# Zebralight H52 anyone?



## larcal (Jan 3, 2014)

Little wary of buying an H52W right off the boat in case their are any kinks they are waiting for us to find. Anyone bought one yet and put it thru enough trial to have an opinion?


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## cyclesport (Jan 3, 2014)

I've had one for a few weeks and it functions fine...no negative issues at all, aside from the occasional pre-flash I get when swapping Li-ion cells, but this happens in the SC52's I have as well and I don't consider it a problem. The tint is especially good with a very slight rose hue...a VERY good neutral tint and the best I've seen from any XM-L/XM-L2. And...completely different from the yellow/green tint of the (at least mine) SC52w.


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## Rexlion (Jan 3, 2014)

No problems at all with mine. I've been running a 14500 in it since I received it.


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## AVService (Jan 4, 2014)

I have only had mine a few days but have already been in a few attics with it and I LOVE the tint compared to any cool emitters that I have.
Mine seems as nice out of the box as the other 3 ZL I have and I guess I should feel lucky or something but I have no reservations suggesting one for anyone.


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## Beacon of Light (Jan 4, 2014)

Still waiting for the cool white models for H52, H52F and H600 & H600F. What's the holdup and why the backorder?


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## larcal (Jan 9, 2014)

Beacon of Light said:


> Still waiting for the cool white models for H52, H52F and H600 & H600F. What's the holdup and why the backorder?



Those lights are not listed as out of stock on the site. Nor is the H52fw i ordered on 4th for which they took money but no shipment notice yet.

How does ZL do things? They don't tell you before you order that stuff is out of stock? 

Seem to vaquely remember there were items listed as back ordered last week but not now. Maybe not


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## Knaver (Jan 9, 2014)

Just got my h52f in the mail today. Love it!


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## bluemax_1 (Jan 10, 2014)

I've had my H52W for some time now (since IS's initial batch). Been using it with a 14500 every night since then and switched between all 6 set modes numerous times. It's been working great with no problems.


Max


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## Knaver (Jan 10, 2014)

Which 14500's do you use?


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## Beacon of Light (Jan 10, 2014)

Where did you find one to purchase? Nobody has the cool white 52F model, only the neutral white.



Knaver said:


> Just got my h52f in the mail today. Love it!


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## bluemax_1 (Jan 10, 2014)

Knaver said:


> Which 14500's do you use?



I have a ZL, Nitecore and AW. The ZL currently has the highest capacity for 14500.


Max


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## Knaver (Jan 11, 2014)

One eBay seller has them up for $69.


Beacon of Light said:


> Where did you find one to purchase? Nobody has the cool white 52F model, only the neutral white.


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## larcal (Jan 11, 2014)

Knaver said:


> One eBay seller has them up for $69.



Is the warranty still good if buy from Ebay?


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## Beacon of Light (Jan 11, 2014)

Not certain, but I thought they only honor authorized dealers.


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## LEDburn (Jan 15, 2014)

I just noticed that when using a 14500 that all 3 of the H2 modes flicker on mine and was hoping a few others could possibly check theirs!? 

I hope it is just mine as I really want another one instead of a refund


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## markr6 (Jan 15, 2014)

What does "preflash" refer to? When you click to get to low but get full power?


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## Knaver (Jan 15, 2014)

LEDburn said:


> I just noticed that when using a 14500 that all 3 of the H2 modes flicker on mine and was hoping a few others could possibly check theirs!?
> 
> I hope it is just mine as I really want another one instead of a refund


I will be getting my 14500's any day now and I will check. 


I was using my h602 yesterday, and I had a flicker on the h2 setting for a few minutes, but then it went away... What brand of batteries are you using??


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## Knaver (Jan 15, 2014)

markr6 said:


> What does "preflash" refer to? When you click to get to low but get full power?


when you tighten the tail cap on a new battery, they give a small single flash.


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## markr6 (Jan 15, 2014)

Knaver said:


> when you tighten the tail cap on a new battery, they give a small single flash.



