Jetbeam problem

87gn · Oct 20, 2009

I have a Jetbeam Jet-I Pro IBS 3.0, at least I think that's what it is called. Been using it for a few weeks and have been impressed with its output and runtime with a protected Ultrafire 14500.

Earlier tonight I was riding my motorcycle, and my headlight went out. No problem - I pulled out my Jetbeam and held it in my left hand. Made shifting interesting, but I was able to see very well and let people know I was there. Unfortunately, after about 4 minutes, the light went out. I was able to turn it back on a few seconds later, but it died again. When I was able to stop, I tried to switch to a lower setting, but it would only turn on high. I kept riding, but it died again a few minutes later.

When I got home, aided by the free keychain light from BatteryJunction, I turned it on again, and it worked fine.

I had pretty much figured out while riding that it was overheating, but it didn't feel hot in my hand (probably due to airflow, but it must have still been hot inside). I tried swapping batteries to a fresh 14500, and left it on - it shut off after 6 minutes. It's incredibly hot to the touch, I wouldn't want to hold it with anything more than fingertips.

Is this normal or is there something wrong with the light? I am pretty much only interested in 14500 capabilities, with a AA it's not bright enough for my needs. Thanks.

octaf · Oct 20, 2009

87gn said:
I have a Jetbeam Jet-I Pro IBS 3.0, at least I think that's what it is called. Been using it for a few weeks and have been impressed with its output and runtime with a protected Ultrafire 14500.

Earlier tonight I was riding my motorcycle, and my headlight went out. No problem - I pulled out my Jetbeam and held it in my left hand. Made shifting interesting, but I was able to see very well and let people know I was there. Unfortunately, after about 4 minutes, the light went out. I was able to turn it back on a few seconds later, but it died again. When I was able to stop, I tried to switch to a lower setting, but it would only turn on high. I kept riding, but it died again a few minutes later.

When I got home, aided by the free keychain light from BatteryJunction, I turned it on again, and it worked fine.

I had pretty much figured out while riding that it was overheating, but it didn't feel hot in my hand (probably due to airflow, but it must have still been hot inside). I tried swapping batteries to a fresh 14500, and left it on - it shut off after 6 minutes. It's incredibly hot to the touch, I wouldn't want to hold it with anything more than fingertips.

Is this normal or is there something wrong with the light? I am pretty much only interested in 14500 capabilities, with a AA it's not bright enough for my needs. Thanks.

It sounds like vibration, not the heat that cause the problem.

berry580 · Oct 20, 2009

this doesn't sound 'normal'.
Your light might be driven significantly harder than it should be, so it produces more light on max and it gets hotter than its designed to also.

It would only turn on, on high?? is that another issue?

i'd recommend sending it back to your dealer.

grunscga · Oct 20, 2009

The Jet-I v3 does get quite toasty on 14500 on max. I've never had mine shut off on me, but I never set it down when it's on max, either. I fairly recently used mine on max for about 10-15 minutes straight while helping set things up for my brother's wedding. It was down in Alabama, and about 85 degrees (F), but the light was fine (although it fairly rapidly started to feel like holding on to a hot cup of coffee). Unfortunately for runtime testing purposes, I was operating on a partial charge :shakehead, and I wasn't sure how much runtime I had left on the 14500, so I switched to a fully charged C2 w/ Deerelight dropin at the first opportunity (no heat issues there, at all

).

Still, I got way more than 6 minutes out of it in hot weather, with no moving air from a motorcycle, either.

Some questions:

Were you holding the head or the tail of the light? The light definitely needs "human-powered" cooling to run on max for extended periods; if you were holding it by the tail that may not be enough to keep things cool?
Do you have access to a DMM with 10A capability? My Jet-I v3 shows about 1.06A at the tail with a 3.96V 14500. Large deviation from that might signify a driver problem?
I only have AW 14500s, and they only get mildly warm at ~1A. Do the Ultrafires get hot all by themselves at those currents?

berry580 · Oct 20, 2009

octaf said:
It sounds like vibration, not the heat that cause the problem.

