EagleTac P20C2 with 17650 cells behaving oddly

Userdenied

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I purchased a P20C2 about 6-8 months ago and it's been working great on a single 17650 cell I bought with it. However recently I bought two extra cells to have for camping but when I went to test them today I found that they would only operate my light in Turbo mode (The head tightened all the way down) If I left it slightly loose to put it in 'normal' mode it wouldn't function. All three of the cells are EagleTac brand and are stated to work in my light. The only different I have been able to see is that the two new cells fit a little more snug in the tube.

Has anyone here had this issue before, or have any insight onto what my problem might be?
 

HotWire

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Try charging the batteries & checking their voltage. All batteries are not created equal. I like AW batteries.
 

Userdenied

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I have checked the voltage and they both come in at 4.0v+ so that isn't the issue, and the one that does function is coming in at 3.8 so that isn't the issue... As for the branding I doubt that is the issue as they are both EagleTac cells and I believe that Eagletac buys from Panasonic.

At this point I think it has to be because they fit so snug. The spring isn't strong enough to keep the cell in contact unless the head it tightened all the way down, thus why normal mode won't work. Yay for answering my own problem, just took a day of sitting on it.
 

lebox97

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correct... if the battery fit is too snug... it will loose + contact at head when head is loosened to change output.

this can be a problem with the higher capacity thicker cells - remove the label for a looser fit (NOT the insulation/wrapper)
(some people will also take a dowel wrapped with sandpaper and smooth up the inside of the battery tube/body - after taking the head and tail cap off)


cheers
 

jhc37013

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Hey I have not seen a P20C2 thread in a long time, great light that started Eagletac down a line of bright cylindrical EDC lights like the D25LC2 we have now. Well actually now that I think about I think the P100 earned a great number of followers showing ET can make a really good compact light at an affordable price, it's throw still hangs in there with anything it's size.
 

Userdenied

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correct... if the battery fit is too snug... it will loose + contact at head when head is loosened to change output.

this can be a problem with the higher capacity thicker cells - remove the label for a looser fit (NOT the insulation/wrapper)
(some people will also take a dowel wrapped with sandpaper and smooth up the inside of the battery tube/body - after taking the head and tail cap off)


cheers

Sanding/Boring has crossed my mind, but I didn't want to void the warranty on my light by doing so...
 

lebox97

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smoothing out/sanding the inside of body tube isn't going to void your warranty - there is nothing in the tube to fail.
And, am assuming you do remove the head and tailcap from the body before doing so...

warranty items are generally either the glass, module-engine, or tail cap switch.

The only time we have not honored a warranty claim (we handle many of the USA ET warranty claims for ET) is a light that was returned where the head was oval -
the whole head, reflector, and SS bezel was no longer round! (apparently run over by a tank, bulldozer or something - customer never said - but I cannot even imagine the tons per square inch pressure needed to cause the entire head to go out of round!)

Cheers

Sanding/Boring has crossed my mind, but I didn't want to void the warranty on my light by doing so...
 
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Userdenied

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The only time we have not honored a warranty claim (we handle many of the USA ET warranty claims for ET) is a light that was returned where the head was oval -
the whole head, reflector, and SS bezel was no longer round! (apparently run over by a tank, bulldozer or something - customer never said - but I cannot even imagine the tons per square inch pressure needed to cause the entire head to go out of round!)

It's good to hear that ET is good about not voiding their warranty to any small thing. I was mainly concerned because I've dealt with companies in the past who would void the warranty for looking at them funny. I've been emailing ET support back and forth for the last few days and it looks like they are either going to be sending me new cells, or another body to see if that fixes the issue. If all this falls through I'll bore it out. That just wasn't my first choice.
 
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