Nitecore D20 Repair

Hey guys. Just to clear things up, I'm very new to flashlights, so any and all advice is welcome.

I became interested in bright, feature-rich (and more expensive) flashlights when I got sick and tired of the $5 walmart flashlights my dad would buy. I got myself a Nitecore Defender Infinity, and I liked it so much I got my dad a Nitecore D20 for his birthday.

Well, recently I left my DI at a friends' house, and I needed to do a quick repair on my car at night, so I asked my dad if I could borrow his D20. Now, my DI is a single AA, so I'm used to holding it in my mouth so I can work on things with both hands. Well, as I was holding the D20 in my mouth, it was much heavier than I expected and it dropped onto the asphalt. I was already kneeled by the ground, so it fell about 2 feet, but landed right on the head.

As soon as it hit the ground the beam went out. Now, it won't light. I thought since Nitecore has a significant market for military and police guys, they would've been designed to take some hits.

Right now, I'm feeling just a little angry. I broke the flashlight I paid $80 for, but what's worse is I don't want to have to tell my dad there's nothing I can do. You guys might be able to tell me what's wrong, or at least tell me how to take it apart to assess the damage. Are there spare parts I can buy and replace myself to get it working again? I at least would like to know that I can give back my dad a working flashlight without having to spend another $80 for a brand new one.

where did you buy the D20?

If you bought the d20 @ 4sevens, just contact them.. they should replace it.

Have you tried changing batteries? The nipple could be dented in. Also rotate the split ring.

csshih said:

where did you buy the D20?

If you bought the d20 @ 4sevens, just contact them.. they should replace it.

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No, I bought it from this site:

http://www.tacticalleds.com/NiteCore-SmartPD-D20-R2-p/nitecore-d20-r2.htm

I don't know if that's the same flashlight though, I think I remember reading a different post on this forum about nitecore starting to use Q5 LEDs? I think the one I got was the first version, so I think that makes it a R5? Sorry, I don't know anything about LEDs yet.

Marduke said:

Have you tried changing batteries? The nipple could be dented in. Also rotate the split ring.

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I have a battery checker, the alkalines that were in the flashlight both seem alright.




Just to make sure, I put in 2 freshly charged NiMH batteries. No luck.




What do you mean by the split ring? Is this it, in the head? Sorry my hands are still dirty from working on my car.




Here's a better picture of the electronics in the head. I'm pretty sure this is what you mean, but the only tool I have to rotate it is a really small flathead screwdriver. Would that work?




Thanks again for all your help.

Yeah, that brass ring in the head. Use a small flathead, rotate it around, and give the gap a little pry. Make sure that ring is moving freely. It should be moving on a low travel spring. It may just be bound a little.

Ok, the brass ring does seem to rotate freely with a screwdriver, and I see what you mean by the ring moving on a low travel spring.

From what I can tell, it seems pretty unbound, and I can push the ring down on the spring with my screwdriver. Still no luck. It does seem a little sticky in some places, would it be a bad idea to spray a little silicon lubricant in there? Or does it seem like the problem is elsewhere?

I'd say some heavy component probably came away from the board - such as the inductor. A while back the Fenix E0 on my keyring failed due to the inductor shearing away from the board (stuff on a keyring gets bashed around a lot). Unfortunately you wont be able to fix that unless you can get the driver out of the head and have a very steady hand and a decent soldering iron

I've had very good experiences with tacticalleds.com. Contact Rick London he's the owner or his partner and they should take care of you. Either call them at 877-376-0209 or email at [email protected] or [email protected]. I have had a similar issue with a Nitecore D10 and they just shipped me out a new one and I sent back the broken one after I received the new one. Since they were out of the Q5 I originally had they sent me an R2 very high quality customer service.

Viper715 said:

I've had very good experiences with tacticalleds.com. Contact Rick London he's the owner or his partner and they should take care of you. Either call them at 877-376-0209 or email at [email protected] or [email protected]. I have had a similar issue with a Nitecore D10 and they just shipped me out a new one and I sent back the broken one after I received the new one. Since they were out of the Q5 I originally had they sent me an R2 very high quality customer service.

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I just sent an e-mail to both of those addresses, and got a reply from Rick London himself in under 15 minutes, with an RMA# and everything!

Whew, I feel relieved.

Thanks to everybody for your great advice!