Astrolux C8 DOA

Hello all. I’m new to posting here but have been lurking for quite some time. I am fairly new to the wonders of quality budget flashlights.

I ordered an Astrolux C8 and when it arrived the board in the head that the spring is attached was hanging down into the body slightly. It was clearly not properly attached to the head. I press fitted it into the ledge that appears to be where it should reside. I popped in a fresh 30Q and NOTHING. I cant get it to work.

Ok so I think to myself I’ll go to Banggood’s website and submit for a replacement…. No luck there. The form refuses to submit. It requires I upload a pic, but it will not upload my pics. I work in IT so I am far from tech challenged. I am a bit frustrated. I cant find a way to notify them of the defect and request a replacement.Does anyone have any ideas?

I suppose at worst I got an expensive host. The problem is I wasn’t planning to learn that yet. I’d like to buy a few more and learn what I like and don’t like before I begin modding lights.

At any rate thank you all for a great forum full of awesome info

Ajohn

It’s gotta make a good ground connection, so needs to be soldered in, or have a retaining ring or something to do so.

Can you post a pic of the issue here? I’m pretty sure of what you are speaking of but I would like to see it.

Will do as soon as I get home.

Ain’t got the Astrolux version of this, but yeah, looks like it’s missing a retaining ring or something to make a connection between the ground ring around the periphery of the driver, and the head itself.

Cheap drivers just have solder-filled vias that are chopped down the middle, and are press-fit into an (unsolderable) Al head, so unless it’s got a brass pill (it doesn’t), it should need some kind of RR to hold it in.

Someone who actually has an Astrolux could probably give more detail how it’s actually done.

There should be a brass retaining ring inside, like in this pic:

Ah, there ya go…

No retaining ring. Odd. Still suprised it didn’t work with pressure from the battery. See if the retaining ring on the tailcap will thread on. Connect the negative end of the battery and the body with a volt meter or coin to see if it works at all.

Also once you get a picture to load they will probably send you a new light. I’ve had great luck with Banggood with defective products. Just takes a while.

I will try this tonight.

Not sure if they are the same but it may be worth a try. I have a couple but just didn’t have time last night to dig one out.

Bad luck, i think we have spoken about this issue on youtube but if you payed with paypal you could try getting a refund. Or try a different browser, i know its annoying but some sites have functions which just refuse to work on certain browsers. Also if you use an Adblock extension disable that as i had a few issues on certain pages with one running, so turn it off for those pages temp.
Good luck mate.

TT

Yep this is the light we were discussing on YT. Thanks for the tips! I will work on it this evening or over the next couple days. I have 5 days off work after today.

I have to tell you TT your review of the TN4A is what pulled me into this world of flashlights. It’s all your fault! Lol!

A big thank to everyone responding so quickly and thoroughly! I knew everyone here would know immediately what the problem was and offer resolutions.

Ha ha :slight_smile: sorry about that, soon you will be asking for the best excuses to use for the other half when yet another flashlight arrives. But to be fair they are highly useful tools in my opinion and you have to have spares!
I really want you to get this issue resolved, the people here are extremely knowledgeable so it will get sorted and don’t let one daft quality control mishap put you off.
Keep me posted if those things don’t work or you don’t get a sensible reply from Bangood.

TT

Well I finally got through to Banggood. I sent video and photographic evidence and hopefully they will replace it. Do you all know if they require I return the original or if they say keep it? Just curious? I will attempt to move the ring from the tail cap to the head and see if the light works at all, later today.

Usually you keep the dud, but that’s only from my own experience. Good luck mate.

If they tell you to keep it, which they probably should, shoot me your address in a PM and I will send you the retaining ring you are needing. Then you can have two working lights.

Thanks! I will do that.

Well I am getting a bit annoyed at Banggood. I finally got the form to submit. They emailed me asking for pics and video uploaded to YouTube. So I sent pics and a link to a quick YouTube video showing the packaging and the problem. They emailed back stating that was not good enough. So I did a 4 minute video. In the video I pull a fully charged 30Q off the charger, place it in the light, show the light does not work. I then place the same battery in a S2+ showing the battery is indeed good. I then place the battery back in the Astrolux just for good measure and show it is not working. I then took detailed pics of the light and the packaging including all barcodes. I got an email this morning simply stating try a different battery. I have tried 3 different batteries. Its irrelevant to try 100 batteries the light will not work without the retaining ring. It appears Banggood does not want to make good on this problem. I will never again buy anything from them ever. I will tell everyone I know to not risk it. Unless someone here has a connection with Banggood I will be looking to repair this light.