Problem with Olight M-20.

De-Lux

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I just received my Olight M-20 premium and am having an issue when using AW RCR 123a's. First I noticed that the AW RCR 123's fit really snug in the battery magazine and they are are also a bit too long to where the cap does not screw down all the way on the battery magazine. Second, I was getting a flicker as though there was a bad connection. I temporarily remedied this issue by tightening the switch mechanism inside the tail cap. Now however I am experiencing the light turning off when I tighten the bezel to change modes. The light works flawless with Primary CR 123's but would love to get it to work properly with my RCR123's. Has anyone else experienced this issue and is the issue with the light or the batteries? Thanks in advanced.
 

Wade

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Oct 9, 2008
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Just a thought don't use the magazine with the AWs. They will rattle a little but should work otherwise.
 

EDC

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I just received my Olight M-20 premium and am having an issue when using AW RCR 123a's. First I noticed that the AW RCR 123's fit really snug in the battery magazine and they are are also a bit too long to where the cap does not screw down all the way on the battery magazine. Second, I was getting a flicker as though there was a bad connection. I temporarily remedied this issue by tightening the switch mechanism inside the tail cap. Now however I am experiencing the light turning off when I tighten the bezel to change modes. The light works flawless with Primary CR 123's but would love to get it to work properly with my RCR123's. Has anyone else experienced this issue and is the issue with the light or the batteries? Thanks in advanced.

Mine are also too large for the tube but it's fine without it. I had a flickering issue with my M20 when I first got it & it turned out to be a problem with the switch. This would happen w/ all the supported battery types so you may have a different issue. If I were you, I'd try taking the switch apart to clean the insides. Check out this thread.
Also, why are you using RCR123's instead of 18650's?
 

De-Lux

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Mine are also too large for the tube but it's fine without it. I had a flickering issue with my M20 when I first got it & it turned out to be a problem with the switch. This would happen w/ all the supported battery types so you may have a different issue. If I were you, I'd try taking the switch apart to clean the insides. Check out this thread.
Also, why are you using RCR123's instead of 18650's?

Thanks for your response and the link. I am using RCR123's because that is what I have at the moment. I am considering the purchase of an 18650 for this light. I heard you get longer run times with the 18650's but sacrifice output as opposed to the RCR123's. Do you prefer 18650's with the M-20? How does the M-20 perform running unregulated with 18650's?
 

Wade

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Oct 9, 2008
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Works well with 18650 I like the run time and it is bright, and out put seems fairly flat.

Thanks for your response and the link. I am using RCR123's because that is what I have at the moment. I am considering the purchase of an 18650 for this light. I heard you get longer run times with the 18650's but sacrifice output as opposed to the RCR123's. Do you prefer 18650's with the M-20? How does the M-20 perform running unregulated with 18650's?
 

De-Lux

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I had a flickering issue with my M20 when I first got it & it turned out to be a problem with the switch.

After checking out the thread you provided it looks like it is also a switch issue with my M-20. The switch plate keeps getting loose in the tail cap. I guess I will try some blue lock-tite and hopefully this remedies the issue. What was the issue with your switch?
 

EDC

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Thanks for your response and the link. I am using RCR123's because that is what I have at the moment. I am considering the purchase of an 18650 for this light. I heard you get longer run times with the 18650's but sacrifice output as opposed to the RCR123's. Do you prefer 18650's with the M-20? How does the M-20 perform running unregulated with 18650's?

You're welcome. Yes, I prefer running 18650's in the M20. On high, it starts off at the same output but since it runs semi-regulated on 18650's, there's a gradual decline of output during the course of the run time. This dimming is hardly noticeable to me for the first couple of hours & I still get over an hour of light after that. When running RCR123's on high, you get very flat regulation but at the cost of having a little more than an hour's worth of light. When running 18650's on medium, you get very flat regulation plus an additional three hours of runtime over RCR123's. Check out selfbuilt's M20 review here to see his runtime graphs.

After checking out the thread you provided it looks like it is also a switch issue with my M-20. The switch plate keeps getting loose in the tail cap. I guess I will try some blue lock-tite and hopefully this remedies the issue. What was the issue with your switch?

For the sake of long term reliability, I'd suggest getting your tail cap &/or switch plate replaced by the dealer for a proper fit. My issue turned out to be a the actual plastic switch & it was replaced by the dealer.
 
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