Isn't that normal? I thought that was some sort of indication of a good contact/good battery. I've probably had 12 Zebralights so far and they all do that except for the newest ones (H600wII, SC600wII, and maybe the SC52w but don't remember for sure)


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## cyclesport (Jan 15, 2014)

markr6 said:


> Isn't that normal? I thought that was some sort of indication of a good contact/good battery. I've probably had 12 Zebralights so far and they all do that except for the newest ones (H600wII, SC600wII, and maybe the SC52w but don't remember for sure)



It's a common phenomenon on many lights but not an intentional design feature. Depending on the light it can occur while swapping batteries, switching modes, sitting the light down on a hard surface or...I once had an old Olight that sometimes flashed just picking it up after being dormant for awhile. Unsure of the exact cause, but it's been commented on for years in posts with a variety of lights... I always thought it was just driver glitches.


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## jinya1004 (Jan 15, 2014)

I have two h52w

The one I was using for a few days stopped working in secondary modes with Li-on. It completely doesn't work with Alkaline and Nimh. I noticed a pre flash when swapping out batteries, after it broke, but not before when it was working fine. 

I let ZL know through their website and they gave me an RMA within a couple days. 

I haven't heard back yet but I suspect it will be replaced. This would be my fifth ZL and the first one I have had problems with. 

I will test the second h52w to see if it had any issues.


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## Beacon of Light (Jan 15, 2014)

weird, I always thought this was a "feature" as it helps me determine if a battery I install has enough power before I even turn the light on. If I don't see this flash I know this battery is DEAD!!!!!!!!



cyclesport said:


> It's a common phenomenon on many lights but not an intentional design feature. Depending on the light it can occur while swapping batteries, switching modes, sitting the light down on a hard surface or...I once had an old Olight that sometimes flashed just picking it up after being dormant for awhile. Unsure of the exact cause, but it's been commented on for years in posts with a variety of lights... I always thought it was just driver glitches.


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## cyclesport (Jan 15, 2014)

Beacon of Light said:


> weird, I always thought this was a "feature" as it helps me determine if a battery I install has enough power before I even turn the light on. If I don't see this flash I know this battery is DEAD!!!!!!!!



I suppose it's a possible feature on some lights, but I'm not entirely sure (seems like the manufacturer would state it in ad copy as a selling point if it was)...I know my ZLs do it most of the time when swapping fresh batteries...although not always (even if the battery is fully charged). I once had a first gen Jetbeam RRT-01 mag ring light that sometimes pre-flashed when ramping down to off. I always equated this to the way some circuits or a capacitor can hold an electrical charge then discharge it all at once...seems like something similar is happening here, but is just speculation on my part.


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## lampeDépêche (Jan 15, 2014)

LEDburn said:


> I just noticed that when using a 14500 that all 3 of the H2 modes flicker on mine and was hoping a few others could possibly check theirs!?



What kind of flicker? You mean like a PWM flicker, or like it shines steadily for 5 seconds and then blinks off and on, or what?

In any case: I have two H52s, and both of them are shining at me in H2 right now and I'm not seeing any flickering that I can tell.


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## jinya1004 (Jan 15, 2014)

If you are seeing a flicker and not pwm, you have issues. 

I had a Spark ST6 a while back that flickered. I thought it was a battery issue but after trying didn't high quality batteries, I sent it back


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## LEDburn (Jan 15, 2014)

Sorry guys, it was pretty late last night when I got home and posted that; I meant the L2 modes but have since noticed it is also present on L1. From what I can tell, M and H modes all seem fine.



lampeDépêche said:


> What kind of flicker? You mean like a PWM flicker, or like it shines steadily for 5 seconds and then blinks off and on, or what?
> 
> In any case: I have two H52s, and both of them are shining at me in H2 right now and I'm not seeing any flickering that I can tell.



