# My DealExtreme lights seem to have sketchy power...



## JeffOYB (Jun 15, 2012)

I have 3 DealExtreme lights of various types and they all seem to be unreliable. Actually, they seem to work fine when I use them on my bike but when I just carry them around they turn on and off by themselves and fade to dim then get strong. It seems to relate, I guess, to the grounding. When I turn the end-caps tight or loose it really affects them. They hop around in their modes, fade, etc. But when I snug them up sometimes they just don't work or are intermittent. Anyway, is there some standard prep I should do with these lights? Like steel-wool or wire-brush the threads? I tried to google this problem but I can't even describe it well. Thanks, JP


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## qwertyydude (Jun 15, 2012)

The standard thing to do with all cheap Chinese lights is to completely disassemble them, clean all the threads, and carefully reassemble all the parts nice and tight. Along with that what may become necessary may be soldering loose parts like springs, contacts and or regulator boards to the pills. Sometimes it's even come down to taking the actual clicky switch apart and cleaning the contacts in it to get a light 100% reliable. After doing this all my lights have never failed to turn on or run consistently.


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## fishndad (Jun 15, 2012)

try cleaning the threads.
I use a soft toothbrush and Q-Tips.
Clean the entire inside and outside of light with a dry clean cloth.
Reapply lube to threads and try it out.
If you still have issues there is a great trouble shooting guide just look it up on CPF.
Good Luck
I wouldnt use a wire brush or even steel wool on the threads.


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## nbp (Jun 16, 2012)

Try throwing away your DX lights, and buying something inherently more reliable.  Sketchy lights is pretty much DX's MO.


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## biglights (Jun 16, 2012)

ouch!


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## Trevtrain (Jun 16, 2012)

biglights said:


> ouch!



Well, yes it does sound kinda harsh, but I think it's actually not bad advice. 

We don't know what financial shape to OP is in - perhaps cheap lights are the only affordable option.






I personally think there might be a case made for the budget lights if:


You just want to play and have some fun, but all the while knowing that you are just further encouraging these companies to produce more substandard crap.
You don't mind having to tinker around to get them to (maybe one day) work properly.
You don't rely on them for anything serious.
You always carry more than one.
You can find a large base of users who swear that a certain specific model is OK.
You won't get pissed off when someone says to you - "well what did you expect for _*that *_price?"
 
On the other hand, I saw someone in here with a signature line that read:
_"Being poor, I can't afford to buy cheap" _or something along those lines. That's a very wise outlook.

Honestly, I have wasted too much money over the years on cheap lights that looked OK at first glance. It is tempting when you think along the lines of "hey, it's only $3, $5, $10, etc". You get a temporary satisfaction for a little while and then the light starts flickering or you become really irritated by the fact that it is getting dimmer and dimmer as the batteries run down. (Unregulated)
Perhaps you drop it or perhaps one night (these things never happen in the daytime!) it just mysteriously stops working for no obvious reason. 
You'll be told _"Of course it is waterproof sir"_ but then you get it home and have a good look and there are no o-rings under the tail cap, or you use it in the rain and somehow the battery ends up wet and the lens fogged.

Perhaps I'm getting off-track a little here, since the OP asked about troubleshooting - sorry.

But the bottom line is that a quality light from a reputable manufacturer will be a better long-term prospect than the 5 cheapies you could get for the same price at DX and places like it. We really are just helping to support a flawed economic model when we waste our hard-earned on dodgy products. Let's support the companies that are willing to try a bit harder.

Forums like CPF are a great place to start. Before I started lurking here I had never even heard of most of the brands discussed. Perhaps Australia is a bit of a backwater in this regard as I've never seen most of the better lights in any shop down here. (Apart from on-line sellers) Now, armed with a PayPal account and the knowledge I have gained from a multitude of helpful people here, I won't be wasting any more cash on stuff that just will not last. 

My first post of the day - sorry it's been a bit of a rant.





For the OP - there's a good sticky in the Budget lights forum. Have a read through this.




http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?227518-LED-Troubleshooting-guide-(budget-lights)


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## JeffOYB (Jun 16, 2012)

Thanks, all! : ) Commence cleaning...


