D10 Positive Contact Fell Off -- Possible to Reattach?

Well, I dropped my D10 at work today, from about 5ft on to concrete. I was a little weary at first, but the light still worked fine for the rest of the day, so I thought nothing of it and marked it up as just another cosmetic ding.

Well, when I went to change the battery tonight, the positive button fell off the driver board in the head! My heart nearly sank. It still works with all of my NiMH cells, as they have a large button head. However, my TrustFire 14500s are a no-go, due to their lower-profile positive contact.

Is there any way to reattach the little contact button safely and securely, or do I have to send my light in? :mecry: Anyone have any thoughts?

Here's a visual of the aftermath.



Thanks!

I wonder how easily that would solder back on? It would prob take a steady hand and a soldering gun with a small tip!

I just looked at mine. I am also thinking that a small button magnet may work if it would stay in place.

Best option is to send it for repair or replacement.

You can re-solder it if you are careful, my guess is that too small of a tip would be a problem, however if you can send it in for repair go that route.

Looks like the solder didn't reflow completely when the board was made.

Not unusual, the small components all around will heat up enough to take solder a long time before the big button does.

I would personally consider it a warranty repair. I would not do it myself... by the time you sufficiently heat it up to melt the solder, the rest of the components on both sides of the board could loosen up. The wires connecting the LED to the board on the other side may be under installation stress and become detatched.

Thanks for the replies. I think I'm going to send it in, as I don't trust my soldering skills enough to tackle a task like this. I'm much more comfortable using a torch to solder 16awg wire together.

I'm heartbroken that my beloved D10 will be down for a while. However, it does give me a chance to throw the Quark AA NT in to my EDC rotation. :naughty: I'll be a little more careful with this one though, as she's still pretty shiny and new.

The same thing happened to mine so I just sent it back to 4sevens instead of screwing around with a soldering iron I'm no good at. If you bought it from him, you will have no worries.

what about putting it down in place and then just a drop of superglue at the edge?

Superglue isn't conductive, so I'm not convinced what that would achieve.

It's a clear warranty repair so far better to send it in.

There is conductive glue : http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/item/WG-1/CONDUCTIVE-GLUE-0.3-FL.OZ./-/1.html

Hmmm - current draw on a 14500 is probably well over 1000 mA.

Not sure I'd want that going through a layer of "conductive glue"

Yes, probably not the best idea .

I was just thinking if you cleaned up the surfaces and held it in place and just a drop of glue at the edge it would run along the edge only . But too much chance of it racing across the whole surface and I never had much luck with superglue holding especially in this situation where there are forces put upon that button from the battery and twisting action, it probably wouldnt hold for long.

Crappy idea, dont listen to me please

Y'know what ? I never could get anything to stick to anything else with superglue . . . except things stuck to my fingers of course !

I had the same thing happen to a Jetbeam III-M. I was going to send it in, but they had no warm tints in stock....and I didn't want to wait or go Cool Tint.
I fired up the soldering iron and re-soldered the contact. No problems since.
G27

Hi Merkurman,

Exactly the same thing happened with my D10, though I can't recall to have been dropping it. I contacted 4Sevens for a warranty repair and send the light to them. Within two weeks or so I received it back repaired.
I think it was a miss in the production, and likely the same with your example.

Regards, Patric

You can use silver epoxy for jobs like this, but it tends to be rather pricey.