Have you read the Cometa thread in the past week?

It sounds like the unprotected Basen cell shorted on the underside of the pill. Probably melted the driver spring, maybe melted the tailcap spring as well. Maybe fried something in the process.

Need pictures to determine the exact cause and effect.

G'Day Rusty Joe,

Sorry to hear about your problem.

Please post in & read the Cometa Group Buy thread at:

http://budgetlightforum.com/node/43817

Best Regards,

George

Yep, like George said; you really need to go here and do some reading & research. Seriously……………
http://budgetlightforum.com/node/43817?page=51#comment-940394

POS? piece of sh*t?

Wrathbringer27 wrote:

POS? piece of sh*t?

Yes, that’s probably what he meant. I highly doubt he’s trying to say ‘Point of Sale’

Rusty Joe wrote:

Yes. I was very angry. lol

Joe, I think you’re just a little burnt out. Don’t give up on a nice hobby right away. Step away and come back in a few months. You may feel differently then.

It looks like the specs were screwed up…go figure. Why can’t a company produce a light with the agreed upon specs? Seriously…it’s ridiculous!! If a group buy has been put together and a test light approved with the agreed upon specs…why produce a run of lights that are out of specs? Does the seller feel like they need to cheap out on the agreed upon specs in order to gain a higher profit margin? I’m getting sick and tired of these companies taking advantage of us. Yes, this is a BUDGETlightforum but it doesn’t mean that we have to take what we’re given because we get it cheap.

djburkes wrote:

It looks like the specs were screwed up…go figure. Why can’t a company produce a light with the agreed upon specs? Seriously…it’s ridiculous!! If a group buy has been put together and a test light approved with the agreed upon specs…why produce a run of lights that are out of specs? Does the seller feel like they need to cheap out on the agreed upon specs in order to gain a higher profit margin? I’m getting sick and tired of these companies taking advantage of us. Yes, this is a BUDGETlightforum but it doesn’t mean that we have to take what we’re given because we get it cheap.

I am posting this here in the hopes that as many as possible may see it due to safety concerns with this light.
If you want to know more you can click on this link that will take you to the ‘mother’ thread.
http://budgetlightforum.com/node/43817?page=52
—————————————————————————————————————————————————-
WARNING ……… PLEASE READ!!

I don’t know, or really even care; if anyone else feels this way or not….. but we are just beginning to see the tip of the iceberg with this situation concerning the COMETA.

This is a potentially VERY DANGEROUS situation………….

Just notice some of the posts that are beginning to come in from people who either are unaware of the problem, have not been keeping up with this thread, refuse to read the whole thing, do not really understand the “fixes” described, do the “fixes” incorrectly, or just happy go lucky think it does not apply to them because their light “works’.

Many do not have a clue that they are playing with a Potential BOMB…….

This BOMB could potentially hurt or kill them, as well as those around them; if it “goes off”.

This IS NOT an exaggeration, and I challenge anyone to say what I write is not true…..

This IS a potentially VERY DANGEROUS situation concerning this light!!!
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Disclaimer: I DO NOT represent myself as an “expert”, either self proclaimed or otherwise.

But this is a potentially very dangerous situation!

And I defy anyone to openly disagree with what I have said.

If anyone takes me up on this, please list your rational.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Also, the problem lies with the sell/maker for ignoring agreed upon specs.

‘Cyberescudo’ IS NOT at fault.

Let me begin by saying that I don’t blame the BLF members who put in long, hard and unpaid hours to achieve the goals and specs we agreed upon. This is not the first groupbuy with unexpected results and it most certainly won’t be the last. Maybe a lot of it is caused by differences in attitude and language. But it seems that on any level where the person you´re dealing with is not first hand involved in the manufacturing, there is a more than average chance that things go wrong. Let´s face it, the quantities we are talking about are not the ones to make or break a manufacturer. And if shit happens, containment is first priority, not real customer satisfaction.
That does not mean we can dodge our responsibility to (at least: visually) inspect the things we buy before we use them.
But when was the last time you took good notice of the lights on your dashboard before you turned the ingnition-key?

Only a few of us will remember the unforgettable Phil Silvers as MSgt. Ernest G. Bilko in the Phil Silvers Show AKA Sergeant Bilko. Personally I don’t believe everyone we are dealing with overseas is like him.

