ZL SC51 quit working

Was working fine till I was swapping back batteries back and forth then wouldn't come on high and then just stopped altogether regardless what batteries I put in it.Even an AA Alkaline.Put a Multimeter and checked voltage of the batteries and they are fine.1.5 volt for the Alkaline and 1.35 volts for the Eneloops.

I may have triggered some kind of regulation protection or something when I was swapping batteries.If this is the case is their a fix for this?

edit* I forgot, Its actually a SC51w if that may make a difference

Leave out the battery for about 15 mins and try again.

Clean the tailcap connecting points with alcohol.

Left out the battery for 30 minutes and reinstalled,Light fired right up.Thanks for your help.

For future reference is this standard procedure for battery regulation problems incase it happens again oris a rule of thumb for these lights in general ? I can't seem to find it on the pamphlet anywhere.

I do that with lights that uses electronic switches. You can view it in comparison to a computer. Sometimes computer hangs and you just need to remove the power supply by shutting down to let it clear the RAM and restart. Almost the same with electronic lights. When you click through or do certain action too fast, the processor is confused and it goes a little haywire, so removing the power supply causes the circuitry to reset itself. This is not written in the manual of any brand of lights.

pjandyho said:

I do that with lights that uses electronic switches. You can view it in comparison to a computer. Sometimes computer hangs and you just need to remove the power supply by shutting down to let it clear the RAM and restart. Almost the same with electronic lights. When you click through or do certain action too fast, the processor is confused and it goes a little haywire, so removing the power supply causes the circuitry to reset itself. This is not written in the manual of any brand of lights.

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Ok ,I guess it is pretty much the same now that I think about it:thumbsup:...Thats actually probably a good chance what happened to it.I will keep this in mind,thanks again for your help!

Good job with that quick help, pjandyho, and good suggestion, Ian2381.

Scubie67 said:

Ok ,I guess it is pretty much the same now that I think about it:thumbsup:...Thats actually probably a good chance what happened to it.I will keep this in mind,thanks again for your help!

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Derek Dean said:

Good job with that quick help, pjandyho, and good suggestion, Ian2381.

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I discovered it by chance I would say. Had some problems with my H501w so I thought that maybe something had gone wrong with it. I then removed the battery to let any remaining power in the light drain off before turning it on again, and it worked after that. Had a similar issue happen on my SC50w+ too. Glad it work out for you Scubie67.

pjandyho said:

I do that with lights that uses electronic switches. You can view it in comparison to a computer. Sometimes computer hangs and you just need to remove the power supply by shutting down to let it clear the RAM and restart. Almost the same with electronic lights. When you click through or do certain action too fast, the processor is confused and it goes a little haywire, so removing the power supply causes the circuitry to reset itself. This is not written in the manual of any brand of lights.

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a very nice explanation! Kudos!

or perhaps a bit more obtuse - some combination of static electricity and/or failure to turn off the light before changing batteries/cells is the cause. removing power for many minutes to let the CMOS (probably) capacitors discharge is a good response. It is strongly recommended to ensure the light is turned off before removing an end cap to change batteries/cells. In general, too many quick make/break power cycles in short succession will nearly always cause problems.

only slightly OT: Way back when, HP discovered the static electricity problem with their HP41 calculator series which made extensive use of CMOS to reduce power consumption. HP in Corvallis was receiving many HP-41s being returned as having failed under warranty, yet the returned HP-41 was fully operational and passed all tests when the package was opened. HP discovered that the Corvallis location - humid - was hiding an inadequate design against static electricity.

When I worked for a computer company some customers called because they laptops were toasted, as they were unable to switch them on. The 90% of them worked again usin the next method:

- Unplug the charger.
- Extract the battery
- Use the power switch a few times and then a long press (10 seconds or so).
- Put the battery in again.
- Voila!

It seems the same can be applied here. Try to use the switch without the battery to speed up the discharge.