It flickers and goes sorta dim but doesn't turn off in any other mode than the lowest low. In the lowest low it seems to flicker the most and the LED even completely turns off for a few seconds sometimes. I can even turn it on in L2 and it simply wont come on so you think it is off. A short click from there will actually turn it off and a double click will go back to L1.

The frequency of the flicker is not consistent and sometimes it seems to be ok for 20 seconds or so and then begins to do it. Other times it does it as soon as it is turned on. 

I am certain that is is defective but was hoping it was a rare incident and that a replacement will be fine. Would really hate to ship it back and wait for a new one only to find it is an inherrant problem.




Knaver said:


> I will be getting my 14500's any day now and I will check.
> 
> 
> I was using my h602 yesterday, and I had a flicker on the h2 setting for a few minutes, but then it went away... What brand of batteries are you using??



I have 8 14500's and all have genuine Sanyo cells. 3 are straight from ZL. I bought 4 new ones less than 3 months ago. Every one works in my SC52's so I feel confident it isn't the batteries..

I haven't noticed any flickering on other modes but will investigate further tonight and will also try different cell chemistries to see if it is li-ion specific.


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## bluemax_1 (Jan 15, 2014)

LEDburn said:


> Sorry guys, it was pretty late last night when I got home and posted that; I meant the L2 modes but have since noticed it is also present on L1. From what I can tell, M and H modes all seem fine.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Definitely defective. Return it. Mine has never exhibited anything like that and I've used it every day with a 14500 since I got it.


Max


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## binky1206 (Jan 17, 2014)

Well I'm still waiting on mine here in the UK, I ordered 2 wks ago from Zebralight and I was told I'd have it this week but I emailed them yesterday and they told me I gotta wait another 2 wks, they were quite blunt stating that If I wasn't happy they would refund me.


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## Knaver (Jan 17, 2014)

I definitely recommend the 14500s it's a much brighter light with longer runtimes. If you use alkaline AA batteries you'd better have some extras with you as they don't last long on the higher settings.


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## larcal (Jan 20, 2014)

binky1206 said:


> Well I'm still waiting on mine here in the UK, I ordered 2 wks ago from Zebralight and I was told I'd have it this week but I emailed them yesterday and they told me I gotta wait another 2 wks, they were quite blunt stating that If I wasn't happy they would refund me.



Looks like we have duplicate experiences here Binky. They took my money on the 4th and when I contacted them a week later they said there was a "2 week lead time" which should mean shipment on 18th but no word so guess i'm supposed to contact them again and be told what you were. Thinking of canceling

This is my first buy from Zebralight and must say I'm not impressed and allready pissed off. They should not advertise an item as if it is in stock. They should say "not in stock". And whatever, it is definately not right to take your money untill they can deliver.

My question to the group is, is this kind of both delay and misleading advertising normal with Zl? How long did your delivery take?

Ps---And Binky, I got the same hit you did in their reply. Not only blunt as you say but cryptic. There's a subtle tone there, maybe imagined, of **** you, when politely asked where your stuff is. Not totally sure tho.

Can good fruit come from a poisoned tree?


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## LEDburn (Jan 21, 2014)

larcal said:


> Looks like we have duplicate experiences here Binky. They took my money on the 4th and when I contacted them a week later they said there was a "2 week lead time" which should mean shipment on 18th but no word so guess i'm supposed to contact them again and be told what you were. Thinking of canceling
> 
> This is my first buy from Zebralight and must say I'm not impressed and allready pissed off. They should not advertise an item as if it is in stock. They should say "not in stock". And whatever, it is definately not right to take your money untill they can deliver.
> 
> ...




First of all, I assume that on the 4th, when you ordered, the status did indeed say "in stock" and not "pre-order," "back ordered," or "out of stock?" If it said anything but "in stock" then you can't really complain..

