DBSAR Lantern Mini-Review: -Zanflare T1 (UPDATE: Second T1 failed!

DBSAR · 2018-10-06T03:44:24.000Z

Ok… I managed to get this T1 apart, (the lens/globe is both clipped AND silicone in place! (nearly impossible to get apart to mod without damaging the weak plastic case) so after i got it apart, my plan was to install a lock-out switch to both torn it off & lock it out when packing in a back pack) which the T1 has the worst shut-off method of any lantern i ever tested, (have to hold the bottom button in for a couple seconds or cycle through the SOS & steady-on red modes) and the fact that it does not have any lock out, and turns on when ever its top touched something metal on a backpack) i found the battery positive + soldered connection on the top PCB. I managed to solder a small lead on that connection to connect in a switch. Once i installed the switch, now the lantern no longer has any dimming or ramping. (it only turns on high or off.) meaning either the driver electronics are way to sensitive to try adding in a on/off switch or try to mod. when i got it back together, now it only turns on & off in the cool-white mode when touching the top touch-button. ( no brightness ramping, and no working warm white mode. I tried removing the switch lead and setting it back to its normal factory state, there is still no modes or ramping or warm white. Seems like the driver screwed up completely.

My opinion on this T1 is that its a good attempt at a compact lantern, but they failed miserably with the over-sensitive touch control, (turns on in a backpack) lack of physical lock out, parasitic drain, lack of modability, & heating of the battery tube by using it as a heat sink.
I have retired this to the bottom of the kitchen trash can. This is the first time i really got frustrated in a lantern this bad to the point i tossed it in the trash. of all the lanterns i modded, built, flashlights i also modded & built, this T1 is the worst wast of money i ever bought. When i go camping & on our canoe expeditions, no one wants to have to remove the battery every time its packed in gear bags.

Image below, factory “pull ties” hold the LED strips to the battery tube.

photo of the T1 after the switch mod.

DBSAR · 2018-10-06T03:42:39.000Z

Am i the only person who is having horrible luck with these T1 lanterns? or are they really just unreliable crap?
So a second non-modded Zanflare T1 lantern i had bought & gave to a friend back in August, failed.
It still works no problem in all modes, but for some reason with in a month it drained its battery (the cell that it came with) down to 0.71 volts while it was off and sitting on a shelf. he brought it back to me today, and i tested the cell and its definitely dead & drained, and probably to low to safely recharge. I placed another charged cell in the lantern, and while the lantern still works fine on all its modes, the blue charge indicator LED stays on all the time, even with the lantern off and not charging. I checked the parasitic drain and found it was still draining the cell at 0.13 amps with the lantern off and not plugged in. So i’m guessing its charging circuit either shorted or failed in some way. Either way the lantern is only 2 months old, and ruined its battery and has a bad drain for some reason.
Maybe i should file a claim for this one with Gearbest…

Lightbringer · 2018-10-04T04:10:54.000Z

Unno, must be you. :smiling_imp:

I just gave mine a tap, not charged since… unno, probably since I first got it… and it lit up nice’n’warm just fine.

I use it maybe 5-10min a pop, a coupla times per week just before going to sleep (main light off, “nightlight” just to keep from walking into walls).

klrman · 2018-10-04T05:40:34.000Z

I think I was the first to post that this lanterns battery tube gets way too hot. Some say it's fine but I personally don't like it. I like the lantern itself and have it plugged into my pc usb port where I use it everyday when night falls. Gives a great warm glow to my computer room. I never use it with a battery and am fine with that.

DBSAR · 2018-10-06T03:42:55.000Z

klrman:

I think I was the first to post that this lanterns battery tube gets way too hot. Some say it’s fine but I personally don’t like it. I like the lantern itself and have it plugged into my pc usb port where I use it everyday when night falls. Gives a great warm glow to my computer room. I never use it with a battery and am fine with that.

