BeamTech 4000 3x Cree (help, help & help) Warning long,pic heavy too

LED Flashlights – General Info
1

Took me 25 minutes to post this up with pictures, and then the site went off line!! Got to do it all over again.. Cry

Quickly this time.. I got this BeamTech 3x Cree 1x26650 light from Tmart on special for $37.75 shipped. They ship out of NY, so I got it quickly. First off, the Customer Service at Tmart, IMO, on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best, they are a 25!! easily..

I ordered this light about 3 weeks ago from Tmart and took their special of $37.75 shipped. The light came in a few days, because they ship out of NY. I took it out the box, and it is indeed a handsome light. Workmanship, from my newbie eyes, good to very good, maybe excellent. I put in a Keygos 26650 cell, and oh boy. A real nice flood/beam, perfect for my bicycle application. I played with the light half the night.. The next day, go to get the light, no workee??? I did everything.. Took it apart, changed batteries, still no workee..

I email Tmart, they apoligized for the inconvience, and told me they would send me a return label to return it, and they would send me another or give me a refund. I opted for another light as I do like the light a lot. A few days later, the second light arrives. It works.. It worked for couple days, then back to the SAME THING. No working.

On another forum, a poster has the same light, they told me their light didn't work out the box, and they fiddle around with a spring and it has been working everysince. Okay, I take my newbie eyes and go look for this spring. I find a spring loose right behind the pill. I move it around, tighten everything back up, and the light works. I figured I had the problem solved.

The next day, I am riding with the light securely mounted on my bicycle. I roll over some rough ground or hit a bump, the light changes modes on its own!! Then when I got back home it stopped working completelly. I let Tmart know, and they again sends me a return label to return the light.

Here the situation, the behavior of this light is unacceptable, period. However, I do like this light very much. I figured if I post the pictures of this mystery light, showing the spring in question, somebody can suggest a fix that a NEWBIE like me can perform. That way I can keep the iight. Other than that, I will have to send it back and get a refund. Check all the pictures, and I do point out the spring, and show where it goes.

Thanks for looking...

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Another picture I forgot..

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Sounds like the battery is losing contact (momentarily would cause the mode changes like using the switch). I don't have any recommended fixes though, so I'll let others chime in.

-Garry

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I think the spring should be soldered - is the solder point broken or was it never so? Sounds like it's working loose.

I've only had a loose spring once and that was on a P-60 drop-in. I just put it back in place and it worked fine.

5

Lots of loose parts "floating" in this assembly. That big spring looks suspect immediately. I would guess its creating an intermittent contact with the body tube.

Double check the tailcap guts too, make sure the tailcap pill is not loose.

6

To use that light on a bicycle, you're going to have to solder that spring in place without doubt. If you can't do it, perhaps you know a friend that can. If not, you'll have to return the light for a refund. If not used on a bike, likely it would be okay not subjecting it to such vibration. Hope it works out for you.

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+1

I agree with Richie, cehoward. On my P60 drop-in, the spring is a verrrrry tight fit and it is held in place firmly by the collar below the pill. How easy is it for you to pop the spring loose? If it is always loose, it will never work properly with any vibration or bumps, especially with cycling.

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+2

I agree with Rickie & BR. Easy fix if you can solder.

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The problem here guys is its darn near impossible to solder anything onto Aluminum. I have ditched/scrapped DIY projects mid-stream because I could not get solder to flow on to Al. OP I think you might be able to solder the spring onto the brass pill on one end, but the other would need to make touch-contact. If you could DIY fabricate a copper or brass ring, press that into the throat area of the light and wire-connect the pill to the ring with solder I think that would be better.

Side note... IMHO springs that are used to bridge large gaps are generally a bad design. The only time I see them advantageous is with Incans, where heat conduction is not an issue, and they need some degree shock-impact isolation. Just the other day I had to fix a poorly designed tailcap that used a spring to bridge a gap between the retaining ring and pill guts.

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I hear what you are saying about soldering to aluminum but if you look closely at his pictures you will see what appears to be a brass exterior to the pill that is several MM wide from the driver to the aluminum heat sink. He should be able to solder the spring to the side of the pill. It sounds like the spring does not fit tightly around the pill walls like on a P60 design and that’s where the break in connection is occurring from vibration. My thought is that just making the connection from the front end of the spring to the pill with solder should resolve the issue. I don’t have this light so I could easily be wrong about it’s construction but from what I can see it looks possible.