Secondly, whether or not you get billed when the item ships or when you press purchase is completely up to the vendor and is generally what ZL do and what I expect when I order something anyway. If you want to wait till it is in stock so you can pay for it and have it shipped at the same time then you are more than welcome to wait 3-6 months and risk that still not happening. 
It's a hot as hell product so put your money down and wait or go elsewhere, your call..

This kind of delay is normal and as I said, the product is in very high demand.

As for the misleading advertising - how exactly did they mislead you? 
If you scroll up a few posts you will see I received a defective H52fw (my first defective ZL out of 9 so far) so I contacted them and within 2 hours had a note saying to simply return it for a replacement. Now I have it, I don't want to be without my H52fw so ordered another and was going to return the broken one when the new one arrived and was confirmed bug free. 
I emailed them to let them know I was doing that and they said I could wait up to 4 weeks for the H52fw to ship so cancelled that as I found IS had them in stock.

I then ordered a H600fw which is also listed as "back ordered" and to my surprise it shipped 2 days later!!

So yes, while it sucks to have to wait (I waited aaaages for the H52fw to arrive only to find it's L modes flicker) it is simply how it is and will be such a great thing when it does arrive..


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## larcal (Jan 22, 2014)

Well okay, I'll copt to the possibility of being partially wrong here. Just went to their site to confirm my belief that the original ad said nothing about stock status either way, which of course means it is in stock.

I see now that I could have missed it, but if so that is because it is easy to do so. Check it out. First you see the main page where all the different headlamp models are displayed with their price. No mention of not being available, so one clicks on one's choice and now we get to the nut of it. 

One is presented with a page which shows various relevent facts on the left and then the photo of product to right of center and underneath a "buy" button to click. Only if you scroll over to the far right does it say currently "back ordered"

The proper place for this warning is, ideally on the first page, but if not then placed around the buy button. Since one can purchase without scrolling to the right one does not scroll. I.e, it is not obvious there is more page to scroll to.

Now you could continue to place the fault on the purchaser, but I don't think so. First my position is simple common sense and secondly it is the way I've allways seen it done by more competent sellers. Bottom line is, they are being paid to do it right and are thus expected to be professional and I am not. They do this all day every day, for christ's sake, I buy something online every 2 months for 10 minutes.

So, It stretches it a little to believe this layout is not intentional imho.

Moreover, I think it is obvious that the most above board approach would be to inform the customer that money will be taken before shipping.

Hopefully my reply here makes it clear that my complaint was and is not simply that one has to wait as you say. Definately, as long as everything is made clear up front then that is "just how it is" as you also say and who fricken cares?

Even if all totally innocent, which it very well may be, such carelessness with the production of a web page and communication with customer makes me wonder about a similiar carelessness with the production of a product. I mean, apart from the glaring fact that it was defective, nobody bothered to try that defective light before sending it to you did they? And so exactly where, at what point up the chain of production do you believe they start caring about quality? 

I know, sometimes, even many times, you get a good one and the tech is amazing and so you're supposed to genuflect.


Illumination Supply basically has no return policy, whereas if direct from ZL return is "unconditional" Read the IS statement. Off center led, tint not as claimed, no return. Even if light makes noise it's just tough @#%^ to you chump. Incredible. 

If your belief is that my hit on this is the overly sensitive view of a virgin, then I could only reply by saying I feel like I've entered Moonie land, and apologize for trespassing.






LEDburn said:


> First of all, I assume that on the 4th, when you ordered, the status did indeed say "in stock" and not "pre-order," "back ordered," or "out of stock?" If it said anything but "in stock" then you can't really complain..
> 
> Secondly, whether or not you get billed when the item ships or when you press purchase is completely up to the vendor and is generally what ZL do and what I expect when I order something anyway. If you want to wait till it is in stock so you can pay for it and have it shipped at the same time then you are more than welcome to wait 3-6 months and risk that still not happening.
> It's a hot as hell product so put your money down and wait or go elsewhere, your call..
> ...


