Another dead Inova...

My X1 died again. The first one I bought last year died on it's own after 6 months. No drops, no abuse, still the original battery. This one died after a short fall onto a carpeted and padded floor. Changed the battery, cleaned the contacts - no luck, it's dead.

My first 2AA bolt I got a couple of months ago arrived DOA. The replacement has been fine so far. That's 3 out of 4 Inova's I've had that failed. All the time I thought they'd be the most reliable lights.

When I first got into LED lights, I heard (and still do), "no more blow bulbs from drops." I can't remember a Mini-Mag ever blowing after a fall, and if it did, the bulb swap is simple. I think with all the electronics in LED lights, there are definitely more potential points of failure. But I also prefer the nice even beam, longer battery life, and regulated output - just wish they could be more reliable and I didn't have so much bad luck with Inovas!

Hmm, their T-series has a better reputation.

Yep. I'm surprised you've had so many problems with Inova's, but I definately don't consider led lights with all their cheap electronics inside any more reliable than incandescents. I know how easy it is for a cheap resistor to short or an led to go poof. So I don't buy into that and never will. The light from led's is terrible to me compared to incans anyways, so I basically use led's for navigating around the house and things like that.

Same happened to me with a Inova X1, a small drop and the light just quit working. Fortunately, it was within the return time and I got my money back. If they potted the electronics, then it wouldn't have happened.

With all the x1s I have owned there have been very few failures. I think I have one dead light. I haven't opened it yet, so it might just be stuck somehow.

My experience with the inova x1 has been remarkably positive. I'm sorry they discontinued the original model.

It just goes to show how different experiences can be, out of my over a dozen Inovas, never had a single issue with any one of them.

same carpeted kill for my x1
the positive contact gets bent form the impact to far in and the battery cant touch it so no go, wad up a little bit of aluminium foil and make sure it seats down in the little positive recess, it might work but i dont want a light that requires aluminium foil to work.

Out of 15+ different INOVA lights only one problem so far.My original T1 had a dark spot in the beam, not a doughnut hole ,something must have been on the inside of the tiros blocking the light from coming through.I ended up sending the light back to INOVA.Two weeks later I received a replacement from them and it works fine to this day.Returning some of the cheapest INOVAs to the company may not be cost effective since you have to pay shipping both ways.Sorry to hear about your problems but it seems like you are just having bad luck.

I banged by X1 and X5 around a lot while working in the tunnels of the Great Lakes navy base and never had any issue with their functioning. I also have a T2, XO3 and T3 that have been beat and banged up but haven't died yet.

I did have a T3 die on me from striking a wine bottle in a full over-head hammer-style blow. Their was no visible damage, the light just quit when it hit the bottle. I email Inova and explained what had happened and they gave me an RMA number. 2 or so weeks later I recieved the warranty replacement, turned out blow had cracked the PCB.

I will admit that I my lights tend to die more often on carpeted floors, I think it's the bounce.

my tiros T3 & 2nd batch X1 solid as ever.

The Inova X1 inside:

http://flashlight-forums.com/index.php/topic,4887.0.html

How do you open these up Energie?

freeze POP!!! woot.

MARNAV1:
I have used a vice with some plastic to protect the head.
The reflector came out easy.

ZMZ67 said:

Returning some of the cheapest INOVAs to the company may not be cost effective since you have to pay shipping both ways.

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Isn't that nice of them! I called to speak to someone about returning it. They don't even have a live person to speak to - once you click through the phone menu you get a pre-recorded message giving their return address along with instructions to send $5.00 for shipping. $5 there + $5 back = $10 (half the cost of the light). You're right, not very cost effective...

To compare, I've had a couple of Mag warranty experiences. Either they sent me back a new light, or sent parts to fix a switch, all free of charge, even shipping. That's good customer service.

One Inova was all it took for me to decide the mass marketed Target store lights are not my cup of tea. Mines in pieces and it's not pretty.

Of all Inovas, the X1 is the cheapest and least representative of the brand. While my X1 hasn't given me any problems, you can tell it is not in the same league of toughness as say the X5 or the T-series. But, the X1 is too covered by Inovas warranty, so you can just send it to them to have it repaired or replaced.

pilou said:

Of all Inovas, the X1 is the cheapest and least representative of the brand. While my X1 hasn't given me any problems, you can tell it is not in the same league of toughness as say the X5 or the T-series. But, the X1 is too covered by Inovas warranty, so you can just send it to them to have it repaired or replaced.

Click to expand...

But... the cost of sending that X1 to Inova and paying to get it back will cost you over 1/2 what a new X1 costs. I own a X1, seems like a decent light (at least the reflectored 5mm LED one is). But then, I'm pretty easy on my lights... always keep them in the case when not in use, don't use them for hammers, etc.

I've never had a problem with version 1 and 2 X1's, but they've not been dropped. Doesn't seem worth paying $10+ to send it in for repair.

Geoff

I would NEVER do this, but I've seen it done many times in retail. If a particular product fails or otherwise goes bad after the standard return/refund period, many people will purchase the identical product new in the store, switch out the new and faulty product, and return the faulty product using the new packaging and receipt. Such shameful behavior....