Squidlight rocks with rechargeables!

shankus

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On my first cell change tonight, I found that my Squidlight would not turn on with my GP AAA NiMHs.

When I looked into it, I saw that the cell contact that contacts the only negative end of a cell in the cap, doesn't have a tall enough nipple to actually make the contact.
The contact relied on the protruding negative terminal of a AAA cell to make the contact.
In trying to add a drop of solder to the contact, the plastic of the cap melted too badly to be salvageable.

One less squidlight in the world...


*EDIT* *UPDATE* The squidlight will work with rechargeables. See this post:
Squidlight rocks with rechargeables! *UPDATE* *EDIT*
 

shiftd

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Re: Squidlight is not

Um, a bit of suggestion.
I don't have squidlight but i think somehow you can use aluminum foil as 'fake nipple' and put that at the bottom of the battery.
 

shankus

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Re: Squidlight is not

Well, that cap screws on. It would be very difficult to have it stay in place while screwing the cap on, and keeping it from touching the other contacts would be equally difficult.
 

shankus

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Re: Squidlight is not

I just received an email from N. S., a representative of Montane Inc., the maker of the Squidlight.

He read my post, emailed me and wants to send me two spare caps for my light.

Nick is a really nice guy, and in our ten minutes speaking on the phone, he told me a few times that he likes CPF, and supports what is going on here. He said he has no problems replacing defective lights.

I think that you will find the customer service at Montane Inc. better than most, should you ever have to deal with them. Hey, they sought me out!

Thanks Nick, I'll be resurrecting my Squidlight in a few days.
 
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shiftd

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Re: Squidlight is not

That is good news, shankus.
So, did you find a way to use the rechargeable on the squidlight yet? care to share?
 

shankus

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Re: Squidlight is not \"rechargeable friendly\".

Not yet, but based on what I did before, I think I can make it work.

I applied the solder in two steps. The first wasn't thick enough to make contact. The second application was just too much cumulative heat.

If I get the solder applied in one step, I think I can pull it off.

I'm really not interested in a light that can't use rechargeables...
-----------------------------------------------------

Nick said they weren't aware that the light wouldn't use rechargeable cells.

I told him that's why CPF is so valuable to them. We wring lights out so thoroughly here, and there is so much communication, and so many ideas, that not much will go unnoticed here.

I will post my results when I confront the challenge with a new SquidCap.
 

shankus

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Hey Squidlight owners, here's an update...

I got another email from Nick this morning, asking how the rechargeable problem was going.
He told me that their lights there were all working on rechargeables.

None of the brands I have were working, but I went and tried it again.

I saw the light flash when I tried to turn it on.

When I took the cap off to look at it again, I discovered the real problem.

The rechargeables I have, have a top that is totally insulated, except for the small protruding nipple contact. The body of the light has springs for cell contacts. They work fine for the negative pole of the cells, but the one that is inserted positive end in, wasn't making contact with the spring. The nipple rested in the center of the spring, and contacted nothing.
I fixed it by using hemostats to squeeze in the first 1/2 turn of the spring, such that it crosses the diameter of the spring. Now, the positive pole of the cell can't miss contacting the spring.

I feel stupid about this, since I found the same problem with my Pelican HeadsUP Lite, and fixed it in exactly the same way.


So there you go, I was wrong again. Don't you just hate that?

On the positive side, I now know that my Squidlight will take any cells, and that the customer service at Squidlight rocks! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/buttrock.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinser2.gif


Thanks again Nick!
 

shankus

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Here's a photo of the fix, finally...

Dsc00011.jpg
 
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