Did a zebra SC50/50+/51/52 ever die on you?

Zebralight grants a warranty period of 12.0 months. That's less than Fenix or Nitcore (18.0 months), less than Olight (5yrs) and much less than 4Sevens, Eagletac or Armytek (10yrs). If a zebra is maltreated, sooner or later it could die of premature natural death and it'd be particularly sad when the death occurs after the first year of ownership. The ZL flashlights come with sophisticated electronics and an electronic switch, there were a couple of cpf threads where SC5x users experienced issues with the product, the switch, etc. but to date no statistical info was gathered regarding SC5x failure rate, mortality data, or death rate. So, if you are/were a SC5x user or owner, please share:

Did a Zebralight ZL SC50, SC50+, SC51, or SC52 ever die on you?

( And if it did, when/how did it happen and what did you do then? Resurrect or bury? )
( And if it didnt, how much/long have you been using or abusing it? )

shelm said:

.... there were a couple of cpf threads where SC5x users experienced issues with the product, the switch, etc. but to date no statistical info was gathered regarding zebra failure rate, mortality data, or death rate...

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Well these are not specific to the SCs, but....

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...y-(the-poll)&highlight=Zebralight+reliability

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...sed-for-2012&highlight=Zebralight+reliability

Perhaps you can make this a poll?

reppans said:

Perhaps you can make this a poll?

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With the upcoming SC52, probably a strong best-seller, i thought that this poll question may be particularly interesting or relevant. SC52 pre-orders are up. We dont know when selfbuilt gets to publish his SC52 review. And there will be many first time ZL buyers among the SC52 buying crowd. The 12 months of warranty are a bit of a concern and the many CPF threads on Zebralight reliability issues and failure rate, too, unless the new product is really rugged with improved longevity. The poll is anonymous. No multiple choice.

Statistical data. Sometimes helpful and often interesting..

No arguments from me. I like everything about ZLs except for their warranty, and what I read about their customer service. So I don't buy many and would never gift one.

The very first SC51 (original model) I had died on me after 1 day. It was replaced under warranty. I have had up to 8 Zebralights and currently have 4. I haven't had any other problems with any of them.

I haven't even looked at the SC52 until now. Looks nice. Will wait for a hi cri version though. I'm perfectly happy with my SC80c for right now.

Im still holding a dead SC51 for over a year (died after warranty expired). I think the use of 14500s killed it (though listed as supported at the time). I don't have the skill to repair so it just sits.

I have an SC50w+, carried daily for about 1 1/2 years, dropped in boat bilges repeatedly. Never missed a beat.

I once thought my SC51w died on me. I accidentally turned the tailcap with my pinky. I'm definitely (pre-)ordering a SC52w the second they put the link up.

Still have my sc50+. Works good after a year and a quarter. I find it strange that.. I don't notice a difference between the highest off a single energizer vs the highest off of a 14500. The strobe off the energizer is the same as the h1 off the 14500? maybe this is an issue? Can someone explain?

I had an sc50w die at about 14 months. I sent it in, and they generously replaced it at no charge with a refurb. However, at about 10 months in, the switch stopped working (although unscrewing and rescrewing the tail cap seems to fix it for a while).

The sc52 sounds terrific, but I haven't been terribly impressed by the longevity of these lights.

zozo said:

I haven't been terribly impressed by the longevity of these lights.

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These lights are complicated electronics made in china, not Made In Germany, and i will make sporadic use of my SC52 only because i prefer my D25A Titanium lights anyway, i already know that!, so i am buying without having any high expectations on their longevity anyway. I think that's the most sound attitude or approach when buying a zebra.

My reasoning is: if i hardly ride it, the zebra will live a long and peaceful life! :twothumbs

shelm said:

These lights are complicated electronics made in china, not Made In Germany, and i will make sporadic use of my SC52 only because i prefer my D25A Titanium lights anyway, i already know that!, so i am buying without having any high expectations on their longevity anyway. I think that's the most sound attitude or approach when buying a zebra.

My reasoning is: if i hardly ride it, the zebra will live a long and peaceful life! :twothumbs

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Animal vehicle preference. You like to ride an Eagle more than a Zebra...

shelm said:

These lights are complicated electronics made in china, not Made In Germany, and i will make sporadic use of my SC52 only because i prefer my D25A Titanium lights anyway, i already know that!, so i am buying without having any high expectations on their longevity anyway. I think that's the most sound attitude or approach when buying a zebra.

My reasoning is: if i hardly ride it, the zebra will live a long and peaceful life! :twothumbs

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They are supposed to ship today, but I have not checked my email yet today to see if there is a shipment notice or not. The only other SC I have is an SC600, and I havent had problems with it in the 6 months I've owned it but I dont use it all that often either.

HighlanderNorth said:

They are supposed to ship today, but I have not checked my email yet today to see if there is a shipment notice or not. The only other SC I have is an SC600, and I havent had problems with it in the 6 months I've owned it but I dont use it all that often either.

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They pushed off the expected ship date to Friday the 23rd.

SC600 had heavy use as a bike light, until I lost it at the lake, a month ago, drunk.
H31F same heavy Biking use. No problems. H31 purchased in June 2011, SC600 shortly after.

The ones I have get dropped, crashed, submerged, and still haven't died.

Pretbek said:

Animal vehicle preference. You like to ride an Eagle more than a Zebra...

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holy *hit, that's funny!!

I've EDC'd this SC51 for over two years and it's still running strong. This light has seen hard use. It even survived getting run over by my friends BMW X5 last New years day!

Now, it hasn't been problem free. About 1% of the time the light will turn on, flicker, and stay locked in whatever mode you were trying to use. This is quickly remedied by a quick twist of the tailcap. I have moved to a H502 for EDC duties but still love this battle scarred ZL!

CoolHands said:

Hi.

I've had to stop using my sc50 as it's become very unreliable. Anyone any ideas? It's like this on any battery (I use eneloop mostly but also hybrio). The batteries are fine. It kind of flickers up and down totally randomly. NOt had a hard life, and it started doing this after approx 6 months. Anyone else had this problem?

I'm finding these led torches aren't as reliable as they're cracked up to be :shakehead

Sometimes it doesn't seem to want to turn on either, even though the battery is charged.

http://youtu.be/VDJOJYg_BuA

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Hi, have you already voted?

shelm said:

Hi, have you already voted?

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lol voting locked! I missed out

Well, they are doing better.

A few years ago there was a similar poll here on CPF, and approximately 30% were showing some sort of failures in early life, or DOA.
Now, it's only 23%, according to this poll.