Nitecore D11: off-center emitter

I just bought a D11 from Battery Junction. The emitter is pretty far off center. I guess I should take some photos... Canon point & shoot in the dark with D11 on lowest setting:



Here's one with the D11 off and my D10 R2 providing illumination:



I've had off-center emitters before and never bothered with it, but this seems pretty bad. The beam has a significant dark ring, which may not be the fault of the off-center emitter, but anyway I feel like asking for an exchange. My D10 R2 beam is practically perfect. I would expect, if anything, the larger XP-G to have less of a dark ring.

Anybody have any experience with exchanges at Battery Junction? Am I crazy for wanting an exchange? etc. Thanks!

-Carl
Eagletac P20C2MkII, T100C2MkII, T10L, M2C4, M2SC4MkII
Nitecore D11, D10 R2
"download" custom 1x18650 MkV (SST-50, 2.8A)

they will exchange it no questions.

Mine is also off center, but no way as much as this one!

I can't see that it affects the beam of mine, nevertheless I screwed the light engine out, but there's no way to center the emitter. You see that the black plastic disk the emitter sits on is not centered, I couldn't get it to move though.

If your beam is affected, ask to have it exchanged. A little off is OK, but the emittr doesn't sit "in a corner" however! :wave:

Mine was off center just as bad as yours. Between the UI, lack of clip and off-center LED it became a gift light.

I got a D10 with the ramping UI, just as they were getting hard to find.

It has an off center emitter, too. I bought it as a back-up, because I REALLY like the D10.

On mine, you can ONLY see that the emitter is off center if you do the white wall test.

The center of the beam looks normal, the 'spill' around the hot spot is somewhat irregular. Not too bad, but noticeable.

On a white wall.

Simply put: I can ONLY see it if I LOOK for it.

Perhaps your D11 is the same: on a white wall you can see it. But can you see it if you shine it at a bunch of stuff in a dark room? Outside if you shine it at the grass and bushes?

Perhaps it really not going to be an issue, in real world use.

But, if it REALLY bothers you, send it back. You'll have to pay return shipping, and it will take awhile to get a replacement, if that's what you want to do.

i just bought 2 d11's,one for me and one for my dad.
mine also has a off center emitter,i was also hoping for a little more brightness outta the thing,but it might be the beam pattern that is making me percive this,it is floody and doesnt really have far throw,but this might be the way it was intended,or i mighta expected alittle to much of the thing,and was unreasonable to its design limits..but to me this seems like a flashlight with a usefull range of say,0 to 30ft..is this normal? were the d10's like this?
is there a 1aa edc out there that does have that WOW factor for brightness?

You're right, the D11 is kinda floody with the XP-G. The D10 were throwier, while the last generation with XP-E was already much floodier than the first ones with XR-E.

The D11 disappoints on an AA, that's true, Floody beams look less bright to the eyes, even if the total output is high. But, put a 14500 in the D11 and you will have your wow-effect! :thumbsup:

These lights, all lights for that matter that go over the $40 price mark should have CENTERED emitters. To me it's a sign of cutting corners,low QC and charging people big bucks and delivering substandard products.
There is no reason a company like Nitecore cant devise a simple way to center the emitter on the pill. No excuse other than an eagerness to take the money and a laziness in product quality. On some lights it affects the beam , on others it doesnt seem to but regardless....

BatteryJunction is awesome and they will make every effort to get you straightened out and happy. Good Guys!!

Oh man, I'm so disappointed to hear this. I just bought a D11 off the MP and was intending on keeping it for myself to run on 14500's (thanks for that tip Henk :thumbsup but if it's got a horrible beam because of an off-center emitter is there any chance Nitecore will take it back under warranty? Techanically it's not broken :sigh: It should arrive in a couple of days time, I'll let everyone know how the emitter is in mine.

[edit]

I just want to add that whilst I'm disappointed to hear that D11's with off-centered emitters have made it to market, I'm not overly surprised by it.

Check out Nitecore's publicity photos of the front of the light on this page. It's as clear as day that the emitter in that D11 is off center as well.

:sigh: Nitecore really seem to be letting themselves go

While it's true that such lights should have centered emitters (it's one of teh first things we look after!), mine is slightly uncentered and it doesn't have an effect on the beam.

Compared to the one pictured, mine is perhaps not really that bad. I suggest to check the beam and if something doesn't seem right, ask for an RMA, you deserve it!

I'd recommend Matt should check the lights upon arrival or prior sending them out and returning them immediately. If they are all off-center, there'sd a problem though...

Henk_Lu said:

You're right, the D11 is kinda floody with the XP-G. The D10 were throwier, while the last generation with XP-E was already much floodier than the first ones with XR-E.

The D11 disappoints on an AA, that's true, Floody beams look less bright to the eyes, even if the total output is high. But, put a 14500 in the D11 and you will have your wow-effect! :thumbsup:

Click to expand...

thanks henk lu! looks like its time to get a 14500!

