My post about Fenix problems

So I posted a thread here (https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/249589&page=5) about my problems with the Fenix L1D series and how I was done buying Fenix. Man, I never knew it would turn into such a fiasco. The original thread was closed. I want everyone to know that I tried the suggestions offered with no result. I want to respond to some rather insulting comments made.

batmanacw said:

I think we can lock this sucker up now. Can't believe the OP hasn't bothered to tell use how turning the ring worked, if he ever got his mind around the concept.

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I see no reason for your insult. If you read page 1 of the original thread, you will see that I tried this with no result. please click this link to be taken directly to the relevant post: https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/3169486&postcount=28

Crenshaw said:

Actually the reason people want to share bad experiences should be to find a solution. otherwise it IS just bashing a product, and that IS against the rules. No one is saying that its impossible that the OP had problems, or even denying that fenix can have problems, but we are offering solutions.What some of us are taking as insult is that the OP hasnt bothered to come back to the thread and take up the suggestions. I personally can understand if he is truely busy, and has not had time to check CPF, however in that case, i hope all this will clear up in time.

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So criticizing a product is against CPF rules? that seems quite draconian. also, I was away for a while. I didn't mean to insult anyone, and can't imagine why you took it that way. part of the reason I was frustrated was that I was going on a trip and needed a flashlight, and my Fenix failed again. I just got back yesterday and checked the thread and WHOA.

DM51 said:

I think this has gone far enough. I'll consider re-opening it if I receive a persuasive PM from the OP, but for now it's closed.

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Kindly inform me what forum rules I have broken so that I can seek to abide by them in the future.

Many people seem to be blaming me for the light's (repeated) failure. well, I didn't cause it to fail with just over a year of very light use. I can clean contacts, tighten the ring, and do other reasonable things, but when you start talking about solder points and whatnot, I don't have the equipment of knowhow to do this. your average user doesn't either; in fact, by posting here on CPF, I'm doing more than the average user would. it may be that the light is still under warranty; however, since buying the light I have moved to Canada and the postage required to exchange the tailcap (again) would probably come to at least $20, and at this point I'd rather put it toward a new light.

Perhaps people don't realize that not everyone is a "Flashaholic." I don't have dozens of flashlights lying around; this is my primary light, and I depend on it. I don't have the knowledge to disassemble a tailcap and solder it or the like. and I don't WANT to bash Fenix-- I bought it with expectations of quality and I REALLY like the light despite everything. If I could say anything positive I would, but it has caused me a lot of grief. 3 out of 4 of the lights I purchased appear to be bad. Now, if you have 25 lights that's not a bad average, but if you have just 1 light and maybe a Photon backup it is MAJOR to have a non-usable flashlight that cost $60.

If threads involving criticisms are routinely closed down, as people have indicated in my (now closed) thread, what is the point of an online forum? if everything we say about flashlights has to be positive, what is the point of a forum about flashlights? just wondering.


and mods, so you don't close this thread:
a) I love Fenix and every product they make
b) any failing in the light is obviously my fault and I seek the wisdom of others to correct my errors and appease the god of lumens

dantecubit said:

and mods, so you don't close this thread:
a) I love Fenix and every product they make
b) any failing in the light is obviously my fault and I seek the wisdom of others to correct my errors and appease the god of lumens

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Glad I read the post all the way through, the last paragraph is great!

Hey dantecubit I understand your complaints but really don't take to much personally CPF is a great place with great people usually always to go out of their way to help a complete stranger.

Don't let that thread make you not come back and post again. Your consecutive failures with the Fenix was really rare and I think it baffled many including me. We have all heard of switch failures but to have so many in a row is strange to say the least. This may account for any logical explanations.

Oh yeh about the mods and the thread being closed it has happened to us all and we suck it up and keep going. they have alot of content to look through and hey maybe sometimes they get it wrong and maybe sometimes we think they get it wrong but don't. I've been there done that.