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## JeffOYB (Jun 16, 2012)

OK, I fiddled with cleaning one light, a new Uniquefire G10 / Cree R5 6-mode (5-mode?). Still has same glitch. More specifically: the light won't always turn on. Sometimes if I shake it, it'll turn on. Or if I unscrew the end cap a bit. Generally if I shake it it'll cycle thru its modes with each shake. Also, the light emits various tones -- a louder steady tone goes with brightest steady mode, intermittent tones go with strobing. 

My other light, a new Cree Fandyfire C8 / Cree, was getting a light-fade where I'd have it on a beam setting then the intensity would diminish and flicker on its own. I cleaned it also but am not getting the issue right now. It never flickers when I use it on high-beam on my bike but I've noticed when using around the house on low-beam. Maybe the cleaning fixed it as it's not flickering now.

Thanks for any further advice! 

(After cleaning the threads I didn't relube with anything. I read a bit on lubes and it seems like everything under the sun was both suggested and cautioned. I don't know if these lights have anodized threads, for one thing. The threads seem to work fine for now. Is lube vital for conductivity?)

(Good rant about quality, but this is the Budget thread so we're lost causes here. I'm just not in the $100 light demographic, but the $15 fits me for now. I also do agree about being "too poor for cheap," but I can't always swing it for "doing it right." I'll try to make up the difference in quality with more manual labor as needed. My MTE SSC P7-C 900-lumen has worked great for past several hard years.)


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## biglights (Jun 16, 2012)

Trevtrain said:


> Well, yes it does sound kinda harsh, but I think it's actually not bad advice.
> 
> We don't know what financial shape to OP is in - perhaps cheap lights are the only affordable option.
> 
> ...



Totally agree, I was just having some fum. Your points are very true. I don't understand buying a lot of the lower end stuff. Lots of junk in my opinion.


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## jmpaul320 (Jun 16, 2012)

at this point i would take a light that was less reliable from DX... mine havent even shown up after being ordered almost 2 months ago now lol


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## biglights (Jun 16, 2012)

jmpaul320 said:


> at this point i would take a light that was less reliable from DX... mine havent even shown up after being ordered almost 2 months ago now lol



Wow that sucks, that is a LONG time to wait for a light. Usually it takes less than a week for my orders to arrive.


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## Trevtrain (Jun 17, 2012)

jmpaul320 said:


> at this point i would take a light that was less reliable from DX... mine havent even shown up after being ordered almost 2 months ago now lol



Yep, I'd be a bit annoyed by annoyed by now too - although, it depends on what you are waiting on. From what I can see, some high quality and custom brands (HDS for instance) are known for long waits. In those cases though, you will usually be aware of this first.

What are you waiting on?


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## Norm (Jun 17, 2012)

Trevtrain said:


> On the other hand, I saw someone in here with a signature line that read:
> _"Being poor, I can't afford to buy cheap" _or something along those lines. That's a very wise outlook.



There are two ways off looking at this, "Being poor I can't afford to buy cheap (unreliable) lights"

Norm


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## bitslice (Jun 17, 2012)

I could mention that all my DX XML $15 [email protected], trustfire battery lights work fine, but I doubt you'd ever get to see this post.

Still, nice to have a balanced view of the world isn't it chaps 

I'm sure people fought wars for freedom of speech, shame nobody cares.


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## Trevtrain (Jun 17, 2012)

bitslice said:


> I could mention that all my DX XML $15 [email protected], trustfire battery lights work fine, but I doubt you'd ever get to see this post.
> 
> Still, nice to have a balanced view of the world isn't it chaps
> 
> I'm sure people fought wars for freedom of speech, shame nobody cares.



Freedom of speech works both ways mate. 

It's great that we have choice, but nowhere is it required that we all think the same - AFAIK that was the point of the wars you are speaking about.

If you've had no problems with your $15 lights then that's great - I hope they keep performing for you. I can only speak from my own past experience and like many others in here, I won't be going down the "cheapie" path again for the reasons mentioned. 

