XR-E Modified PD failed in a Blizzard!

This weekend My Family and i went to our cabin in Sweeden.It was dark
and a Blizzard came our way.We couldnt see more than a few metres ahead
of us after we parked our car and took on a hike to our cabin.Suddenly
the PD started to flicker and it went out like a candle...Weird i thought..brand new batteries. Panic struck our 2 year old Twin Girls and they started screaming.The temperature was 25 minus Degrees Celsius.I must admit i got scared as hell myself..

We still had about 400 metres left to walk in total darkness,but the Blizzard and the powder snow just made us sink down in the snow just over our knees each step we took..there was supposed to be snowmobile tracks to walk on but we couldnt find them in the pitch black wilderness. The kids screemed even more each time i fell to the ground in the bottomless snow.My energy was so drained and i just can imagine my wifes too.Allthough she was calm all the way. After a long Really Scary walk we got to the cabin,safe. Phew..was i relieved.The thought of
the kids and wife freezing to death was Scary to say the least. I may sound like a wuzz but the Cold and the Blizzard was so overwhelming i was scared shitless.And im used to bad weather and cold.

Good thing is we made it..


After we got it warm and cozy in the cabin the light started working again..weird. i thought.So i put it in the freezer for a while...Took it out after 10 min.Couldnt get it to light.But as it warmed up in my hand it turned on again.
So i screwed off the bezel,took off the lense and reflector.Got scrathes on the Reflector...bummer..Then i tryed to push on the emitter with a pencil and it went out again.Seems like a contact issue in there. So i put it back together the best way i could,dropped the sapphire lense on the floor..So now i dont know which way is the right way..Ar coating and all..bummer...Screwed on the bezel...Now it doesent work at all.Screwed the head off and now the battery is hot as Hell,the head too.
Light is Dead!

I wont name the modder here,because i do know it is human to fail.But i will pass the link to the modder so he can chime in if he wants.
I just felt this was to important not to tell.
I also heard about somone else having problems with a similar PD modded by the same guy.
Sloppy Soldering i guess.


The mod involved replacing the emitter with a XR-E.


After this experience i will choose my modders wisely and i hope that the somewhat new modders here can take some wisdom out of this and take some pride in theire work rather than doing it fast to earn more money.

The lights we use are tools,which we depend on.Atleast i do.
I didnt carry a back up,something i normally do.And will never forget again.




Benny
Norway

Good lesson for all of us, to always carry that backup light....

Dang Morph, I can only say that the AR side goes INSIDE facing the LED. (this keeps the light from reflecting back off the lens back into the light)

Yeah,


But it is hard to tell which side is AR coated,atleast i find it hard.
And once touched the AR coating rubs off easily.


Benny

that's why I always carry a AAA-P on me. A small, reliable, unobstructive back up is an integral part of my EDC

Wow that's even colder than it was here recently - glad you made it okay but hard to believe with all your lights you only had one on you in a situation like that. Just glad everyone made it okay and I'd say the lesson here is we need to have backups in extreme situations. I currently have 3 lights on my person (not counting bags or packs I carry) any time I step outside my house. And one on me at all times in the house. Sorry to hear about the bad mod too.

Sorry to hear about your ordeal Benny...sounds scarry!

Mac

Yeah...not matter how "good" a light is...it can always fail. Always carry a backup. Typical combinations for me are: HD45 + AAA-P or M4 + B60GT.

- Chris

The AR I've handled doesn't rub off, but does accept finger prints easily. I've used rubbing alcohol and acetone before to clean them, without removing them, but I can't guarantee that all AR will be this robust. Don't use windex though! I've had bad experiences with it and CRT coatings! :green:

Soap and water may be the safest bet.

EDIT: to tell which side is AR, hold the lens up to your eye, and angle it so the overhead lights reflect in it. The AR side will have a color tint to it on the reflected lightbulb. Sometimes the AR is faint and doesn't tint much, so in that case just compare which side the light bulb/overhead doesn't seem as sharp or bright. That is the AR side.

Thats definately not a good thing. I think you should use me to mod yoru lights I do fine work.

Yeah yeah,

Carry a backup.


I always do,
Read my post..
And my Fenix LOPSE is around my neck,but that pea shooter with a angry blue tint didnt even make my feet visible...lol.
The snow and wind was comming in Big time,ive never experienced anything like it.
It was hard to find the way,and there are no threes to use as guidance and the snow keeps shifting like sand in sahara in open fields/hills like that.Keep in mind we are almost on top of a mountain here.There are other cabins there,but we couldnt see them.
The Snowmobile tracks were long gone,atleast i didnt see any.


Funny thing is that i did have all of my light with me,exept they were in a Big Gun Case in the trunk of the Car,i always take them with me.But go back after them when i have carried the more important things like kids,food and blankets to the Cabin.But with the heavy snow and the Screaming kids i didnt want to turn around.
They had a hard enough time breathing as it were.
Doubling the distance did not feel smart at the time.



Carry a backup,
And sometime size matters.
Benny

what was the point of putting the light in the freezer? is it some sort of light-revivial technique hat I'm not aware of?

Well i wanted to duplicate the condition of the weather outside,or the cold if you will.I didnt want to go outside again so the freezer had to do


And as i expected the light didnt turn on.And started to work again as i warmed it in my hand.

I figured a bad contact..And it seems i was right.
Benny

Never trust a modded light.

Even if you modded it yourself.

And yes, always carry backup(s). Batts too.

Even a 49c keychain light from DX (and others) is worth while.

5 hours RT !!

That's 10 cents per hour, well worth it.

For severe conditions, I prefer one of my lights to be a 2 cell Surefire incandescent with extra lamps and batteries. Pretty much nothing to go wrong except blowing a lamp, which is easily replaced. With LEDs there's always the chance of electronic component or solder connection failure that you can't fix in the field.

Even lights from the factory can fail, so always carry a backup. With light sizes so small nowadays, it shouldn't be a problem carrying a spare CR2 or AAA or even at least a picolight type light on the keychain in addition to your EDC.

I'm glad you and your family made it to the cabin safe Benny. :goodjob:

Benny,
Thanks for posting this experience. The story should have been how a light made a bad situation bearable and not the other way around!

A modified light may be a significant improvement on the original design or it may be a significant compromise to the original design. It's a good idea to have a feel for where a mod might be expected to fit in.

I know of some of my lights that have been modified by third parties but I have no idea what the modification consists of nor how well it is designed or executed. Such mods may or may not be an improvement. One of the main intents of the PD design is for dependable and reliable service. NOT what you experienced here!

While on the subject of very cold temps and our lights, aren't some of the lithium batteries poor or non-performers in very cold temps or is it the Nimh batteries. I can't remember. Is it possible this is what happened?

I'm not sure how a solder connection fails like that at low temperature and I wonder if there's further diagnosis possible. There are freezing sprays you can get at electronics stores to check for thermal failure (the spray has a narrow nozzle so you chill individual components by spraying them til you induce the failure). I wonder if the electronic board could be flaking out somehow. Have you tested an unmodded PD at such temperatures?