is right. On top of the DOA problem, the head kept coming apart. In other words, if I tighted the head down firmly and then tried to loosen it, the ring holding the glass on came off instead of the entire head! Is this normal? A common problem? Or did I just get a crappy P1?

Thanks in advance...
David

BTW, 4Sevens emailed me back within *5 minutes* with a new delivery confirmation number. Now *that* is customer service!

:goodjob:

Yes - I think there are probably quality concerns with the P1.

I had to send my silver one back to 4 sevens as it didn't maintain a constant
level of brightness, but would dim down very quickly, after each time it was
turned on.

Again 4 sevens, sent me a new one as soon as I mentioned this problem, and
so far the new black one is what I was hoping for originally.

However there do seem to be a high proportion of DOA's or faulty P1s, as I have mentioned before.

This is a great pity, because a properly functioning P1 is a beautiful little light which is much admired by everyone who sees it.

A small amount of research here will quickly tell you there are no quality issues with these things, for the amount sold in such a small amount of time it has actually been a very reliable light..
That is a great gift for a friend, nice work!

Pydpiper said:

A small amount of research here will quickly tell you there are no quality issues with these things, for the amount sold in such a small amount of time it has actually been a very reliable light..
That is a great gift for a friend, nice work!

Click to expand...

Please let us see your research then.

the ring holding the glass on came off instead of the entire head! Is this normal? A common problem? Or did I just get a crappy P1?) quote

appears you received a below par one there Mrdctaylor


you are always going to recieve a certain amount of QC issues,failures,Doa's in any mass produced product...

Well, as far as quality data goes, over the last month or two, I received 8 Fenix P1s from the Fenix-Store and had no quality issues with P1s. That includes two with the shallow knurling and the rest with the deeper knurling on the head.

However I did have one LxT head that would not consistently switch from high to low brightness w/o going out - period. After some head twisting on what should have been the low setting, the LED would fire up again. It would never have a problem going from off or low to high brightness. 4Sevens replaced it w/o question.

So, in over 18 Fenix lights - I'm losing track - I have had one failure. I have also observed the Luxeon Lottery in operation! What am I doing with that many lights? too many acquaintances of mine see the one I am carrying and develop a sudden need for instant gratification.....

Tim

I have two P1's: one purchased from a CPF member, and another from fenix-store. They both work equally great. None of them fell apart when opened.

I had one DOA and 4 Sevens replaced it quick.
One flash and gone.
Replacement perfect.
Love it.

Anecdotal evidence is hard to judge. So far 6 our ot 6 Fenixes I've gotten have all been perfect...

My P1 was DOA as well. And the tint on the replacement was too blue for me to EDC. To avoid a "strike three" I bought a FireFly III.

But in all fairness, praises for the P1 far out-number the flames.

I love my P1. I would have two on my keychain if they made one with a red led. I've got my fingers crossed for the development of a 3 stage P1.

I've got 2 P1's (Black and Natural) and they have worked flawlessly

However I did have one LxT head that would not consistently switch from high to low brightness w/o going out - period. After some head twisting on what should have been the low setting, the LED would fire up again. It would never have a problem going from off or low to high brightness. 4Sevens replaced it w/o question.



Tim[/QUOTE]

I've got the same EXACT problem with my L2T. Sometimes the low won't come on at all, but many times it will if I fiddle with it. Did you get clued in as to a solution without having to return it? I'm hoping to keep it as the color on this luxeon is perfect. Thanks.

Have you tried cleaning the threads? I had some problem switching to high and after a good cleaning with alcohol and relubing it now works flawlesly!

I recieved a P1 last Thursday 10/19/06 that did not exactly leave me in awe at it's performance. It was about the same as my 1Watt Nuwai Q1. I have since recieved my replacement which is a vast improvement over the last P1, but still probably isnt as bright as other's P1. Both of the P1's were from the same Lot # but were totally different quality as far as the LED's are concerned. I hope to see a perfect P1 some day, if someone has one pass it my way I just want to see what im missing.

L2P, L2T and P1 all arrived flawless and more awesome, one after the other, in that order!

Andy

Hi xring, Unfortunately, I had to return the LxT head for a replacement w/o any fix or suggestion of a fix. There was no solution.

In response to another member's posting - Yes, on other lights, including Fenix lights, I have had problems with a silicon grease on threads. In my case, it was the 96% silicon grease and threads that I purchased from ACE Hardware in the plumbing section. I forgot that pure silicon is not a conductor of electricity. Lots of intermittent problems with twisty heads. Solution? Besides cleaning the threads thoroughly, I sprayed some Radio Shack cleaner lube on a Q-Tip to clean the head PCB that makes contact with the top of the body tube. That seemed to make most of the difference.

FWIW, I totally stopped using that 96+% silicon grease and cleaned off the threads of all of my other flashlights. The stuff was so sticky/stringy anyway that it made the twist heads relatively hard to turn.

So which O-ring grease am I using now? The local dive shop was out of their soft silicone grease, so I used a "Plumbers Grease Faucet & Valve" which other CPF members have suggested. I would have ordered some of the expensive grease online, but didn't want to wait.

Tim

I've always wanted to get a P1 cos it's a great little light, but held off because of the numerous issues reported in CPF:

1. P1 with crooked head.
2. P1 DOA
3. P1 not as bright as Q3
4. Rare 2 tone anodizing on certain P1

I'm fully aware 4seven will take care of these issues.
But from a customer point of view, it's kind of disappointing to receive one with issue after waiting for 2 weeks on the other side of planet and then realized that it needs to be sent back, and that's another 2 weeks of waiting for it to arrive. Fenix needs to improve on the QC.

These are just my humble opinion, not trying to invite flame.

flame2000 said:

I've always wanted to get a P1 cos it's a great little light, but held off because of the numerous issues reported in CPF:

1. P1 with crooked head.
2. P1 DOA
3. P1 not as bright as Q3
4. Rare 2 tone anodizing on certain P1

Click to expand...

I am sure that with any product there will always be duds, but the amount of happy P1 owners who are totaly happy and say nothing because they have nothing to say would far outweigh the few bad P1's we hear about here.
How many threads are there praising this great little light?
I am very happy with mine.