I could extend the conversation to cover a whole generation of products "built to fail" in order to sell more crap, use up the world's resources, contribute to toxic landfill, etc, but let's not derail the thread any further eh? The general state of the world is a bit beyond what this thread was started for. :shakehead

I sincerely hope the OP can fix his problems. He has quite clearly said he cannot "swing it" for a $100 light and is happy to try making up for the quality difference with manual labour. FWIW, I actually do the same myself with lots of my interests. Recycling, rebuilding and so forth.

I just choose not to go down this path with lights any more.

I'm not sure why you think I'd never get to see this post :thinking: but anyway, "have a nice day" as the Yanks say.


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## jmpaul320 (Jun 17, 2012)

Trevtrain said:


> Yep, I'd be a bit annoyed by annoyed by now too - although, it depends on what you are waiting on. From what I can see, some high quality and custom brands (HDS for instance) are known for long waits. In those cases though, you will usually be aware of this first.
> 
> What are you waiting on?



just a cheap 3aaa uv and 3aaa ir light... its like a $15 order lol so its really not that big of a deal

i filed a paypal claim just before 45 days was up and they havent even responded! lol... i guess if they dont show up maybe paypal will refund my money (if they dont respond at all)

even though its a small order and not that big of a deal it would be nice to at least hear from them


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## JeffOYB (Jun 17, 2012)

Any ideas about the Uniquefire light below? Thanks!



JeffOYB said:


> OK, I fiddled with cleaning one light, a new Uniquefire G10 / Cree R5 6-mode (5-mode?). Still has same glitch. More specifically: the light won't always turn on. Sometimes if I shake it, it'll turn on. Or if I unscrew the end cap a bit. Generally if I shake it it'll cycle thru its modes with each shake. Also, the light emits various tones -- a louder steady tone goes with brightest steady mode, intermittent tones go with strobing.
> 
> My other light, a new Cree Fandyfire C8 / Cree, was getting a light-fade where I'd have it on a beam setting then the intensity would diminish and flicker on its own. I cleaned it also but am not getting the issue right now. It never flickers when I use it on high-beam on my bike but I've noticed when using around the house on low-beam. Maybe the cleaning fixed it as it's not flickering now.
> 
> ...


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## August West (Jun 17, 2012)

This is the budget light forum and I really enjoy reading about how to make these cheap lights work, after all it is my time and my money and I am not a super black ops operator staking my life on this light. I really wish the naysayers and the "these lights are junk and you shouldn't buy them" people would check out some of the other subforums.

I know I am knew around here but jeez. Chris


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## gcbryan (Jun 17, 2012)

Norm said:


> There are two ways off looking at this, "Being poor I can't afford to buy cheap (unreliable) lights"
> 
> Norm



That's only one way of looking at it


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## qwertyydude (Jun 17, 2012)

JeffOYB said:


> OK, I fiddled with cleaning one light, a new Uniquefire G10 / Cree R5 6-mode (5-mode?). Still has same glitch. More specifically: the light won't always turn on. Sometimes if I shake it, it'll turn on. Or if I unscrew the end cap a bit. Generally if I shake it it'll cycle thru its modes with each shake. Also, the light emits various tones -- a louder steady tone goes with brightest steady mode, intermittent tones go with strobing.
> 
> My other light, a new Cree Fandyfire C8 / Cree, was getting a light-fade where I'd have it on a beam setting then the intensity would diminish and flicker on its own. I cleaned it also but am not getting the issue right now. It never flickers when I use it on high-beam on my bike but I've noticed when using around the house on low-beam. Maybe the cleaning fixed it as it's not flickering now.
> 
> ...



Ok I think I figured out your problem. Needing to shake the light and or unscrew it to get it to turn on leads me to believe the problem is in the pill. You need to take the light completely apart and check all the connections, that includes seeing if the driver board is soldered correctly to the pill. After that you need to reassemble everything and ensure the pill is tight in the head. I have a Uniquefire G10 1-mode. It had a similar problem and I needed to solder the driver to the pill to get it to function correctly.


