Olight T20 Reliability

Does anyone have any experience on the reliability and or service of the T20? My son just got one at my suggestion and after less than 50 clicks it has stopped.

I looked through lots of posts and didn't see anything about reliability issues or service. I guess if reliability is not an issue service wouldn't come up much. Not trying trash anything just looking for next steps.

Thanks,

JLJ

I have a number and have found them all to be extremely reliable. One thing I did experience on a couple is a problem that I have also found on several Fenix, Rexlight and other brand lights. The retaining ring that holds the switch can often come loose. When this happens the light can fail. Simply remove the tailcap and insert needle nose pliers or tweezers in the depressions in the silver ring inside the tailcap and tighten.

Hope this helps.

Flic said:

I have a number and have found them all to be extremely reliable. One thing I did experience on a couple is a problem that I have also found on several Fenix, Rexlight and other brand lights. The retaining ring that holds the switch can often come loose. When this happens the light can fail. Simply remove the tailcap and insert needle nose pliers or tweezers in the depressions in the silver ring inside the tailcap and tighten.

Hope this helps.

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Thanks Flic, we'll give it a try! :twothumbs

JLJ

JLJ said:

Does anyone have any experience on the reliability and or service of the T20? My son just got one at my suggestion and after less than 50 clicks it has stopped.

I looked through lots of posts and didn't see anything about reliability issues or service. I guess if reliability is not an issue service wouldn't come up much. Not trying trash anything just looking for next steps.

Thanks,

JLJ

Click to expand...

Mine did that when it was new, I tapped and twisted and it never happened again.

Update:

Thanks for the help everyone. My son took off the end cap and tried tightening the switch to no avail. He then took the cap apart and could see nothing untoward so he put it back together and tightened it as much as he could. Voila, it now works fine.

Thanks again!

JLJ

JLJ, I am glad your son's light is working again! I had one for a number of months and carried it with me every day to work. I never dropped it, but it was totally reliable for me.

mine has been totally reliable for the past 2 months. quite happy with it.

only wish it would take a 17670 cell.

JLJ said:

Does anyone have any experience on the reliability and or service of the T20?

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I have got a bad T10, where the head switching mechanism was unreliable. :eeksign:
In the future, I will buy Fenix instead. :thumbsup:

BillG, my Olight T20 Q5 would take an AW unprotected 17670 without modification. I used a small brake hone that goes down to 15 mm to take a high spot out of the tube and now it takes a AW (black) protected 17670, without the label, though tightly. I haven't had much problems with any of the 3 Olights I own. I did have to clean the threads out of one T15 body before it would function correctly.

The T20 works well on level 2 with the 17670, takes a couple of tries to get it to start, strobes instead. If it fires up on level one it will only run for 10 minutes or so before it strobes and you have to switch to level 2, which I use mostly anyway. Runs for a couple of hours. I've had my T20 for a couple of months, zero problems. T15 for a month, zero problems.

RecycledElectron said:

BillG, my Olight T20 Q5 would take an AW unprotected 17670 without modification. I used a small brake hone that goes down to 15 mm to take a high spot out of the tube and now it takes a AW (black) protected 17670, without the label, though tightly. I haven't had much problems with any of the 3 Olights I own. I did have to clean the threads out of one T15 body before it would function correctly.

The T20 works well on level 2 with the 17670, takes a couple of tries to get it to start, strobes instead. If it fires up on level one it will only run for 10 minutes or so before it strobes and you have to switch to level 2, which I use mostly anyway. Runs for a couple of hours. I've had my T20 for a couple of months, zero problems. T15 for a month, zero problems.

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I'm a bit confused here. :thinking: Sounds like it works intermittently and switches from one mode to the other on it's own. To me that sounds like a problem. Did I misunderstand your post? Do you believe the 17670 is causing this?

JLJ

I wonder how a T10 works with a different body and 17670.

I'll let you know soon how a T10 with 2 bodies and a 17670 works, as I have a couple of T10 bodies in route for my spare T15 head and tailcap. I know that you can stack 2 T15 Q5 bodies for a 2AA light.

I'm sorry to be confusing on T20 Q5. It is designed to run on 6-8 volts, ie. 2 CR123's or 2 RCR123's. I figure if anything can be fouled up, I can do it, I don't like juggling 4 batteries in the dark trying to feed a dead light (I use AW's protected batteries which when depleted, shut down). I imagine that I could put a depleted battery in the tube with a full battery and this could lead to a minor or major catastrophe depending on what battery failure occurred. Yeah, I know, it's not supposed to happen with protected RCR's. I can keep track of a single battery much easier, if I accidentally put the depleted one back in the light, no harm done, take it out and put the second charged full length battery in. And I won't need to do that for about 2 hours. That's why I prefer to use a 17670.

The Olight T20's low battery strobe kicks in about 3-3.2 volts. You have to trick the light to get it to run on 3.7 volts (which it appears to do much better than the Fenix P3D). If you set the light on level 2, then take out the 2 RCR's, you can insert a 17670 and it will pick up on level 2 without a hitch. Sometimes this is not possible, and upon insertion of a 17670, the light will light on level 5 or 6. If you let it run for a few seconds to warm up, then switch levels a few times it will eventually settle down into level 2. Sometimes it wants to run on Level 1 and won't switch to level two until it starts the low voltage strobe, then you can switch the light to Level 2. Level 2 is 120 lumens and about right for the use I put the light to walking in the local nature park. The fact that the light may not want to run on 3.7 volts is not a fault of the light, it wasn't designed to, but you can use it outside of it's design parameters successfully. On a 3.7 volt battery my T20 Q5 will only run on level 1 and 2, the lower light levels are pretty much lost, if you hit them it's an accident.