87gn said:
When I got home, aided by the free keychain light from BatteryJunction, I turned it on again, and it worked fine.
[...]
I tried swapping batteries to a fresh 14500, and left it on - it shut off after 6 minutes. It's incredibly hot to the touch, I wouldn't want to hold it with anything more than fingertips.

So maybe not vibrations? Besides, if the light can sustain 30 secs of constant vibrations, i'd imagine it can sustain over 6 mins of vibrations.

87gn · Oct 20, 2009

Thanks for the quick responses.

grunscga said:
Some questions:

Were you holding the head or the tail of the light? The light definitely needs "human-powered" cooling to run on max for extended periods; if you were holding it by the tail that may not be enough to keep things cool?

Do you have access to a DMM with 10A capability? My Jet-I v3 shows about 1.06A at the tail with a 3.96V 14500. Large deviation from that might signify a driver problem?

I only have AW 14500s, and they only get mildly warm at ~1A. Do the Ultrafires get hot all by themselves at those currents?

I think I was holding it with my thumb and forefinger, by the body of the light, and shifting with my pinky, ring, and middle fingers.

I have a multimeter at my shop, will check tomorrow.

I ran both my 14500s down (only have 2) comparing this light to my other AA lights, so I'll have to wait until they're charged to get back to you on the last one. I've heard negative things about the Ultrafires, but they're all that Batteryjunction had (and CFRlights, where I bought the Jetbeam).

berry580 said:
this doesn't sound 'normal'.
Your light might be driven significantly harder than it should be, so it produces more light on max and it gets hotter than its designed to also.

It would only turn on, on high?? is that another issue?

i'd recommend sending it back to your dealer.

Yes, forgot to expand on that - I can no longer program the light or switch to a lower output.

grunscga · Oct 21, 2009

87gn said:
Yes, forgot to expand on that - I can no longer program the light or switch to a lower output.

Well, in that case, it's probably dead. You can't access the programming menu at all (eg. three-rapid-presses does nothing at all)?

I'd be tempted to try a factory reset to see what happened before I returned it, but if you can't get into the menu at all, that might not be possible. I'm at work right now, and people would look at me funny if I pulled out my Jet-I and started programming it

, but I think the sequence should be:

Click on
Three rapid half presses, pause
half press, pause
half press, pause
click off
wait 5 seconds

I don't really expect that to do anything, but it might be worth the 12 seconds if it did fix things.

On the other hand, since you probably don't trust this light much anymore, it might be best to return it. You probably won't use a light you don't trust (at least, I wouldn't).

Hitthespot · Oct 21, 2009

87gn said:
Yes, forgot to expand on that - I can no longer program the light or switch to a lower output.

Well up until I read this statement it sounded like bad / weak batteries.

My Jet 1 v/3 with R2 will go out when the battery gets weak. I can turn it off and back on again only to have it go out again 15 - 30 seconds later. However if you have placed known good batteries in it and are having programing troubles, it sounds like you need to send your light in for replacement.

Oh and my Ultrafire 14500 batteries last exactly half as long as my AW's.

Bill

87gn · Oct 21, 2009

I've tried to reset it, still no worky.

CFRLights is going to take it back. I will probably just have them exchange it because I like the concept of this light.

I will pick up some AWs.

BTW, with an Eneloop, I have just over 1 hour of runtime on high with this light. No overheating problems.

berry580 · Oct 21, 2009

an hr on high sounds about right, so its just when li-ion are used...

henry1960 · Oct 21, 2009

Sounds like you have a bad light and defititly would send it back and exchange it. But do yourself some good when you do and get some AW`S 14500 and you will be happy with the runtimes and quality of your new light :thumbsup:

Jetbeam problem

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octaf

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berry580

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