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Yeah the pill-end of the spring probably could be soldered. Although that might not be necessary, if its firmly attached to the pill by its own force exertion. Its the other end that looks more more troublesome, with a larger gap to bridge over. The OP might be able to bend the spring to get it to contact both ends reliably. There are some more detailed pictures of another members light in this thread here...

https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/2821#comment-112576

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What I have in bold is exactly what I told Tmart. Their customer service is top notch, but this is just a poorly designed light. I don't know how to work on lights, not only that, I didn't expect to get a light that would REQUIRE modification just to get it to work normally.

Again that said, I am going to send this light back, with instructions that if their tech support can fix the spring problem, send me the light back. Other than that, I don't want to go through a 3rd copy and the same thing happens again.

To be truthful, it would be hard for me to solder or some way make that spring stay stationary. BTW, even though I am a newbie, I got other lights, and none of this is happening. They work all the time on the bicycles or off. I understand in the course of getting a lot of lights, sometimes I wll get a dude. That's normal, but this is the second one. IMO, a poor design..

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Ha, I can't solder, if my life depending on it. :(

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The feedback you get around here is super AWESOME..

Here is a picture I got from that other thread. The spring is wrapped around the pill. My spring looks much bigger, that is why it hangs loose. My spring tries to grip itself to the walls of the casing. Whereas, this one does it differently, and clings to the pill as shown in the picture!! ???

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Can you bend the spring (ie. twist it into a tighter circle) so that it does grip against the pill tighter? Not a great design, but this fix might make it an acceptable light.

I think you just have to rack this up to the "Lottery" we all play with buying Chinese budget lights, unfortunately. I am ecstatic if I get a budget light that doesn't need any attention. I just come to expect they'll need something done (at least thermal compound added).

-Garry

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cehoward, in my opinion, you should not have to be able to solder to use a light (I certainly don't). Many on BLF do enjoy the fixemup lights, but I for one do not. You've tried this one twice, and I think we all agree it's poor design - spring should either be soldered or grip the pill very tight. I say see if they will credit towards another light, as this one is probably not going to work for your purposes.

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:bigsmile:

One could use a vice or a pair of vice-grigs and smiply tighten one end of the spring so as to have it hold tight on the pill.

>) >)

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Thanks to Kramer for posting this:

https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/2821#comment-112576

Which allowed me to see the spring around the pill.

And tadpolPilot for suggesting to tight the spring around the pill.

Okay, me and my all thumbs, went took the light apart, the bottom of the spring, I squeezed it until it was a tight fit on the pill. Didn't do this before, the spring was hanging loose all the time.

Anway, with the spring tight around the pill, I put it all back together. The light came on, and then I held it in my hand and shook it hard! No mode changes. With the light in my hand, I bang it on my leg about 10 times. (hurt too), as to simulate rough riding on the bike, NO MODE CHANGES. Going to put it on bike tonight, and ride over the roughest ground I can find, if no mode changes, and no more on one day, and off the next, this light is a KEEPER..

Here are pics of the SUGGESTED FIX!!

Here I am picking up the pill by the spring and the pill is staying attached to the spring, this was never like this before..

As in this picture, the spring is not moving around,

Right now, you all should see the smile on this 72 year old kid!! Can't wait until nighttime to try this out. I am almost sure this is going to work.

One more thing, not trying to plug Tmart, but they have been SUPPORTIVE from day one on this. No return shipping, and at every instance, I get an apology, and and offer for a refund, with a return label. IMO, if the other companies were just 1/10 as good with their customer service, it would be super good in Flashlight World.

I am going to say BIG THANKS TO ALL, you guys/gals are GREAT/SUPER/AWESOME!!

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That is exactly what I did. It looks like that was the fix too. (thanks to all on this forum) Going to ride tonight over bumpy ground, and I should not have no more mode changes or not working stints.. Wink

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That has been my experience with Tmart also and why I was eager to work with them on a group buy for the SR King. Unfortunately they have been slow to react to my suggestions on what needs to be done to make anything happen with the King. I haven’t heard from them in a few days after trying to contact them about it. It’s a shame but I will continue to buy from them when the price is right and often it is. It’s worth the fast US shipping and great service.