Olight M18 Striker problem!

brickfollett · Aug 20, 2014

So I was fiddling with my M18 Striker the other day and I removed the strike bezel and the lens. Now I can't get it back together. I mean it will go back together, but the strike bezel needs to screw in an additional 2mm or so, it's a disturbingly noticeable gap and it affects the beam pattern. It's like the lens is too wide to fit back inside the strike bezel or something and it's really bothering me since I lost my primary light (PD35) and have been using this as a backup until I find it (also ordered the 2014 PD35 960 lumen edition). Any ideas?

Norm · Aug 21, 2014

:welcome:

Moved from Administrative/Questions/Problems/Suggestions.

Please note • This forum is for general forum issues only. - Norm

Fireclaw18 · Aug 21, 2014

The M18 is built the same way as the S10 I think.

The pill is moveable. It doesn't screw into the body. instead it slots in and is held in place by the lens and bezel.

When you removed the bezel, the tailcap spring then pushed on the battery which pushed on the pill and moved it out a few mm. The pill only stopped when the alignment tab on the side of the pill hit the start of the bezel threads.

This is easily fixed. Do the following steps in order:
1. Unscrew and remove the tailcap and eject the battery.
2. Check that the lens is securely slotted into the rubber lens gasket, then insert the lens and gasket into the light on top of the reflector. Press down on the lens to push the pill into place.
3. Screw in the bezel.
4. Insert the battery.
5. Screw in the tailcap.

brickfollett · Aug 21, 2014

Fireclaw18 said:
The M18 is built the same way as the S10 I think.

The pill is moveable. It doesn't screw into the body. instead it slots in and is held in place by the lens and bezel.

When you removed the bezel, the tailcap spring then pushed on the battery which pushed on the pill and moved it out a few mm. The pill only stopped when the alignment tab on the side of the pill hit the start of the bezel threads.

This is easily fixed. Do the following steps in order:
1. Unscrew and remove the tailcap and eject the battery.
2. Check that the lens is securely slotted into the rubber lens gasket, then insert the lens and gasket into the light on top of the reflector. Press down on the lens to push the pill into place.
3. Screw in the bezel.
4. Insert the battery.
5. Screw in the tailcap.

unfortunately no luck on that one, it seems like the pill (what is a pill by the way?) is fixed in place assuming the pill is the reflector and the chip the LED is attached to

Fireclaw18 · Aug 21, 2014

With no battery in the light, try pressing down on the edges of the reflector to push the reflector/pill back into the light. Make sure you don't touch the angled portion of the reflector... only touch the edges. On my S10 I used needle nosed pliers making sure to keep the jaws of the pliers wide so they can't slip and hit the angled reflective surface. As long as no battery is in the light it should easily push right in.

The pill is the capsule inside the light that holds the electronics (switch, driver board, and LED). The reflector screws down into the top of the pill to form a single unit.

brickfollett · Aug 21, 2014

Maybe the reflector came unscrewed from the board? It literally won't budge when I push on it, I was pushing on the reflector with an 18650, maybe I'll try screwing it in

brickfollett · Aug 22, 2014

So what I did is I popped the entire chip and reflector assembly of with an 18650 to discover that the reflector was in fact partially unscrewed from the rest of the pill I believe. Screwed it back in and reassembled and it's good as new. Hopefully this will help striker owners because I couldn't find any information on how to fix it at all. So thanks for the help!

Fireclaw18 · Aug 22, 2014

brickfollett said:
So what I did is I popped the entire chip and reflector assembly of with an 18650 to discover that the reflector was in fact partially unscrewed from the rest of the pill I believe. Screwed it back in and reassembled and it's good as new. Hopefully this will help striker owners because I couldn't find any information on how to fix it at all. So thanks for the help!

In retrospect I should have guessed the reflector was partially unscrewed from your initial post.

If the issue was just the pill out of position, the beam pattern would be unchanged. The only thing that could change the beam pattern is the reflector no longer at the same depth relative to the emitter... meaning it got unscrewed.

den331 · Aug 22, 2014

i have a m18 i removed mine also . maybe the pill and the reflector are not tight .. so thats why your having focus problem. the pill is 2 piece . screw the reflector tightly from the pill

brickfollett · Aug 23, 2014

Yeah the pill was secure, it was only the reflector that was the problem, glad we can contribute the the knowledge base at least

Olight M18 Striker problem!

brickfollett

Newly Enlightened

Norm

Retired Administrator

Fireclaw18

Flashlight Enthusiast

brickfollett

Newly Enlightened

Fireclaw18

Flashlight Enthusiast

brickfollett

Newly Enlightened

brickfollett

Newly Enlightened

Fireclaw18

Flashlight Enthusiast

den331

Newly Enlightened

brickfollett

Newly Enlightened

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