You didn’t contact ZL about it ? their warranty is one year ( two years in EU though the resseller), but even after that they repair the lights for a flat 15USD fee, in the US it has to be shipped to their US address, although outside the US it needs to be shipped to China which is annoying and costly.
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I’m in Canada. With tracked shipping the rate for returning to vendor amounted to almost 40% of the price paid or if back to China over 50% before any other fees. I figured it wasn’t worth the cost because like many here I already had plenty of lights to choose from.
I’m only sad because the SC64w HI was just about perfect in every way for the short time it worked but as it turned out it was only the first ZL failure of two. Even my only remaining working ZL oddly flickers at times and I wonder if that will bite the dust soon too.
Probably the most famous Zebralight modder is Canadian. I’m not sure if he’s here, but on Reddit he’s called bob_mcbob. Maybe he could fix yours?
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I had seven Zebralight since 2010 and two failed. To me it’s not a super great ratio. I also live in Canada so I fully understand your points. It did cost me alot to get them fixed: ~80$ to repair the SC5w under warranty. All shipping cost. Had more chance with my SC600w at 25$. I personnally preffer to paid more for a light I love than buy myself three OK lights at 60$/each. Zebralight service is really good and this makes a real difference to me. Bob_mcbob is also active here on BLF, but I don’t know if he makes repairs. PM him.
It’s not just the post cost which makes me hesitate on fixing but not knowing if the same failure could happen again.
Case in point the emitter on my SC62d literally cooked itself after a few years and I’m baffled at how it could have happened. It only outputs around 300 lumens at full throttle at about 3W and it’s not like I ran it on turbo all the time. It’s also a Luxeon LED which I understand has its own bespoke footprint.
I’ll have to see about digging up people to PM. I’m not sure how to look people up on here.
Clic on this link: thread by Bob_McBob:
When you get to that thread, to send him a message clic on his name, then clic on Message
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Another option I forgot to mention would be:
- the ArmyTek Prime C2 Pro (Cool White & floody)
- Wuben D1 maybe (cold, floody)
- Skilhunt M200
It’s here!
Over the last few weeks I have heard much talk of tint and CRI, both of which I have privately pooh-poohed, I cared not for such things, what I want is cold light and lots of it! MOAR lumens!
…until I got a light with Nichia 519a’s in it. I’m still not sure I want to go warmer than 5700K, but the light from these emitters is lovely. It really is like looking at things in sunlight! My daughter has a cuddly red dragon and the difference in how he looks lit by the Nichias compared to anything else is amazing. You were all right.
I still love my SFT40 and XHP70.3 for blasting lumens at stuff outdoors, but for indoors the light from the D4K is glorious.
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Now that you have seen the light try the 5700K 519a as a dedomed (-4000-4500K). Slightly rosy, neutral white. You will love it, it’s inevitable 
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I think I’d need to try it in something cheap first, any suggestions?
Convoy S2+ with 519A? Was the first 519A light I got, love it. ~20 bucks incl. 1200 mAh 18350 cell. Also exists as 18650 ofc, but I kinda prefer the size of the shorty. I have the 5700K version and dedomed it, too.
Or a Convoy T2.
It would be really easy since you can just unscrew the bezel, reach in, and dedome the 519A.
I think Convoy’s going to be my gateway to a few things, they’re a lot of bang for your buck based on the one I own (S21E) and they ship quickly.
I’d lean towards the T2 because I don’t have an AA / 14500 light, but the S2+ will probably have a better moonlight mode. Also I’m almost at the point of just buying a travel charger so that if I’m away from home I can take the light that I want rather than the one that’s easiest to refuel.
My next Convoy’s likely to be either a M21A or M21B with an SFT-40, I love the throw plus spill combo my S21E has (also SFT-40), but I’m struggling to decide between the two. The M21A’s looking favourite but the 21B comes in MAO…
If you get the T2, Lumintop sells some pretty nice 14500 cells with built-in USB-C. Got one of them with a Lumintop EDC15 and it seems to be nice.
Xtar Ant MC1 Plus is cheap, small, and pretty effective. They’re usually $5 or so, and when I checked Illumn just now, it’s on sale for $3.50.
I often end up using an even cheaper unbranded version of it that Sofirn sometimes bundles with lights basically for free, since it’s my only charger long enough to fit a 21700 cell.
It might be discontinued but I’m a huge fan of the Olight UC for my travel charging needs. There are bootlegs available on ali, some even come with a powerbank function but I’ve never tested one.
Does the Ant MC1 Plus fit an unprotected 21700 flat top? My home charger is an Xtar and I like it, so that’s the brand I’ve mostly been looking at.
@m03da I do like the look of the Olight UC but it does appear to be discontinued, probably because it doesn’t fit with Olight’s commitment to proprietary batteries. 
I may be being over-cautious but I’m not sure how happy I’d feel about buying a charger from a brand that I didn’t know.
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yeah
understandable, those cells are grenades
same
it is still available under their 47s brand from darksucks, they call it the Flex charger…
Im not suggesting it for 21700, the max charge rate is only .75A, that would take over 6 hours, but it does work.
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Has anyone suggested the YLP Unicorn 1.0? It’s not a perfect match, but I’d recommend it with a (extremely easy) emitter swap to 519A 5700K to suit your CW tastes.