Let me start by saying that I have made multiple purchased from AW. I use and absolutely love his rechargeable batteries in about 10 different lights and will continue to buy more. I simply have a problem with my JetBeam M1X that is somewhat unique to the manner in which the JetBeam works. This is a warning for others, and a request for a helpful workaround.
To turn on the high mode of the M1X, you twist the head to tighten it. This in turn actually pushes the batteries up against the head assembly until the spring in the head is completely depressed, causing another contact to be made and the light turns on high.
The issue here is that the top/cathode of the battery is not solid metal. It is raised up and has space below it. After my past year of use with the M1X and AW's 18650's, the cathode no longer sticks up but is in fact depressed/concave. The pressure of the solid head of the light against battery top, without the softness of a spring in between, has caused the top/cathode to become depressed.
The M1X with the extension tube takes two 18650's, and now the depressed/concave cathode of the lower 18650 in the light no longer makes a good contact with the flat surface on the bottom/anode above it.
If I had known this ahead of time and always used the same battery against the head of the M1X, I might not have a problem, but both of my 18650's now have a depressed cathode since I've randomly used them in the light such that each has been pressed hard against the head of the light.
The core of my question is, what can I do about this? I've thought about simply putting a drop of solder on top of the depressed/concave cathode, but given the high amount of current in these lights, I don't know if that should be considered "safe". I also don't know if the solder would stick well enough or just crack off once the normal pressure of the M1X is applied.
Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions? I don't know how many other lights function by pressing hard against the batteries, but I was hoping someone else has dealt with this.
And for anyone else with an M1X or another light which operates similarly, try to always use the same battery in the top against the flashlight head, and be careful when you tighten the head, knowing that the spring is no longer in play here and it's pressing against the batteries with more force than the top of the battery can handle (at least over time).
To turn on the high mode of the M1X, you twist the head to tighten it. This in turn actually pushes the batteries up against the head assembly until the spring in the head is completely depressed, causing another contact to be made and the light turns on high.
The issue here is that the top/cathode of the battery is not solid metal. It is raised up and has space below it. After my past year of use with the M1X and AW's 18650's, the cathode no longer sticks up but is in fact depressed/concave. The pressure of the solid head of the light against battery top, without the softness of a spring in between, has caused the top/cathode to become depressed.
The M1X with the extension tube takes two 18650's, and now the depressed/concave cathode of the lower 18650 in the light no longer makes a good contact with the flat surface on the bottom/anode above it.
If I had known this ahead of time and always used the same battery against the head of the M1X, I might not have a problem, but both of my 18650's now have a depressed cathode since I've randomly used them in the light such that each has been pressed hard against the head of the light.
The core of my question is, what can I do about this? I've thought about simply putting a drop of solder on top of the depressed/concave cathode, but given the high amount of current in these lights, I don't know if that should be considered "safe". I also don't know if the solder would stick well enough or just crack off once the normal pressure of the M1X is applied.
Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions? I don't know how many other lights function by pressing hard against the batteries, but I was hoping someone else has dealt with this.
And for anyone else with an M1X or another light which operates similarly, try to always use the same battery in the top against the flashlight head, and be careful when you tighten the head, knowing that the spring is no longer in play here and it's pressing against the batteries with more force than the top of the battery can handle (at least over time).
