Olight S30R Problems

I pre-ordered three of these Olight S30R's as gifts around Christmas time. I'm assuming that I received shipment from the first production run, these lights have been problematic. I have already warrantied one via GG. This was due to the low battery indicator coming on and the light would only switch on into low mode, the mode selector would not ramp up levels, if it decided to turn on at all. From there on, it has done all sorts of crazy things. Sometimes it worked just fine. Ill find out in a couple months, as that is the quoted warranty service time.

This second light will not charge on the base charger. It is not the base. I'm fairly certain somehow the center contact point on the tailcap has become a little more recessed than it should be, which is preventing contact. Its not really noticeable from the exterior except when compared to another S30R.

I do not want to warranty this light if I do not have to. I have taken out the little screw in ring with the watch tool marks in it. That's about as comfortable as I am with taking this apart without a little bit of friendly CPF assistance. How do I continue to take apart the tailcap so I can reset the center contact? Does anyone have any experience taking these apart? I don't want to try and take it apart wrong and break something, and I really don't want to send another one of these in for warranty service. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

I just saw the thread from Olight about the tailcap issues. I will ask for a replacement when they are available, but I would still like help with taking this apart if anyone has any experience with one.

UPDATE: I emailed Olight for the tailcaps and they are sending two for the lights still in my possession, even though only one has the issue. They responded within an hour to my email. I am very pleased with their customer service. Now I just have to wait until May. I would still like to take the one I have apart in the mean time, however.

Thank you Rocco. We have moved into our new facility and our customer service is up and running at full capacity. As stated, we have your information and will send the tail caps to you as soon as we get them. Thank you for your support!

I have also recently purchased an S30. I am not affected by charging issues, but turbo mode does not seem to work - There is almost zero perceptible difference between high and turbo.

I am wondering if this could also be caused by the tailcap issue?

I am a long time lurker on CPF and also have in my collection a Fenix TK35, 2 x Olight S10-L2, Nitecore TN35, Olight M20-SX Javelot and an Armytek Wizard Pro. The Wizard Pro is currently configured with a 500lm jump from high to 1000lm turbo, which is very similar to the 600lm high to 1000lm turbo on the S30R and this jump in output is very noticeable with the Wizard to the naked eye while bouncing off the ceiling, while on the S30R has no perceivable difference.

When I first got the Wizard Pro, it was DOA and had a very noisy choke or regulator plus wouldn't engage Turbo so I am hoping that I don't have another DOA light

The turbo on all 3 of the lights I recieved worked and was noticeable. Well, one worked when it wanted to. Maybe its because turbo cant be accessed from the press and hold mode selector. So if you had the light on and on high, you would have to double click to access turbo, turning the light off from high and back on into turbo. If that is the scenario then the step up wouldnt be as easy to detect when the light flashes off and then back on.

If thats not the case, maybe it is the same issue. Do you have a bad cell maybe? You should contact Olight for a tailcap by email regardless, if you have any concerns. The 5 year warranty on these lights is a nice reassurement that they are standing behind these products.

We will see in May. Im about to take a heat gun to the inside of the bad tailcap and give a tug with a pair of pliers and see if I can give it a temporary fix. In regards to resistance that they said was in the tailcap that was preventing charging; I did not detect any change in resistance between the light that doesn't charge and the one that does, using the same base. I didnt grab the fluke for it, i just grabbed a cheapo one because it was right next to me, so maybe that is why I didnt detect it.

Against my better judgement, i bought the s30r.

It worked perfectly fine until i submerged it in 1' of water after tightening the cap, i mean really tightening it. It worked fine in water then i shut it off, dried it to see if any water leaked in, low and behold a droplet was on the battery.

It turned on into moonlight, flickering a few times then it stopped altogether. It appears to charge on the cradle, i have a usb voltmeter that shows 600+ mA going to it, 4.08v or so.

I would warn buyers to either avoid or wait. This is NOT a reliable light as of today, i received it 3/26/15.

I was super excited about the single button on/off, ui, and cradle. Sad to return this to amazon.com.

That's too bad about the water getting in. I hope that's not the case on most of these. They claim an IPX7 waterproof rating.

I really like these lights, they are a good gateway as gifts to get family into li_ion rechargeables without having to get a separate charger, feeling like maintenance. I wish they all worked well off the batt. I'm still pulling for these to get fixed and reliable because I like the light itself

So after further testing, i shoved the light back into the swimming pool and it turned back on to moonlight mode. The water has chlorine and other electrochemical in it to cause a connection.

