I recently purchased a Solarforce Z2 as a pocket-sized EDC light. I really enjoy my 2 Solarforce L2P’s, as they are bright and reliable, but I wanted something smaller. The new Z2 worked at first but quickly became less and less reliable. Most of the time, I have to rattle it, twist the cap, shake it, slap it against my palm, etc until it pops on. When I am done using it, I put it in my pocket and go through the same dance the next time I need it. Today, it stopped working altogether. It can’t be the battery because I have tried several batteries that work in other applications and none of them work either.
Is there a way to discect this light and fix it or should I just have Solarforce replace it?
what is the goal of manipulating the spring with pliers? to make it longer and springier? the inside of the tube is too narrow to get any sort of needle nose pliers that I own in there.
update: my original Z2 stopped working altogether within a month of getting it. I emailed Solarforce and they kindly sent me another Z2. that light only lasted a little while longer, and then suddenly stopped working too.
I carried these lights in my pocket every day and never used them for more than a few minutes at a time. I work in construction and sweat a lot as a result. I don’t remember dropping either of the lights in any extreme way. the only thing I can think of is that maybe I accidentally turned the light on in my pocket and somehow burned it out or overheated it in my pocket. what should I do next?
I emailed Solarforce qnd they said that 1.2 v rechargeable batteries are know to go over their voltage and burn out the emitter of a Z2. I wish they had specified that somewhere or designed it to take a little more than 1.5v.
Their response seems bogus to me. If the light takes an AA Alkaline cell, then it can take a NiMH AA cell no problem at all. I wonder if they were confused with a 14500 rechargeable cell?
I asked them is a NiMH 1.2v cell would be ok and they said that such a rechargeable battery will “over volt” the light and burn it out. Maybe 1.2v NiMH cells don’t regulate output well?
Freshly charged NiMh is around 1.42-1.43v, fresh out of the pack alkaline is something like 1.63v. The NiMh will have less voltage sag under load, but with a boost driver, that really does not matter. Actually with a boost driver, the closer the input is to the output (as long as input is lower than output) it makes the driver's job easier, as less boosting is required, which means less input current required to get the driver's set output. So given that, it should work better with NiMh than alkaline.
On the Z1/Z2 boost drivers (I believe they are the same, just using a different size contact plate - they are 2-board drivers) they are not happy with 4.2v LiIons, at least not when freshly charged to the full 4.2 volts. Once run down a bit, or deliberately undercharged to 4.1v (or using high internal resistance cells, which will sag under load) they can operate reliably, but that's a lot of hassle most of the time.
Also, if they both use the same driver, then the Z2 should be fine up to 3 volts input just like the CR123 Z1. 3 volts is less than the required output voltage, so the boost circuit still works as designed.
Still don’t understand, but only reason I can find is that there may be some design relying on the inner resistance of an Alkaline, and a quality NiMH may be giving out too much current in such a near short circuit situation.
I’m wondering if perhaps the driver is being killed by an intermittent ground short. How many amps can an eneloop deliver in a direct short? IIRC, some L2 lights had switch issues some time back, the fix was simply tightening down the switch ring which eliminated the flickering.
I once was trying to build a solarforce L2R dropin with two Eneloops and the driver in the head shorted for an instant, that was enough for the switch in the tail to burn in smokes.
I’d be interested to know the cause of this as well. I’ve had a Z2 for about 2 months and it has been my EDC, love everything about it, size, modes, and output. My brother liked it so I ordered 4 more for him and his family. He’s been EDC’ing it for the past month. About 2 weeks after he got his order, one of his quit working. It was his sons light, and he rarely used it, it basically sat on his dresser and may have been used an hour total. Same thing, you beat on it and it would work but now it will only come but a lot dimmer than the lowest setting the Z2 comes with. Just 2 days ago mine shit the bed as well, it will not turn on no matter what I try. I use Duracell 2400mah rechargeables in mine but my nephew had only used Rayovac alkalines.
I emailed Solarforce over the weekend and they asked what kind of batteries I was using and said not to use rechargeables and I thought 1.2v’s were totally safe for this light. Anyway not the point as 2 of 5 are not working and each used different batteries. Also, it’s in the head of the light, not the switch or spring, you can swap the head from one of the working lights and it works just fine.
I just received a d25a Clicky as a replacement but I still would like to continue EDC’ing the Z2 but have my reservations about it being able to stand up to EDC needs now. Anybody know of a quick fix? I was able to get the head apart on one of them but I’m no expert at what I’m looking at when I get it took apart. I would easily pay x2 for this light if I knew it would last me the life of the bulb.
The driver on these is not a press fit into the head, it's not soldered to the pill, and there's no separate ground wire inside. The only ground connection comes from the driver touching the ledge it sits on, and the only force making those two connect is the white plastic retainer pressed into the head.
Test it with the head removed - set it lens-dowm on the table, press a battery against the + contact, and use a piece of wire to connect the negative end of the battery to the thread area on the pill. See if pressing the battery down harder makes any difference, as that will push the driver against the seat inside and might make a ground conenction that it won't when the only force applied is from the spring in the tail.
Solarforce wants me to mail both lights back to them so they can fix them. I am fairly certain that postage to Hong Kong will cost more than the price of another Z2. Curses!
When I do this with mine that ran NiMH nothing happens, light won’t turn on nor would it turn on when put together (maybe it’s burnt up?). When I do this for my nephews whose has only ran alkaline, it will turn on in a moonlight and randomly flicker a little bit brighter if I press on the battery or move the wire around on the pill. It is random and can’t keep it steady on the higher mode when I try to stay perfectly still. Any fix to this? I would rather not have to send them both back for more than the lights are worth (possibly) and wait 2 months for a turnaround. I also stretched the spring to create more pressure on the battery and pill but didn’t help.
Love this light, perfect EDC for me and would just order another one if I could trust it but right now I just can’t, especially waiting 3 weeks for shipping. Ordered a d25a Clicky over the weekend that showed up today and while I like it’s size and quality I absolutely hate the modes. Off-topic but is there another light out there exactly like the Z2? Simple UI, no strobes needed, AA, pocket clip, forward clicky and starts on high? A plus if it will take 14500.