So anyway stay around for awhile it really is a wonderful forum.

jhc is right, stick with us. I still enjoyed the last paragraph though!

don't worry, the god of lumens has a plan for you.

have faith brother.

CPF do not produce or sell Fenix lights, you should complain where you bought it.

People have offered advice how to fix it in your earlier thread, if it still acts up, then send it to where you bought it, no one else can help you.

I own 8 Fenix lights, my oldest P2D Q5 is in my pocket almost every day, my L0D Q4 is on my keys, never had a problem :twothumbs

I appreciate the post, I don't think he was trying to do anything to harm the company just stating the facts that relate to his experience with a particular brand of light. I do believe this is the appropriate place to post such experiences....as far as the soldering solution C'MON MAN are you serious? I would never consider such a repair, it's going back. Just my two cents. Hang in there Dantecubit.

I'm a relatively new addition to CPF and I must say; it's a cool place. I like it because I like great gear and gadgets. Where else in the world is there a forum for (flashlight) mavens? This is a huge; repeat huge source of valuable knowledge and info for the designers, manufactures, distributors, dealers and end users of flashlights. Conventional marketing strategies have been stood on their conventional heads with the advent of the discovery of market mavens etc.

The proud, the few; flashlight 'mavens'.

This forum is instrumental in a huge way, in bringing better products to the markets of the world, to which many could probably attest. What a truly remarkable thing. American exceptionalism - no disrespect to the rest of the world's forum users.

I hope Fenix et al appreciate that too; send the OP a new flashlight, heck they're not that expensive to produce!!:naughty:lovecpf

I read through your entire (now closed) thread.
And I am agreement with moderators that your intent was never to really troubleshoot your broken light, but rather to bash an entire brand.

There were several great troubleshooting suggestions, most notably:
1) Contact the retailer and ask for a warranty replacement.
2) Short -B to the body tube with a paperclip, and post back your results.

If you actually did make an effort to troubleshoot the problem, you definitely did not post back your results often/frequently/clearly enough between rants to give members anything to feed off of.

But my opinion means nothing. In the eyes of moderators you were in violation of rule #4, and I agree.
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/3173629&postcount=111

You are not banned (yet). There is still hope to get your light up and running... IF you can post cleanly without ranting against a manufacturer, and limit your comments to the cause-effect-result of your troubleshooting efforts.

This is a pointless thread, but I sense moderators will hopefully give you a second chance.

1) Did you contact your Fenix retailer for an RMA? What did they say?
2) Did you try connecting -Batt to the body tube with a paperclip? what were the results?... light or no light from that test? Until you perform this test you have to way to tell if the problem is isolated to the tailcap.

edited

kramer5150 said:

Name calling is also against forum rules/policy, your "draconian" comment could be seen as violating that rule as well.

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"Draconian" is not name calling.

PM sent to OP

Kramer is 100% right. The OP abandoned his original brand bashing thread which was closed.

With that not being enough, he boldly starts yet another thread just to get in the last word-- this time to take a crack at 2 members, CPF, and a moderator, and ends it with a ridiculously sarcastic comment again aimed at Fenix. :thumbsdow

sabre7 said:

Kramer is 100% right. The OP abandoned his original brand bashing thread which backfired badly and was closed.

With that not being enough, he boldly starts yet another thread just to get in the last word-- this time to take a crack at 2 members, CPF, and a moderator, and ends it with ridiculously sarcastic comment again aimed at Fenix. :thumbsdow

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If you read what I quoted above, batmanacw insulted me. He said I could tighten the ring "if ever got [my] mind around the concept". I didn't "take a crack" at anyone, but he clearly did.

I then stated that I did not mean to insult anyone, if indeed people had felt insulted. I asked the mod to let me know what forum rules I had violated. Again, please explain to me how this is "taking a crack" at anyone.

