Broken CR2 Ion - Help! *Solved for now...*

I just received a used Aluminum-Bronze CR2 Ion and it has no Low setting. Goes right from off to High. For reference, I already have an Ion so I'm familiar with the light and I have a basis of comparison. The switch appears to be in decent shape (the little spring loaded pin), however there is a fair amount of dirt and debris inside the under the lens, on the reflector and some even resting around the LED. Is this a sign that the head was opened?

Does anyone know if Enrique will repair these? Are there any of the known mod houses that have CR2 Ion experience? I know Scott/Milky fairly well, maybe he'll have some input.

Any input from anyone would be greatly appreciated, I'm just kinda disappointed right now, the Low setting was what I used the most, and this light was purchased with the intentions as a gift for a friend that has admired my own Ion for quite some time. I do not feel like I could give this light as a gift...

:sigh:

Re: Broken CR2 Ion - Help!

I remember reading about something similar a while back. This thread is what I was referring to. Looks like he had the opposite problem that you have. I'd probably try PM/e-mailing Endeavour for help.

Re: Broken CR2 Ion - Help!

AzGB said:

I just received a used Aluminum-Bronze CR2 Ion and it has no Low setting. Goes right from off to High. For reference, I already have an Ion so I'm familiar with the light and I have a basis of comparison. The switch appears to be in decent shape (the little spring loaded pin), however there is a fair amount of dirt and debris inside the under the lens, on the reflector and some even resting around the LED. Is this a sign that the head was opened?

Does anyone know if Enrique will repair these? Are there any of the known mod houses that have CR2 Ion experience? I know Scott/Milky fairly well, maybe he'll have some input.

Any input from anyone would be greatly appreciated, I'm just kinda disappointed right now, the Low setting was what I used the most, and this light was purchased with the intentions as a gift for a friend that has admired my own Ion for quite some time. I do not feel like I could give this light as a gift...

:sigh:

Click to expand...

I hope you have either given the seller an earfull or got an excellent deal!

Re: Broken CR2 Ion - Help!

Khaytsus said:

I hope you have either given the seller an earfull or got an excellent deal!

Click to expand...

I sent him an email explaining the problem, was advised to clean the threads and try a new battery, both of which I tried within the first 10 minutes I had the light, both of which had no effect on the missing low setting.

I'm trying to give the seller the benefit of the doubt, he said it worked the last time he used it, ok, I'll take his word for it. The light was $100, which isn't too shabby, but far more than I would have paid for this light in a "low doesn't work" and "there's all sorts of stuff under the lens" kinda condition. I've never been a fan of badmouthing folks... doesn't usually lead to positive results.





I'm going to wait until Enrique's current Nautilus project slows down, and then contact him about possible repairs/cleaning. I love the patina'd exterior finish, I hate that it looks like it was disassembled/reassembled in a kennel.

Re: Broken CR2 Ion - Help!

What kind of emitter is that? And what is all of the gunk in the head? Is it really dirt and hair?

Re: Broken CR2 Ion - Help!

The world's a happy place again…

So while trying to clean the threads, switch contact, and generally anything else I can get to in hopes of solving the problem, the puck falls out. Looking at my original Ion (that's in fantastic shape) it appears that the "new" Ion is missing the small "snap-ring" type retainer that's the key to this whole puzzle. Got the reflector chamber, inside of the lens, and the LED all cleaned off/out, and then went to work figuring out how this changes things for me. I look closely and realize that the puck is shifting around during operation, avoiding good solid conductive contact until the head's screwed in enough to force it to lock to one side. At that point, it's on High.

So I clean off all surfaces, and put a minute drop of superglue at one corner of the joint between the puck and the head, recenter the foam ring, and it works again. This time on High and low.

datiLED said:

What kind of emitter is that? And what is all of the gunk in the head? Is it really dirt and hair?

Click to expand...

Really I have no idea on the emitter, I think I read that it's an early Cree XRE, or something like that. And yes, that was lint, dust, dirt, and hair. It was, now it's all gone.

Re: Broken CR2 Ion - Help!

A Cree XR is what it is, an earlier Cree die. Different beam pattern than the XR-E's. For a while the Ion was the only light that used Cree led's.

Nice job cleaning it up.

Re: Broken CR2 Ion - Help!

Now, replace the Cree XR with the Cree XR-E Q5, you'll love yours Ion more.