uestion about my new Inova T2...rattle?!

Hello all, this is my first post on this forum site. Anyhoo, I just bout a new Inova T2 and I like it a lot. I love the fact that it has a long burn time between battery changes. I have a question though......I notice that there is something "ratteling" in the light when I shake it a little. I don't hear it as much as I feel it. Is that the batteries moving around in the light? Any information is greatly appreicated!

Not the batteries. It's the TIROS (optic) rattling around in the head.

I have a T1 that does the same thing, and it's never effected the light in any way.


--dan

hotbossa said:

Hello all, this is my first post on this forum site. Anyhoo, I just bout a new Inova T2 and I like it a lot. I love the fact that it has a long burn time between battery changes. I have a question though......I notice that there is something "ratteling" in the light when I shake it a little. I don't hear it as much as I feel it. Is that the batteries moving around in the light? Any information is greatly appreicated!

Click to expand...

It's the TIROS collimator.

I loved my T3 to pieces but that damn rattling was so irritating... not from a usability standpoint but from a "why the hell is this beautiful light RATTLING!?"

Seeing as Inova (in their infinite wisdom) have prevented user access to the head of the light, there is no way to dampen the ridiculous rattling in these things. You would think they'd have mounted the TIROS so it DIDN'T rattle around, wouldn't you?

The mind absolutely boggles at this, it just doesn't make any sense.

Everything else about the T3 is great, I love the great throw and find this beam quite useful. I even like the unique artifacts.
The clicky is fantastic (if a little loud, but certainly has good feedback and takes a perfect amount of pressure to momentary\on)
The body has a great textured feel to it and very simple, elegant lines. The piston instead of a spring is nice, gives an additional sense of quality IMO.

If only the bloody thing could be easily taken apart!

Apparently Inova will replace your flashlight if you complain to them.

If the collimator is moving around, how come it doesn't effect the light output? Since it part of the TIROS lens right?

IMHO, If it rattles I'll send it in for a checkup. Quality tools shouldn't rattle, except for the battery cells as different brands have minute physical size difference.

All the best

jumpstat said:

Quality tools shouldn't rattle

Click to expand...

Exactly.

Bloody hopeless of Inova IMO. Spoils the appeal of an otherwise fantastic device.

Such a simple thing and yet they (apparently) have never fixed it.

Let's hope their reflectors don't rattle

My X03 rattled like that as well. It didn't affect anything, but I wasn't happy with it. So after an emailing Inova, I sent it to them to be fixed(replaced).

The X series lights (X0 and X03) that i got also seemed to have rattling problems with their TRIOS lens, though all of the T series lights that I have (T1, T3, T4, and T5)never experienced the same problem. I think the quality control on their more expensive lights must be a lot better.

Interesting... the XO2 that I have (which is like a mass produced version of the T2) doesn't have any sort of rattling issues. This is an 2006 model.

FancyFeet said:

Interesting... the XO2 that I have (which is like a mass produced version of the T2) doesn't have any sort of rattling issues. This is an 2006 model.

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The XO2 was simply out first IIRC, using the same platform as the X5.
X and T are both mass produced.... just different coatings of the same light engine.

T series are just a different body style with a more positive grip and a totally different switch.

Not neccessarily improved, as each design has it's advantages... but I love the solid feedback of the T series switch. It's noisy though... you can hear it being engaged from a fair distance.

On the other hand the X series were damn near silent. I always thought momentary + twist constant was "Tactical" ?

*shrugs*

according to Quickbeam
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/inova_xo3.htm

"Other Things I Noticed: The internal TIROS lens rattles a little bit inside the head of the light. After testing 2 of them, I found this to be the case in both, so don't be surprised if yours has a little lens rattle. This has only a minor impact on the beam which is not noticable at all in practical use."

my T1, XO2, and XO3 all have crooked TIROS,....so they dont rattle one bit
Interesting way to see if your lights aligned correctly, put a couple sheets of paper on your optic and light it up...most of the time you will find the emitter square [hot spot] offset from the center, and TROS optics gives you "reference circles" to work with

r0b0r said:

T series are just a different body style with a more positive grip and a totally different switch.

Not neccessarily improved, as each design has it's advantages...

Click to expand...

they also improved the drivers...somewhat
according to FLR's runtmes [to 50%] [the runtime curves are different too, indicate different components used]
XO2: 4H vs. T2: 5H 51M
XO3: 2H 34M vs. T3: 2H 23M

FLR's throw/output
XO2: 884/2000 vs T2: 725/1720
XO3: 1960/2850 vs. T3: 2100/2800

something tells me the two series albeit certain differences....but the T2s definitely has the advantage in terms of runtime

r0b0r said:

The XO2 was simply out first IIRC, using the same platform as the X5.

Click to expand...

They share the same design with the X5, not platform. As far as optics, shape, and size...the X02 is about as close you can get to the T2, minus the T1, manufactured in a form and at a price range that is (my mistake) "more" likely to reach the typical end-user.

I brought it up thinking why would the more expensive unit have this sort of problem while the two cheaper X02's I got out of a massive box didn't.

Re: Question about my new Inova T2...rattle?!

Despite two drops onto the floor, my T2 doesn't rattle at all. Solid as a rock, not the batteries (second set) nor the TIROS components. FWIW, my two T5's are also rattle-free, and not treated as toys either. I also checked the beamcentering on each, with the paper test as suggested above, and I can't see any offcentering. They all have some outer rings, which I live with.

-HAK