INOVA X1 Does Not Work Out of the Box ?

About a year ago, I got a brand new INOVA X1.

It has been sitting in my desk drawer since then.

Last night, I decided to put it in my vehicle's glove compartment as a "back up" light.

Well, guess what? It does not work.

I tried a bunch of different AA batteries, and it does not work at all.

It appears to be "defective right out of the box".

Before I ship it back to INOVA, any suggestions as to why my INOVA X1 does not work?

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gif

Thanks.

X1's are packaged with the AA cell already loaded in, did you see any evidence of the battery leaking inside the light?

Besides a factory defect which you think would have been discovered by now (by some QA person at the factory or retail store), that's all I can think of.

Thanks for your reply.

Nope -- the battery was in perfect condition (i.e. no signs of leaking).

There was some talk a while back about defective tail caps.

Also note that the battery goes in + first, which is opposite of its larger sibling the X5.

best regards

This is shocking /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif. I never remember a single thread regarding the problems of products from Inova unless the owner did it himself. (except for the little crack found in the optics of the XO, and XO3 which doesnt affect the performance)I dont know what to suggest.

I have seen one defective tail cap in the 5 X1s that I have modded. The problem was that some of the plastic pegs that hold the metal piece in place were too long and prevented the metal piece from contacting the battery (-). You can try flatten the pegs down with a rotary tool, or a half-hot solder (if the solder is too hot, you will melt the peg away). A little aluminum foil at the bottom may be a temporary fix--but you may not be able to turn the light off properly /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Did you try whacking it against your knee or something? That has helped me restart more than one x1.

I can tell you what the problem probably is because I had the same problem myself....

Inside the battery compartment toward the front of the light, you will see the positive battery contact. This contact is shrouded by a plastic ring. It turns out that my plastic ring was poorly finished and was keeping the metal contact from touching the battery positive head.

The solution is to take the light apart and to use a Dremel tool to clean out the black plastic ring so that it does not catch the metal positive contact. The light is disassembled by using the freezing water method-filling the light with water and letting the expanding ice push the head out. If you don't want to mess with it- send it back. However, mine has worked flawlessly since it's "operation".
Stu

I will second that. Filing down the black positive contact pieces will result in smoother operation.

I am not a "do it yourself" type person, so off it goes to INOVA tomorrow.

Thanks for your replies.