What's inside a Zebralight ???

sinthemau · Jun 11, 2011

Just bought from a local reseller a new Zebra SC51. Long awaited to EDC... after reading a lot of reviews and notes.
It was the TORCH for me!

And then postman come and unpack...
take it out...
look at it from different side, feeling the solid and smooth of Al HA Type III...
then finally turn to look at the source of light...the Nirvana of Flashaholic...

and...HORROR!!! :eeksign:
:barf:

:hairpull::hairpull::hairpull:

(IT'S INSIDE the lens...obviously)

:hairpull::hairpull::hairpull:

Poor QC in Zebra factory, I think..and maybe little cleaning in working area. :tsk:

Not to be tolerated!

These tools cost a lot of money and I would like to have what I pay for. :rant:

I have payed the equivalent of 90 USD for this torch in Italy and just ordered from Zebra the new SC600 and waiting for it, but with the current issues of battery/tube size and owning some AW2900 I purchased 2 Sanyo 2600mAh just to be sure to power SC600, so 20 USD more not expected...

I was very found of Zebra, I have 3 (soon 4) of them and love the specs, but not the facts! :sigh:

So...at the end: I do not want to throw away my hardly earned money and now I will think 2, 3 maybe 1000 times before buying Zebras again and surely NO MORE PRE-ORDER.

I hope they improve QC, cleaning of production facilities and design of electronics (see SC600 thread) because WE NEED GOOD ZEBRALIGHTS.

All the best

rioimmagina · Jun 11, 2011

Fattela cambiare!!!
if you bought from a local reseller, RMA man!
This is why I won't buy from Zebra.com... Quality control issues are often around the corner....

rioimmagina · Jun 11, 2011

sorry triple post!

EngrPaul · Jun 11, 2011

That would be an easy fix if the head wasn't threadlocked. Now you have to go through the hassle, return postage, and waiting all over again. :hairpull:

LEDAdd1ct · Jun 11, 2011

Has anyone ever successfully opened (without damaging) a Zebralight headlamp or flashlight?

twl · Jun 11, 2011

Wow!
You really lucked out!

You got an extra piece of debris in your light, along with the bundle of known Zebralight design flaws, for only the mere price of $90 US dollars.

Man! What a bargain!

alan98vw · Jun 11, 2011

I just brought a H51W from goinggear about 3 weeks ago(May 19), it also has that too, but about 1/5 of that size, looks the same color and it is triangle shade. But it is right on the edge, only a little sticking out though, it bother me a little, but I hate to wast time call, RMA and shipping, plus I had search couple months to find/locate a seller had the NW version.
If I got mine like yours, I would return it and get a replacement, that is just too noticeable.

woodentsick · Jun 11, 2011

twl said:
...You got an extra piece of debris in your light, along with the bundle of known Zebralight design flaws...

Such as?

woodentsick · Jun 11, 2011

Double post

StandardBattery · Jun 11, 2011

That is annoying. However since you bought it from a local dealer, it's not really a big problem, you can return it easy and hopefully they have a good one to exchange it for if you want to do that. This is why I still like buy from good dealers.

Derek Dean · Jun 11, 2011

Please don't get me wrong, as I'm not defending Zebralight, but this kind of thing happens with ANY mass production item from ANY company.

It's just not practical or economically feasible to mass produce anything with zero defects, which is why it's always important to buy from a dealer with a good return policy. I especially like retailers like Amazon.com because they will pay the return shipping if the item is DOA or has a manufacturing defect like the one pictured here.

Over the years I've had to return a LOT of stuff, and I've come to see it as just part of the game, especially when dealing with the ever increasingly complex devices we love to buy these days.

I would imagine that the piece of debris pictured was not in that location when the light was given it's final inspection and then packaged for sale, but got knocked loose during shipment, although how it came to be inside the reflector is puzzling.

The other thing to remember is that we are buying cutting edge technology, and if you believe that every release of a new product should be absolutely free from defects of any kind, then you should wait until the 4rth or 5th generation of an item before jumping in to buy it, because first generation cutting edge products are known for having flaws, sometimes minor, sometimes major.

I'm sorry your light has this problem, but it's not the end of the world, and it's not indicative that Zebralight has a major QC problem. Stuff happens. Send it back and get another one.

tre · Jun 11, 2011

I ordered a couple new Zebralights about 3 months ago and they arrived all scratched up with mismatched touch up paint and lots of dust on the reflector and even finished into the reflective coating on the reflector. (pics here) http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...-ZebraLights&p=3602761&viewfull=1#post3602761

That said, I just got my new Zebralight SC600 and it was perfect (it looked to me like they stepped up their quality) though a few other people have had bad switches on the new SC600.

They design some amazing lights with great tints and one of the best user interfaces in the business. They are among my most favorite brands but they REALLY need to work on their quality control. Currently is seems they have none.

Deal4 · Jun 16, 2011

woodentsick said:
Such as?

