Sorry - typed that on my tablet. Here’s what I meant to say:
“I can see that RIC’s beeN on recently but he’s not answered pm. Time to start disassemble?”
i.e., I thinking that I should start taking the light apart to see if something’s wrong with it.
I just sent another PM to RIC, to see what he says.
As mentioned, I also ordered another, slightly different lux meter from Gamesalor.com, but I think the order got messed up (I got notice of payment from Paypal, but order is not appearing on gamesalor’s website… I’ve written to them also).
This is turning into another fiasco, like the STL-V6 that I got from Wallbuys just before this :(…
I think that I’m doing pretty much everything I can to try to figure out what’s going on, which is interesting, but not much fun. I would’ve much prefered to get a light that just performs the way that it “should” in the first place.
I went through a similar thing with mine. I just decided to mod it and leave it at a measly 3500 lumens and 155kcd
My suspicion is the reflector has some inefficiency, but it’s hard to know. Or, the positioning of the reflector over the emitters (i.e. depth) Not much else can go wrong actually. I didn’t bother Ric with sending me a new reflector, although I think he probably would if I asked.
Well, one possibility is the emitter being T6s, which would give me exactly the performance that I’m seeing, based on measurements on various threads here on BLF (e.g., the’s review).
I also noticed that there’s a serial number on the light, which looks pretty much like a date code.
On my light, it’s
201211256
I’m guessing that means this was the 256th Shocker manufactured in 11/2012, i.e., in November 2012?
I don’t know when they switched over from T6s to U2s. Does anyone know that? Maybe they went in and retrofitted older Shockers, but missed the one that I have?
These are, after all, manufactured, rather than custom lights, so it seems like a Shocker with T6 should give ~100 Klux, whereas a Shocker with U2 should give ~130 Klux, at least from various threads.
I’ve been beating myself up, trying things, like the magnets on the batteries, cleaning the lens, trying different batteries, etc., but the problem could simply be, like the STL-V6 I got from Wallbuys, that the light isn’t built per “specifications” (my order does say “XM-L U2”).
I am thinking of getting it modded, hopefully by Tom E if I get lucky, and when he has time, but I really want to get this stock light working the way it “should” first.
Edit:
I spent a large part of my career working with computers and PCs. So, with that in mind, consider a situation where I ordered a PC with an Intel I7 CPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB 7200 RPM hard drive, but received one with an I5 CPU instead. Would I go ahead and mod it to an I7 CPU instead of going back to the manufacturer and getting them to correct the problem?
I don’t think so.
This is not exactly a precisely analogous situation, because apparently I can’t visually distinguish a T6 emitter from a U2 emitter, but you know old saying, “If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, etc.”. Well, this Shocker performs like a Shocker with T6 emitters :)…
I totally understand your point of view about fix yourself vs return/repair.
I went down the path of suspecting the emitters to. Once I did the XM-L2 mod and got similarly lower-than-others results, it was ruled out as a possibility. Something else was/is going on.
Mine (shipped as XM-L U2) has SN 201211059, which tells me it was made before yours. Not a lot of help, but that’s what it is.
Interesting. It’d be interesting finding out what that “something else” is :)!
BTW, how DO you remove the reflector on these? Does it just somehow come out from the front if you pull it (haven’t tried that yet)?
I notice that you can unscrew the head part from the part that has the fins, but only partially, and then it gets stuck. I didn’t want to force it further than that.
I'm not doin much better here... Very, very depressed about the results I'm getting on a Shocker after the mods: XM-L2 U2's/SinkPAD's, resistor mod.. So, measured amps went down, not up. I'm getting 3.2A measured at the tailcap while stock it's about 3.6A. lumens was doing 3,450 at start which probably makes sense for that amperage, because I'd expect 3,700 - 3,900 if the amps stayed the same. Pana PD's w/magnets made no difference -- it's as if the amps is locked in there, and lowering the resistance through the batteries made no difference at all. I'm trying to back out the resistor mod but it's not easy... I even doubt it will make a difference - I followed PPtk's guidance to the T for the resistor mod, looked perfect. Funny because I had this same problem before and thought it was the BTU driver, and ended up replacing it with an IOS 3.5A driver, and got back to 3.6A measured.
This Shocker started out as a well performing stock light too, different from your problem, Jim, but can't figure this one out. Well, dunno, got another Shocker here, can try swapping drivers, but hate re-wiring, re-assembling, just more risk. Oh - btw, I could not get Ric to send me a BTU driver replacement, he only offered a DRY driver, which is supposedly on the way but doesn't look hopeful.... Also, I asked him if I could order Shocker's with no emitters -- also no good. It's more of a PIA to remove the XML U2's -- I'd rather work with one that has nothing. So, Ric will support you but does have limits, at least for Shocker parts I'm figuring.
Well, to fully open the Shocker, you have to pop out the driver -- I try to unscrew the inner retainer, not the bigger alum outer piece - this avoids twisting the wires as much. Once the driver pops out, there's a phillips head screw holding in the reflector, just like most 3 LED lights (I've done a couple of other types). The reflector from it's weight may fall off, or may have to be carefully nudged because partially stuck to the pill top with fujik -- carefully, the reflector weights a ton and avoid fingerprints on the flat surfaces. Of course you have to unscrew the bezel, and tkae out the glass and o-ring first.
it seems like the U2s were suppose to be available “end of Nov.”, so presumably a 201211xxx light would be right about the time. But, other posts in that thread seem to indicate the U2s didn’t get received until early Dec 2012, so it seems like 201211xxx could be possibly before the 1st batch of U2s, so I’m still suspecting this light has T6s…
Putting it another way, nothing thus far indicates that the light I got has U2 emitters in it.
I non’t know if the serial number is printed when the light is assembled. THat could have been put on the body months before it was actually loaded up with guts.
Wasn’t =the=’s BTU a NW, which is for sure T6 emitters?
Hhmmm, I'm thinking you may have 3C because the brightness of the Shocker will lighten the neutral effect, so if you think the Shocker is in between a CW EDC and a NW EDC, maybe it is a T6 1C.
If it helps, my BTU is #201211048. It was from the original presale and is a U2. Tested 125k without the AR lens. Once I got a UCL lens in it, it tested 131k.
Hi , my serial is 201211005 and I got mine a fews days after ILF got his.
Mine seems good compared to my M3X and K 40 [I don’t do any measurements] good luck…kelly
If it does turn out that the reason for my lower lux readings is because this has the NW emitters, I’d be a bit unhappy, because when I ordered (and as shown on the order on their website) I purposely picked CW. I guess I’ll have to wait until I hear back from RIC at this point.