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## fishndad (Jun 17, 2012)

i have never gotten anything from deal extream so cannot speak to there service.
But man is it not IN YOUR FACE that they are sellimg knock off junk.
I saw they have every word known to man followed by, FIRE ,as if its a surefire.
Or there lights dont even have a name they just say CREE LED.
Would you buy a truck by Fard od Dudge mabey Cheby.


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## bitslice (Jun 18, 2012)

^^
yep, anything that says "designer" is a copy, I doubt anyone is fooled by what China sells.

Still, an XML is an XML, I'm not paying ten times the amount for the joy of perfect threads and some NASA aluminium tubing, oh and a brand name...

Like any product you have the people who only wear branded clothing - and they are also the sort of people who love to tell you they wear branding clothing, either by having it written all over their teeshirt or in the case of this forum, listed in their signature


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## fishndad (Jun 18, 2012)

Anyone remember, BEER, beer.
ROFL!
It came in a white can and said BEER.

So sure i buy cheap lights for practical reasons.I have a Rayovac 2D with a magnet on the side.
It holds right to the hot water tank beside the door to my crawspace.
However i wouldnt wait 4 to 8 weeks for a cheap light to get shipped from china.
I can simply stop anywhere and buy one.

Also many people who like to purchase quality built items dont flaunt them.They are simply saving money
and there time by purchasing something built to last a long time.And trouble free.
I buy solid oak furniture and cabinets for my home (amish built) locally.
Its not cheap! But my greatgrand children will be able to enjoy it as well.


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## nbp (Jun 18, 2012)

My point earlier was simply that for the price of several poor quality DX lights, you'd be better off with one decent one. You needn't spend hundreds, or even one hundred dollars to get a good light. For probably 40 or 50 (the price of 3 DX lights) you could get a nice Fenix or 4Sevens or SWM light with significantly better quality from a dealer with some decent CS. Or go on the MP where you can get great lights lightly used at deep discounts. Even with limited means you can get quality if you look around. You don't need to put up with garbage. 

The other day I counted and 7 of the first 30 threads in the Budget lights section were people complaining that their budget light didn't work right!! Doesn't that tell you something??? C'mon!!


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## ikeyballz (Jun 18, 2012)

This is why I always go with what people (with more experience) suggest. When you save up the money, ditch the cheaper lights and get a good light that has a good warranty and service. From what I've been reading (and my own experience recently) goinggear and 4sevens should be your one stop shop IF you are broke. Cry once, buy once!
If the light doesn't need to be reliable and you just want to futz around I don't see a problem with the DX lights. You'll probably learn more since you wont be afraid of ripping it apart either!




nbp said:


> My point earlier was simply that for the price of several poor quality DX lights, you'd be better off with one decent one. You needn't spend hundreds, or even one hundred dollars to get a good light. For probably 40 or 50 (the price of 3 DX lights) you could get a nice Fenix or 4Sevens or SWM light with significantly better quality from a dealer with some decent CS. Or go on the MP where you can get great lights lightly used at deep discounts. Even with limited means you can get quality if you look around. You don't need to put up with garbage.
> 
> The other day I counted and 7 of the first 30 threads in the Budget lights section were people complaining that their budget light didn't work right!! Doesn't that tell you something??? C'mon!!


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## Tegan's Dad (Jun 20, 2012)

If shaking the light makes it work, it could also be a poor battery connection. I've heard of loose batteries losing contact when shaken as the battery compresses the spring. When the force of the shake stops, the spring extends back and re-establishes contact. You could try a battery spacer to tighten it up if it feels loose. Otherwise I agree with checking solder contacts. Also, cleaning any battery contacts with a pencil eraser or electronics cleaner might help. Just make sure you get the eraser bits back out of the light ;-)


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## dajabec (Jun 20, 2012)

nbp said:


> My point earlier was simply that for the price of several poor quality DX lights, you'd be better off with one decent one. You needn't spend hundreds, or even one hundred dollars to get a good light. For probably 40 or 50 (the price of 3 DX lights) you could get a nice Fenix or 4Sevens or SWM light with significantly better quality from a dealer with some decent CS. Or go on the MP where you can get great lights lightly used at deep discounts. Even with limited means you can get quality if you look around. You don't need to put up with garbage.
> 
> The other day I counted and 7 of the first 30 threads in the Budget lights section were people complaining that their budget light didn't work right!! Doesn't that tell you something??? C'mon!!