I too would like to know about the "bundle of know Zebralight design flaws" that twl was refering to!
I know that some people don't like the fact that they can come on in your pocket if they aren't locked out, but I personally don't find that a "design flaw".

wrf · Jun 17, 2011

Deal4 said:
I too would like to know about the "bundle of know Zebralight design flaws" that twl was refering to!
I know that some people don't like the fact that they can come on in your pocket if they aren't locked out, but I personally don't find that a "design flaw".

1) water leaks
2) sharp edges
3) damaged emitters

I have not yet personally experienced the self-shattering window.

Lightman2 · Jun 17, 2011

Derek Dean said:
Please don't get me wrong, as I'm not defending Zebralight, but this kind of thing happens with ANY mass production item from ANY company.

It's just not practical or economically feasible to mass produce anything with zero defects, which is why it's always important to buy from a dealer with a good return policy. I especially like retailers like Amazon.com because they will pay the return shipping if the item is DOA or has a manufacturing defect like the one pictured here.

Over the years I've had to return a LOT of stuff, and I've come to see it as just part of the game, especially when dealing with the ever increasingly complex devices we love to buy these days.

I would imagine that the piece of debris pictured was not in that location when the light was given it's final inspection and then packaged for sale, but got knocked loose during shipment, although how it came to be inside the reflector is puzzling.

The other thing to remember is that we are buying cutting edge technology, and if you believe that every release of a new product should be absolutely free from defects of any kind, then you should wait until the 4rth or 5th generation of an item before jumping in to buy it, because first generation cutting edge products are known for having flaws, sometimes minor, sometimes major.

I'm sorry your light has this problem, but it's not the end of the world, and it's not indicative that Zebralight has a major QC problem. Stuff happens. Send it back and get another one.

Spot on Derek, couldn't have said it better myself.

Lightman2 · Jun 17, 2011

My recently purchased SC51 arrived perfectly and as Derek stated buying for a decent reseller who will take good care of you means there should be no issues on returning it if you get a dud.

sinthemau · Jun 17, 2011

Just an updating...

the local dealer is exchanging my defective torch ... thanks to him: he is a great seller with very competitive prices and great service to customers.

For Zebralight I only have to say that a big sale price MUST follow a great QC.

We do not pay only mere components cost but also R&D, QC, Marketing ...
So if SC51 would cost USD 20.00-30.00 I could accept some problems like ZL torches show in these days ( mine, SC600...), but at USD 64.00 I could not accept a similar failure rate.

Maybe a rethinking in company strategies could help ZL to become one of the greatest manufacturer in flashlight market.

E.G. I do not like Fenix design but I have never found one of their torches defective, or read a lot of complaints about them. This is not true for ZL...and I really like a lot more Zebra design. :sssh:

Zebra...it's up to you entering or not the big market! :wave:

TyJo · Jun 17, 2011

woodentsick said:
Such as?

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?266736-H60-break-len
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?251039-Zebralight-reliability-(the-poll)

I don't own one but I was under the impression that most of the issues have been cleared up? But like I said, I don't own one...

Cataract · Jun 17, 2011

Derek Dean said:
Please don't get me wrong, as I'm not defending Zebralight, but this kind of thing happens with ANY mass production item from ANY company.

It's just not practical or economically feasible to mass produce anything with zero defects, which is why it's always important to buy from a dealer with a good return policy. I especially like retailers like Amazon.com because they will pay the return shipping if the item is DOA or has a manufacturing defect like the one pictured here.

Over the years I've had to return a LOT of stuff, and I've come to see it as just part of the game, especially when dealing with the ever increasingly complex devices we love to buy these days.

I would imagine that the piece of debris pictured was not in that location when the light was given it's final inspection and then packaged for sale, but got knocked loose during shipment, although how it came to be inside the reflector is puzzling.

The other thing to remember is that we are buying cutting edge technology, and if you believe that every release of a new product should be absolutely free from defects of any kind, then you should wait until the 4rth or 5th generation of an item before jumping in to buy it, because first generation cutting edge products are known for having flaws, sometimes minor, sometimes major.

I'm sorry your light has this problem, but it's not the end of the world, and it's not indicative that Zebralight has a major QC problem. Stuff happens. Send it back and get another one.

+1

May I also ad that newer products are inevitably more prone to flaws, as it is absolutely impossible for a manufacturer to find all the possible design or production related problems without running the actual production.

In the end, the customers who buy a new product are doing the real final testing of the said product. I never EVER buy a new computer or software in the first 6 months the product came out and try to wait even longer. Fortunately, flashlights can be returned for an exchange or reimbursment.

sinthemau · Jun 20, 2011

George from Zebralight PMed me suggesting to have my SC51 replaced from reseller or by them. I thank him for reading and answer the thread.

His comment was:

"We believe that the 'dirt' is most likely a piece of anodized aluminum that broke off from the aluminum body during the transportation to Italy. We will add a de burr process in the manufacturing to get ride of any potential 'dirt'."

So I'm happy to have improved Zebralight manufacturing process and earned

...spent some Dollars.

All the best

What's inside a Zebralight ???

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