[Review] Manker T01 (XP-L HI V3, 1x AA / 14500)

was hoping for a bad report, guess I will have to buy this now! 862 lumens??? Good thing is that it’s offered at the USA warehouse.

See what you mean, PM sent.
later,
Keith

So if this review, up in the original post, can take it completely and totally apart to show us this…

Why can’t you remove the switch pcb, solder the springs in properly, then put the pcb back? If it’s glued, glue it back.

You can probably solder that inner spring in place with a quick touch and not even unseat the original glue. If indeed it releases, fix it.

Because of how narrow the tail cap is, I am not confident I can get anything in to pry the switch out without risking damage to the tail cap.

For now I will wait on the BG response.

That’s really weird Johnnymac. Mine has instantaneous mode memory, but no quick moon access. Very consistent.

If it had a simple double click to turbo, and a long click to moon it would be absolutely perfect, for me at least. As it is it’s got a decent UI.

I was told about it by another insider owner, and confirmed by manufacturer when I asked them ahead of receiving my sample. I also was told recently that they were using another digital switch, different to the one used in my sample & previous samples… Maybe this is the reason for the buggy reactions you’re explaining.

Thanks for the feedback!

Still no response from Banggood. I tried emailing their CS email yesterday in addition to contacting them via the my orders page on my account a few days ago.

Got a reply from BG CS email last night. They asked if I could just solder the spring down myself. As per the reasons I mentioned previously I cannot without risking damage to the tail cap and PCB and therefore will not attempt this. I told them this in my email response asking for a replacement tailcap, so once again I wait for a reply.

A $50 light should not require me to fix it to get it working right.

EXACTLY

A $50 light or a $300 light both go through a delivery service. These days, these services seem to know most packages are insured so they abuse the boxes our goodies are packed in, often literally throwing the package out of the truck or off a conveyor belt. Impacts can cause electronics to break loose. It happens. The cost of the components inside have little to do with the potential for them to be damaged in transit. Is this the manufacturer’s fault? Maybe a little, better solder joints, more solder joints, might prevent this kind of thing but at the end of the day it’s really pretty trivial and can be repaired much cheaper than sending new parts.

I’d offer to fix it for you for free, but then that would entail sending it to me and me sending it back and you probably don’t want to spend $5 or $10. There is most likely someone in your area that could fix it quickly and cheaply if your’e not willing to try it yourself. Literally would only take a minute.

Thank you very much for your offer, but you are correct I don’t want to spend anymore than I already have on the flashlight for it to work properly.

I also don’t think it was necessarily a packaging issue, but rather an original soldering issue. It looks to me that there wasn’t enough solder in the first place and any movement of the outer spring pushed the inner spring enough to break it loose.

No matter how it happened I do want to stand firm on a replacement part or flashlight. I ordered a new light and expect it to be in working order when it arrives.

I noticed on mine that the solder points on the springs are a bit lacking, which is why I figured it might not be so difficult to make one or both springs disengage.

Will probably re-enforce mine, for the sake of doing it. :wink: Am cautious to start on it as I am prone to delve into the depths of it’s soul and tweak things not meant to be tweaked. :wink:

I was hoping it had a tail switch but I hasn’t. Lately I’m really starting to like tail switches.

please do delve, and let us know what u find. I would like Everett to do his magic on this light, with his MELD firmware. But not sure it’s a $200 light :stuck_out_tongue:

My tail cap inner spring arrived like yours. Disappointing. So, you are not alone :open_mouth:
I will summon my meager skills to remedy.
However, this light is still (for me) impressive.
The UI is outstanding.

If you don’t mind, could you let me know how the repair process goes?

Not you! Say it isn't so Lucy.

Update from Banggood: they are sending me a replacement tail cap, although it will be coming from China so could take a few weeks. Hopefully this one is soldered down well!

GODMES T01 arrived today. shoved in an AA battery
click. no dice. click. nothing. long click. nada. 10s long click says manual so 10s long click. nope

removed tailcap. jumpered cathode of battery to body of flashlight. long click. and there was light.

sent email to banggood asking for tail cap replacement. tsk tsk

Sorry to read so… Since the tailcap hasn’t any electronics on it, it looks like a contact issue.