DOA light: Eastward YJ-XAQ5

milwaukeeblues

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Well, I received this light today from Kaidomain, and while it looks and feels great in the hand, it doesn't light up (which is a significant failing for a flashlight) ;-)

I swapped out the battery to a WF-400 and it worked fine so it's not a bad battery. Tinkered with tinfoil to no avail. Switch appears normal, no visible shipping damage.

Has anyone got any other ideas I should try before contacting KD?

This is disappointing as it seems to be my first DOA light and also my first order from KD. Several DX lights working fine as well as a lot of older mods from CPFers.

Thanks! -Peter
 

kramer5150

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use a segment of wire and short the battery negative terminal to the body tube. If it turns on then its not the driver/LED, if it stays off then its the driver/LED (and could also still be the switch). If you have a multimeter set it to continuity check and check the switch for continuity.
 

LukeA

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I've had problems with loose switch parts. Taking the switch fully apart and putting it back together making sure everything's tight usually does the trick.
 

milwaukeeblues

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use a segment of wire and short the battery negative terminal to the body tube. If it turns on then its not the driver/LED, if it stays off then its the driver/LED (and could also still be the switch). If you have a multimeter set it to continuity check and check the switch for continuity.

Thanks guys, I tried shorting with wire as Kramer5150 suggested and also took apart and reassembled the switch as Luke A suggested. Still no hint of light. Unfortunately I do not have a multimeter. Is it time to write to KD?

-Peter in NY
 

bspofford

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I just got one that works intermittently, but several others work great. After doing all that I know including cleaning, tightening and inserting foil where contact is in question, it seems that there is a bad connection somewhere inside the emitter module. Half the time it doesn't come on until I shake it a fair bit. Then everything is fine. I think that I've solved it and put it down for an hour, but when I come back it acts up again. I don't want to have to desolder and get inside the module, so I'm thinking that this one will need to be replaced.
 

Fallingwater

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If you're into tinkering, and if there is no threadlock, I'd say try taking apart the pill and see if there are any obvious bad contacts. If that gives no results, or if you can't/don't want to open up the pill, contact KD - I don't think there's much else you can do.
 

kramer5150

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Thanks guys, I tried shorting with wire as Kramer5150 suggested and also took apart and reassembled the switch as Luke A suggested. Still no hint of light. Unfortunately I do not have a multimeter. Is it time to write to KD?

-Peter in NY

sounds like an emitter or driver problem. If you can take it apart and expose the pill and DC-DC board you could try and re-flow solder and fix a cold joint. That would get you nowhere however if its a bad OP amp or bum emitter.

I think its safer to place an RMA with KD.
 

Tarlach

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Mine was a bit dicey when I first got it also. It would not turn on and I tried to short the tail as well (nothing happened). I did notice that the led glowed a little after loosening the tail cap and clicking on and off. I tried all of the regular flashlight troubleshooting; shaking, banging and verbal abuse :duh2:

I opened the front end and checked the led connections and after assorted fiddling, tail cap removal and lots of clicking it started working. It worked properly for a couple of times and then stopped. A bit more fiddling in the business end and I got it working again (maybe it was tightening the pill by rotating?).

Anyway it is now working properly, every time (even shaking and banging doesn't bother it) :thumbsup:

Sorry I couldn't tell you what the exact fix was, but I suggest taking off the bezel and checking the led connections and ensure that everything looks right. Try gently rotating the innards clockwise (tighten) with the two screws, while clicking on and off?

It's a great torch when you get it working :whistle: (though very similar beam pattern and levels as the wf-400)
 
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Jarl

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My EYJ was fine on arrival- no flickering or anything. Did have to poke around for a while so protected 18650's would fit, though.
 

Tarlach

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The head doesn't come off, just the bezel. It's only about 3mm of bezel that screws of the end, then the glass and reflector come out. I found it by accident when trying to remove the head as it doesn't look like it comes off (but it does ;))
 

milwaukeeblues

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The head doesn't come off, just the bezel. It's only about 3mm of bezel that screws of the end, then the glass and reflector come out. I found it by accident when trying to remove the head as it doesn't look like it comes off (but it does ;))

BINGO! That fixed it!

In the case of my particular light, experimentation pointed not to rotating the pill, but rather to loosening the bezel. I will leave it to greater minds than mine to figure out that worked. I can think of some dire answers but for now the light works.

After figuring that out, I took the following steps:

1. removed bezel

2. robbed two 36 mm black o-rings from old 2-C maglite.

3. One o-ring in outside gap between bezel and head to increase distance.

4. Other o-ring between glass and reflector to prevent rattle, assure seal.

5. Lubed bezel threads and tightened; no gap.

Light is now working reliably. Yes the beams (both high and low) look a lot like the WF-400, but I like the design and feel much better.

And the bezel is more aggressively crenelated. 'case some fool might start a fight :)

Thanks to all who responded.

-Peter
 

megamee

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actually I like the feel of the wf-400 better.. much lighter and can tailstand. Then again the Eastward has an actual driver rather than just a resistor like the 3.6v version of the wf-400. The Eastward I think uses a better LED, and is driven harder I think.
They seem to use pretty much exactly the same reflector. Perhaps the reflectors made by different factories to the same specs or something.. they look pretty similar, are interchangeable and on my examples the beams are virtually identical.

I had to unscrew the switch about half a turn before mine worked... then it rolled off the table and the led died :shakehead . I guess that means its time to put a p7 in there and run direct drive :)


about the pill.. my Eastward had no heat transfer paste between the star and the pill which i think is pretty poor. I think its worth it to spread some on... (then again on my wf-400 the star wasn't even touching the pill when I first got it)
 

Flash007

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I received my YJ-XAQ5 3 days ago.
First handling showed no problem in functionning, but yesterday ...

I've set the flashlight on low mode for more than 10 minutes, and the led becomes suddenly flickering, and then super low.
So low that you can look at the led die, like when you test a led polarity with a DMM.
It does'nt stay at low for more than 10 minutes.

Even in high mode, the flashlight gets very hot, too hot, and discharge curve seems to be not regulated.

I obtain initial 3300 lux @~2 meters in high, very bright, much more bright than my SKU 11074 drop-in, and after 45 minutes only, i have 800 lux ! test with 2 different AW 18650 protected cells, same results.

After 45 minutes, the flashlight is so warm that you can't hold it in your hand.
It's not a normal case.


I suspect the driver is bad, or maybe a sort of short-circuit somewhere in the flashlight.

Very disappointing ... :shakehead
 
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