I have a problem with a flashlight that perhaps you can help me with.
The flashlight is a zanfare f1. I have 2-3 of these. GB kindly offered a full refund or replacement as the unit is DOA. I thought with a little effort and some help perhaps it can work again. Or at least I can figure out which parts can be salvageable as spares for the other units.
The flashlight won’t switch on - not in the normal sense. The tailcap clickie is pressed but it won’t switch on. But when I press the mode button really hard the flashlight switches on (momentarily for as long as the mode button is depressed).
So, I replaced the tailcap with foil and the flashlight works properly. All modes work with the front button.
I figured it was the tailcap. I tried the tailcap in another unit and it works flawlessly. I also tried a tested tailcap on the body but the body still doesn’t work. So it isn’t the tailcap and it may not even be the body, so it’s perhaps the threads / connection between them.
Any advice? Has anyone else had this issue with this or any other unit?
If tightening the retaining ring doesn’t work try bending a paper clip or wire into a circular loop and then place it to the bottom of the tail cap to space it up in case the body is a bit long and is preventing it from making contact with the tail cap.
Can you take a picture of the tailcap end of the body? From your description, it sounds like the body tube isn’t making proper contact with the tailcap, possibly because of dirt, lube, or anodizing. Also, does the body unscrew from the head of the light? Take that apart, clean and screw back together. There may be the problem and not the tailcap end.
Thanks everyone for your suggestions, great stuff! Individual responses below.
What baffles me is that:
The tailcap works great on other units, and other working F1 tailcaps don’t seem to work with this body either so we can rule out any issues regarding tailcaps.
- The flashlight and modes work perfectly when a manual circuit is created using a piece of foil instead of the tailcap.So the driver should be OK and so should everything else.
- When any working tailcap is used the flashlight only switches on so long as the mode button is constantly depressed with force. This means that the tailcap somehow does close the negatice circuit but also causes something else in the process. Identifying this will probably solve the issue.
@Lexel- thanks for the suggestion, I tried this no joy For anyone else tinkering with the F1, I found a pair of blue IKEA Scissors is ideal to guide the ring using the two holes.
@SIGShooter - thanks, I did this using a conductive wire from a binder. Although it works as a confuctor without the tailcap the issue isn’t remedied with the tailcap.
@eebowled- thanks, good idea, I removed all the lube and grime (there was lots) but still no result. The head must be superglued or locktited as it won’t budge
if you say its not the tailcap then its maybe the driver retaining ring or contact there
if you press the sideswitch hard you push the driver and it makes barely contact
Hi Lexel, thanks that makes a lot of sense, but when I use foil instead of a tailcap it works perfectly without pressure on the modes button. I’d like to open it up and see for certain but the driver is all superglued and the head is also “sealed”.
If it was the driver retaining ring, wouldn’t that mean that the problem would exist in both cases equally (tailcap and foil circuit)?
I apologize for all the theoretical diagnosis here, I’m not at all experienced to open the thing up and understand what’s really going on!
Maybe your tube is short? Can you try putting a paperclip or something around the inside circumference of the tailcap? If the tube is short it may not be a closed circuit.
Hi jf_smm, thanks, I tried this as suggested by SIGshooter too, it didn’t work. but I think there is merit behind this approach as poor contact could explain a lot.
Eeblower, thanks that’s a great trick. It should add a little more length than the clip I used before, so this might do it, I’ll give this a go and see!
I was thinking that it might also be the exact opposite for the same reason. Perhaps the back spring is too lengthy, putting too much pressure on the tailcap and not allowing it to make proper contact with the tube. I have pressed the tailcap hard to test this but again no luck.
If I can I’ll try and complete the circuit between the tailcap and tube with wires to see if it is the contact points that have the problem.
For anyone else tinkering with the F1, I found a pair of blue IKEA Scissors is ideal to guide the ring using the two holes.