Zebralight sc52w stopped working.

So I was using my sc52w and all the sudden it shut off. I was using H1 with a 14500 LiIon and was about 30secs in when the shut off occurred. I figured that I must have reached the safety point in the cell so I popped in a freshly charged 14500 to no avail. I then grabbed a fresh primary and still no signs of life...

I don't really remember what the positive contacts looked like when I first bought it but now it kind of looks banged up down there...

WOW... This literally just happened so I have the freshly charged 14500 in the light again and to my surprise when I picked the light up the take a picture of the positive contacts it was almost too hot to hold... Like scalding hot!!! Wtf!?!? No light emitting from the poor thing whatsoever!!!😣😣

What happened??? I guess I'll have to send this unit back to zebralight... How are they with this sort of thing?

The candlepower app won't let me upload the picture for some reason so I'll have to wait till I get home tonight..


spirit

Too hot to hold with no light coming out the front? Sounds like the battery shorted somehow. Maybe the positive contact got banged up enough that it somehow connected to the body tube.

Regardless, it does sound like a serious defect. Contact Zebralight customer service and get an RMA so they can fix it.

Sounds like you might have been using 14500s that are a bit longer than most AA cells, and can put crush pressure on the back of the circuit board when you tight the cap, causing an internal short.

Please report back your warranty repair experience.

😣😞😒😞😣😞😒
Well this sucks.. Do you guys think Zebralight will honor the warranty if an out of spec battery is the culprit? I've only had it for like 20 days..

I found a little gold half square contact on the desk where I changed the 14500 I thought was in protection. I'll have to find my calipers to measure the 14500's(insulated of course) but the pieces of this puzzle are coming together...

I was just about to make a thread praising this little wonder if a torch!


spirit

I don't see a # to call anywhere. How do I contact them to get an RMA?

edit: nvm I found the number and instructions.

Edit 2: I submitted my claim and am now awaiting response. Cross your fingers for me..

spirit

First of all, sorry to hear what happened to your SC52. I for one had an sad experience with my SC52, but Zebralight acknowledged my concern and did a repair of my light. Visit their website and register. From there you may send your concerns to them. Hth

They are going to replace my sc52w! Sweet!

I am worried about getting a green tinted emitter in the replacement.. I wonder if it would be better just to ask them if they would repair instead of replace. Either way I am excited to get my little explosion of light back!


spirit

Michae1 said:

They are going to replace my sc52w! Sweet!

I am worried about getting a green tinted emitter in the replacement.. I wonder if it would be better just to ask them if they would repair instead of replace. Either way I am excited to get my little explosion of light back!


spirit

Click to expand...

I wouldnt worry too much. Seems most of the L2's in neutral are actually just that and a touch on the rosey side. I think the days of the tint lottery are mostly over on these anyway.

Thanks for posting up and keeping us informed with the process. Hope it all gets worked out as soon as possible for you.

To encourage you about Zebralight:
I had an SC62D that was given to me after the previous owner tore the switch cover trying to open it up. Zebralight told me that regardless the cause, the repair charge is $15. The worst part was the anticipated 12 week turnaround. Well, 10 weeks and $15 later I received the light back as good as new. They even honored my request and gave me an extra rubber switch cover. I confess I bought a new SC52w the day I mailed the SC82D in, because I was so impressed with the SC82d(even with the torn switch cover it worked so well and is an awesome light).
So in summary, the worst case scenario is $15 and several weeks. I would be remiss if I did not point out that many battery manufacturers will pay for repairs if caused by their batteries.
Good luck, I hope this info helps.


Sent from my iPhone using Candlepowerforums

Trying to use hundreds of lumens from 1xAA format for one minute or two is beyond me....

I had a couple new Zebralights that were defective from the start and I returned on RMA:

Zebralight SC600 (original version preorder) - defective switch would sometimes activate the light when the switch cover was brushed against without being clicked. Known problem some other people had. I returned the light for RMA repair. Took 2 months but I got the light back with all problems fixed. I did not have to pay $15.

Zebralight SC62w - light wouldn't stay on turbo. Instead it would ramp down to medium almost immediately. Problem developed over a few days. My guess is bad ground connection between body tube and the driver. I didn't want to wait for it to be repaired, so instead bought a second SC62w and returned the defective one for a full refund. Again, I was not asked to pay $15.