Matt7337 said:

Oh man, I'm so disappointed to hear this. I just bought a D11 off the MP and was intending on keeping it for myself to run on 14500's (thanks for that tip Henk :thumbsup but if it's got a horrible beam because of an off-center emitter is there any chance Nitecore will take it back under warranty? Techanically it's not broken :sigh: It should arrive in a couple of days time, I'll let everyone know how the emitter is in mine.

[edit]

I just want to add that whilst I'm disappointed to hear that D11's with off-centered emitters have made it to market, I'm not overly surprised by it.

Check out Nitecore's publicity photos of the front of the light on this page. It's as clear as day that the emitter in that D11 is off center as well.

:sigh: Nitecore really seem to be letting themselves go

Click to expand...

to be honest matt,my badly off center emitter doesnt seem to affect the beam at all,in fact i am writting this in the dark with my d11 above me hanging from its lanyard,and about a hour ago,i was walking in a dark forest with my dog,just using my d11,left the fenixs and m2xc4 at home.
also with the off center emitter,when your doing wall hunting beamshots,the hotspot looks centered,and the spill is even and correct looking,if you didnt see the emitter,you might not even know it wasnt centered...plenty to like about the d11,and floody might be better than throwy for alot of peoples edc use
may the center emitter gods,and tint lotto gods smile upon your d11!
maybe you,ll get the cream of the crop,just gotta wait and see

here's a pic of my d11's emitter.

I bought two Nitecore D11, they have been a disappointment. In one, the emitter is similarly off center; in the other, it is even worse.
What drove me off is that both of them have a standby drain (parasitic drain) of 2.4 mA, which discharges the battery in a week. Other members had the same problem.

Thumbs down for the D11

Anthony

jax said:

to be honest matt,my badly off center emitter doesnt seem to affect the beam at all,in fact i am writting this in the dark with my d11 above me hanging from its lanyard,and about a hour ago,i was walking in a dark forest with my dog,just using my d11,left the fenixs and m2xc4 at home.
also with the off center emitter,when your doing wall hunting beamshots,the hotspot looks centered,and the spill is even and correct looking,if you didnt see the emitter,you might not even know it wasnt centered...plenty to like about the d11,and floody might be better than throwy for alot of peoples edc use
may the center emitter gods,and tint lotto gods smile upon your d11!
maybe you,ll get the cream of the crop,just gotta wait and see

Click to expand...

Thanks for that info, it puts my mind at ease a bit knowing that even if the emitter is off-center a little, it won't affect the beam too much. It wouldn't be a big deal, it's just that I expect the best from Nitecore all the time because all the other lights that I own from them (NEX, D10 R2, SR3) are pretty much top notch, and you know the reputation that the D10 has... pretty much exemplary. I'm worried that NiteCore are starting to cut corners in the QC department and are letting sub-par lights out the door. Hopefully I'm either completely wrong, or I'm right and they will receive enough complaints to do something about it.

Ray_of_Light said:

I bought two Nitecore D11, they have been a disappointment. In one, the emitter is similarly off center; in the other, it is even worse.
What drove me off is that both of them have a standby drain (parasitic drain) of 2.4 mA, which discharges the battery in a week. Other members had the same problem.

Thumbs down for the D11

Anthony

Click to expand...

Yeah, I was aware of this when I bought mine. I suppose I'll get away with it slightly more because I'll be using 14500's in it as opposed to primaries (most of the time, in EDC use anyway), but I might have to get into the habit of hard-locking out the light each night to make sure I'm not constantly experiencing short runtimes.

Ray_of_Light said:

I bought two Nitecore D11, they have been a disappointment. In one, the emitter is similarly off center; in the other, it is even worse.
What drove me off is that both of them have a standby drain (parasitic drain) of 2.4 mA, which discharges the battery in a week. Other members had the same problem.

Thumbs down for the D11

Anthony

Click to expand...

Hi ! i suspect my ex10sp to also have some voltage drain, can you please tell me how can i measure this drain on a PD light with a standard dmm ?

thanks !

Ray_of_Light said:

I bought two Nitecore D11, they have been a disappointment. In one, the emitter is similarly off center; in the other, it is even worse.
What drove me off is that both of them have a standby drain (parasitic drain) of 2.4 mA, which discharges the battery in a week. Other members had the same problem.

Thumbs down for the D11

Anthony

Click to expand...

I just checked mine (wrote this in the D11 thread as well). 3 weeks ago I put in a fresh 14500 and used the light here and there on high, a few minutes IIRC. Well, the voltage of teh cell was 3,80 V now!!! :sick2:

I can't say how much I really used it, but I lock it out now, like all my EX10 and D10 as well... :sigh:

Somebody with the right equipment should check that drain please!