Over here in Singapore, we’d use “sensitive air” option from 3rd party forwarders to ship Li-ion from Taobao. First kilo is SGD 11, subsequent 0.5kg SGD 4. Of course to make the most out of the consolidated shipment, you can send other orders as well, eg other flashlights from other sellers, and then consolidate the shipment before forwarding it to the destination country.
Don’t even think of smuggling in by trying to camoflauge the order (customer raises an order and pays for innoculous item A, ask seller to change the price, seller ships 12 x 18650s ) or mis-declaring it on the performa invoice. Both the goods warehouse and air freight carriers scan their goods very tightly nowadays. Esp after recent few years some buggers used this route to smuggle drugs.
Normal goods (eg underwear, clothes, toys, kites, faucets) current prices are SGD 6 for the first kg, subsequent 0.5kg 2.
For the super sensitive goods, gotta go by “sensitive sea”, eg neodymium magnets. Cheaper though, but you gotta wait for 2 weeks. And some things like processed foods are limited to 5kg, but that’s due to local regulations and limits, not the carriers or overseas (china) customs.
I believe Shunfeng Express can do it too, but the cost is gonna be eye-popping. Still, probably a tad lower than DHL.
Buy a new light + 6 batts, and ask for a discount?
Nah. Just offer to pay shipping for 3x18650s for the customer. That is probably going to be expensive for them to ship directly, so that is a good punishment already.
Had to try it out so I broke a four pack of 30Qs into three but for some reason I can't get the battery cage with the cells inserted back into the battery tube? Is there some kind of trick to this? No matter how I try, the batteries slightly protrude width wise and there is no play to slide the cage back into the tube.
I just tried my 30Qs from Banggood and Illumn. There is no way this is going in the rot66 battery tube, it's that tight. I tried to force it a little and now the top side of on of the 30Qs has cut through the wrapping. This would probably explain why they were shipped without batteries on mine.
The way I see it, someone at FF sent this light to me knowing the battery tube tolerance is faulty. Too much of a coincidence that they forget the batteries and that the batteries won't even fit. I can't figure out if it is the cage or the actual tube that is the problem, but I'm thinking maybe the cage is not allowing the batteries to come close enough together to fit in the tube.
On the plus side, maybe FF can send a replacement battery tube with batteries inside. They just need to toss some aluminum caps on both ends and it will be sealed really well for shipping.
Sorry, I missed that. No problem, slides in smoothly without the cage. I thought about loosening the cage screws, but then that really isn't a good idea either.
I thought about that, but having some screws loose doesn't seem like it would be good to do.
Ok, maybe not a bad idea after all. I put the cage under a strong light and I can see some of the cage tubes warping inwards, which would be enough to not all the batteries to sit tight with each other. Going to unscrew and rotate them to see if I can get a tighter fit.
It is hard to explain… hold the right side of the carrier and hold the left side of the carrier at the same time… both sides must able to move or twist…
Yes, thanks, it finally worked out in the end. As Newlumen said, one of the three poles needs to rotate freely in order to let the batteries come tight together. They should really make sure these things are done at the factory before letting them out the door. Oh well, learned something new and valuable today so it's a good thing.
Glad that issue was sorted out……just a bit of adjustment to the carrier, shdn’t be too difficult for flashaholics.
This light is in my to-buy list, even though i generally don’t like pocket rockets with the small mass coz of the year round hot weather here. I learnt it the hard way last time.
Question - With such pocket rockets in the snow, are they able to sustain infinite runs in turbo mode, till the batteries give up? Batteries with a wee bit of IR (eg 30Q) ought to be nicely heated up as well to counter the coldness so that they’d operate in optimum temps and not overheat, in addition to the heat supplied by the head area.
I was wondering if you guys could just bring along a few sets of batteries, all kept insulated prior to usage of course, and have a crazy lumens party all night long.
They always seem to step down, even in the cold weather. If there is no timer, they last much longer in winter than in summer, before stepping down. I should do a test when it's -30C outside and post the results.