Is my light dying, or are my batteries just old?

Elemeno · Oct 16, 2011

My E2DL doesn't seem to be as bright as it used to be. Actually, it's an E2DL bezel on an E1e body. When I push in the clicky switch, it is bright. But when I take my finger off, the light dims or flickers a little bit. I always thought that was just because the battery is too low, but I just took a fresh battery off the charger and got a dim like that on the first turn on. I tested the batteries, they all test between 3.8v-4v, even the one I just pulled out of the light, it measured the highest at 4.2v. So, I don't know if it's the batteries. I have six AW RCR123a Protected 750 mAh batteries, and since I only use one at a time, they've probably only been charged a few dozen times each over the past few years. Could it be that I charge them so infrequently, that they over-drained and got damaged? I could order a new set of batteries, but I'm wondering if it might actually be the light. Any ideas?

Also, the flicker and dim isn't noticeable with the E2DL body on a fresh battery. Only with the 1 cell body. But when I first got this light, I didn't have this issue on one cell.

purelite · Oct 16, 2011

Sounds like a contact problem. try taking the tailcap off and using a paper clip touch the back of the battery to the edge of the rear of the light body.

Also the E2dl is designed for 6 volts isnt it? one RCR is 3.7 under draw

Elemeno · Oct 16, 2011

Yeah, the E2DL is a 2 cell body. It runs just fine, but a little underpowered with a single cell. I did have a problem the other day when the light wouldn't turn on. I took the tailcap off and it worked alright when I put it back together. Seemed like it was an issue with the switch then. But, now the issue is much different and this has been going on for awhile. The light comes on and stays on just fine, but it dims a tiny bit. You know how the switch clicks twice when you turn it on? Once when you push in, and once when you release the pressure? It is bright as long as I hold the pressure down after the first click. On the second click, when I release the pressure, it dims a little. It doesn't flicker after that, just when the second click happens. It stays on fine after this.

xul · Oct 16, 2011

hcm said:
It is bright as long as I hold the pressure down after the first click. On the second click, when I release the pressure, it dims a little. It doesn't flicker after that, just when the second click happens. It stays on fine after this.

Contact pressure low and/or contact resistance high and/or contact surface integrity impaired.

Elemeno · Oct 16, 2011

Well, I did some testing. I put the E1e tailcap on the light and it worked fine. Assuming it was the tailcap then, I swapped the body for the original E2DL body. Tailcap has no issues with the original body. So, I am back to the assumption that this is a power issue. Basically, with 2 cells there is no problem. One cell and it flickers. So, how do I know if my batteries might be losing it? Is there a better recommendation for battery for this application than the 750mah AW? I know new options have come out int he past few years, maybe I should try out some new batteries?

xul · Oct 17, 2011

High contact resistance may show up as an intermittent problem, in which case you would have to do many mix-and-match experiments to find out what is most likely causing this problem. Keep a record of what worked and what didn't work. Sometimes just heating the connections changes the game.

I don't think it's the batteries to the highest legal standard of evidence [beyond a reasonable doubt].

jh333233 · Oct 17, 2011

Do the problem persist with 2* rcr?

Elemeno · Oct 17, 2011

xul said:
High contact resistance may show up as an intermittent problem, in which case you would have to do many mix-and-match experiments to find out what is most likely causing this problem. Keep a record of what worked and what didn't work. Sometimes just heating the connections changes the game.

I don't think it's the batteries to the highest legal standard of evidence [beyond a reasonable doubt].

Thanks, I'll see what else I can do. Unfortunately, I don't have enough parts to test any more combinations. I was looking around to see if there is any instruction for disassembling the E2DL tailcap, but couldn't find anything. Is there any other cleaning method to use if it is a bad contact as opposed to high resistance? I will try heating it up too to test that.

jh333233 said:
Do the problem persist with 2* rcr?

RCR is all I have. They are all the same AW's purchased at the same time. I used to have some more, not sure what they were, but they were blue. I might still have those to try. I'll look for them.

Robin24k · Oct 17, 2011

Call SureFire and ask them if it's possible to take apart the tailcap. Chances are, they'll probably send you a new one.

jorn · Oct 17, 2011

Did you try this?

try taking the tailcap off and using a paper clip touch the back of the battery to the edge of the rear of the light body.