Whether or not we are flashaholics, or enthusiasts, I EXPECT if I buy a light, especially one that has been designed by a group of light enthusiasts, That the light will be in proper working order WITHOUT modding.
why buy a light that is supposed to be great, and not need modding, and then expect to have to make mods for the darn thing to turn on?
Just stick a paper clip on the BLF A6, it will work, well maybe replace the tail spring its to soft, and if you breath on it the darn thing changes modes…
This is PATHETIC!!
now we are at a whole new level of stupid! I know when I get a light I can not wait to turn it on, well someone is going to show their kids, or wife, maybe dog their new awesome light, and it is going to cause irreversible damage! if this is truly the case and they are made improperly , all cometas need to be replaced.
I almost bought one too…. the A6 taught me better, thing cant even be a reliable tail stand light it is so touchy, don’t bump it over. I almost put it on my bicycle, and then laughed and got my s2+
I am tired of these long awaited lights coming out like garbage. Good, hard earned money is spent and we do not expect to buy trash. we expect the best of the best. maybe we need to set REALISTIC prices, maybe instead of making something $20, when it should cost $100, we meet in the middle and buy quality.
unacceptable

So I took the battery out and immediately noticed the light smelled hot. I touched the spring of the tailcap to see if it was somehow loose, AND IT BURNED THE F*CK OUT OF MY INDEX FINGER!
Pics or it didn’t happen haha

Yep, the problem with the COMETA is that ‘Cyberescudo’s’ specs for the light were not adhered to.

The fault of this fiasco falls squarely on the seller/maker.

They are the one’s that deviated from the agreed upon specs specified by ‘Cyberescudo’.

The deviation has caused most of the problems associated with the COMETA.

Things should definitely work right out of the box but sometimes don’t and this issue isn’t confined to flashlights. My main hobby is firearms and it used to be common to have to tweak handguns in order to make them work right. For example the old Colt 1911’s were unreliable without first porting and throating them. And let’s not forget the original Glock 22’s where the barrel had less support than needed causing heads to blow especially with reloads (and hot factory ammo).

I guess what I’m saying is that unfortunately things don’t always work right out of the box and I suspect that this will always be the case due to poor QA, design, etc. So it falls upon the end-user to be careful and knowledgeable about things that can and do go wrong.

And as we’ve seen price is not necessarily correlated with quality

The only issue here is that the cometa project was given to astrolux (banggood hiring manker as factory) to manufacture. We asked for noctigon, we paid for noctigon and what we got was leftovers DTP boards from the previous groupbuy. This is not the first time we get off specs lights. This is also the reason I won’t be part of any future groupbuy involving banggood, astrolux or manker. You just don’t receive what’s promised, and yet we keep getting the same excuses every single time.

Some may argue that the astrolux mcpcb is also DTP but that’s not the point, the price was based on the established specs which included a real noctigon board and 20awg wire not some leftovers from other lights and generic 24awg wires.

Got my cometa today. Fixed all problems. The Lamp did work...

But now I guess theres some problem with the driver. I cant change the modes now. Clicking the switch half is useless. It just blinks in the same mode. I think this is no problem of the cometa but the driver. Because when I shake or hit the lamp from the side it will change modes - funny somehow I did resolder de driver board and check everything.

This is my question to the experts who can explain where on the driver this problem could be:

I think I have a dead solder point but could not find it: Can anyone tell me why this Problem shows up?

I think the problem is banggood- manker.
Stop using them.

Will34, you’re breaking my heart there mate
Maybe we should step back and let those slow turning wheels that are set in motion bring a solution for this Cometa disaster
I have put it away and will gently ask Cyberscudo when Banggood is going to send us first buyers a set of washers and paid for wires. Not now but in a couple of days so they can sort it out.
Really important is the title change so all new to this see the dangers and have it in the OP.

And yes I am full of questions, let me share this, I have a friend who was highly interested in the Cometa, working for a company selling supplies to the firefighters here. I asked if Cyber could send me a review sample and that I would send it back or to whoever following.
This was when they were nowhere near the 500 mark and this could mean several hundreds of Cometa s sold so I figured a valid request.
I got the reaction a sample was going to be send to a BLFer for review and that was it.
I never saw the review and I really missed it and still do not get why nobody seen the obvious design flaw in a anodised disc that could just as easy been made of plastic for probably less money. Three times taking is out is enough to spot the problem.

I’m glad I did not enter this GB, it look like they made a fine grenade instead on a light. Shame.

Thank You for all the helping answers.
Could fix the Problem. It was NOT the cometa itself but the driver.
The COMETA works really great. Love it.

will34 wrote:

20awg wire not some leftovers from other lights and generic 24awg wires.

They used the stars & drivers left over from previous group buys hence the 24awg wire.
Probably saved a few dollars rather than 10 cents on each light by doing that.

strango wrote:

will34 wrote:

20awg wire not some leftovers from other lights and generic 24awg wires.

lol really?
I wonder how much they has saved on that, 10 cents per flashlight?

Hugs Rusty… Have some BEER!!!

will34 wrote:

The only issue here is that the cometa project was given to astrolux (banggood hiring manker as factory) to manufacture. We asked for noctigon, we paid for noctigon and what we got was leftovers DTP boards from the previous groupbuy. This is not the first time we get off specs lights. This is also the reason I won’t be part of any future groupbuy involving banggood, astrolux or manker. You just don’t receive what’s promised, and yet we keep getting the same excuses every single time.

Some may argue that the astrolux mcpcb is also DTP but that’s not the point, the price was based on the established specs which included a real noctigon board and 20awg wire not some leftovers from other lights and generic 24awg wires.

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.

Quote:

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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