Outdoorsman5
Flashlight Enthusiast
I have bought 4 new Zebralights over the past 14 months and ALL FOUR HAVE THE SAME MALFUNCTIONS. All four at times abruptly turn off when turning the light on at H1 (max) and the 3 newest lights with the newest UI all started malfunctioning once I began programming G6 and G7 (the UI worked fine prior to programming.) Zebralight KNOWS they have a big problem here, and they are either IGNORING the problem or LYING about it. My conversations with them span months.
In Dec 2016 I bought a SC600w Mk III HI and have now returned it 3 TIMES. The problem - when I turn the light on max (H1) sometimes it just turns off on its own and won't come back on for a few seconds. All 9 of the 18650's I've used are from ZL and are the Panasonic/Sanyo NCR 18650GA, and all were/are fully charged. I returned the light to ZL last spring. They "said" they couldn't duplicate the problem & sent it back to me. I returned it again this fall for the same problem, and they again "said" they couldn't duplicate the problem & sent it back to me. Within a few attempts it cut out on me multiple times with new batteries from ZL (they have sent me 6 new ones now and the new batteries didn't fix anything.) I am waiting on the light to return from them, and am very tired of them lying to me.
This November I bought the new SC600w Mk IV HI and very quickly found it abruptly cutting off from H1 as well! I then played with the new UI by programming G6 and G7 and quickly discovered that medium would randomly get stuck (could not toggle between M1 & M2.) This problem happens almost every time I move from G5 to G6 or G7 & back. Another complaint about the new SC600w Mk IV HI is that it is EXACTLY the same brightness as the older Mk III on max yet they have it listed at 1400 lumens compared the 1126 lumens for the older Mk III. They lied!
Yesterday I received the new SC64w and the new H64w AND THE EXACT SAME THINGS ARE HAPPENING WITH THEM. Both cut out on me from H1 and it only took me a few seconds to discover the problem on the SC64w. The H64w lasted a whole day before it just cut out on me (again fully charged battery.) Then once I programmed G6 and G7 in both lights they both starting malfunctioning (skipping medium when holding the button down from off among other bugs like medium getting stuck.) Zebralight told me recently to just unscrew the tail to fix it/reset it each time it malfunctioned - NO THANK YOU. Every time I move from G5 to G6 or G7 the bugs show up everywhere!
I am a long time Zebralight Fan, I own I think 16 or so and use them OFTEN (I'm the Scoutmaster of our BSA troop and go camping every month plus I use them around my property daily.) I will not be buying anything new from them for a while, and I recommend you don't either. They KNOW this problem is everywhere. The statistical odds point to most of their new lights having these bugs (since I've received 4 in a row,) which brings me to this - Why am I not seeing more chatter about these problems from the awesome folks on CPF? I've only seen a few users comment on these bugs. Are people not using these new lights enough to notice? Are people not programming G6 & G7? Are people having these problems but just not posting them? I'm asking because I don't know. I was just backpacking on the Appalachian Trail last month in GA and my older H600w MkII worked just fine for hours, but the new SC600w Mk IV HI cut out on me every few attempts at H1 - AGAIN, NO THANK YOU! Where are reports like this??
If you own one of these new Zebralights or are buying one, LOOKOUT!!
In Dec 2016 I bought a SC600w Mk III HI and have now returned it 3 TIMES. The problem - when I turn the light on max (H1) sometimes it just turns off on its own and won't come back on for a few seconds. All 9 of the 18650's I've used are from ZL and are the Panasonic/Sanyo NCR 18650GA, and all were/are fully charged. I returned the light to ZL last spring. They "said" they couldn't duplicate the problem & sent it back to me. I returned it again this fall for the same problem, and they again "said" they couldn't duplicate the problem & sent it back to me. Within a few attempts it cut out on me multiple times with new batteries from ZL (they have sent me 6 new ones now and the new batteries didn't fix anything.) I am waiting on the light to return from them, and am very tired of them lying to me.
This November I bought the new SC600w Mk IV HI and very quickly found it abruptly cutting off from H1 as well! I then played with the new UI by programming G6 and G7 and quickly discovered that medium would randomly get stuck (could not toggle between M1 & M2.) This problem happens almost every time I move from G5 to G6 or G7 & back. Another complaint about the new SC600w Mk IV HI is that it is EXACTLY the same brightness as the older Mk III on max yet they have it listed at 1400 lumens compared the 1126 lumens for the older Mk III. They lied!
Yesterday I received the new SC64w and the new H64w AND THE EXACT SAME THINGS ARE HAPPENING WITH THEM. Both cut out on me from H1 and it only took me a few seconds to discover the problem on the SC64w. The H64w lasted a whole day before it just cut out on me (again fully charged battery.) Then once I programmed G6 and G7 in both lights they both starting malfunctioning (skipping medium when holding the button down from off among other bugs like medium getting stuck.) Zebralight told me recently to just unscrew the tail to fix it/reset it each time it malfunctioned - NO THANK YOU. Every time I move from G5 to G6 or G7 the bugs show up everywhere!
I am a long time Zebralight Fan, I own I think 16 or so and use them OFTEN (I'm the Scoutmaster of our BSA troop and go camping every month plus I use them around my property daily.) I will not be buying anything new from them for a while, and I recommend you don't either. They KNOW this problem is everywhere. The statistical odds point to most of their new lights having these bugs (since I've received 4 in a row,) which brings me to this - Why am I not seeing more chatter about these problems from the awesome folks on CPF? I've only seen a few users comment on these bugs. Are people not using these new lights enough to notice? Are people not programming G6 & G7? Are people having these problems but just not posting them? I'm asking because I don't know. I was just backpacking on the Appalachian Trail last month in GA and my older H600w MkII worked just fine for hours, but the new SC600w Mk IV HI cut out on me every few attempts at H1 - AGAIN, NO THANK YOU! Where are reports like this??
If you own one of these new Zebralights or are buying one, LOOKOUT!!
