That seems to be the case, as I've found two other people who experience this same probelm with the 1As but have yet to encounter a complaint with the 1c. There's some people with the 1a that also said they didn't have this problem. Since it seems that the 1a and 1c share the same head (you can lego these two lights although they don't sell the body tubes separately), it seems to me that the likely culprit is a batch of poorly machined battery tubes for the 1a lights.
Just got my 1C in the mail today. I got the basic cool-white emitter. Very nice pure white tint without any hint of green that some people report with XMLs. The head doesn't wobble at all all and fit and finish seem excellent. The only issue seems to be that the tailcap boot is loose and relatively thin, meaning that most of the time it can't tailstand.
Running on AW IMR 16340, it is very bright.... much brighter than my Zebralight SC51 or Quark Mini AA both running on 14500.
One reason I chose the 1C over the 1A was size. Both lights use the exact same head. The body of the 1A is longer to allow for AA batteries. However, because the head isn't any narrower, Thrunite made the body tube on the 1A thicker.
Personally, I don't like this manner of making an AA flashlight. In my mind an AA flashlight should be narrower than a flashlight designed for CR123 batteries. If an AA flashlight is just a bigger 123 flashlight you might as well just get the 123.
In all lego-series, the body tubes have to be the same thickness.
Thanks for the mini review. Good to know that it's brighter than SC51 and Quark Mini (with R5, right?)
Yes. the 1C on IMR 16340 should be around 450 lumens. It is very noticeably brighter than the Quark mini AA R5 on 14500, which is around 260 lumens.
The issues I have with mine seem to definitely be limited to the 1A's. the 1C's don't seem to be affected. A person with one of the bad 1A's tried legoing with differnt models and no matter what head he tried on the 1A, it still ahd this problem. He could put the 1A head on other lights and there was no problem. Definitely is an issue with the battery tubes on the 1A. i'm guessing they are machining them a tad too small. We are posting what we are finding out on the Thrunite manufacturer's subforum over on CPF so hopefully they read all of it and do something about it. This is a potentially a great light being ruined by poor quality control.
I recieved a response from Thrunite and have added that information to the review. I also sent my light back to the dealer and asked for a replacement. I will update again as things progress.
Hi SirJohn,
Any update as to your issues with the Thrunite 1A? I've been following threads on the other site as well, and some 1C and some 2AA's also are affected. Really unfortunate as I was pumped to try out the 1A, prior to reading your experience and others. The low/high modes are very nice. Yet, boot switch, wobbly head issues [waterproofing?/turbo mode woops in the face] really leave a bad taste in my mouth. On top of that, I watched David's [Thrunite rep.] responses at the other site and I'm not impressed at all. He's taking absolutely no responsibility and instead keeps on referring to taking any/all issues up with 'the dealer'. Oh and stating that the wobbly head is normal, or to loosen further, or try different o-rings is ridiculous. Not once has he suggested it's a manufacturing issue. David really should be let go, he's not promoting any degree of customer satisfaction or retention. Yet, that's my opinion and I ended up going with a zebralight instead.
I'm wondering if your replacement from Lightjunction was satisfactory?
Lightjunction said they didn't have any in stock that didn't have the issue. I am not entirely convinced that they bothered to check all that hard, but I decided to not take the risk and just take my refund, which they did without a problem so I'll give them credit for that. I agree that the responses from Thrunite to these issues leave a lot to be desired and just didn't inspire much confidence in the company. I got the Xeno E03 instead. I miss the interface and firefly mode of the Thrunite, but the Xeno E03 is flawless in operation and build quality in comparison. I probably won't be buying another Thrunite any time soon. I hope they realize how many customers they have been losing as a result of all these bad reports. The tone on CPF has definitely cooled on these lights it seems for now.
pictures da gone??