I've had a positive experience with Zebralight customer service. No problems to report here.

I just got my h52 and my sc62 back on the short end of their time estimate. Both repaired. They even changed my sc62 from daylight to warm per my request. No charge. The tube is still marked sc62d but the emitter is definitely warm. Very satisfied.

sound like Zebralight got serious QC problems.

w00t! Zebralight shipped my replacement sc52w today! Haha I'm excited all over again to unbox my new sc52!

I would definitely like to report that dealing with ZL on the issue I had was utterly pain free and super fast. My return arrived yesterday and the replacement shipped the very next day. As soon as I save up enough $$ I will be purchasing the mkii!


spirit

!!!!!!! My brand spanking new sc52w arrived this morning! I've got to say dealing with ZL on an issue within warranty is as painless as it can possibly be.

Since I already wanted to create a thread praising this little beast, I am going to upload all my pictures from the ordeal and of my new sc52 when I get home tonight.


spirit

Michae1 said:

!!!!!!! My brand spanking new sc52w arrived this morning! I've got to say dealing with ZL on an issue within warranty is as painless as it can possibly be.

Since I already wanted to create a thread praising this little beast, I am going to upload all my pictures from the ordeal and of my new sc52 when I get home tonight.


spirit

Click to expand...

Consider, when you post next time, pick advanced, and change the title of this thread to something more appropriate.


CandlePowerForums App

Weren't the new SC52 heads supposed to be potted? I just poked around a couple of my potted lights and they seem like they'd break the battery first.

So this post will be what I had originally wanted to speak out about in regard to ZL and the sc52w as well as pictures of the damaged sc52w. I am elated each time 500lm explodes from a device shorter than my ring finger. I love ZL's UI and really cant think of a more intuitive format. My previous problem with a 54mm 14500 battery destroying the positive contacts was a real bummer.. but alas, ZL's customer service came to my rescue! Again I would like to say that the process was without headache and they gave me zero grief. So here are the pictures I wanted to share with you all:

The damaged contacts

reppans said:

Weren't the new SC52 heads supposed to be potted? I just poked around a couple of my potted lights and they seem like they'd break the battery first.

Click to expand...

The button on the battery actually caved in leaving sharp edges which ripped the potting to Hades. The batteries were cheap pieces of crap from radioshack...... aaaaaaannnd i foolishly screwed the tail cap on way too tight.

Undamaged


IMO the tint on my replacement is slightly less desirable than my first sc52w. Here is a very slightly altered beam pic that I edited to as closely as possible match what I see in person. It should be noted that each screen will render photos slightly different. The hotspot is very slightly yellow with slightly green hues appearing at its edges. The spill is a neat electric purple at it's edges fading into slightly rosy as it approaches the hotspot. I think the slight greenish hues at the hotspots edges may be exaggerated in person by the red hues in the spill. I am still happy


The LED is aligned much closer to center on this one.


What a nice looking little light.


The anodizing is kind of thin. We will see how it holds up.


The color is almost grey so to see for myself what color the light would be if the anodizing were more concentrated I adjusted the vibrancy. Green.


The threads are nicely anodized and lubricated. The o-ring is a good fit, as I feel appropriate resistance screwing the tail cap past it.


The Orbitronics 14500 protected Sanyo 840mah batteries seem to be performing very well is this light. I didn't bother to measure them because you can clearly see they are barely any longer than primary AA's... waaayyy shorter than those turd RS batteries that broke.... helped me break my first sc52w.



Thats all I wanted to share. Lesson here is that if it doesn't feel right.. it probably isnt.

KITROBASKIN said:

Consider, when you post next time, pick advanced, and change the title of this thread to something more appropriate.


CandlePowerForums App

Click to expand...

I couldnt find the option to edit the actual title of the thread. That said, if a mod didnt mind he or she could change the title to: "ZL Experience Report" thanks

Spirit

That thin anodizing always bothers me, only second to the tint variance. I really wish they were a consistent "thick" gray anodizing with a ture neutral tint. Some of my Zebralights are thin like you photos shows, others are nice and thick almost like a textured enamel.