Nuwai: excellence & "sudden death"

Nuwai has established a deservedly good reputation on CPF and I have purchased several of their lights over the years including three highly-reviewed lights: the QIII, TM-301X-3 (2x123 LUX III) and the TM-301X-5 (2x123 5W).

Despite the general excellence of these lights I've had some problems. Out of four QIII's two failed completely, one during normal operation and one that rolled off a table (approx 28" height) onto a wooden floor. Sudden death in both cases even after replacing the batteries with fresh ones.

One of my two TM-301X-3's failed after I accidently dropped it from about two feet onto a wooden floor. I just got the TM-301X-5 which I have used for only 20-30 minutes without incident.

So, out of 7 lights, three have failed, a failure rate of
43%. I also have two other Nuwai lights, the AL-606 which combines an incandescent central bulb with surrounding selectable 5mm leds, and a larger precursor of that light. I have used the 606 extensively over the past year. It has been banged, dropped onto concrete and otherwise abused with no problems.

In the past I have "torture-tested" several MagAA dropins with no problems. I have also used L4's, Alephs and ARC 2AAs in rough country, occasionally dropping them on rocky terrain with not a single functional problem (though they don't look quite as pretty as they once did).

I like my Nuwai lights but I don't fully trust them anymore and I wonder if I am the only one to have had these problems.

Brightnorm

Nary a problem here re the Q 3. Tough and durable so far. . .

You're not the only one.

My 3 year old son dropped a Quantum-III and killed it. I assumed the point of failure was the light engine, since I swapped the tail with another Q-III, and light failed to turn on with a verified functional switch. The battery was fine. I didn't want to boil the light to open up the head, because I wouldn't know what to do with the darn thing even if I got it open.

I didn't mind too much, because it was an excuse to commission a mod by milkyspit. Scott (milkyspit) modded the light, but couldn't figure out why it had died in the first place.

A few months later, my newly pimped-out Q-III accidentally fell out of my pocket onto a tile floor and stopped working again.

I verified that the switch and the battery were functional. This time, I opened up the bezel, as it was no longer sealed with loctite. The sandwich didn't appear to have anything grossly wrong with it. I fiddled with it, blew a couple times on it (you, like clicking furiously on a slow-loading link is supposed to make your network connection faster...), and screwed the bezel on again.

Now it works again. Who the heck knows why?

I have also lost a bit of confidence in the Q-III as an EDC. My stock Q-III (which has never demonstrated any problems) resides in my car's glove compartment, and the Fenix L1P has replaced my modded Q-III as an EDC.

My son has dropped my Fenix L1P quite a few times without any mishaps (other than getting yelled at by dad... yeah, I know it's mostly my fault for letting him play with it in the first place). I've dinged up my Arc AAA innumerable times, without any consequences.

While I still think the Q-III is an excellent value, I am reluctant to use it as an EDC because of the reliability issue.

Of course, your mileage may vary.

I have the AXL-352L and have been running it exslusively on bare RCR123's since this last May and electronically it has been running flawlessly. I have only dropped it on a wooden floor a couple times from a height of perhaps 24 - 30".

Guess I need to knock on wood.

Dave

Hookd_On_Photons said:

...While I still think the Q-III is an excellent value, I am reluctant to use it as an EDC because of the reliability issue...

Click to expand...

That's exactly the issue for me; can I trust that these lights will work when I need them? Unfortunately, based on my experiences I have to say no, and that's really a shame because they are otherwise excellent products.

Brightnorm

This is really disturbing to hear -
merely dropping the Q3 may make it stop working.....

Craig at LED Museum torture tested the Nuwai TM303X Quantum-III LED Flashlight

QUOTE:
The Nuwai appears to be at least reasonably durable. I smacked it against a steel rod ten times (five against the tailcap, and five against the bezel), and did not cause any detectable damage, and did not cause any malfunctions either.

I scratched through the exterior finish of this flashlight with the blade of a Swiss army knife, showing the flashlight has a Type II anodizing.
Would I really try to cut up a perfectly good, brand spanken new flashlight?
You bet your sweet patootie I would, if it's in the name of science.

Looks like I don't have to beat on the unit too much more or take a knife to it, so now it's a happy little flashlight.

O wait, I still need to throw the Nuwai around and run over it with a 400lb electric wheelchair... guess it isn't such a happy little flashlight after all.

Let's take care of those tests now...BRB...ok it was not damaged at all by being run over four times with the rear drive wheel of an electric wheelchair, and being thrown didn't do it in either. So yes, it's durable.
UNQUOTE

well..you get what you paid for.....I doubt Nuwais were put through torture testing that Surefire does...to say the least....

That's the difference between a fragile product and an unreliable one. The latter seems tough but then breaks when you need it the most, which is worse than knowing from the start that something is fragile. Sometimes unreliability takes the form of huge variability between units, so that some can be run over by a truck while others stop working if you look at them the wrong way. Of course, you won't know which one you have until the s#%@ hits the fan ...

asdalton said:

...Of course, you won't know which one you have until the s#%@ hits the fan ...

Click to expand...

Too true

BN

i have compared with q3 & longbow micra.

q3 is made in china by a taiwanese capital factory ,the quality is medium .
the rubber layer of knob is quite thin . i only think it is b grade .
PLSE NOTIFY THAT THE OMBX,SPAIN & NUXXX ARE THE SAME .
AS A CHINESE PROVERB, ONE CENT MONEY WITH ONE CENT GOODS(QUAITY).

THOSE A GRADE PRODUCT ,I THINK SHOULD BE SURFIRE,LONGBOW,INOVA....
PRICE OF MICRA(ABOUT USD 65-70) IS DOUBLE OF THAT OF Q3.
IT DEPEND ON YOUR DECISION FOR QUALITY & MONEY.
MICRA WITH DROP TESTING PASSED FROM ABOUT 40FEET.

MAIL:[email protected]

Two months ago, I bought a number of Q3. I didn't follow the praising crowd at beginning, but the curiosity, at the end, won.

On three different Q3, I studied the four causes of sudden death.

First, the tailcap. The PCB holding the on-off switch is connected electrically to the aluminium tube by mean of a soft steel spring, that is soldered to the PCB. Continuous mechanical tension, coupled with a even small impact, break the solder joint and the tailcap is no longer functional.
FIX: Crimp the spring to the PCB, than solder.

The second problem is the PCB where the step-up convertes is placed. The Zetex IC and the other components are soldered with no underlying glue, as it is accepted standard for SMD parts.
Any inpact can have parts fliying off the PCB.
FIX: I potted the PCB with epoxy.

The third problem is the ring that provides connection between the negative contact of the PCB and the flashlight body. With time and heat, it weakens and looses the pressure necessary to keep a good contact.
FIX: Use silver-loaded conductive paint when assembling the light, so the mechanichal pressure will be no more be necessary to make good contact.

The fourth problem is the non-existing thermal path between the star and the flashlight body. This problem become relevant when using Li-Ion.
FIX: Smear heat-conductive paste between the star, the round aluminium spacer, and the flashlight tube. You should have potted the PCB first.

After these modifications, the Q3 become more reliable, and less prone to sudden death.

Anthony

This is the exact reason why I rather save my $$ and buy less lights but choose the best only ... because then I know they will work when I need them AND I know that I wouldn't take anything less with me anyway, so there's actually no choice except buying the best.
bernie

My Q3 was dropped from about 6 feet on concrete floor and the damage was only slightly flattened checkering on the bezel (coating wasn't damaged).

Well, to piggy-back on Kiessling's and ASDalton's insightful comments, I refer everyone to the nearby thread titled "Are Surefires Really Worth The $$."