I bought a Manker U11 in the recent clearance sale. I am trying to understand if the in-built charging is working correctly or if I have a defective unit.
When I use the built-in charging, the blue light pulsates slowly at the very beginning. But it changes to a solid blue light quite early in the charge cycle (at least as early as 3.5V) and remains solid thereafter. There is no indication when charging is complete - the light stays solid blue.
I believe it is terminating correctly at 4.2V and my USB meter shows no current, but the light stays constant blue.
Does this sound correct ? If there is no indication when charging is complete, this is about as useful as a chocolate teapot.
My U11 started behaving bad after 16 months, I didnāt contact Manker, I figure I am SOL. With mine the LED pulses (not the switch) at low levels, gets bright for a short duration than just quits working I reload a different cell and get the same results. Iāve tried the āengineeringā mode routine with no results . This light soured me on Manker, I donāt think Iāll buy another Manker.
Thatās been my experience.
-At the beginning of the charge cycle (with depleted cell) the blue light ābreathesā. However very quickly like 20 minutes - it becomes solid blue. Much too quick for charging to be complete
-The charging continues (I can see current via my USB meter). Light still solid blue
-Eventually the charging stops (I can see the current stops via my USB meter). Light still solid blue
When I check cell, it is okay, 4.2V
So my issue is that the status light does not tell me when charging is finished. I assume this is a defect but I do not know for sure. Most flashlights with charging will tell you when it is finished - by turning light off, or changing color or something. With this I just have to guessā¦ or use a USB meter which kinda defeats the convenience.
Yeah, it is not the end of the world, I can just estimate when it is done. But it just seems weird (and dumb) that it would not do something - eg turn the lighted switch off - to indicate that charging is complete. Thatās why I was wondering if I have a defect.
Regarding the unreliable switch - supposedly this is an āupgradeā version with different switch, different driver, different UI. Time will tell.
I just received my U11 from the recent clearance sale. It is a bit flakey. Out of the box, with a fully charged battery, the light would turn on in totally random levels. Every time I clicked the switch to turn on the light, I got a different level. Clicking while the light is on might go to the next higher level, or the next lower level. Totally random.
I can get into engineering mode but the first 12 clicks have no effect; the LED makes no light until click #13, and it comes on much brighter than moonlight. Doing a long press to save the setting doesnāt work. It still comes on at random levels.
I finally got it to lock in the moonlight starting level by going into engineering mode, clicking 12 times (still no light from the LED), long press to exit engineering mode, unscrew the tailcap for a few seconds, then tighten the tailcap. Now it comes on in moonlight.
Manker makes good looking lights, but Iām not at all impressed with their quality.
For me is the same; albeit the LED comes on at sub-level 7 or 8.
I think this is not really a fault; just the nature of driving an LED at low current. At an extreme low current some LEDs will light and some will not. We can see it also in quads with extreme low moonlight.
However I agree on the other points, the UI just seems to be flakey.
I investigated the charging status light āissueā more. While charging mine does the ābreathingā (slowly pulsing blue light) until 3.7V. Then the light becomes solid blue. The charging continues.
The charging terminates at 4.2V but the light remains solid blue as before. Thus there is no visible indication that charging has finished.
I would be interested to know if yours behaves the same.
Another issue: with a cell below 3.6V, the blinky modes do not work; the main LED simply does not illuminate. Probably because these modes are derived from Turbo. You better hope you never actually need to use beacon or SOS in an emergency!
However despite not working, these blinkies are still present in the sequence so to reach the Battery Indicator you have click past 4 āemptyā or non-functioning modes.
It works like this:
Double-click -> Turbo (non-functioning)
Click -> Strobe (non-functioning)
Click -> SOS (non-functioning)
Click -> Beacon (non-functioning)
Click -> Battery indicator
This is ridiculous. Who designed the UI on this piece of crap?!