I agree on that it heats the battery, as i had a bad experience with an overheated laptop pull that began to vent the sweet smell of doom, (but then i tried to mod the lantern & then it died, then the second one i bought that i gave to a friend (who is a fellow expeditioner on our wilderness trips) that one drained its cell to a dangerous low level with some kind of short in the charging circuit. after all this i have flagged these T1 lanterns as problematic, unreliable, and a little dangerous.

klrman · 2018-10-04T05:58:08.000Z

DBSAR:

klrman:

I think I was the first to post that this lanterns battery tube gets way too hot. Some say it's fine but I personally don't like it. I like the lantern itself and have it plugged into my pc usb port where I use it everyday when night falls. Gives a great warm glow to my computer room. I never use it with a battery and am fine with that.

I agree on that it heats the battery, as i had a bad experience with an overheated laptop pull that began to vent the sweet smell of doom, (but then i tried to mod the lantern & then it died, then the second one i bought that i gave to a friend (who is a fellow expeditioner on our wilderness trips) that one drained its cell to a dangerous low level with some kind of short in the charging circuit. after all this i have flagged these Z1 lanterns as problematic, unreliable, and a little dangerous.

Even worse than I thought, thanks for doing all the legwork and posting the info!

DBSAR · 2018-10-06T03:43:19.000Z

klrman:

DBSAR:

klrman:

I think I was the first to post that this lanterns battery tube gets way too hot. Some say it’s fine but I personally don’t like it. I like the lantern itself and have it plugged into my pc usb port where I use it everyday when night falls. Gives a great warm glow to my computer room. I never use it with a battery and am fine with that.

I agree on that it heats the battery, as i had a bad experience with an overheated laptop pull that began to vent the sweet smell of doom, (but then i tried to mod the lantern & then it died, then the second one i bought that i gave to a friend (who is a fellow expeditioner on our wilderness trips) that one drained its cell to a dangerous low level with some kind of short in the charging circuit. after all this i have flagged these T1 lanterns as problematic, unreliable, and a little dangerous.

Even worse than I thought, thanks for doing all the legwork and posting the info!

That’s why i took on the BLF lantern project, is to design & have built a lantern that is refined with all the features needed for a good lantern, that is lacking in the current market for such a product.
With as much time as i spend camping, on canoe expeditions, traveling in a RV living off the grid, even in power outages, i have had the opportunity to use & test most every consumer lanterns available, mod many of them to be better, and have found flaws that could be improved in all of them to be the ideal perfect lantern for what a lantern can be. This T1 have failed me on modification attempts to improve it, and with its lack of lockout, over sensitive touch control, heat issues, and now reliability concerns, its one i have lost trust in.

klrman · 2018-10-04T06:19:26.000Z

I'm looking forward to when your BLF lantern is for sale. I'm on the list for at least one and possibly more. It's going to be a real winner.

keihin · 2018-10-05T22:14:30.000Z

Even if worried about a heating issue with this unit, seems like a bit of common sense could take care of the issue.

One, use the dimming function to run the unit a bit below the max output.

Two, use the magnetic base to attach something like a small steel washer to act as a supplementary heatsink.

I’ve personally used my T1 quite a bit, and never noticed an issue in practice. Then again, I tend to prefer the quality of light when it’s running relatively dimly.

I agree that a lockout switch would be a welcome addition to this design.

I also think it seems a bit odd that a separate switch under the base is used to turn the light off - it would seem to make more sense to use a long-press on the top sensor to turn the light off. I have a little Drok-branded dimmable rechargeable puck light that works exactly like this, and I love how easy it is to control. The little Drok is not as rugged as the T1, and doesn’t have a swappable battery, so I don’t take it on travel, but it serves very well as a nighttime bathroom light.

Coscar · 2018-10-05T23:21:43.000Z

+1 keihin, I think common sense solves most of the T1’s ‘reported’ problems. Welcome to BLF

deleted-200707 · 2018-10-06T00:40:23.000Z

Of my three, one is constant on with no dimming and the bottom switch turns on the reds butt are overpowered by the constant high white leds and does not turn off the whites. The second does not respond to touch at all and only the red leds turn on by the switch. The third works as designed, too bad the quality control is so bad. :weary:

teacher · 2018-10-06T00:39:10.000Z

keihin:

Even if worried about a heating issue with this unit, seems like a bit of common sense could take care of the issue.

