My COMETA is a POS - does not connect with tailcap spring - burned my finger [Hobby Ending - Enough is Enough]

Hugs Rusty… Have some BEER!!! :beer: :beer:

Will34, other members have looked at the BLF A6, & BLF X5/X6 MCPCBs, and they were found to be Noctigon MCPCBs in their opinion. They just were a different color.

Re the wires used in the Cometa, has anyone that received production lights actually checked to see what wire was used? Was it 24AWG? OR?

I think that Cyberescudo's sample may have used 24AWG at one stage.

Also using 24AWG wire rather that 20AWG probably made it easier to manufacture the lights (thinner & easier to manipulate wire).

Note that I am not a modder. My flashlight repair capabilities are Very limited due to lack of knowledge, time, & experience.

And in my experience in about 3 years, Neal & Banggood have always taken care of any issues & problems till now.

It just requires time, patience, being civil, & remembering that english is not their primary language. But that is the case when dealing with any supplier, person or organisation overseas (or locally).

Best Regards,

George

Got my Cometa today. It's true 24 AWG, clearly labeled in mine. I would not have liked 20 AWG wires in this light - no clearances, and the people assembling these things I would not trust to spend the careful attention to detail to do it right. Even the 24 AWG is too thick for these guys to do properly, as we are finding out.

Yes - white over the red. Hank/Noctigon did not want their name showing on these GB deals.

disambiguation: I’m tne other Hank, not Hank Wong here who sells flashlight parts.

The Cometa I have came with the red, Noctigon-labeled board, and 24 AWG.

I assume they reused parts from the previous GB.
Give them credit — they did flash Toykeeper’s up-to-date firmware this time, which they forgot to install on the previous GB.

FIXUP NOTE: be careful if you put a “butterfly” spacer with square hole over the LED, there’s a known risk that it will rotate and rip the LED off the board especially when hot.
And the emitter does have a clear cover over the phosphor which can also be peeled off accidentally, if you happen to twist a spacer around that runs into it.

I don’t know of a butterfly spacer with the bigger round hole that could rotate without contacting the emitter.

ALTERNATIVE: the 19mm 3M stick-on insulators have a hole big enough to rotate around the LED if they come unstuck, and the outside diameter is big enough to cover the solder bumps. Those squish down comfortably when you tighten the black parabolic thing down, and stay stuck to the board so they don’t rotate easily.

Not centered yet in the picture:
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I received a response from BG regarding these washers. I first contacted Neal and today I received the following email from BG…

Dear customer,

Thanks for your email.

We have arranged to resend you a CPFItalia COMETA Insulating Sheet for item 1048342.

But this item is out of stock at the moment, could you please wait for few days?

Sorry for the inconvenience and best regards,

Aurogon

I completely understand you. But for my edc 1911 I sent it back twice to ruger. They replaced with one that had no issues.
My newest carry p938 rosewood would be sent back if it didn’t run so beautifully <3
It’s one thing to tinker, I enjoy it on my guns, but my carry guns are factory stock. Maybe slight dehorn or smoothing.

I really like Ruger’s customer support. I once had an issue with a semi-auto that didn’t manifest itself for over 5 years (off-center firing pin strikes on double action mode). Called Ruger about it and they sent me a prepaid shipping sticker no questions asked.

I wished all companies were like Ruger.

+1
May be they already aware of the issue if using thicker wire, higher possibility scratching the disk.

@ Rusty Joe - Just about everyone moves on sooner or later, especially for something like flashlights. Just sayin'

Too many fingers in the pie sometimes and too many people who thought they knew how to make a flashlight and ended up not knowing the things that needed to be checked, like simple clearances. Too many small time companies over there, with not enough knowledge & resources, or enough control, to keep quality as a perspective. Too many makers of components like batteries, where there is a simple lack of control of standardization. If cells had standards that had to be met, for OAL, OD and the raise of the positive contacts and contact diameters, then there would be less nasty problems like yours.

Take care buddy and go find something that brings back the spark you need.

It's all what it is. Best of luck with whatever you do.

Justin

I take it as a given that I’ll need to tweak something and sometimes I’m pleasantly surprised not to. Group buys are becoming more customized which takes a known product further from stock and introduces more possible chances for mistakes. Most things I enjoy drive me to distraction at some point, it’s the challenge and chance to be creative that brings me back to any of them. Hope you find your way back.

I picked up my Cometa today. During the teardown, I noticed to damage to the anodising on the black disk thingy. The damage seems to be more towards the LED than where I would expect damage from the solder points to be, however I should note that after screwing the disk on and off again, the damage was worse. One of the solder points does however a spiky bit.

I’ve attached a link to the photo below (I’m having issues embedding the photo)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenk1977/26326237223/in/dateposted/

Any advise on whether this is purely cosmetic, or likely to result in a short would be greatly appreciated.
I won’t be using the light until I’m confident it is safe.

Heres your picture.

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Thanks. I need to read the how to post a picture thread!

stephenk - No pic showing, and link doesn't work for me... If you are talking the bottom side of the disc, then yes - sounds like a potential short. If you could flatten out the solder, or if not, cover them up, but there will be a lot of heat there, so use something that can take the heat.

On mine, excessive solder was used - bumper up way too high, but think mine still cleared. My fix was to reduce the solder and flatten it out with the flat tip iron.

It gets worse each tome you take it off and put it back on???

Hmmmm. it must be rubbing against something. Let me think a minute and get some coffee in me. :wink:
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Thanks for fixing the pic MRsDNF!!!
I just added it to his original post. :slight_smile:

Got my Cometa yesterday, I made a plastic ring for battery. I tried to open it up to check the solder points but the concave ring on mine is stuck, I cant seem to get it off tried to pry it out but im afraid to use to use too much force. Am I missing something should it be difficult to remove? I tried the light out anyways and it is in single mode pretty bright. I thought it was in muggle mode, but no amount of half clicks will put me in config mode. Any help very appreciated, seems the main thread was locked so I asked here.

Yeah, I can see where both your positive & negative solder joints are hitting the cover on the slanted part. It looks just like two of mine did.

The rub marks out closer to the edge is where it is rubbing on something. Possibly a high spot on the MCPCB. See if you can see any coinciding rub marks on it, you should be able to see rub marks on the solder joints also.

DO NOT pry it, it screws out.

IF it is in a single mode and real bright you have a problem!!!

QUIT using it till you find the problem

Standard right hand thread on that retaining ring.
A small rubber strap wrench is a great help in situations like this as it dosen”t mark the anodizing.
Like this from Harbor Freight http://www.harborfreight.com/2-pc-rubber-strap-wrench-set-69373.html
I had murder getting the lens bezel off mine where it had been overtightened.

If you got one of those cheap pair of rubber-like textured gloves, they work wonders - I use them all the time on lights. Best first option before strap wrench's, etc.