Zebralight SC600 Hotspot issue - Homemade solution inside

Wreck3r

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Hey guys,

Just purchased the Zebralight SC600 and quickly after I received it I powered it up.

IMG_20120319_165014.jpg


As you can see there is a slight moon shaped darker area. I'm guessing this is due to a slight misalignment but it's hard to tell.

IMG_20120319_165348.jpg



I need your opinion on this because I don't have that much experience with LED lights.

Much appreciated.
 
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roadkill1109

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Re: Zebralight SC600 Hotspot issue

LED off center, might want to send it back where you bought it for replacement.
 

shelm

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Re: Zebralight SC600 Hotspot issue

in your LED picture:
the LED leans towards 2:00 o'clock. you can see how the white area at 8:00 o'clock is larger than the white area at 2:00 o'clock.

ZL QC?
 

yifu

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Re: Zebralight SC600 Hotspot issue

There shouldn't be any artifacts in the beam itself, you should contact Zebralight to obtain an RMA for replacement. My SC600's beam is perfect, except for a slightly purplish spill beam, due to the anti reflective coating used on the Schott glass. The reflector looks normal though, so that's strange.
 

shane45_1911

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Re: Zebralight SC600 Hotspot issue

If the beam wasn't quite so "not nice", I would normally not be bothered by an emitter being a bit off-centre. In this case, I think I would ask for a replacement.
 

subwoofer

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Re: Zebralight SC600 Hotspot issue

This might not be easy to do, but can you put it on in the 0.1lm mode and photograph the LED.

I wonder if the strange (and wrong beam pattern) is due to a partially fried LED. I've seen LEDs where some of the emitter surface is dark and wondered if that is what you have.

Even if you can't get the photo, let us know if the LED surface is evenly lit, or if it looks patchy. NOTE: make sure you only do this on the 0.1lm mode, as anything else might damage your sight.

Either way it sounds like a return job.
 

Wreck3r

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Re: Zebralight SC600 Hotspot issue

Sigh. Was so excited when i received it just to find this problem. Do you think ZL will handle RMA in Europe? I bought it from a well known site in UK (don't think I can post the name) and had it shipped to me in Romania. Good thing I haven't ordered the sc80 also. Is this a common issue with ZL?
 

shelm

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Re: Zebralight SC600 Hotspot issue

i always make the dealer (and not ZL) reponsible. you pay *them* the money and *they* ship the wares. i always ask the dealer to QC the light *before* they wrap it in bubble wrap foil or similar.

your dealer should have checked the light before sending it out to you imho.
or maybe next time you order an expensive light, ask the dealer to do so personally. 1 email is enough.

good advice

( this is called 'service', or how do you define a dealer's service and task? is a dealer's task just to sell you stuff? think about it )
 

Wreck3r

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Re: Zebralight SC600 Hotspot issue

Some pictures with the LED on the lowest setting. The camera is a little higher than the flashlight.

1/1250
IMG_6538.jpg

1/400
IMG_6539.jpg

1/100
IMG_6540.jpg
 

jayke

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Re: Zebralight SC600 Hotspot issue

I have the same issue with the beam with my new SC600 Warm that I received last week. I also have a SC600 Cool White and the beam is flawless. The only difference I see is that my newer warm version has more of the board showing. The bottom of the reflector has a larger opening. SC600W is on the right.

SC600_600w.jpg
 

CarpentryHero

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Re: Zebralight SC600 Hotspot issue

So it's a reflector fault? the head (lens area) unscrews can you re-center the reflector?
 

TEEJ

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Re: Zebralight SC600 Hotspot issue

You can also get a pic of the LED with a magnifying loupe - Just shine the light through the magnifying glass, and it will project a picture of the LED onto the wall, etc.

:D
 

shelm

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Re: Zebralight SC600 Hotspot issue

I have the same issue with the beam with my new SC600 Warm that I received last week.
not very centric LED (right picture). LED leans towards 1:00 o'clock, compare the white area at 7:00 o'clock.

yes, the openings of the reflectors differ in size (diameter).

QC ZL?
 

CarpentryHero

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Re: Zebralight SC600 Hotspot issue

I have the same issue with the beam with my new SC600 Warm that I received last week. I also have a SC600 Cool White and the beam is flawless. The only difference I see is that my newer warm version has more of the board showing. The bottom of the reflector has a larger opening. SC600W is on the right.

SC600_600w.jpg

Could you try swapping the reflectors? Or just center it?
 

mrlysle

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Re: Zebralight SC600 Hotspot issue

It's still a little strange. I have several ZL's including the SC600. But before it came along, my favorite, and still gets carried constantly, is an SC60w. Like them so much, I bought three of them, so I'd always have one! Point is, one of them I ordered from a dealer here on CPF, and the emitter was way off center! When I saw it, I immediately thought of sending it back. However, the beam is pretty much perfect on it, and I'm telling you, the emitter is really off on this one. I boxed and put away the other two, and decided to carry the off center one, until it wore out, then I could grab one of the "perfectly centered" ones and carry it. But this off center one puts out a beautiful beam, with no artifacts or dark spots anywhere. I don't think an off center emitter, coupled with a reflector that has orange peel, hurts a beam as much as one would think. I'm more apt to think there's something you can't see very good on the reflector surface, or the emitter is not laying flat on the board, or not on the same "plane" as the board surface. Either way, maybe try and get a replacement for that one. Good luck.
 

Fireclaw18

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Re: Zebralight SC600 Hotspot issue

I have the same issue with the beam with my new SC600 Warm that I received last week. I also have a SC600 Cool White and the beam is flawless. The only difference I see is that my newer warm version has more of the board showing. The bottom of the reflector has a larger opening. SC600W is on the right.

SC600_600w.jpg

Interesting. It's like they're using a slightly different reflector in your SC600w compared to your SC600.

I don't have an SC600w, but my SC600's reflector looks like the picture on the left and has a perfect beam pattern with no rings or artifacts.

The messy looking beam in the original poster's screenshot looks more like the beam on my Sunwayman V10r.... and the reason why its beam isn't perfect is that Sunwayman didn't choose a very aggressive orange peal pattern compared to my zebralights.

From this side-by-side screenshot the orange peal pattern looks the same on both your SC600 and SC600w. Is that the case when inspect them closer?
 
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moshow9

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Re: Zebralight SC600 Hotspot issue

FWIW, the beam profile on my SC600w is different from the SC600 I used to own. My SC600 was from the preorder and had a flawless beam. It was a wall of light with a much more smooth transition from the center on out. My SC600w has the nicer tint (imo) but the beam is not as smooth and has a bit more artifacts, although not as bad as the OP.
 

Wreck3r

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Re: Zebralight SC600 Hotspot issue

OK, so going on jayke finding and on mrlysle assumptions I think the reflector or the position of the led on the depth axis is the culprit.

My SC600 is the same as the on the left in jaykes pictures. LE: It's the same model as the one on the left but has the same reflector and led positioning as the one on the right.

IMG_6545.jpg


IMG_6546.jpg


I think the bottom diameter is a bit larger than the normal hotspot one.

Also take a look at these two pictures:

SC600
IMG_6548.jpg


And the 4sevens Quark x aa2:
IMG_6549.jpg


The difference between the two is that the whole reflector is lit on the 4sevens and the reflector on the SC600 is not lit at the bottom.
 
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Wreck3r

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Re: Zebralight SC600 Hotspot issue

Oh wow yeah, can you center the reflector yourself?

I know the head is unscrewable but its glued and would be difficult to open and to put back together. On the other hand I will exchange it so I don't want to risk it.
 
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