One, use the dimming function to run the unit a bit below the max output.

Two, use the magnetic base to attach something like a small steel washer to act as a supplementary heatsink.

I’ve personally used my T1 quite a bit, and never noticed an issue in practice. Then again, I tend to prefer the quality of light when it’s running relatively dimly.

I agree that a lockout switch would be a welcome addition to this design.

I also think it seems a bit odd that a separate switch under the base is used to turn the light off - it would seem to make more sense to use a long-press on the top sensor to turn the light off. I have a little Drok-branded dimmable rechargeable puck light that works exactly like this, and I love how easy it is to control. The little Drok is not as rugged as the T1, and doesn’t have a swappable battery, so I don’t take it on travel, but it serves very well as a nighttime bathroom light.

Coscar:

+1 keihin, I think common sense solves most of the T1’s ‘reported’ problems. Welcome to BLF

+2 …… I’m pleased with mine. While it is not something I would take on an Everest Expedition, it works just fine if I use it within it’s limitations.
Welcome keihin!!

Coscar · 2018-10-06T01:26:48.000Z

chinooker:

Of my three, one is constant on with no dimming and the bottom switch turns on the reds butt are overpowered by the constant high white leds and does not turn off the whites. The second does not respond to touch at all and only the red leds turn on by the switch. The third works as designed, too bad the quality control is so bad. :weary:

I havent read of many reports of defective units but only 1 good out of 3 is not good…… I definitely would have asked for a replacement/refund :disappointed:

deleted-200707 · 2018-10-06T02:27:40.000Z

I put the ‘constant-on one’ in a ziplock with battery extant, pending emergency. The red-only one goes in my spare tire compartment. I am at a stage of life that the conflict with Chinese customer service is anathema to my well-being.

I really hope you don’t require me to prove myself by filming the defective units sent to me as they do. I don’t consider it worthy of a company I want to do any further business with.

Coscar · 2018-10-06T03:36:05.000Z

chinooker:

I am at a stage of life that the conflict with Chinese customer service is anathema to my well-being.
I don’t consider it worthy of a company I want to do any further business with.

LOL……Believe me, I completely understand…… I never understood the ‘take a picture’ response, but it wouldnt hurt to shoot them an email(sometimes they just credit your PP account) or PM freeme to see if he could help.

Gebe · 2018-12-05T22:41:07.000Z

I had forgotten all about the problems with these as I ordered one today through BG’s fire sale of $14.99, ($18 something with shipping).

I’ll see how it turns out when I receive it in a couple of months.

deleted-200707 · 2018-12-17T22:09:44.000Z

Well, I bit again on the $14.99 sale (Out of Stock now) After having 2 out of 3 faulty, I wasn’t optimistic, however this one is perfect!

In fact you can now turn it off from the top touch switch and it is more responsive to touch. I like it.

Gebe · 2018-12-17T23:24:47.000Z

Just received mine today. Wow, only 12 days! Mine’s working perfectly. Top button changes modes at a slight touch. Nice! Bottom button for the red light works perfectly also.

I haven’t tried leaving it on high for a long time to see if it heats up but I’ll try that tonight. All in all, I really like it!

roamingchicken · 2019-03-06T23:37:21.000Z

chinooker:

Of my three, one is constant on with no dimming and the bottom switch turns on the reds butt are overpowered by the constant high white leds and does not turn off the whites. The second does not respond to touch at all and only the red leds turn on by the switch. The third works as designed, too bad the quality control is so bad. :weary:

One of the two units I got had the same “stuck on” problem you described. The cool white LEDs are just always on at max brightness, but everything else seems to work. Feels like a soldering connection issue.
Emailed Gearbest, sure enough they asked for every piece of information imaginable, including a video. Sent them all that and got a refund (already have a couple more on their way; I think this is a fairly rare issue).
I’d like to take this defective one apart to look at it, but that seems like a difficult task!

deleted-200707 · 2019-03-07T01:51:12.000Z

I received another at the new low price and it works fine….so far.