It will give you the answer right away if it's a switch issue or not.
You can try to follow this guide.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?227518-LED-Troubleshooting-guide-(budget-lights)

eagle Z · Oct 17, 2011

It's some something about the switch! there is two different type of switch,and they have their own advantage and disadvantage as below:
1\mechanical switch:energy save!when you don't use the torch,mechanical switch will help to cut off the energy losing.but it has problems too.as it work at the higher voltage,the contacting spot of switch will oxidize very soon,when situation go worst,it will cause that the torch get dim or even sometimes can't switch the light.in other words,the switch is damaged because of the oxidize and the reason is the high working voltage.
2\pulse/light touch switch: becarse such switch is working in a very low voltage and even none current situation,so it will work for a long time and it will never decline,it will work as you buy it yesterday.but there is also a problem.if the circuit board doesn't design good,it will just declin as the mechanical switch, and at the same time,even when you don't use the torch,it will cause to energy wasty too.but if the circuit board is well done,the pulse switch will never damage and waste very little energy that can be ignored.
so choice the torch will the right switch that you need.wish you good luck

by eagle

Elemeno · Oct 17, 2011

jorn said:
Did you try this?

It will give you the answer right away if it's a switch issue or not.
You can try to follow this guide.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?227518-LED-Troubleshooting-guide-(budget-lights)

Yes, I tried this and I didn't have any flicker issues. But it is hard to tell if the light is putting out the bright pre-click light or the dimmer post-click light. Either way, there is no flicker. I thought I was about to have the switch apart by following the guide, but I got to a point where I didn't really know if I was supposed to open it any more. There is a ring on the outside of the tailcap that I was able to get open, but it seemed to just be a sort of spacer that holds the rubber boot. So, I stopped there.

eagle Z said:
It's some something about the switch! there is two different type of switch,and they have their own advantage and disadvantage as below:
1\mechanical switch:energy save!when you don't use the torch,mechanical switch will help to cut off the energy losing.but it has problems too.as it work at the higher voltage,the contacting spot of switch will oxidize very soon,when situation go worst,it will cause that the torch get dim or even sometimes can't switch the light.in other words,the switch is damaged because of the oxidize and the reason is the high working voltage.
2\pulse/light touch switch: becarse such switch is working in a very low voltage and even none current situation,so it will work for a long time and it will never decline,it will work as you buy it yesterday.but there is also a problem.if the circuit board doesn't design good,it will just declin as the mechanical switch, and at the same time,even when you don't use the torch,it will cause to energy wasty too.but if the circuit board is well done,the pulse switch will never damage and waste very little energy that can be ignored.
so choice the torch will the right switch that you need.wish you good luck

by eagle

Thanks for the tips. It really seems like it is the switch.

Robin24k said:
Call SureFire and ask them if it's possible to take apart the tailcap. Chances are, they'll probably send you a new one.

I am thinking I will call them today and see if they can tell me how to open it. In the past, they have been really good about replacing parts, so I'm sure they will help me one way or another.

Thanks for all the tips here, I will post a follow up after calling SureFire.

Elemeno · Oct 17, 2011

I called SureFire. I pretty much heard what I thought they would say. I said that I am getting a flicker in the switch, and asked if I could disassemble it myself and of course they said that the tailcap is not user serviceable. He said that I can send it in for evaluation, and that it would be repaired or replaced if deemed defective. However, since I am not using the light in a supported configuration, I am not going to send it in with the E1e body. When I use the E2DL body, the switch works fine. So, they will say it works fine as it is meant to, which it does. I have been using this light for several years, though. I have noticed a deterioration of the light and still think that there is probably an issue with the switch. But since it doesn't affect the light in the supported configuration, I'm not going to expect SF to do a thing about it other than perhaps take a look and see if they can see any issues with it. I also have some dust inside the bezel, and he said they could clean that if it is affecting the performance of the light. So, it may be worth it to send it in. But, should I send it with both bodies and an explanation of the issue with the E1e body? When I was at Shot Show, I showed the guys at the SureFire booth my light and nobody blinked about the configuration, so maybe they won't really care and they will support it? I dunno.

Edit to add: I forgot to ask the SF technician the first time I called about the bezel. I turned the crenelations off in my lathe because they were ripping all my pockets. I was concerned at the time if they would void my warranty on the bezel, but figured a light I would actually carry every day is better than a light in the drawer, so I went ahead and did it. Anyway, Greg the technician said it is up to the technician who handles the claim, but didn't think it would be an issue based on the description I gave him. So, just thought that was good FYI.

eagle Z · Oct 17, 2011

I think that if you are good at operating skill,just open the switch and wipe the contact spot of the switch,after that maybe you need to paste the plastic shell with gluewater.after you do that you will find the situation turn well,I do this many times,it's very effective!

Elemeno · Oct 18, 2011

eagle Z said:
I think that if you are good at operating skill,just open the switch and wipe the contact spot of the switch,after that maybe you need to paste the plastic shell with gluewater.after you do that you will find the situation turn well,I do this many times,it's very effective!