Or you could get one FandyFire UV-S5 (Skyray King) instead of a TN11 and use the extra $100 (or more) buying a nice little Eagletac for quality and then some budget lights for messing around with. If you have 5 good brand name lights what's the point of having 20 lights that last forever?? There are quality budget products that work just as well or better in their basic functions as the brand name stuff. You won't find Zebralight UIs or Armytek programming in the cheap lights, but for output, form factor, etc. you can find the stuff you need cheap. You won't find it here, because of the rich or elitist attitude pretty much kills the "fun" of finding these hidden gems. 

Why is there a budget lights section if every time someone posts in it, you just get told to buy a more expensive light??


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## nbp (Jun 20, 2012)

dajabec said:


> Why is there a budget lights section if every time someone posts in it, you just get told to buy a more expensive light??



Why do people complain about poor quality when they paid almost nothing for a product? :thinking: 



I have nothing else to add, to this thread or this subforum, as my suggestions are apparently part of the "elitist attitude" that's ruining things here. I sincerely hope you find the hidden gems you are looking for.


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## Dr. Strangelove (Jun 21, 2012)

dajabec said:


> Why is there a budget lights section if every time someone posts in it, you just get told to buy a more expensive light??



You make an excellent point. This sub-fourm is for those who enjoy budget lights, and those who don't should refrain from disparaging posts.


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## fishndad (Jun 21, 2012)

Dr. Strangelove said:


> You make an excellent point. This sub-fourm is for those who enjoy budget lights, and those who don't should refrain from disparaging posts.



I consider a $30. to $50. light, a budget light many quality brands have reliable lights in this price range.
There are several cheap unreliable products also in this range.
So the budget light section does not mean knockoff, cheap or unreliable.


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## biglights (Jun 21, 2012)

fishndad said:


> I consider a $30. to $50. light, a budget light many quality brands have reliable lights in this price range.
> There are several cheap unreliable products also in this range.
> So the budget light section does not mean knockoff, cheap or unreliable.



Exactly!! Well said. There is a difference between budget and CHEAP. As in junk...


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## Dr. Strangelove (Jun 22, 2012)

fishndad said:


> I consider a $30. to $50. light, a budget light many quality brands have reliable lights in this price range.
> There are several cheap unreliable products also in this range.
> So the budget light section does not mean knockoff, cheap or unreliable.



Actually, this sub-fourm was created for discussion of "DX" type lights. But you are right that it is not limited to "knockoff, cheap and unreliable lights." Many lights discussed here have proven to be good, if inexpensive, lights.

The OP asked for help with a problem with his Ultrafire lights. The thread quickly went off-topic on the philosophy of purchasing poor quality lights. If there is interest in discussing this further, a new thread should be started, but let's bring this one back on-topic and give the OP the help he is asking for. 

Jeff, how's it going with your lights?


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## fishndad (Jun 22, 2012)

Sorry Jeff back to point.
I dont have any Romison lights but my neighbor likes them.And has gotten them from DX.
He gets alot of stuff off DX.
He said hes never had any problems.Other than slow processing and delivery.


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## Quest4fire (Jun 22, 2012)

What kind of cells are you using and do they have protection circuits? Sometimes the overall length of a protected cell is too long for the flashlight in question. Try taking off the tail cap, click the switch to the "On" position and slowly screw it on until it makes contact and the light turns on. Continue turning the tail cap until it is fully engaged (Won't turn any more) if at any point after turning on the light flickers, changes modes or turns off, you may have a cell length problem (Too long) or a switch or other contact problem. Sometimes our budget light purchases need modding/fixing/tweeking. If you consider yourself a tinkerer DX lights are good to experiment on as an introduction to "Modding" flashlights. It's not too painful to tear up a $15.00 purchase. If your flavor of flashlight enthusiasm is more towards collecting than modding, stick with brands/products that enjoy a good reputation with your fellow flashaholics. Good luck!


