My Zebralight made a fool out of me

So I went on a weekend camping trip and just got back last night. I was going with a group of 4 friends. None of them are really gear junkies and none are into flashlights. Two of them use Petzl e+lites. The conversation was turning to headlamps when I commented that I also had an e+lite. I then started bragging on my Zebralight H501w a little bit, mentioning why it was my primary headlamp over the e+lite. I had just gotten done talking about the aluminum body and rugged construction when I flicked it on low. Everybody was impressed for a split second, when BAM! The light turned off.

I was nonplussed, thinking the battery in it was dead since I use it for reading quite a bit. One friend tosses me a AA and I pop that in. Nothing. I tried at least 4 other AA batteries, including some that were powering my Quarks, and nothing worked.

In the end I ended up putting my Quark 1xAA warm in the Zebralight strap and using it all weekend, but it wasn't the same. I have to say, after a failure with my original H30, I am pretty disappointed. I definitely learned the lesson that "two is one and one is none" and I am glad I had a couple of spares.

Sorry Snow, that's a total bummer.

Great job on being prepared!

I love my Zebra but I have heard about some other failures.

My 501 does strange stuff like this too, but I'm not sure of the cause. Might be a connection thing. For instance I'll pop out a bad cell, in goes a newly charged Eneloop and bam, nothing. I have to fiddle with it, shake it, whatever, and eventually it'll decide to come on and does so reliably until I remove/replace the battery again. Annoying to an extent.

That was a severe disappointment for you - what a humiliating and annoying thing to happen to a flashaholic! You have my full sympathy.

Did you find out what was wrong with it?

Hi, first post here - just wanted to add that my trusty H50-P4 died on me today. I use it for work (electrician) and have come to depend on it over the last couple of years. I'm assuming a (die?) connection has failed because if I tap it, it comes on for a few seconds and then fades to a very dim level.
I am now hesitant to order another... would have expected it to last a bit longer for that kind of money. Any decent alternatives with the same type of flood beam?

DM51 said:

That was a severe disappointment for you - what a humiliating and annoying thing to happen to a flashaholic! You have my full sympathy.

Did you find out what was wrong with it?

Click to expand...

Yeah, it was pretty embarassing. You can bet I didn't hear the end of it all weekend. I still have not figured out what is wrong. I have been putting all different AAs in it, tapping it, shaking it, etc. I really want to get it replaced, but I don't know if I can trust another. I'm thinking about a Saint Minimus now, but it's so expensive. :sigh:

That sucks. The H501w is a near perfect camp headlamp but guessing not so much in this case. Backups are key in the woods no matter who makes th light. Contact ZL, sure they would fix it.

Ok think I might have fixed it. Curiosity got the better of me so I decided to crack the head... which is just screwed on with loctite on so it came off ok with a pair of grips. There's no obvious way to get at the insides but then I remembered my experiences with the cheap DX lights... where the weak point is often the contact between the body and the head. So I cleaned up all contact surfaces with alcohol, applied some silver conductive paint to the end of the body (seemed like a good idea?), screwed the head back on (sans loctite) and VOILA!! Everything now works fine!!
And I now have an Ultrafire UF H2 on its way as a backup

Glad you got your's working. My H50 has been great but not used as much as the ones spoke of here. I'd like to know how you find the Ultrafire clone. Seems kinda high on price to me so I am undecided on whether to get one or not.

mich75 said:

Ok think I might have fixed it. Curiosity got the better of me so I decided to crack the head... which is just screwed on with loctite on so it came off ok with a pair of grips. There's no obvious way to get at the insides but then I remembered my experiences with the cheap DX lights... where the weak point is often the contact between the body and the head. So I cleaned up all contact surfaces with alcohol, applied some silver conductive paint to the end of the body (seemed like a good idea?), screwed the head back on (sans loctite) and VOILA!! Everything now works fine!!
And I now have an Ultrafire UF H2 on its way as a backup

Click to expand...

What do you mean by "screw the head back on" when speaking about a H501 ??

How embarrassing. Nothing worse in this hobby than trying to show off a light and then have it fail. :scowl:

Oddjob said:

How embarrassing. Nothing worse in this hobby than trying to show off a light and then have it fail. :scowl:

Click to expand...

It SUCKED, especially in the company I was in. I will never hear the end of it. The best part is that I was talking about how durable and well built it is when it happened.

fa__ said:

What do you mean by "screw the head back on" when speaking about a H501 ??

Click to expand...

He has an H50.

thats the worst man...

Something similar happened to my H51. I returned it but I bet it was the same problem. I am willing to accept these issues out of my sub $15 cheap Chinese budget lights but when I pay over $60 for a name brand light and it starts having problems in the second day, I am not happy.

pictures would be appreciated, anybody doing some flashlight surgeries should put that in the back of their minds before they start, document it for us!
OP fixed his problem so I sure wouldn't ask him to repeat the process, but I'd love to see what happened.

way to go Snow, I think you've vindicated yourself whether the witnesses will ever know that or not.

eh4 said:

pictures would be appreciated, anybody doing some flashlight surgeries should put that in the back of their minds before they start, document it for us!
.........
way to go Snow, I think you've vindicated yourself whether the witnesses will ever know that or not.

Click to expand...

I would have loved to see that as well. I am always showing off my lights (only when the conversation comes up of course) and always have my H51 in my bag is is the first to come out. Intend on getting the H502 when it comes out as I think may be a good addition. I have always been a little wary of operating on my lights apart from the general clean (I still haven't mustered the courage to take of the o rings for fear of breaking them)

Snow did you notice any foreign material on the contact before you started? What were the condions of the camp. Winter/summer/hot/cold/humid/raining/muddy ect.

Do you realize Snow posted this over 2 years ago ? necrothread !

speedsix, weren't you ranting about this 4 months ago? i think it was pretty well documented there that you didn't give ZL's much of a chance. and you still haven't let it go?

speedsix... members who persist with single-issue complaints run the risk of being accused of trolling. It was not necessary to bump this old thread with a reference to your own antipathy to ZL.

It's closed for now, but if the OP would like it re-opened, I'll listen to a submission via PM.