I did not "abandon" my original thread, I was away. And yes, I did try all suggestions short of soldering, including the paperclip one. My last sarcastic comment was perhaps unnecessary, but it was not directed at Fenix. I was not trying to "get in the last word", but I did want to explain that none of the suggestions had worked, and couldn't do that in the original thread since it had been closed. I PM'd the mod who closed it but got no reply, so I created a new one.

kramer5150, I don't think that calling forum policy "draconian" amounts to name calling, since it is not directed against an individual. in fact, I would say some of the responses to my posts constitute insults, like the one quoted above.


So here's how I see it: I create a thread saying that, because of multiple bad experiences, I won't buy Fenix anymore. People offer suggestions to fix the problem and I do them, no result. I am then informed that creating a thread to "bash" a company is not permitted. but let me ask you: what would have happened if I had created a thread called "need some help with Fenix problems." The suggestions would have been the same, none would have worked, and then at the end of it all if I still had 3 dud lights I would be expected to just stay mum about it, since saying I have 3 duds and won't buy again from the company amounts to "bashing".

people, I assume, come here to research what flashlights to buy. I did before I bought my L1D's. there are many threads breathlessly describing the wonders of various flashlights. so if there are quality issues, even if they are extremely isolated, with a particular flashlight/brand, shouldn't we be allowed to post about them? I think the average poster here is a flashlight hobbyist, and the forum is geared toward them interacting. that's fine and all, but I don't think most realize that the average user doesn't have 18 different lights, heads, tailcaps, a circuit checker and a lumens box.

Thanks to all who offered suggestions, and when I am next in the US I will probably send the light back (again) and get a new tailcap or whatever's wrong. but for now it's off to Chinatown to buy a 5 dollar cheapo LED.

I simply can not believe that someone gets THREE individual Fenix and all do not work.
All the time I am in here (and that Fenix entered and stomped the market), there were no three such defects for all the ppl here in the forum.

1. Possible You got fakes?

2. Is it possible the batteries have been inserted wrong way?
(user fault then)

3. What about where You got them?
They are ~50 a piece! I would CERTAINLY become a "problem customer" should such a 150,-- "problem" happen to me



... and, just to add: the mods in here do not have to kick in often, thats the reason why I like CPF so much.
Also if one is not bashing without a cause, but types his/her arguments - even when they are a bit indiviually - nothing happens.
(If dont believe, search f.e. for posts from me to minimag led, Led Lenser, ...)
To add even more: often I am really surprised how much they "eat" before reacting. To accuse them anything is simply not fair.

So here's how I see it: I create a thread saying that, because of multiple bad experiences, I won't buy Fenix anymore. People offer suggestions to fix the problem and I do them, no result.

I didn't see you post the result of your paper-clip tailcap test... did you try that? if your light does work consistently with the paperclip touching -Batt to the body tube metal, all you have is a bad switch... thats a cheap $10 solution (lighthound.com).

This is what I want you to try and post back the result:

Sometimes, rather than telling the OP that his posting is wrong time after time after time in the forum, it may be better to continue a conversation via PM. Not everybody wants to read the continued postings of either the OP or the one acting like the forum security guard.

In before the lock...

nm... PM sent to OP

Where is the smiley with the violin? :mecry:

We had to explain to you how to tighten the ring with the indents about 10 times. I am still not sure that you understand and now your feelings are hurt.

Have you actually figured out how to turn the ring?

Can you show us that you do know how by taking a picture of your switch taken out of the tail cap? Just keep spinning the ring counter clockwise until it comes out. http://www.4sevens.com/index.php?cPath=27_40

If you can take the switch out, then can you put a new one back in for about $6 to save a $50 light?

kramer5150 said:

I didn't see you post the result of your paper-clip tailcap test... did you try that?

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dantecubit said:

I did not "abandon" my original thread, I was away. And yes, I did try all suggestions short of soldering, including the paperclip one.

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batmanacw said:

Have you actually figured out how to turn the ring?

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dantecubit said:

If you read page 1 of the original thread, you will see that I tried this with no result. please click this link to be taken directly to the relevant post: https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/3169486&postcount=28

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Using the two indents to play with various levels of tightness for the metal ring in the tailcap does not appear to have an effect. the light still fails to turn 'on'.

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