Did I break my Romisen RC-T602 II U2?

I never really cared for this light, and for the most part it has simply been left in a drawer (without battery). It's always worked just fine, until recently when I decided to try it. I inserted an 18650 (fully charged) but it wouldn't turn on. I remember having a counterintuitive light where (-) was down and (+) was up, and for some reason I thought maybe this was that light. So I inverted the cell (-) down and (+) towards the tailcap, and I clicked it on and off real quick but nothing happened. I then removed the cell and put it back in with (+) facing down towards the head. This time it turned on, but only one mode worked (it has two). Later it also began flickering and dimming. I have tried cleaning the contacts, and tightening the retaining ring in the tailcap with needle nose pliers, but it makes no difference.

So... any thoughts on what could be going on here?

Edit: I should clarify that the battery was inserted the right way, with (+) facing down towards the front the first time I tried it. It was only after that didn't work that I inverted the battery, with (+) facing up towards the tailcap (which didn't work either).

Does anyone know it this light has reverse polarity protection? I can't find anything when I do a Google and forum search.

I would be really surprised if this light had a reverse polarity protection, even a physical one. If it now acts as a single level light, my guess is that you fried the driver and it's now in direct drive.

derfyled said:

I would be really surprised if this light had a reverse polarity protection, even a physical one. If it now acts as a single level light, my guess is that you fried the driver and it's now in direct drive.

Click to expand...

Do you think I could have fried it by just clicking it on and off real quick? When I first tried it, I had the battery the right way in, but it didn't turn on.

Yes, I think so. Many years ago, I fried a Fenix L1D just this way. That was the time where there was no physical protection near the positive contact.

The good news is that you can get a new driver that fits for real cheap on DX or similar sites. They are really easy to change.

Thanks for the tip. Maybe I'll just change the entire emitter while I'm at it because I never liked the tint. The head seems to be glued to the tube, though, and I can't unscrew it. However, I can remove the bezel and the reflector. Below is a picture of the emitter. Can I remove it from here, or do I need to find a way to remove the tube?