Any Fasttech brown box owners got theirs wet yet? I’m wondering if mines was the only one not waterproof. I ended up with water behind the lens and reflector after using it in the rain.
I think a good way to test without putting it in water is to remove the tailcap and battery, and suck. Air easily enters though the bezel area on mines.
The reason these units are not watertight is because the flush bezel can’t be tightened enough against the o-ring. And everyone who received an U11 with automatic turn on after disconnecting from the USB have possibly received a defective unit.
I tested my U11 more extensively and the problem is definitely temperature sensor related, ran the light on hidden turbo under the tap and it never went off while it was cool. No water ingress because the head was pointed downward.
Personally, I like the no notches bezel ring. It can be tightened way beyond healthy by using a sheet of silicon on a flat surface. I used one of my wife’s silicone oven mitts. The reported driver issues are a big time drag. I need to check mine for those when I get my light back together.
Just got mine today from BangGood. It’s brown box but seems to have no faults. I’ve run it several times and all seems well so far. Bezel ring has no notches. Low battery blinker kicks in at 3.18 Volts.
Fasttech gave me the option for a refund or exchange. I chose exchange. They are not cross shipping mines, and I have to pay for the return shipping cost. They claim that my light is still useable. I’m just glad that I don’t have to ship to China.
I also got my U11 from Banggood yesterday. It shipped from California, do they have a warehouse there or something? This one seems to be working fine. Few things about this light:
-It came in the black box this time.
-There is Notches/grooves on the bezel.
-The clip was smashed or something, and it’s too tight to be clipped to a jeans pocket.
-Large dust/lint in the reflector.
-Scratch on the inside of the lens.
The blue light in the switch is a much lighter blue color.
-Not waterproof again, even though the bezel was crazy tight.
The dust and scratch doesn’t really bother me, I’ll end up scratching the lens eventually. The clip I just swapped with my Fasttech copy.
I’m disappointed that it wasn’t fully waterproof. It’s not as bad as my other one. I fully submerged it in a cup of water for about 2 minutes, and about one drop got behind the lens. I disassembled it, dried, blew the dust out, and after reassembling it, It seems to be waterproof now.
One thing I finally realized about that strange mode where instead of going to moonlight from off, it cycles all the low modes. If you do a really quick single click, I’m taking like less than 0.1 second click, it’ll always go to this mode. I can do it every time on both lights. So I just need to make sure to click a little longer.
Quality control issues aside, this is my most favorite light.
I currently reviewing this flashlight too and I don’t notice this problem.
I think I shall re-check again.
Mine from FT arrived yesterday.
- Brown cardboard box
- Auto shut down on turbo after about three minutes or so (fully charged Samsung 30Q). “I suspect the internal temperature protection is somehow messed up, because it stays on longer when started cold” or if it works in a cold environment.
- No cutouts in the front bezel
- Front bezel seems to be tight but it is not water resistant
- Auto on after disconnecting from USB (jumps to low mode selector)
- From low1 to low3 there is hardly any difference. Same with med1 to med 3. Low1 and med1 are far too bright.
Can anybody owning a proper working Manker U11 confirm that there is a noticeable difference from low1 to low2 and low3 ? Same on the mid levels ?
I have got a ZL 62w and there is a obvious difference among those levels.
Just realized that mine does the same:
“One thing I finally realized about that strange mode where instead of going to moonlight from off, it cycles all the low modes. If you do a really quick single click, I’m taking like less than 0.1 second click, it’ll always go to this mode. I can do it every time on both lights. So I just need to make sure to click a little longer.”
I received Manker U11 from Gearbest with following specs:
How do you guys test it to see if it’s water proof or not? Are you sink it into a bowl of water?
Look at #25
Auto on after disconnecting from USB (jumps to low mode selector) ?
A better plan is to use some thermodynamics to your benefit. Unscrew the tailcap, remove the battery and put the whole light in the freezer with its tailcap opened. Wait for it to cool down. In the meantime, get a large bowl/pot/bucket of room-temp or slightly warmed water ready. Once your light has had plenty of time to cool way down, reach into the freezer, put the tailcap on while still inside, and remove it. Now you’ve got a very cold light full of very cold air. You’ve effectively increased the density of the air inside.
Now put it in your bucket of water. The water will start to warm the light, which will cause the air inside to expand and increase the pressure. As that air expands, it may or may not bubble out. Bubbles coming from the light shows a leak and the location of the leak. Yes its an air leak instead of a water leak, but its still a leak. If your light can hold in its air it’ll definitely hold out water. Most lights will bubble just a bit, maybe a bubble every couple of seconds. That’s still perfectly fine and will probably be quite waterproof. Many times you’ll find that leaks are in fixable places, like dry or unseated o-rings. Now you know what to fix.
The nice part about this test is that the positive pressure inside the light will keep the water out. So your light could be very, very unwaterproof, air bubbles coming out everywhere, but water won’t be able to get in and ruin your light unless you leave it until the bubbling stops. Its a very safe test.
That sounds like a good method. I’ll be sure to try it when my replacement from Fasttech comes in.
I can imagine the opposite happening. Someone using their flashlight on turbo, flashlight gets hot, then falls in a pool of water. The water will get sucked right in any small leaks.
There’s one thing I don’t like about this light, there’s no sealed off areas. What I mean by this is, the reflector, USB port, and battery compartment is all the same. Because of this, charging or replacing the battery in a very humid environment puts moisture in the reflector.
If you are a Manker representative, it would be most helpful if you could post some more info in this thread. Thanks.
+1
I’ve got the brown box no bezel groves and such. But also, and I havnt seen this mentioned, I have a max of 2amp draw from turbo in both general and pro modes. It is the same, exactly the same. 2.09A
I’m trying to prove this, but well? I took a video of me measuring turbo in general mode. Switched to pro mode. Accessed turbo. Measured amps. I showed I was using a Samsung 25r. I then repeated this process with another light that pulled 5A+ from my test setup to show my meter is sufficient. Now I have to add vocals to the video and send it out. I hope they get what I’m trying to show. We’ll see?
That’s a very clever method, thanks for the lesson 
Ah, I never noticed the straight-to-on from USB charge before! Mine does it. Seems to go to the last mode used.
Mine is one of the firsts, with black box
It was working fine until one day that moonlight mode stopped working and won’t work again. The rest of the modes work fine
Does anyone have a spare USB cover included as stated in the manual?
From FT, yes (into a closed nylon bag); from GB, no (no bag).
I ordered from GB which came with a taped nylon bag but no spare USB cover. I think a spare USB cover is much more important than a spare O-ring because it is much more likely to get damaged and leave the flashlight exposed.