“Thats some BS right there, I hope MF steps up and makes it right as they are my favorite retailer in China. “
This was the response to my emails which included the pics. “Allow me to explain, the products are examined and tested before wrapping bubble wrapping as protection to minimize damage during transition. In general, you are welcome to return product for replacement/refund.” Not even an offer of a shipping label.
I will call this a lie. When I opened the light for the first time a half dozen metal shavings fell onto the table. The little pigtail is attached to the solder. The long one in the picture was a dead short across the springs and attached to the wall of the light.
This is always the downside of ordering from China...long wait and if it doesn't work right out of the package that's the worst. If it worked for awhile and then quit it's bad but at least you get to try it out and then deal with the return process!
At least you are getting responses from Manafont right away. Maybe not exactly what you want to hear but you can return it and they do respond. DX will take merchandise back as well but you'll be an old man and have grey hair by the time you go through the "customer service" system.
I more or less have a $25 max rule on any one product from China. I've broken that rule a few times however.
Hopefully they will just send a drop-in and you won't have the hassle of returning anything. It's the driver that went...is that the working assumption at this point?
"Don't make me scared bro....I have 1 copy coming in from Manafont, told them to check first."
I wrote on my order notes "This is my first order with your company, please pick me a good one, Thanks"
I believe statistically, you will receive a fine light for light duty, lifespan who knows.
Fear may have saved me. This is the first light I did not open, drop in the batteries and turn on. A very good thing. This is because someone here with a fair number of post wrote "boom" describing this light. That lead me to read up on the subject. I came across several explosions like the one with the German and a few others. Most of these have been explained but I am sure there are incidents that have not been reported. I was to use this light as a light-weight social compliance device for dealing with groups of people outdoors. I have been using the Ultrafire C1 XM-L (from KD) and it works great but had limits that the 3X-XM-L would have overcome. To put this type of build quality in a work environment may not be smart. So it seems I have made several mistakes on this project, I have been cheap, and what I received is a cheap tool that may fail when I need the most or when I need it the most "boom". I have had a split rim, malfunctioning firearm, and a car battery go boom, I don't like it. This is a configuration that needs proper attention. As for the integrity of the build they could have make the body from glass, I feel if the light is dropped or has any type of impact the electronics of this quality would not fair well.
The fastest replies (you can get 3 replies within the day, that is the same commitment that I put forth to my own clients in one of my business and i am actually contactable nearly 24/7) and actually best prices for several pcs of fine flashlights are actually at HKequipment. But they only do some budgetlights. Eg Fenix TK70 is like 183 bucks shipped with registered mail.
92mm long Xeno E03 XM-L 700 lumens dropping to 600 lumens pocket rocket ( generic brand 14500 so-called crap brand by CPF chinese IMR cells) neutral white and warm whites are only $30 shipped. Put in a NiMH 1.2V for really low lux light.
This combi is even more potent than the SR3800, so try not to run it that way for > 1 min on high unless in subzero conditions. Emitter can survive probably, but issue is electronics (eg electrolytic caps do not do well over 80 deg C) Normal 14500 easily does 2-3min.
TK70 may not be budget in price, but is good value for money in the LED fraternity. 2300L OTF measured by bro engerolitis, 102k lux @ 1m converted. HA, Fenix brand, ability to even gun at 9.5A with 8 x AA so if you are really strapped you can buy NiMH Ds later, Special for Thailand TK70S does eat 2x32600 for less of that toilet plunger look plus smaller than SR90. In an emergency like hurricane/snow storm just pop in 8 x AA and even on Black Cat AAs you can do a couple of days runtime in candlelight lumens. Actually it does run on 6 x AA 3S2P, ie 3-cell which also includes 3S1P D-size. For charger just use a Imax B6/Accucel-6, makes your Pb and Li-Co healthier too. LOL!
And they now have Eneloop XX too, 2500maH LSDs. So you can use existing AA chargers.
BTW, my SR3800 is actually using Rubycons in there!
I don't like D-cell x4 lights, so I passed on this one, However I'd like to get the Thai version of it, if I can only figure out who to get it from, a web link & price in $USD would be nice :)
The first thing i do when i get a flashlight is to open it up and inspect it. That way you will not have these problems. Put this one down to experience.
I read in another thread that MF pulled the Rev. 1 3xT6 for most likely several reasons.
But one thing still stands and that is excessive use on High is known to fry the drive over time. Rev.1 was a bad design flaw thermally with a drop-in being used.
Boom. This was a three cell. This is different, but demonstrates the energies involved when this type of system has a catastrophic failure. I am happy that the flashlight owner was physically OK. I don't think I would be OK mentally if I had any flashlight explode in my hand next to my head.
The thing everyone needs to understand is these batteries hold a tremendous amount of potential energy and we are all playing odds when we buy the cheapest Chinese cells we can afford. There are tens of thousands of these if not more out there being used everyday, but realistically the number of actual mishaps is quite low for the actual number of batteries in use. Common sense must be used these devices are not idiot proof not even close in fact they are quite dangerous if you are not careful. Everyday you use these lights you become more complacent, more comfortable sometimes you are in a rush or for whatever reason you neglect to show the proper respect these batteries deserve and boom it happens. When used properly in my opinion it is very unlikely you will blow up, but it happens.
Almost all of the catastrophic failures I have seen have been multi battery lights fresh off the charger explosions so check your batteries with a voltmeter every time they come off the charger and unless you are extremely unlucky you will not blow up.
I for one am not giving up my multicell lights but I am not going to be reckless about using them either. When I drive a car I wear a seat belt when I ride a motorcycle I wear a helmet and when I use my lithium ion battery powered lights I test the batteries when they come off the charger pretty simple.
Well said E1320. Matching the batteries should be done and vetted cells used.
I also operate bikes and cars. Somehow my luck has outstripped my stupidity with vehicles and I am in good health. My lesson learned was to be safety conscious. There is a great deal of potential energy in these cells. When these cells are combined with low quality parts and shoddy craftsmanship to the point that the light is sent to the customer with a dead short in place, it is history repeating itself. I don't have a link but from memory this is not the first dangerous product type to come from that country. Even one person blinded is not acceptable. They have proven that unchecked, dangerous items from this country will flow without remorse.
Safety through statistics is not the way to go. Sure, chances are you will be fine operating a motor vehicle. But the odd thing is, we are not safe. 30,000+ die each year in crashes (US).
Indeed, the flashlight group is not the RC group. In the latter they deal with even more dangerous situations and accidents are pretty high, but generally they are more technical minded about the packs and charging practises. Dud batts and chargers are not uncommon. While for flashlights, new users are generally clueless about it. In RC if you are clueless technically and do not join a group to get help and fine tune first, usually you do not get to run them helis / planes, usually it crashes hard on the first flight and you get a huge repair bill before you even hit the battery/charger issues. LOL!