I took the light back inside and shorted the metal connectors on the rear and voila! Full power. However, once the connection is lost, it goes back to nothing. It is definitely the tail cap that is causing all the issues. There appears to be separation of contacts, which i. Sure the manufacturing process can fix.

After not being satisfied, I disassembled the rear tail cap by taking out the lock ring, rubber gasket, spring assembly and rear gold connector. The original adhesive residue prevented the tail cap (essentially he ground portion of the battery) from communicating with the body of flashlight. I removed it with scraping it from a semi-sharp edge tweezer and soaked it in brake cleaner to clear out the rest.

It works now as it should, but once i put it back on the cradle and take it off, it doesn't turn on unless i manipulate the central gold disk in between the magnet area. I suspect this is due to the cradle's central nipple pushing the connector a little and since i dont have glue there anymore, it shifted it's alignment.

Now, im not sure if my case is different from the rest of yall, but that's how i got mine working again. Olight states that they are manufacturing new tail caps and i hope it works well for all.

I wonder if i voided my warranty! LOL

Thanks for the reply on what you did! My heat gun should make short work of that adhesive. I just want a temporary fix until I get the new tailcaps.

I doubt you voided the warranty since it is a bad part that is easily removable. I emailed Olight and they didn't want pictures or me to send them the product, not even proof of sale or ownership! They just said we will send you the tailcaps when we get them. So whatever you did to that tailcap is between you and God, because you don't need it to get a new one.

I highly suggest emailing Olight customer service on Monday, so your email doesn't get buried, and tell them the bare bones of your problem.
[email protected]

Ok, i think its the small coil under the gold center on the tail cap that is not closing the loop.. I stretched it to provide full and contact it and it works. Water also leaks in at this point and when it does, the light flickers.

I dried it out and gave the spring more tension and it works very reliably.

RoccoOnFire said:

The turbo on all 3 of the lights I recieved worked and was noticeable. Well, one worked when it wanted to. Maybe its because turbo cant be accessed from the press and hold mode selector. So if you had the light on and on high, you would have to double click to access turbo, turning the light off from high and back on into turbo. If that is the scenario then the step up wouldnt be as easy to detect when the light flashes off and then back on.

If thats not the case, maybe it is the same issue. Do you have a bad cell maybe? You should contact Olight for a tailcap by email regardless, if you have any concerns. The 5 year warranty on these lights is a nice reassurement that they are standing behind these products.

We will see in May. Im about to take a heat gun to the inside of the bad tailcap and give a tug with a pair of pliers and see if I can give it a temporary fix. In regards to resistance that they said was in the tailcap that was preventing charging; I did not detect any change in resistance between the light that doesn't charge and the one that does, using the same base. I didnt grab the fluke for it, i just grabbed a cheapo one because it was right next to me, so maybe that is why I didnt detect it.

Click to expand...

Nope, its definitely the tailcap. A few days ago, I realised it was falsely reporting charge complete when in fact the cell was completely dead.

Charged up a known good Olight 3.4ah 18650, same issue.

No turbo and charge not working correctly. This is my first light with a built in charger and to be honest, not a very good experience.

I got a reply back from Olight saying they would have a replacement for me next month, but I am strongly considering returning to to my dealer for something different ... Perhaps the Armytek Prime C2 Pro.

I love my Olight S10 but this just doesnt feel as good to me.

CN

Mr_Fried said:

Nope, its definitely the tailcap. A few days ago, I realised it was falsely reporting charge complete when in fact the cell was completely dead.

Charged up a known good Olight 3.4ah 18650, same issue.

No turbo and charge not working correctly. This is my first light with a built in charger and to be honest, not a very good experience.

I got a reply back from Olight saying they would have a replacement for me next month, but I am strongly considering returning to to my dealer for something different ... Perhaps the Armytek Prime C2 Pro.

CN

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The 2nd light to act up on me, with the charging issue, charged properly for a couple of months. When it failed, the charging base did not even register a connection to the flashlight with either a solid red or green light. It just kept slowly blinking as it does when flashlightless.

This was with the provided Olight 18650, which registered a full charge, and with an Eagletac 18650.

However, some of the issues you describe are reminiscent of some of the problems the first light I sent in for warranty was displaying.

I personally think if this fix resolves the issue then it will be worth the wait.

