I am using the yellow button top OTR battery that came w/the full pack.
I can’t imagine the spring being deformed enough upon tightening to open the circuit, or the OTR battery they provide to be too long or too short to function, but maybe that is what is happening.
Strangely when the tail cap is tightened all the way it consistently disables the M3.
I did open a trouble ticket w/GearBest, and so far they simply have said to charge the battery for 6 hours and report back.
I have never had to deal with GearBest CS, my previous purchases have all worked and been delivered just fine. Maybe they will clarify how this light is actually suppose to work if they frequent this forum.
I am also using OTR 16340 with M3. I did a quick comparison just now, both OTR 16340 and my trusty Olight 16340 are almost identical in length. It might not be the battery length issue. Could you bypass the tailcap with a wire, and see if the the light is working?
I took the tail cap off and bent a paper clip to simulate the end cap connection and the light works correctly.
I did notice I the battery had a bit of spring like forward motion against the module, so while shorting with the paper clip I pressed the battery to simulate tightening the end cap and the light went off and of course would not come back on until I let me finger pressure off.
If that is correct it would mean it is operating like the ad says. ie “If flashlight will not be used for a long time tighten the screw”. So they either now have a pressure sensitive switch in the module……or I have a bad module connection that acts like a pressure switch?? From the responses I have seen in this forum I suspect it is a bad/loose connection in the module.
I think that’s a mistranslation. I’ve never heard of a flashlight where you TIGHTEN the tail cap to lock out the flashlight and disable the standby drain.
The battery included is a protected 16340 according to the website. I wonder if you have a problem with the protection circuit on the battery itself. Go buy a CR123 or a non-protected 16340, and see if you have the same problem.
I put a brand new CR123 battery in the light during my initial trouble shooting with the same outcome when the tail cap was tightened. I would think the protection circuit in the battery would make a better connection w/pressure rather than open, but then I have never taken one apart.
@EyeballFryer Agree, I have never seen a light that you TIGHTEN the tail cap to lock out the flashlight and disable the standby drain.
My thought was that since the protection circuit is in the bottom of battery, that adding pressure at that point may have been the problem, but guess not. Sucks.
Hope you get it straightened out with GBst. Getting nice discounts sure is nice, but when something goes wrong, dealing with these companies can sometimes test your patience
I dont have that light, i won it some days ago in a gearbest give away. Have you tried a different 16340 ? I only have the 18650 version of that light and sadly none of my protected 18650 will fit, only unprotected ones. Even one of the shortest, the eagtac 3400.
If the light works with a paperclip i dont know what the problem could be. I guess you have to make a little youtube video for gearbest, dont worry, they have a decent service. They always offered me fair solutions.
Can you make pictures of the tailcap and inside, maybe the experts can see the fault.
GearBest CS does answer, takes about 24 hrs for a response.
In my case they offered $5 store credit and 15 reward points (50 points=$1) which I accepted….easier than pursuing a return and replace, and it is super bright in turbo mode (w/tail cap unscrewed). I was hoping they would just send out another light.
If you get a properly working M3 as most here have, it is a true bargain compared to the Olight look alike.
The above was never answered. From what I understand, the included battery is not an IMR.
I placed my order for the M3 1A last evening. I have little to no experience with LiIon batteries, so I'd like to also know the answers. Since the M3 itself has all the built-in protections, would there be any benefits to using an unprotected IMR in it? Would an IMR give any extra brightness? Would an ICR be better for this light, and give longer runtime per charge?
The included 16340 was similar in output to the Klarus 16340. Surprisingly the light was much dimmer with a Fenix 16340.
I measured the M3 with 725lumens in a DIY sphere, so it is a very bright 16340 flashlight. I guess only the nitecore EC11 with the IMR cell is brighter
This thread is 6 months old. I wanted to bring it back up to see if anyone that has the M3 has good/bad opinions on it now that they’ve been using it for a while. I just ordered a Utorch UT01 but also have had my eye on the OTR M3.
Yeah, I saw the EFEST ones on imrbatteries.com as well, but the button-tops are out of stock, and I’m not sure if the flat-tops would work with this light.