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## Mike_TX (Jul 12, 2012)

With all this talk about knockoffs and copies from China, it's important to remember that China has different laws from the U. S., UK, Canada, Australia, etc.

While we have all manner of patent laws, intellectual property laws, etc., etc., to protect the original maker of a product, they do not. As a result, their entrepreneurs often take existing products and make their own versions of them. In many cases they try to make some kind of improvement - or yes, sometimes they modify the original design to make it less expensive to make or sell. Some of these products are okay, and some are not, because they usually don't have the investment in R&D that most Western products have. But they're not all crooks or scam artists trying to foist sub-standard products on us ... they're mostly people trying to make a buck in a tough environment. It's not like there haven't been tons of cheap, crappy products made right here in the U. S. 

I have had excellent luck with my (many) DX products. I know this flood of cheap products from China won't last, so I'm having fun with it while it does. So, I'd advise people not to take all this too seriously. If you want budget flashlights, go for it. If you must have only the best designer brands, that's fine too, but don't waste your time knocking those of us who get the "cheap stuff".

.
.


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## wisefire (Jul 12, 2012)

Out of 4 of my DX lights, 2 acts just as you described. I was using one last night while working on the car and the light would constantly dim, only solution at the time was to shake it or turn off and on. While the other two function perfectly fine....


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## JeffOYB (Nov 8, 2012)

Hi... Well, no progress. When I click on the tailcap of the two problematic lights the lights won't turn on. If I unscrew em, they turn on. If I remove the caps the lights turn off, screw em back on slowly they turn on and then off again as they get tight. When they turn on they flicker, change modes, are unreliable.

Here's something I find to be cute: any metal contact will turn on the light reliably, but I can't change modes. Foil, steelwool, a screwdriver. It seems like a contact problem, to me. ?

I tried steelwooling and cleaning and vaselining the threads, no help.

[EDIT: Added below, update.]

It seems weird that the tailcaps can't make good contact. They HAVE to be making contact, but the flickering mostly happens as relates to screwing the cap in or out. I suppose the fact that it still flickers or changes modes even screwed out to some point where it lights up means it's a switch glitch, too?

I tried adding a thick disk of folded aluminum foil between batt and cap. On the small light this seems to "work." I can screw the cap in and out to change modes and turn on and off. Ha, but it works. 

On the big light I'm still getting nothing reliable.


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## Changchung (Nov 10, 2012)

Mines work fine, just one time had a problem like yours, the problem was the switch, was loss, I just resolder and put it back.


SFMI4UT


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## AaronG (Nov 10, 2012)

I've had the switch retainer ring come loose before. If that's the case take off the tail cap and look for two small holes on the inside edge. If you have the proper snap ring pliers that would be best. If not I've taken the nubs off a bobby pin and spread it out to fit the holes. Just twist to tighten. If that doesn't work you might have to take it right out and inspect the switch internals.

P.S. I agree with buying better as to more but It's a personal choice and it's not what the OP was asking about. A lot of threads lose their usefulness when a third party agenda is getting pushed. The nice thing about cheaper lights is that they are usually simple and easier to take apart


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## JeffOYB (Nov 10, 2012)

Hi... That's neat that those holes can be used to unscrew the switch parts. I tested this ring on both my bad lights and both seemed tight. Just for fun I unscrewed them, looked inside, then reassembled. Is something inside perhaps bad? I wonder what I should look for...

I suppose I should mail these things back. But I really don't mind fiddling with them if a fix might be straightforward. But starting from ignorance like I am probably isn't so good. Even if I learn what's up I might not retain it beyond these fixes as I don't think FL hobbyism is in my future. It would be neat to learn how they work, tho, as I do use them daily.


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## FlashKat (Nov 10, 2012)

Try to unscrew the head a little. It sounds like you are crushing the electronics inside.