I am very good at technical work, but do you have any tips on how to open the switch? I looked around and couldn't find anything, but I'll keep looking. I just don't know what the recommended procedure is.

And what exactly do you mean by gluewater? Sounds like an industry name for an adhesive, but not one I am familiar with.

I am looking forward to fixing my light, hopefully you have some tips!!!!

Thanks!

Robin24k · Oct 18, 2011

There are two grooves on the back of the tailcap, next to the rubber, right? Try using needlenose pliers, or two screwdrivers, and see if you can unscrew it.

eagle Z · Oct 18, 2011

many switch with plastic shell is combine by radiofrequency,so you will find no way to open it if you don't ruin the combined face by force.so I say that you need need gluewater to combine it that can be use as before.the gluewater is any type of thing that you come combine the plastic pieces together and will become fragile at the later time.mechanical switch is all easy to decline,so you need to get ready to mend it for youself,orelse the beloved torch will bother you sometimes.

jh333233 · Oct 18, 2011

hcm said:
I called SureFire. I pretty much heard what I thought they would say. I said that I am getting a flicker in the switch, and asked if I could disassemble it myself and of course they said that the tailcap is not user serviceable. He said that I can send it in for evaluation, and that it would be repaired or replaced if deemed defective. However, since I am not using the light in a supported configuration, I am not going to send it in with the E1e body. When I use the E2DL body, the switch works fine. So, they will say it works fine as it is meant to, which it does. I have been using this light for several years, though. I have noticed a deterioration of the light and still think that there is probably an issue with the switch. But since it doesn't affect the light in the supported configuration, I'm not going to expect SF to do a thing about it other than perhaps take a look and see if they can see any issues with it. I also have some dust inside the bezel, and he said they could clean that if it is affecting the performance of the light. So, it may be worth it to send it in. But, should I send it with both bodies and an explanation of the issue with the E1e body? When I was at Shot Show, I showed the guys at the SureFire booth my light and nobody blinked about the configuration, so maybe they won't really care and they will support it? I dunno.

Edit to add: I forgot to ask the SF technician the first time I called about the bezel. I turned the crenelations off in my lathe because they were ripping all my pockets. I was concerned at the time if they would void my warranty on the bezel, but figured a light I would actually carry every day is better than a light in the drawer, so I went ahead and did it. Anyway, Greg the technician said it is up to the technician who handles the claim, but didn't think it would be an issue based on the description I gave him. So, just thought that was good FYI.

I once had a fail e series clicky which is an older gen but when i emailed them they just asked for my address and sent me an extra one
Why would they ask for yours?

Elemeno · Oct 18, 2011

Robin24k said:
There are two grooves on the back of the tailcap, next to the rubber, right? Try using needlenose pliers, or two screwdrivers, and see if you can unscrew it.

That's the part that I unscrewed, but it wasn't obviously coming apart any way after I removed that ring. It appeared that something might need to be forced after that, and I was not sure what to do without damaging the cap, so I stopped at that point.

eagle Z said:
many switch with plastic shell is combine by radiofrequency,so you will find no way to open it if you don't ruin the combined face by force.so I say that you need need gluewater to combine it that can be use as before.the gluewater is any type of thing that you come combine the plastic pieces together and will become fragile at the later time.mechanical switch is all easy to decline,so you need to get ready to mend it for youself,orelse the beloved torch will bother you sometimes.

I get what you're saying, but I will have to look around for a proper type of glue if it comes to that. I prefer not to "break" anything, because I'm pretty sure after that, SureFire really won't service it. But, at the same time, I prefer to be able to fix it myself first, that's the easiest thing to do.

jh333233 said:
I once had a fail e series clicky which is an older gen but when i emailed them they just asked for my address and sent me an extra one
Why would they ask for yours?

I had an e series cap fail once too. The plastic inside the z57 actually cracked. SF replaced the cap for me, no questions asked. The reason for that was that they had been replacing the cap with a newer, better part. They knew the old z57 caps were failing. So, if you have the old part fail, they will just send out the new ones on the spot. Now, if the new one breaks, they will probably be a little more curious to get their hands on it. Seems many of us had an easy replacement of parts before, but those were likely on parts that were already deemed defective by the factory, which explains why so many of us had the same parts fail.

chmsam · Oct 18, 2011

I can't remember where I saw a description of how to take an E series switch apart but I recall it having nice illustrations. Anyone else know where it can be found?

Cleaning SureFire switches is not all that hard once you get the hang of taking them apart but I've only done it with G2 and 6P's.

Is my light dying, or are my batteries just old?

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