Hey Gang,
Looks like this ride isn't quite over yet. As always, we are doing our level best. I've never written "thanks for your patience and understanding" so many times, but I genuinely appreciate it. I agree this is getting ridiculous, but we are in it together and the only way is forward.
This might get a little long so here is the TL;DR :
We started reworking lights and shipping them the Monday you received the "now shipping" email (in fact we got 1/2 of pre-orders shipped in 3 days). Then I discovered another issue on Wednesday night, immediately halted rework/shipping, emailed all customers with shipped orders, and started talking with the vendor about the new issue. The Minis are only producing 50-60% of the intended output on all drive levels. I've spent the last few weeks trying to figure out the next step. The good news is, the replacement parts we received for the
Mini Turbolights are actually fine, despite my initial assessment. We are resuming rework and shipping for
Mini Turbo lights on Monday, May 16th. Those of you who ordered Minis (or both lights) have some options below.
PLEASE READ THE OPTIONS SECTION AND NOTE THAT NO ACTION WILL BE TAKEN ON OUR PART UNTIL WE RECEIVE THE APPROPRIATE EMAIL DIRECTIVE FROM YOU. DETAILS AT THE BOTTOM.
The long version: Just when I thought it was safe to go back in the water...
The problem with the Minis: As described above we were stoked to receive the replacement parts, tested the "mode change timing too short" issue and verified it was corrected, started the rework, and shipped roughly 1/2 of the pre-order. Then a customer emailed about the brightness settings on the Mini. What I
did not do was go back and retest every aspect of the light...I only tested the problem that needed correction and it was corrected. It turns out (for a yet unknown reason) that the Mini (not the Turbo) is only producing 50-60% power on all levels. I don't know if this change was accidental or intentional.
The low output issue does not affect Mini Turbos: After discovering the low output 3 weeks ago, I then tested the mA drive current on the Turbos and "thought" we had a similar problem. Drive current was a little low...but not as low as the Minis. I did not test the lumens. However, I've been gone for 3 weeks and yesterday I (fortunately) decided to double check the Mini Turbo
lumen output. In the first stroke of good fortune on this project,
the Mini Turbo lights using the replacement pills are hitting the correct output requirements. As per above, we are resuming rework and shipping for Mini Turbos immediately.
My thought about the Minis: As I mentioned, I was traveling for the last 3 weeks and carried a low output Mini the entire time. The current output settings are .8/15/150/550 lumens. To be perfectly honest (for me) I prefer the lower output over the intended 1.5/45/350/900 lumens. The distrustful among you are going to say I'm "just saying that" in a thinly veiled attempt to promote a bug as a feature. I'm not telling
you what to think, I'm just telling you what I think. When the rest of the Minis come back from the factory, I won't be using a new one, I'll be sticking with this lower output version. I'm also going to get a lot more run time
We had about 600 Minis on hand and 450 of those are for the pre-order, so we have about 150 extra lights. Right now the plan is to keep the extra lights, re-spec them at the lower output, and sell them on the site. When the balance of lights are reworked at the factory, they should come back to us meeting the original specifications. It takes weeks to get custom labels printed, so any pre-order lights will be shipped with the original labels.
Here is what I'm thinking for options going forward:
- Everyone who pre-ordered receives a one-time-use 25% discount code for any product that is eligible for a discount, no matter which option you choose below.
- Accept a Mini as-is: if you either prefer (or don't care about) the lower output you can keep it if you already received it, or we can ship it if we haven't yet. Please email us at [email protected] with the subject line (Ship my Mini). NOTE: we will NOT ship your order until we get an email from you. (We don't want to ship the light if you don't want it.)
- Return for refund: If you already have a Mini and you don't want to keep it, you may return it for a refund. Please email us [email protected] with the subject line (Return my Mini) and we'll provide return instructions.
- Cancel your pre-order: If we haven't shipped, we can cancel and refund the order. You will still get the discount code. Please email us [email protected] with the subject line (Refund my Mini). If you ordered both lights we'll still ship your Turbo unless you explicitly tell us not to.
- Wait for a corrected Mini: We'll continue to hold off shipping and send a full powered Mini when they get back. Please email us [email protected] with the subject line (Hold my Mini). If you ordered both lights we'll still ship your Turbo unless you explicitly tell us not to.
Thanks,
Jason & the Prometheus Team