A disappointing experience with Zebralight

Hello all,

I just wanted to share my experience with you guys, since you were so incredibly helpful when I purchased my first and only "high quality" flashlight. About 2.5 - 3 years ago, I purchased a ZL SC600 (cool white), with two 18650 cells and a charger (not sure on the brand, but I remember spending a bit extra because they were protected cells and where what everyone seemed to recommend). Fast forward to now, and the flashlight seems to be at its end. The switch to turn the light on has become increasingly more unresponsive and erratic. My guess is that complete failure is imminent.

I loved that flashlight, but I barely used it. Save for a few camping trips and a power outage (and quite a few times I used it to impress my more "rugged" camping/hunting friends), it sat on a shelf for a majority of it's life, and was never dropped, etc. "Light Use" would be overstating it.

I checked on the warranty, and its only 1 year. Owing to the fact that I spent about $130 on this when it was all said and done (I even purchased one for my grandfather since), I cannot express enough how disappointing it is that this is happening . I only noticed that this was happening because I heard that a newer version of the SC600 had been announced (the SC600 Mk II) and was considering purchasing it. Unfortunately, there's no way I could justify another $100+ purchase on something I really shouldn't need from a company I no longer have any confidence in.

Thanks for listening to me complain/cry,
nnjz

That is terrible to hear mate. Have you contacted them? You should just ask and see if they are willing to workout an outcome for your situation. I reckon a good torch company stands behind their products and helps their customers. Just don't write them off yet. mechanical failures happen all the time.

I have head lamp as well, but from a different company. I hope they do honour their ten year warranty.

There is a great thread about cleaning and lubricating flashlights. I'd try to link it, but I'm mobile. If the threads get a little dirty, the light can become irratic as you describe. Maybe something to try. Good luck and hope it gets resolved!

I recently noticed my zebralight SC52w couldn't run on high, and I tried different batteries too. It would just won't go to high/max output.

I cleaned the threads (the top of it), and it did solve my problem (your mileage will vary, of course), but like Jeff said, it's something you can try too

OP, have you considered contacting ZL for a repair? Worth a shot, I wouldn't write them off by default.

Haven't had a ZL fail on me yet and I often EDC two of them.

Thanks for the support guys. I'll look into cleaning and lubricating the threads. If anyone had that link, I'd appreciate it. I wouldn't be able to tell good advice from bad advice (although I would imagine any advice coming from this forum would be good advice).

If all else fails I'll write ZL a note and hope for the best

Thanks guys,
nnjz

Nnjz said:

Thanks for the support guys. I'll look into cleaning and lubricating the threads. If anyone had that link, I'd appreciate it. I wouldn't be able to tell good advice from bad advice (although I would imagine any advice coming from this forum would be good advice).

Click to expand...

It's a top sticky in "General Flashlight Discussion." http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?126645-Comprehensive-Grease-and-Lube-Thread

Something I occasionally do is to twirl a pink pencil eraser on the contact points, you can do this in ZL where you normally can't access inside the head at the positive contact. Any corrosion, junk, or slime on any battery contact can cause bizarre problems.

Keeping in mind the KISS principle, have you tried it with other batteries? Even I forget the basics sometimes and must return to them. When one of your troubleshooting components is broken as well, this makes it a challenge for anybody.

It kind of sounds like your switch is crapping out, though.

If you don't get it working contact ZL.
I have seen posts about people getting there out of warranty Zebralights fixed for $15 IIRC.

My guess is the same as more vampires, sounds like a switch problem.
Maybe oxidation on the contact surfaces?
Have you tried to give it a LOT of clicks and see if that changes anything?

GunnarGG said:

If you don't get it working contact ZL.
I have seen posts about people getting there out of warranty Zebralights fixed for $15 IIRC.

My guess is the same as more vampires, sounds like a switch problem.
Maybe oxidation on the contact surfaces?
Have you tried to give it a LOT of clicks and see if that changes anything?

