SST-50 LED came apart on my Thrunite Catapult! Help!

I've never seen anything quite like this. The small glass lense that sits over the emitter seems to have come unglued, at least thats how it appears. I don't know if they are actually glued but some sort of gummy residue has been left behind. I took pics but they didn't come out well at all. Hopefully the pic below will give you an idea of what has come off. There is a small lense and a small metal frame that I imagine is supposed to shim the back side of the lense up so that its not actually touching the emitter. The lense and frame are still adhereing to one another but there is still a lot of movement. There is some gummy clear residue stuck to the lense and frame and this seems to be whats holding them together. There is also some still on the pill itself, partially covering the emitter. The emitter still seems to be working at full output but w/out the lense I'm sure there is some light that is being lost behind the reflector. Has anybody had a problem like this???? Is it possible to slowly remove the glue still on the emitter as long as I don't touch the emitter? How easily can it be damaged if touched and is there a way to remount the lense and frame after those are cleaned?

I've only had this two weeks, the light has never been dropped, no jarring impacts of any kind. I've not used the light for anything except screwing around in the backyard. The light has never been run long enough to even get that warm, less than 5 min at the most. The only thing I can figure is that I left the light sitting outside for about 15 minutes. When I picked it up I was a little surprised at how cold it felt but didn't really think anything of it. I turned the light on momentarily and then off as I went into the house. I was just about to set it down when I noticed that the lense sitting on the emitter had some residue behind that looked like cracks. I'm not sure if the glue froze while I was away, I know some low energy adhesives can freeze and be permenantly degraded even after they thaw back out. Maybe the glue was degraded by the rapid change in temperature when I turned it on cold. I'm just guessing at this point. Thanks for any help that you can offer.

apparently the LED should still continue to work even without that semi-sphere thing.

I'd personally just send it straight back to the dealer.

If you want to deal with it yourself, I'll leave the recommendation/s to the experts

This is really common. phlatled's are known to have delicate domes. Usually come off when someone is building / modding and puts too much pressure on the dome.

i now know the cause. apparently it is possible to over-tighten the head and pill housing. the base of the reflector can press down on the plastic cover that surrounds the dome and emitter. lesson learned.

I don't think the gummy stuff is glue and you shouldn't try to remove it. It's probably silicon gel. It's there to protect the LED from the environment. If you don't like it, return it for a refund or a replacement.

Removing the dome should decrease the apparent die size, and improve throw.

I remember reading somewhere that Phlatlight can sell you the LEDs without the dome.

but what's the disadvantage?

We found that it is over tighten. but no problem. you can send the LED model to Dealer for replacement. Ok? or please contact me which dealer you purchase from., I can help you to deal with it !

[email protected]

Gunner12 said:

Removing the dome should decrease the apparent die size, and improve throw.

I remember reading somewhere that Phlatlight can sell you the LEDs without the dome.

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ironically, a couple hours before the damage occurred i was adjusting the head to see how the beam would be altered by threading in or out. unscrewing and moving the head out about 1/8" really turned it into a sharp pencil beam, very cool. i had a left over washer from screwing w/ my aspheric lights and installed it around the collar of the LED housing so i could get the head threaded tightly but further out then original. up until then i had always been keeping it nice and snug, no spacing, not sure how it held up as long as it did.

this is what resulted from moving the head out...and this was while the dome and frame were still intact:

ThruNite said:

We found that it is over tighten. but no problem. you can send the LED model to Dealer for replacement. Ok? or please contact me which dealer you purchase from., I can help you to deal with it !

[email protected]

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i was relieved to see it was just a tightening issue rather than temperature. i should be good to go, Jay already dropped one in the mail earlier today and i'm sending mine back. don't ever drop that guy as your dealer, customer service is the best i've had.