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## HarryN (Jan 27, 2014)

Knaver said:


> I will be getting my 14500's any day now and I will check.
> 
> 
> I was using my h602 yesterday, and I had a flicker on the h2 setting for a few minutes, but then it went away... What brand of batteries are you using??



I am editing this post to avoid future confusion. I had been looking at the H502 rather than the H52 and H62.

If you consider to use the H502 versions, it is useful to carefully look at the cell specs, because some versions support the 14500 cell voltages, and some specifically do not.


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## cyclesport (Jan 27, 2014)

HarryN said:


> I have been looking for a new headlamp and this light. Interestingly, the 14500 cells are "NOT SUPPORTED". Most likely, because the cell voltage substantially exceeds the driver input voltage rating listed on their web site. (it is a classic boost circuit). It is designed to run on enloops, energizer Li primary cells, and (amazingly) alkaline AAs
> 
> Also, there is supposed to be a 4 step flashing to tell you how much juice is left in the battery.
> 
> Most likely, you damaged the circuit with the 14500 cell use.



Actually 14500s are supported as per ZL's website confirmation and many dealers confirm. I routinely use 14500 Li-ions in my H52w (and SC52s) for the extra occasional 500+L boost when needed. The battery indicator works fine with 14500s also as well as Eneloops *(on mine anyway, since some others seem to have issues w/1.5v) The Li-ion support was one of the new features over the H51.


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## bluemax_1 (Jan 27, 2014)

cyclesport said:


> Actually 14500s are supported as per ZL's website confirmation and many dealers confirm. I routinely use 14500 Li-ions in my H52w (and SC52s) for the extra occasional 500+L boost when needed. The battery indicator works fine with 14500s also as well as Eneloops *(on mine anyway, since some others seem to have issues w/1.5v) The Li-ion support was one of the new features over the H51.


Look at the quote IN the post you quoted: the quoted poster was talking about flickering in the H602, not H52.


Max


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## HarryN (Jan 27, 2014)

I looked again at zebralights web site again. You are right, I was looking at the H502 series rather than the H52 series.

Interestingly, in the H502C, D and W versions, the higher voltage LiIons 14500 are NOT supported, while there are few versions, such as the H502F, that DO support the 14500.

Sorry for the confusion.


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## cyclesport (Jan 27, 2014)

bluemax_1 said:


> Look at the quote IN the post you quoted: the quoted poster was talking about flickering in the H602, not H52.
> 
> 
> Max


I agree...it was a confusing post, and I wasn't trying to add to the confusion, however HarryN specifically mentioned 14500s and the H52 is the only light in his post that accepts this cell. The H602 is an 18650 light...hence my response.


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## nicknapp (Jan 29, 2014)

Anyone know if the H52Fw is in stock anywhere? I'd love to pick one up, but I can't seem to find them anywhere (aside from one listed for $1000 which I will not be buying)...


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## markr6 (Jan 30, 2014)

nicknapp said:


> (aside from one listed for $1000 which I will not be buying)...



Well, if it has a Nichia 219 in it...


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## rlmono (Jan 30, 2014)

Got it, love it. Neutral tint changed my life.... its gorgeous! I can confirm that its a beast with 14500s... definitely noticable difference.


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## larcal (Jan 31, 2014)

nicknapp said:


> Anyone know if the H52Fw is in stock anywhere? I'd love to pick one up, but I can't seem to find them anywhere (aside from one listed for $1000 which I will not be buying)...



Nick, I just got a blip from ZL that my 52fw was shipped from China this week so maybe that means it will be in stock next week assuming others are coming with it. Let us know what you find out and if you get one and how you like it, please.

Pray tell, where did you see the $1k one? Possibly you jest?

Also ordered a petzl pika 1, which is a whole different sort of light.


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## nicknapp (Jan 31, 2014)

Thanks larcal! I'll keep my eyes out then. I saw the $1000 on eBay... After contacting the seller he informed me that he was out of stock and simply upped the price instead of paying the fee associated with unlisting and relisting the item...


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