Click to expand...

I tried with 2 different batteries, so I figured that it wasn't battery related. Thanks for the tip on the repair, I'll try the link above and call ZL if it doesn't resolve the problem. Haven't tried the multiple presses yet - but will try that too.

It would be nice if they decide its not worth fixing, and send me a sc600 MKII though :twothumbs (one can dream, haha).

Thanks again,

I vaguely reading that Zebralight will do out-of-warranty repairs for $15.

Since your light is on the way out anyways, it's worth a shot. Why not send them an email and ask.

If they agree, you might also ask if they can upgrade the emitter. Maybe upgrade the cool white XML to a neutral white XML2.

MrLi said:

I recently noticed my zebralight SC52w couldn't run on high, and I tried different batteries too. It would just won't go to high/max output.

I cleaned the threads (the top of it), and it did solve my problem (your mileage will vary, of course), but like Jeff said, it's something you can try too

Click to expand...

This happened with my preorder SC62w. Worked great the first day. But starting on day 2 it got worse and worse. It would occasionally drop down to medium after only staying on turbo for a few seconds even with a fresh cell. By the 4th day this was happening all the time.

Cleaning the threads did nothing. Switching to low-resistance IMR cells briefly alleviated the problem on the 3rd day, but by the 4th even that did nothing.

I ended up buying a replacement SC62w while returning the defective one. I got a full refund, so no complaints here.

I think the defect was in the ground connection between the driver and body tube. Somehow it wasn't connecting properly resulting in added resistance. The driver detected that resistance and thought the battery was low so reduced power to medium.

I've had Zebralights behave erratically. But cleaning the threads did NOTHING. Instead, what fixed the problem was cleaning the bare, unanodized end of the tube. You also want to clean the surface on the tailcap that actually contacts the end of the tube. If the problem you are having is poor contact (and if protection is kicking in, it sounds like this could be the case), this could correct the problem.

Nnjz, you have to realize that a high performance light is like a high performance sports car, it requires a bit of attention now and then for peak performance, and if left unused for a long period of time it will require a bit of extra attention.

The idea is to trace the path of electrical contact and clean those points.

1. Tip of the spring in the tailcap.
2. Area in the tailcap (around the edge down inside) that makes contact with the bare metal end of the battery tube when the parts are screwed together.
3. The bare metal end of the battery tube.
4. The positive contact point in the head of the light, down inside the battery tube.
5 & 6. Both ends of a freshly charged battery.

Those are the 6 points that need to be cleaned. If possible, use contact cleaner, found at most electronic stores. In a pinch you can use isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) and a Q-tip. Just be careful when cleaning the positive contact down in the battery tube that you hold the tube upright, with the hole facing down, and wet the Q-tip, then place it up in the tube to clean the contact point. The idea is that you don't want to drip any liquid down into the tube where it might get into the electronics in the head.

Once you've cleaned those points, place the battery in correctly and reassemble the light, tightening the tube well.

I'll bet that clears up your issue. If not, then do keep pressing that on/off button quite a few times. It's an electronic switch, and most of those are self cleaning, but they need to be used for the self cleaning to happen, so press it quite a few times and see if that doesn't help.

If all that doesn't help, then yes, ZL does offer repair for $15. You simply contact them to get an RMA, then send them the light (use delivery confirmation, because they won't respond when they get the light), and then 6 weeks later you'll get your light back (they ship it to China for repair).

Good luck, and let us know how it goes.
Derek

GunnarGG said:

Maybe oxidation on the contact surfaces?

Click to expand...

I had that problem with my H501w. Because I was so afraid to use it, it became a shelf queen. Tried to use it after a year, it didn't work. Cleaned the contact surfaces with Deoxit and good as new. Still a shelf queen but I try pull out some of my shelf queens and go through the cleaning a bit more often. LF2XT had the same problem too, although left that one even longer!