Tank007 E09 died!

LED Flashlights – General Info 1 x AAA Flashlights
1

Yesterday, the Tank007 E09 I had purchased a couple of weeks ago from another BLF member died. Cry

My first thought was a battery problem, but I swapped the battery with a known good cell and it still wouldn't work. Based on other's reports here, I had kept the head assembled to keep the insualation intact. Since the light wasn't working, I disassembled the head; with the reflector removed the light works perfectly. It looks like Tank007's insulating reflector glue was either a bad idea or poorly implemented on these lights.

I did take advantage of this opportunity to clean the fingerprints from the inside of the lens and the debris from the emitter dome while I had the light apart. I was able to clean the dome by wiping it very gently with a Q-tip and isopropyl alcohol. I know these domes are fragile, but mine was very dirty to start with so I took the risk. Now the dome looks perfect, no scratches, smudges or dirt.

I have some Kapton tape at home, so I guess I'll be making a new insulator for this light this weekend.

2

Yeah it is the common issue of the reflector touching the LED board found in other AAA lights (Fenix LD01, ..). See for example the Maratac AAA rev.2 built by Balder:

None of a big deal. In my E09 review thread i suggested simple mods to solve the general problem of lacking or poor insulation. In fact some lights do not have any solid (or liquid) insulation compound in between but simply space the reflector away from touching the LED board. In such cases the insulation layer is air.

Anyway, once you're done with the tape thing, the E09 will be better than before.