Ok, I'll give an update on my warranty service experience so far.

I received a tailcap in the mail about 5 days ago. It functions properly, as the original one did before for a couple months. It came about a month before they said it would and was shipped to me from Olight Services addressed at Going Gear Georgia.

Props to both Olight and Going Gear :thumbsup: for getting me a quick fix as these were gifts to family. I just hope it's a permanent fix.

I warrantied the first light through Going Gear and bought all three from them but contacted Olight directly for two tailcaps on the two lights in my possession. One of which the charging failed the third light I feel will inevitably fail also in a similar manner to the first two.

These things combined make me wonder if I received new old stock that functions or if I received a new and improved production run. Iwill probably reach out to Olight for clarification.

If it is indeed the new and improved production run ofthese tailcaps distributed ahead of schedule, great. I will probably be expecting the light they have in for service and the second tailcap they said they would send within threeish weeks time as originally quoted.

I'm assuming there is a huge waiting list for these at Olight right now so I am not going to stress about a tailcap for a light that hasn't failed yet. The light they still have may have had deeper problems than the tailcap, I don't know.

The wait is completely understandable for my additional part and light.
No worries Olight!

Its better to wait and get it right than to rush it if you ask me. It'll save everyone a lot of time in the long run.

Thanks again to the manufacturer and distributor for being so attentive.

I will continue to update the health of the light and customer/warranty service experience for these three Olight S30R flashlights.

Unfortunately I had lost my other EDC, the Olight S10 and needed a reliable compact light sooner than the 6+weeks quoted by Olight for the replacement to be available.

Interestingly enough, I was told that they would give me a whole new light rather than just a replacement tailcap. My Australian Dealer Liteshop.com.au were extremely supportive around the RMA process and let me exchange the S30R for a Nitecore MH12, which is an excellent little light, but not really a direct replacement for the S10 ...

Initial impressions of the Nitecore MH12 are that its an excellent light and far superior to the S30R in terms of build quality and beam pattern :twothumbs

Now trying to choose between a Jetbeam RRT01 or an Armytek Prime C1 NW for pocket light, but realise I have digressed off-topic...

TL: DR lost faith in this particular model (S30r) and if I was going to do it again, I would have probably saved the hassle and got an S20, with no charging issues to worry about to begin with.

RoccoOnFire said:

I just saw the thread from Olight about the tailcap issues. I will ask for a replacement when they are available, but I would still like help with taking this apart if anyone has any experience with one.

UPDATE: I emailed Olight for the tailcaps and they are sending two for the lights still in my possession, even though only one has the issue. They responded within an hour to my email. I am very pleased with their customer service. Now I just have to wait until May. I would still like to take the one I have apart in the mean time, however.

Click to expand...

I also have an S30R and have had nearly identical issues.
I contacted olight but didn't get a replacement tailcap, instead i decided to try to fix the problem.

1. Remove the metal ring in the cap with a needlenose
2. grab the spring in the tailcap and give it a firm tug (3-5 lb)

there is a small brass plug and a tiny spring holding on to it, and the magnet ring in the tail is glued to the cap.
3. take the small brass piece and clean it, then take a brush or cutip or toothpick or something and dig out the small hole between the magnet and the tailcap back.
4. get some dielectric grease and put it on the sides of the brass piece, but don't put too much on or you will confuse the charger and the light won't charge.
5. Reassemble

I tried shoving a small piece of metal behind the brass button to give it a better grip on the back of the tailcap, but the magnet couldn't overcome the extra springiness when I put it on the base, and thus wouldn't charge.

I have YET to hear from O-light re my failed S3or flashlight, let alone Nitecore about their "caveman' light as well.

6 months plus later, multiple emails, and phone calls.

never buying another flashlight from them again.

fed up. HUNDREDS of $$$$$$$$ spent , money i will never get back and 2 flashlights i will never get to enjoy .

Well, I just received my S30R II replacement for me S30R that had a problem. So I'm sure Olight is sending the replacement out.

I still waiting from Going Gear for replacement for my S30R, It had been almost 5 month

I baught mine S30R in December 2014 and the switch on my S30R has suddenly start to have issues. The clicky sound is gone and the entire button has been over recessed and the button itself has become loose. Since there is a 5 year warranty on this light, i will not let it pass. I contacted the Ebay seller and the seller will send me a new light. Hopefully it will work better during long term use.