defective lf3xt?

i finally got the lf3xt that i ordered before christmas yesterday and i think i may have gotten a bad one. the light is very dim and it won't ramp up or down even after i reset it to factory settings. also it stays warm all the time. not hot but noticeably warm. i've tried the tenergy batts i bought with it and another primary i had, and i tried 2 different trustfire rechargeables. with the rechargeables the light won't stay on unless i hold the button down and it's dimmer than with primaries, but i thought i read that the lf3xt works with all batteries.

i've read through the long thread about the lf3xt and i didn't see anyone else having this issue so maybe it's me not being familiar with the ui? i'll continue playing with it but if anyone has any suggestions i'd love to hear them.

tia,
notsobrite

Sounds defective to me. When I got my LF3 XT I had no problems at all with the ramping and mine did not stay warm all the time. As far as your comment on the light staying dim, do you have any other lights you can compare it to? On high, for example, it should be roughly comparable in output to something like the Novatac 120P on high or NiteCore EX10 on high. :shrug:

Have you tried disassembling it, cleaning all the contact points and re-lubing the light? Might help... :thinking:

deranged_coder said:

Sounds defective to me. When I got my LF3 XT I had no problems at all with the ramping and mine did not stay warm all the time. As far as your comment on the light staying dim, do you have any other lights you can compare it to? On high, for example, it should be roughly comparable in output to something like the Novatac 120P on high or NiteCore EX10 on high. :shrug:

Have you tried disassembling it, cleaning all the contact points and re-lubing the light? Might help... :thinking:

Click to expand...

i wiped it down with alcohol and re-lubed but no go. the primary i had in it is dead already, and it's about as bright as my romisen rc-g2 aa light. ack.

thanks for the suggestions,
notso

notso_____

Try this.

Put in a fresh primary cell - turn on light -(your'e saying it is dim) - do 5 quick clics and you should get battery report - should read about 2.8/2.9 - keep repeating battery reports - if light is getting warm/hot and voltage readings are rapidly going down you have a problem.

I think the battery voltage report is a fantastic diagnostic feature.

Good luck Walter

h2oflyer said:

notso_____

Try this.

Put in a fresh primary cell - turn on light -(your'e saying it is dim) - do 5 quick clics and you should get battery report - should read about 2.8/2.9 - keep repeating battery reports - if light is getting warm/hot and voltage readings are rapidly going down you have a problem.

I think the battery voltage report is a fantastic diagnostic feature.

Good luck Walter

Click to expand...

i did 5 clicks and i get 3 flashes then 2 flashes and a solid beam- i don't have the user manual with me so i don't know what this means. i got it to ramp up and down now, but it still isn't very bright- again, no brighter than my romisen rc-g2 aa light and not as bright as i remember my ex10 was. this is with a new primary.

notso

It sounds like you have a strong battery, but a weak liight. I would send it back.

3 flashes & 2 flashes is 3.2 volts - that would be right on .2% low. - you say you can ramp up and down - try 5 click battery report at top of ramp(high) and at bottom of ramp - voltage reading should be 2.8/2.9 on high and 3.0/3.2 on low.

It you can ramp you are in CUI - 2 quick click should go back and forth between .2% low and user setting.

I tried using the few Ultrafire/Trustfire rechargables that I own in my lf3xt today and actually noticed the exact same thing as the poster: no modes/ramping, only works in momentary mode, and quite dim/flickering.

It works 100% great with standard protected and IMR AW Li-ion cells as well as all of my primaries and some no-name unprotected RCR123As. I'm not sure what it is about the Trustfires/Ultrafires that's causing the problem but methinks they are probably too long because the flashlight wasn't closing too easily :duh2:. These particular protected batteries are out of spec anyway so it's hard to blame Liteflux but it would be nice if they added ~2mm to the battery length tolerance and fixed the somewhat sharp edges on the tailcap in a newer revision.

Are some people getting their copies to work with protected Ultrafire or Trustfire-brand batteries?

well, now i'm sure it's defective. i left it sitting on my desk for a few hours and i came back and my new primary is totally dead. i put another new battery in it and it's doing the same thing. i emailed eliteled around 2pm today and got no response yet- i hope they have good customer service, this is my first time dealing with them.

thanks everyone for your help,
notso

Well--it sounds like you've already determined that it is defective.
But you mentioned in one of your posts that you "didn't have the User Manual" with you.
That was yesterday, so perhaps you have consulted the manual by now.
Just in case you haven't there is a link in this post to the User Manual (in .pdf format):
http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showpost.php?p=2228428&postcount=1

Check out post #167 here:

http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=186497

I wonder if this is what happens if this shorting condition occurs?

Don't give up !

In your first post you said that you did a factory reset - if you were able to do that , you shouldn't have problems detirmining if you are in CUI or FUI .

What is battery voltage report(turn light on then do 5 clicks) when battery is dead ? Did you do battery report at either end of ramp ?

i'm not very happy with eliteled.com. i've emailed them a few times about the problems i'm having with the light and they seem to think that it's user error. i ordered a new one from them last night thinking that it would be faster to order a new one rather than wait for an rma, and then i could send the defective one back. i got an email from them saying they cancelled my order and want me to send this one back first- wtf?

this was a christmas gift from my wife to me that was ordered on dec. 19, didn't get here until the 29th, and now i have to wait for the light to get back to them and for who knows how long before they credit me, and then i get to re-order a new one, and then wait again for delivery!!! again- wtf?

sorry for the rant but i just don't get it.

notso

notsobrite said:

i did 5 clicks and i get 3 flashes then 2 flashes and a solid beam- i don't have the user manual with me so i don't know what this means.

Click to expand...

It means the battery is 3.2 Volts.

Well if you ordered and payed for a new one then they should of just sent a new one out to you.
Then sorted out the faulty one, refundng you when they got it back.
I don't understand that either.

Kamakazikev24 said:

Well if you ordered and payed for a new one then they should of just sent a new one out to you.
Then sorted out the faulty one, refundng you when they got it back.
I don't understand that either.

Click to expand...

i'm afraid if i order another one from them now that they might send the same one back, because they seemed determined that there was nothing wrong with the light.

I would hope not, but you could always put a small mark inside the light that only you know about so you will know if they do.
I would like to think they wouldn't do that.