I NEED HELP : just got a SOLARFORCE L2 but it doesn't work OK...

I have received a SF L2 but it has pb running with disposable CR123s and AW RCR123s.
I do believe it's because of the module spring.
Should I cut a part of the small spring or a part for the large spring ?
It seems that the flashlight could work if I unscrew a little the bezel ...
Any advice would be much appreciated.

radu1976 said:

I have received a SF L2 but it has pb running with disposable CR123s and AW RCR123s.
I do believe it's because of the module spring.
Should I cut a part of the small spring or a part for the large spring ?
It seems that the flashlight could work if I unscrew a little the bezel ...
Any advice would be much appreciated.

Click to expand...

Err, I think must type out the full name.
SF belongs to Surefire..

Specified on the title : SOLARFORCE

I wasn't totally clear on what you meant, but with my L2's, and with the dropins that I have, they work fine without the outer spring. Maybe try taking that off if you have one on, or alternately if you don't have one, see if you can get one to try...

Don't be in a hurry to cut anything. What LED module do you have? Does the module drop in and fit smoothly into the opening for it in the front of the solarforce host?
When you put the head on does it tighten down all the way or not? Does the LED pill rattle when its in the host with no batteries in it? If not, its probably just fine. Some of the batteries require that very small magnet they sell on Lighthound.com in between them to make sure they reach both sets of springs tightly. The spring on the back of the pill and the spring to the tail cap.

If the LED module is a tight fit in the host explain where it is tight in detail. Does the outside shoulder of the pill not reach the front lip of the opening in the host which I will simply refer to as the socket, because the rear of the pill is bottoming out with the outer spring in place?

There should be no reason to ever have to cut the center spring on the pill shorter from what I have seen on all the various modules I have worked with.

So first tell us what the pill is you got in there and if it came with its own outer circumference spring for the contact to the case or if you put something in there.

The solarforce head has a generous fit and everything should work fine. I have found some of the rechargeable batteries however don't have enough contact length on the positive terminal and they fall short inside the battery compartment of the host.

If you can take pics (low resolution) to show what you got that would help a lot.

I think I went through exactly the same thing, same light. 5 mode? I'll assume.

First thing I found was the solder at the back of the Pill (negative) was inadequite. I ran a small ammount more around both areas where the driver board is soldered to the Pill.

Within a day the problem returned.

Second, I unscrewed the Pill and using a magnifying glass, found the positive wire at the LED board had been squashed and frayed where it is soldered to the board, what clued me in to this was a dark spot on the wire insulation near the solder joint.

Using a pencil iron, heat the solder quickly and remove this wire. Strip back some insulation and re-solder. Good as new... or better.

Note... I quickly cooled it after my soldering by putting it in the freezer, being afraid of damage from heat.
Be careful not to rest the Pill on the LED dome, find something suitable to hold it, I used a piece of PVC pipe stood on end in a vise.

If you're not comfortable doing this... return the light, or find someone with good soldering skills.

First of all...thanks for all your advices.
It's a one mode R2 pill and yes, the module came with the outer spring too.
I have followed the first advice : I have removed the outer spring, but the light didn't function at all like that.
So I have put it again, like before and...surprise : now it's working.
Only the batteries rattle inside, not the LED module.

When I have screwed the bezel with the module - after reputting the outer spring - I have set up the light to be on from the push on rubber button. During the screwing the light was on, off, on, off but finishing the screwing of the bezel I was lucky the light to remain on...
From now I will change the batteries only removing the tailcap, not the bezel.

It's clearly a matter of contact inside and although everything is OK right now the problem can come back any time.
I can't make any clear pictures unfortunately...

well i am running in the same problem like yours with a Ultrafire WF-501 and a home made module. It takes some tapping with ending the screw on and slow speed. Then leave it be. It is a matter of spring (mysterios being) contact.

All the ebst, Kostas

radu1976 said:

First of all...thanks for all your advices.
It's a one mode R2 pill and yes, the module came with the outer spring too.
I have followed the first advice : I have removed the outer spring, but the light didn't function at all like that.
So I have put it again, like before and...surprise : now it's working.
Only the batteries rattle inside, not the LED module.

When I have screwed the bezel with the module - after reputting the outer spring - I have set up the light to be on from the push on rubber button. During the screwing the light was on, off, on, off but finishing the screwing of the bezel I was lucky the light to remain on...
From now I will change the batteries only removing the tailcap, not the bezel.

It's clearly a matter of contact inside and although everything is OK right now the problem can come back any time.
I can't make any clear pictures unfortunately...

Click to expand...

I have 4 Solarforce hosts, 2 extension tubes, and several R2 pills, some 5 mode and some single mode as well as others like Malkoffs (2). The Solarforce host does not anodize the threads for the tailcap area. So as you are screwing it on (with the button in the "on" state) if the batteries makes contact to both ends it will come on but since you are moving it around and the springs are weak you can make it lose spring contact as the batteries slide forward or rearward. So having the light go on and off when the switch was in the "on" mode and you were screwing on the tailcap doesn't mean anything in regards to the functioning of the light or your original problem. I see this happen all the time with mine when I do that same thing.

The Solarforce is slightly longer than the Surefires to make room for the various batteries such as the protected RCRs I have found that simply using one of those special little battery connection magnets between the 2 cells to add a little length to the battery and tighten up the connection between the springs makes it all better. I have also had batteries from other flashlights that I used to play with in my hands and twirl around on the lanyards that I made myself that I ruined some battery terminals with the g forces of spinning that thing around. Yeah I can go a little crazy at times. They would be crushed in to where contact between the 2 batteries was questionable because the positive tip did not stick out enough past the external covering "shoulder" that wraps around the batteries anymore.

Make sure everything is clean, that the outer spring is up around the lower part of the pill snug and secure. The inside of the socket head is clean. Set the pill in there and make sure the head is screwed down snug and secure. Put the batteries in from the rear and if you have a ammeter, press against the battery and the case. It should come on and draw current when you press against this rear battery. If it does, then your basically good. If it doesn't or its intermittent, then get the small magnets they sell at lighthound.com to go on that positive terminal on the rear battery to fill up that space better and see if that makes all the problems go away before you do anything drastic. Cutting the springs will not fix anything.

I now have 8 of those little magnets, they are very handy and some of the batteries I have just won't work at all without them.


Although I have also seen the quality of workmanship on some of these LED pills from HK and they are atrocious. But first I would make sure I have snug contact of everything inside before I accuse the pill of failure.