Upcoming Astrolux S42 18350/18650 quad w side button and usb charging

This setup works well for me. The o-ring is exposed though. With the solder blob on the driver, and the 1.4 mm thick copper washer shown above in the tailcap, the battery is not under stress.

Ohh - I managed to re-assemble the head w/optic with only one leg!

Oy vey, man, what a mad mod world :facepalm:

all of these work-arounds seem to skirt the issue of warranty (implied or otherwise)
we paid for working light, right?

Exactly!! Yet to receive mine but if it too is faulty I have neither the time, tools, skills or inclination to bodge it together just to make it function.

Still haven’t got mine, but i’m already preparing to write BG about it… Curious to see how it turns out.

damn.

Postman bought one today, but I ordered another as a present for someone…. which they finally shipped a few days ago and is on the way.

Not opened it yet, if it doesn’t work will be very unhappy as BG customer services seems to have disappeared of late - they canceled my order for the tubes with loads of points and still won’t give me the points back or even answer emails!

My first email to them was answered within 24h.

On their request I uploaded and linked to a YouTube video demonstrating the identity of the product and that it would not power up. Now, no response after the same period of time.

I had posted a negative review on the Banggood web site which they responded with a message indicating that this was a rare occurrence, and that CS would work with me to find a solution. Having additional information on the exact cause of the problem, I added a comment to my own review this morning. My comment was posted, and then disappeared several hours later. Perhaps there is a rule against commenting on your own review?

Your review seemed to be a 4-star review too, was that altered?

The overall star rating is computed from the individual component ratings, using a formula that I could not figure out. You cannot change it directly.

Yikes!!! :person_facepalming:

Hi
Mine works with 16340 cells

Anyone try removing the driver yet?

My S42 XPG3 arrived today. I haven’t had a chance to test it yet (no batteries here at the office). However, my preliminary impressions at a glance:

  • Anodizing looks perfect
  • As others have mentioned the USB port cover won’t stay in place. The main problem appears to be that the socket in the bottom of the head for the rubber cover just isn’t deep enough. The result is the cover falls out of position with even a light touch. I’m not sure I’d want to pocket EDC this light without either gluing the cover down or wrapping a rubber band around the head of the light to hold the cover in place.
  • The tailcap shroud is too short. At least on my sample even with the tailcap screwed down fully I can still see half the tailcap o-ring.
  • The o-ring on the body tube at the tailcap came well lubed. The o-ring on the body tube at the head of the light was unlubed.
  • Tailstands perfectly without the hammer thingy screwed in. However, I’m not a big fan of having screw threads at the back of a light like this. Those screw threads make the tailcap approximately 7mm longer than it needs to be. Why make a tiny light if you are going to add unneeded threads and the back to make it bigger again?

My overall initial impression without having been able to actually operate the light yet: Manufacturing quality looks good, but the light appears to have a number of design defects that should have been caught before production.

Ok, so having been slightly worried, unpacked mine and its the XP-G3 I ordered as a gift.

The battery is a tight fit for sure, I am using an EFest 700mA unprotected, brand new.

I must be doing it wrong, as it works ok here for me.

The springs are at both ends on mine, seems to compress just fine, its a tight fit to get the last turn or so on for sure but it does work. The battery does seem to be a bit “dented” I suppose now at both ends, but everything working as it should as far as I can see. I noticed on the tube the tail cap end was greased, but the head end was dry. There was also some oil on one end of the tube (left a ring on the table) so I wiped that down as that would have been reducing metal-metal contact on the tube.

I can’t test 18650, as BangGood cancelled my order for the tubes (still waiting for points refund - they cancelled not me!) and I only just re-ordered yesterday so still waiting.

By the way, tubes on flash sale yesterday when I ordered.

Can’t seem to get into programming mode, so stuck low-mid-high-turbo

Dbl click to flip to 7 modes.

Hhmm. I guess I could have crushed my EFEST 18350 as well to make it work, but don't think that's how it should be. Those dents you created are typically worth tossing the cell for. I'd say from the pics, yours is the same as mine. If you have to crank on tightening the light up, you are typically doing damage. There's an amazing amount of force than can be applied on threading a tube tight. I've done it before a couple times at least.

The best way of testing this is: remove the tailcap, insert a cell into the battery tube, press down pretty darn hard on the cell til it doesn't go any further by finger. If the cell still is above the lip of the tube, you got problems, because that lip must make contact to the aluminum around the tail spring in order to have an electrical return path for the Batt- signal. The threads are anodized so won't conduct electricity.

Regarding damage to LiIon cylindrical cells from axial compression, see my post:

https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/38554/133

I figure my Nitecore 18350 is compressed way less than 1mm, so perhaps I'm safe.

Using your test, the battery definitely protrudes above the rear lip of the battery tube. That's why I increased the reach of the battery tube by shimming the front end. It also makes it possible to use the 18650 battery tube which suffers from the same problem (i.e. the driver board is glued in place 1-2mm too deep for either battery tube to reach it).

I just read elsewhere that Banggood has realized this is an issue from numerous buyer complaints and is working on a fix. From a business standpoint, mailing out some 2mm thick front-end retaining rings is a lot cheaper than replacing the same number of battery tubes having longer threads on the head end.

I'm still using a couple EFEST cells with minor dents as well. No clue what all that really means - top cap for 4 mm with a 18650 - might mean something or nothing for a 18350. I don't know enough about them internally. All I know is what's been said here, which is to toss damaged cells, though I don't listen well to advice anyway, specially my own .

I will though stop doing what I was doing that caused the damage, usually that is...

That could work, but what about the (maybe) resulting exposed o-ring?. The important thing, not to lose face completely, is for BangGood to act proactively and fast.

On my specimen, shimming the front of the battery tube allows the tailcap to be completely seated, so the o-ring is not exposed. However, yes - depending on how thick the shim is, you then run the risk of the front o-ring peeking out a tiny bit.

Where did you read that mate? Can you give a link?

Sure:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?434286-DEAL-Astrolux-S42-S42S-S42SC-4*Nichia-219C-XP-G2-XP-G3-2023lm-Flashlight&p=5105805&viewfull=1#post5105805