A few things can cause this. Loose retaining ring on either the driver or tail cap switch, tail cap milled slightly too deep for the switch and the rubber button is already pressing the switch(not enough slack), anodized version barely makes contact at bare metal ends of the battery tube. They don’t seem to do much QC before shipping but fortunately most of these group buy lights are easy to disassemble, diagnose, and reassemble. It usually doesn’t take much to find the problem and fix it. It’s part ’n parcel with the whole cheap light with free shipping deal.
Mine is sensitive to bumps as well. In my case it’s the springs (a known issue). Mine has also popped off the clip in outside pocket carry several times at work but I’m pretty rough on things there so I don’t think it is too bad overall.
It’s still a great light but the inconsistent execution lags far behind the totally awesome design. For the money you can’t complain much- just the way things go in a “budget” world.
Cleaned up contacts it is better. But I think you are right the spring is way to soft it still changes modes with a slight bump. For sitting living room it’s a great light as long as no one tips it over or places it down to hard.
It is severely lacking as an edc for someone that uses their tools daily, and does not treat them like fine China.
Maybe I can swap out tail spring for stiffer one.
The led choice, and the driver are great I know it was difficult to design this . Far better than most lights. But manufacturing has made this light not so reliable my threads don’t seem tight, and ano seems lesser than some of my other lights. It also does not seem to be water tight. My s2+ can be relied on. My s30 was solid ( driver and led were not nearly as nice as a6)Maybe I can gut the heart out of the a6 and put driver and led in the new tan s2+
Hi everyone, new guy here. I’ve been a lurker around here for a while. I received the BLF A6 in the mail a few days ago and the switch is bad. It won’t turn off, I have to loosen the tailcap to shut it off. I have sent an email to Banggood about it and now waiting for a reply. If I’ve read correctly the switch is a Omten 1288. Is there any US suppliers of this switch? I have searched but no luck finding any as of yet.
I love this light but I don’t want to wait for ever for a replacement switch from Banggood. This is no bash to Banggood, I have made several light and battery purchases from them and have been very happy. If any one has a suggestion of a replacement switch I greatly appreciate the info. Thanks!
Rich at Mtnelectronics is out of the genuine article but has some of the white knock offs for .15 ea. Fastech is a normal supplier and usually fairly fast. Can you solder in the switch or do you need it mounted on a pcb?
Rather than wait for a new (and hopefully correct length) tube, I modified the tailcap to make a better connection.
Since the “paperclip mod” allowed the light to work properly, I sanded about a paperclip’s width off of the tailcap. I used light pressure on a belt sander and rotated the tailcap between passes in order to ensure a flat surface. I lightly chamfered the inner lip with sandpaper to help the o-ring seat properly.
This A6 now works great, and the bare aluminum end of the tailcap is almost unnoticeable once the light is assembled.
Hello everyone – If this is the wrong place to ask this question, please let me know where I should go.
I’m a complete flashlight noob, but I did some minor research and found the BLF A6. So I purchased the flashlight and it works fantastic.
Only issue is the tailcap seems to need to be really REALLY cranked down hard before the flashlight will function. Basically, to get the flashlight to operate, I have to tighten the cap essentially as much as I possibly can by hand. Is this normal to require this much force? I’m afraid that by tightening it down this much every time I swap out the battery for a fresh one (to put the spent one on the charger) that I will make the tailcap need even more force every subsequent time.
It’s not normal, yours has a bit too short battery tube.
You can bend a paperclip and insert it in tailcap, to make contact with tube. That will fix it.
Since you mentioned eventualy needing more force to tighten, my A6 doesn’t agree. I’ve carried it daily for maybe a month without unscrewing tailcap, and it got tightened on its own that I couldn’t unscrew it. Luckily, I have some strong friends.
Thanks for the reply! Is this something that I can ask Banggood to replace? I kinda hate to start sticking paperclips in my flashlight just to make it function properly when it’s brand new!
I would ask for a replacement. that is unacceptable.
convoy s2 seems like more of a durable EDC to me. a6 is cool, but it does not seem built solid enough to withstand normal use.
my opinion.
I may or may not be tougher on my stuff than you.
It’s much easier to slightly raise the retaining ring by removing it and then shimming it up. You can do that by using thin braided wire, aluminum foil, etc. You can even use a bit of solder on the inside of the ring. To be honest it’s not worth the effort to contact Banggood over such a minor issue. It’s probably 10 minutes of work.
Oh good find! Yeah, sounds exactly like my issue. I’ll take it up with Banggood and see if they will come through for me.
SIGShooter - Definitely can’t argue with your logic. Only issue though is I don’t have the equipment to solder and I’ve never done it before or ever modded a light in any fashion. Might take 10 minutes for someone experienced at this, but you get me doing this for the first time and I will probably just break it more.