New CR2 ION: battery rattle and flickering??

I just purchased a new original ION and I have concerns about battery rattle with the supplied battery station primary battery. Should I have this rattling? Also, it intermittently won't switch to the high setting when turned to that position. If I unscrew the head and then re-attach it, it will then function fine. I also noticed that sometimes when it is turned to low, I actually get a "lower than low" beam. I've cleaned the threads but I still have these random problems. Any thoughts? Thanks! Dave

Dave, I am playing with my CR2 right now and do not have any of your problems. For starters, clean the threads, inside and out of any gunk, and do not reapply any grease, or lubercant. Try that and see what happens. If you have some good electrical contact cleaner, use that.

Bill

I do have the rattle,but ignore it.

Bill

CR2 ION's have been plagued with similar problems for years. I bought one about a year and a half ago, and had problems with the low/high mode. All the cleaning in the world did not help. The manufacturer blamed it on the cheap battery THAT HE SUPPLIED, but changing the battery did not help. I returned it.

DDS, that's a well known problem with the CR2 Ion. Two, things you can do to fix it:

The first one is to thoroughly clean all contacts, threads, and battery tube (ProGold/DeOxit everything if at all possible). The second one is to reseat the retaining ring that keeps the light's pill in place. You can use a fine-tipped screwdriver to push the ring hard against the circuit board (work your way around the retaining ring).

Sombody somewhere here on the CPF sells a little KIT with a battery wrap and a little copper deal which sits at the bottom of the tube. It takes care of the rattle and reduces the number of twists needed to go from low to high.
A little pro-gold will sort out the intermitant contact with a little luck.
To be completly frank It really pissed my off that such an expensive light required a mod to work well out of the box. It is a nice little WIDE soft beam'ed light.

Yaesumofo

I get it sometimes on one of them and the other works like a charm.

Here's a link to the kit, yaesumofo is talking about. I got one of these kits, BUT it did more bad then good to me because it would put pressure to the point where it would grind with battery and the foam ring and tear that apart.

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/116429

I freakin love the smooth light it gives off though. Truly soothing.

I have never had any flicker problem on my CR2 Ion, and it has been on my keychain for ~8 months without a break. You just need to keep the threads and contacts reasonably clean, as GreenLED said.

The battery rattle is a total non-problem. It isn't even noticeable unless you have sharp hearing. If it bothers you, wrap the battery in a layer or two of scotch tape or cut a paper sleeve for it.

And only use good brand-name cells!

Thank you everyone for the replies ! Boy, I wish I had known the ION had this history before I bought it. I thought, as many of you responded, that a light of this cost would function properly from the get go! I have only found the problem to worsen over more usage. I will try once again to clean the threads thoroughly. I was disappointed that the dealer I bought the light from just told me to send the light back to the manufacturer, even after having just received the malfunctioning "new" light from him! Maybe my interpretation of good dealer service is different. With regards to the ION when it functions properly, I really like the great flood pattern and the low setting for maintaining night vision. Maybe in the future there will be a product with similar specs but functions reliably. Note: I've had any original ARC AAA that has never once failed to be 100% reliable, nor my PD. Now back to cleaning the threads again Thanks again for the feedback and links. Dave

DDS, no, what you're experiencing is not normal and I'm sorry that your light wasn't perfect. Contact me and I'll get things fixed for you straight away if the dealer won't simply send you a replacement.

Actually, Frank, they haven't. Anything done in any quantity above 0 will invariably result in occasional issues here and there, even though I try my hardest to make sure everything leaves here in fine shape. Just because a few people end up with a bug in the works and get disgruntled, yourself among them, does not mean that your blanket statement of all "CR2 Ions have been plagued with similar problems for years" is valid; you blow things out of proportion by making your isolated problem to be commonplace. The same goes for greenLED's comments as well and I suggest to not follow his advice since the chemicals in ProGold have a nasty habit of eating away at the foam washer. However, putting pressure along the stainless steel retaining ring is always recommended by me since on rare occasions the light does get sufficiently jarred during shipment to loosen the light engine, causing an intermittent connection.

Yaesumofo, the "kit" you speak of is offered by its creator to boost the height of rechargeable CR2 cells. The reason that it's needed is because the RCR2s were badly manufactured and are 1mm too short compared to standard cells; though the CR2 Ion accepts rechargeable batteries, it was not explicitly designed for them nor do I recommend their use due to the dangers inherent to lithium-ion technology. The kit is otherwise wholly unnecessary, and the Ion works just fine without it. This kit also does not reduce the turns required from low to high. For that to happen you would have to shorten the contact pin or raise the height of the ring surrounding it, raising the battery height would only serve to make the light longer when fully activated and nothing more. Whether or not you like the light stock is your own thing, but it's misinformation to suggest that it doesn't work on its own; if that were really the case I would have long ago been taken by a massive CPF lynch mob, and then drawn and quartered given the number of Ions out in the world. And, finally, the newer versions of rechargeable CR2 cells out there are 1mm taller than normal (why they aren't simply the regular height of CR2 cells I do not know), so they don't need a height booster of any kind to let the light turn on.

Best regards,
Enrique

Enrique: Thanks for addressing the previous replies made above. Per your email replies to my previous questions posted about the ION before my purchase, maybe I should have bought the light directly from you! In any case, I will once again try a thorough cleaning with no lubing and then check the retaining ring as discussed. If I still continue to have a problem, I will PM you for the next step. Thanks for your help. Dave

Hi Enrique: Please check your snail mail for a message from me.
Thanks! Dave