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## Paul Baldwin (Nov 11, 2012)

Hi,
sounds like you are getting some good advice here to help with your glitches 
One thing I would suggest to avoid this sort of thing in future is only buy lights with multiple good reviews. These cheap lights are not all equal and made in who knows how many factories.
I bought an Ultrafire A10 several years ago as my first led EDC and it has been absolutely fantastic even tho it has been thoroughly abused by me demonstrating multiple times to people just how robust an led is  Ive also bought a dozen or so X2000's and a few Romisen lights and been happy with all but one X2000 that was DOA. One photo taken, one email sent and a replacement was posted to me quickly and for free. I didn't even have to send back the original.
This might limit your choice but you might find some of the true bargains that are out there


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## JeffOYB (Nov 11, 2012)

I can make the lights work by screwing in the tailcap then unscrewing the head. With the big light I fiddled with screwing and unscrewing the head. It would go on and off and then go on but shaking the light would change its mode, but then, surprisingly, one time when I screwed it back in all the way the light worked and didn't change modes when shook! Fixed? How? But the little light, sadly, didn't catch the same fever and is still glitchy: when I unscrew the head the light will come on and work as I tap thru the modes but it'll also change mode just by shaking the light.

As regards the lameness of the concept, I've found that DX is dandy with replacements. If I decide to give up on these I'm sure they'll replace them and I can just go thru lights until I get a good one. I'm fine with that. But I just thought that if there was standard know-how behind solving such glitches that I could do it myself. 

I have a recollection of a classic step-by-step repair post with great pics here for these cheap lights. Is that possible? I recall making a mental note that once I got serious about repairing my lights that it was what I needed to reference. Maybe. The sad thing is that I do full immersion in lights here about every other year and so I forget what I found/learned/saw the previous time!


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## AaronG (Nov 11, 2012)

There's a couple things you can check.

1. * Careful to use correct polarity and don't short the two ends of the battery together! Especially with lithium cells!*
If you have a short piece of wire or even a rolled up piece of foil you can take off the switch and hold the battery against the head. Then use the wire to connect the back of the battery to the negative connection point of the head or to the battery tube. Try lifting off and then quicky reconnecting with the wire acting as the switch. If it works properly then your switch probably isn't working properly. If it still doesn't work it's probably the head.

2. If you have a multi meter set it to Ohms or continuity. Put one lead on the spring of the switch and the other lead on the bare metal of the threads. With the switch off you should have OL or infinity. With the switch on you should have 0 Ohms and maybe a alarm sound. If it doesn't reliably change with pressing the button or if you have changing numbers with the switch on then something is wrong with your switch

Good luck


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## Newuser01 (Nov 13, 2012)

JeffOYB said:


> I have a recollection of a classic step-by-step repair post with great pics here for these cheap lights. Is that possible? I recall making a mental note that once I got serious about repairing my lights that it was what I needed to reference. Maybe. I forget what I found/learned/saw the previous time!


Here are the threads you wanted. 
1. :here:
2. :here:
3. A lot of good read and pictures :here:
4. :trouble shoot using multimeter:


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## martinaee (Nov 16, 2012)

Yeah... bought a DX light that had a high rating on there. After it failed I basically have just decided not to spend money on crap ever again. There is a reason Fenix, Jetbeam, Eagletac, Sunwayman, Nitecore, TN, etc. etc. etc..... all cost more than 50 dollars usually----> THEY AREN'T CRAP that is going to fail after a week. I know often you can tinker with them and it's sometimes the connections, but just the quality of construction is never the same and I want something that I can be 99 percent sure won't fail when I really need it not to.


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## Monocrom (Nov 17, 2012)

It never ceases to amaze me that many still simply don't get it . . . When you go for something that has two selling points, namely bright & cheap, that's literally ALL one is going to get from such a light. Quality does NOT get tossed in for free! When you buy bright & cheap, it is completely unrealistic to get anything else for such a small amount of money. If one wants quality, well; that's something you pay extra for. Yet, for some odd reason, folks expect decent quality too. Ironically, that expectation doesn't exist anywhere else.


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