Olight S15R - problem with magnetic charging tail cap?

So here is what happened -

I was invited along on a “sunset” 4X4 tour of the local desert, and thought I’d take my S15R along. When I picked it up, I noticed my keyring was stuck to the base and it looked like keys were touching both of the charging rings in the magnetic tail cap. I pulled the keys off and then found out the light wasn’t working. I tried troubleshooting it by:

Measuring the voltage in the protected Olight 14500 battery that came out of the light - it measured 4.05 volts.

Putting the Olight battery in another 14500 flashlight - it worked so the protection didn’t “trip”

Putting a fully charged nimh AA battery in the S15R - it did’t light

Putting a new alkaline AA battery in the S15R - it didn’t light

I then put the protected Olight 14500 battery back in the S15R - the light still didn’t work. I then plugged in the base charger and put the light on the charger. It gave a red “charging” light for about 10 minutes, then went green. The light now works.

Any thoughts on what happened, and how to prevent it in the future?

Maybe software protection tripped when shorted and reset on the charger?

Maybe the spring loaded contact in the tailcap was stuck till the pin on the charger realigned it?

If it happens again you could check to see if the light works with the tailcap bypassed.

I’ve had a similar thing happen with my S15R and my S10R. I found that loosening and then firmly re-tightening the tail cap retaining ring solved the problem right away. I use one of these tools.

I also have a non charging S15. I switched caps between the two once when the “R” was having fits and the light worked. I have never contacted Olight about this but was about to when I discovered that swapping the tailcaps ointed to the “R” tailcap as being the problem source. Maybe this is a common issue. Maybe they have a better solution?

Mtndon: have you noticed if the central contact for charging ever gets stuck on you? When on the charger the pin pushes that contact and breaks the batt+ connection to the host. If that contact is out of alignment or stuck in it won’t reconnect with the tailcap/body. If that happens obviously the light won’t turn on. It can be fixed by poking at the depressed contact or redocking it to the charger. I just bring it up as it happened to me a few times. I actually rebuilt the tailcap using a brass button as the contact. Anyway…

I haven’t noticed that but will try to keep it in mind if/when a problem rears its head. I suppose if that happens loosening the retainer might make it pop free.

Hi,

Thanks. I didn’t realize that that middle part of the tailcap moved :).

I think I got it working again. I noticed that the area on the charger face around the middle pin look like it was covered with something (might’ve been rust, I am not sure). I scraped that area and it turns green now. I keep that light on our kitchen counter, maybe 3-4 ft from the sink, maybe the moisture caused that?

Wow, thanks MtnDon! You just saved my S15R from the trash can with this trick. I never would have thought to try that.

Glad the tip helped you.

And once again my S15R stopped working, and I forgot about this tip and was just about to pitch the light. Then I decided to Google it and this post came to the top… Fixed it again in 30 seconds. :student: :+1:

I love my S15R but this glitch drives me nuts. I’ve gotten to where if I am heading away for a few days and I want to take this light, I remove the tail cap and go through the loosen-retighten routine. I wonder if this issue is why Olight discontinued the light? It is still a great pocket light.

Yeah, as a matter of fact the last time it failed me was when I was heading off on a trip to a very rural area… My Nitecore keychain saved me there.

I honestly don’t even understand why this trick works. Obviously tightening it makes sense, but it wasn’t loose, and something about the action of unscrewing and then tightening does the trick.

The cap gets filled with lint which brakes contact. Loosening and tightening displaces it. At least that is what I remember.