Lumintop Tool issue

My new (Jan 2017) Lumintop Tool (black) stopped working a few months ago. Just won’t come on.

Things I’ve tried:

1. Switched batteries (Eneloop, fully charged, checked with MM) and tried other brands. No go.

2. Watched some videos on YT and cleaned threads, used nyogel to lube the threads.

3. Switched to magnetic tailcap with no success. This seems to also eliminate the clicky tailcap as culprit.

4. Visual inspection - via magnifying glass - of the emitter, through the lens. Everything appears ok.

I would love to hear some other suggestions. Really like the small form factor and complements my Jetbeam Jet 1-Mk perfectly.

Joe

We’re you running it with Alkaline/Nimh or a lithium 10440?

Eneloop NiMH. I bought an 8 pk of both AA & AAA along with an XTAR VC4 (mostly by recommendations here on BLF) back in January when I bought the flashlights.

I did grab a generic Alkaline out of my TV remote with no difference. Both tested at 1.3x volts via MM. Recharged and also tried my other Eneloops.

Really hope it isn’t in the head as I’ve never done any soldering but looks like I may get to figure it out. Anybody ever see a problem in the driver/head assembly?

In the meantime, I may have to find a Jetbeam micro or another brand AAA just to switch out for daily carry. So many choices, so little money…

Joe

If you want to send it to me, I’ll fix it for free. I’ve got a surplus of Tool parts from modding them.

Thanks for the offer, djburkes. That wouldn’t be too difficult as I live just north of you in the Show-Me state so I’ll give it some thought. But, I like to tinker so I may dig into it. I’ve been looking for an excuse to build a flashlight repair kit/station like I’ve seen some videos on here. I was hoping there might be something obvious (or common) that I cannot find on here or YouTube.

If I fail miserably, I may come crawling back here.

Thanks,

Joe

The easiest way that I’ve found to dismantle the Tool is to use two safety pins or nails…something with a good point on it and put one in the hole that’s on each side of the driver and screw the pill out, it comes out counter clockwise. Lumintop has glued the last several runs so it may take quite a bit of force but it’ll come out. I’d start with testing the emitter to make sure it works. If you need any parts for it just let me know.

> used nyogel to lube the threads

I could be wrong, but here goes:

the problem could be the nyogel, which is designed to BLOCK electrical conductivity, and prevent water from shorting out car tail light bulb connectors. In this case the nyogel is blocking conductivity between the pill and the non anodized end of the battery tube, so no power is getting to the LED. No turn on.

suggest, try removing all the nyogel such as by wiping out the inside of the head, including pill, and the threads and end of the battery tube, with an alcohol wetted paper towel (not Kleenex, it comes apart)

I dont “get” why people use automotive dielectric grease on flashlights, Im happier with NanoOil, although too much of that is bad too :slight_smile:

reference:
https://www.nyelubricants.com/nyogel
“NyoGel® products were developed for wide-temperature applications requiring water and salt-water resistance. The product line was originally developed to consist of silica thickened greases that were usually translucent in color for various applications such as dampening, electrical connectors, and sliding applications.

The 774 series consists of silica thickened synthetic hydrocarbon of various viscosities depending upon how much mechanical dampening is required of various components. The damping greases also provide good water resistance.

The 756 series utilizes a silica thickened hydrocarbon that includes the incorporation of carbon black since it was designed to be electrically conductive for instrument and bearing applications.”

Try to release the pill in the head a bit. The probable reason for your problem is that front end of the body is not able to contact with the pill because the pill is sitting too deep.

Very doubtful as both ends of the tube are anodized except for the flat surface that contacts the driver and tail.

These pills are glued in and are seated against the lens in the head of the light it’s doubtful that the pill has moved in further. The drivers are press fit into the bottom of the pill and have a small tab on each side that holds them in place. Unless the driver has been dislodged from the pill and is no longer making contact with the pill…I’d say the driver is burned out or the led is.

This is actually good advice ….more than just a few lights suffer flakiness from this problem .
check simplest problem first .

That is a strange statement. In my samples of the aluminium Tool there is no glue whatsoever, and I have experienced such problem myself. The rubber ring before the lens is soft, so it is very easy for the pill to go too deep.

Either way put power straight to the driver via a small 2xAA or 3x AAA battery pack and a couple wires . i have an old 4xAA phone semi depleted battery pack with leads just for such an occasion .

Tested my tool just now.
No problems to unscrew the pill.

I’ve modded around 18 of them…the last several purchased from Amazon and the pill was glued with red Loctite. The fist several that I purchased from Banggood weren’t glued but the last batch from Amazon was.

Sounds like a dead driver to me.

K… mines from bg or gb… cant remember.

Thanks to this thread I was able to “fix” my Thrunite Ti Hi Christmas edition. I had stopped working a week ago and I’ve tried all the usual troubleshooting steps. Figured it was toast. Then after reading some of the posts in this thread, I tried using two small nails to back out the head and it now works! Thanks BLF!!

Hey guys, OP here. Sorry I dropped off the face of the earth. I have some updates.

1. I was messing with my Lumintop Tool a few weeks ago and left it on the computer desk in the living room. The next day my wife says it was lightly flickering but such that you can only see it in total darkness. Does this rule out the led or driver? Verified this several times now. I’ve got a full set of AAA’s on the charger right now. Voltage was 1.3 with it flickering very dimly but a fully charged battery made no difference.

2. As stated by djburkes, I believe the pill on my Tool is glued or placed with red Loctite. Does the voltage of my test pack matter when trying to check the emitter/driver?

3. Took a Q-tip and cleaned the threads and barrel of the Tool with alcohol. No improvement. Would really like to hear the experienced view on lube/no lube. Also, the Nyogel was bought on a recommendation from a thread on CPF where I read a definitive post on lubes. But I don’t know everything so appreciate the feedback.

In other news, I bought a cheap snap ring tool with multiple heads. So far haven’t managed to fix anything with it but every guy can use another tool, right? My wife dropped her BLF-348 and now it doesn’t work but I did narrow it down to a switch issue (bypassed with paperclip and knife, both worked). I’ll do some research on it.

Cleaned off a spot for a workbench so I can actually do some troubleshooting without having to constantly move my stuff.

Also, lost my Jet-1 MK and panicked for 2 weeks. Finally bought 2 more to replace it so I would find my lost one, which I did, a week later.

I might be a flashaholic… and I missed this place. It’s good to be back.

Joe

Because dielectric grease is specifically designed for electrical contact points like in our flashlights. It prevents corrosion, repels and prevents water incursion, stops arching, and does not dry out or break down. Nyogel and other dielectric greases are also the factory applied and recommended thread and o-ring lubricants by many flashlight manufacturers including Oveready, Surefire, Zebralight, Armytek, Nitecore, etc. I would say those are some pretty good reasons to use it and I highly doubt it has anything to do with Joe’s issue.