HELP: Jetbeam TCR-10 not lighting and heating up when battery inserted

firestorm · 2018-03-29T05:24:37.000Z

the battery used was working before. after 3 months of no use without the battery, this happened… battery used is an IMR… so its short… also the light smells like something is burnt inside

everydaysurvivalgear · 2018-03-29T06:57:35.000Z

Hey mate it sounds like you have a short circuit. Can you check the current from the tail cap using a multimeter?

firestorm · 2018-03-29T11:16:18.000Z

i tried the multimeter and it pulls 5.3 amps… next tests i have taken a picture. screenshot below. i have not been able to get the 5.3 amps again since rotating the switch… but it reads differently each time i move the magnetic switch.

can a drop cause the internals to be dislodged and touch each other and cause a short circuit? there are no signs of impact on the light though, but i think its possible that this was dropped on a hard surface…

bansuri · 2018-03-29T12:13:41.000Z

There are a couple of screw holes on the driver that look like they should have screws in them for ground. Did it do this with the screws in?

firestorm · 2018-03-29T12:17:04.000Z

i took out the cover to show the inside. i duno if there are burn marks on the driver but it seems like it… just want to show everybody the inside so they can better assess the problem. this is as far as i can go to open the light. the head with the lens is very tight. and the part where the control ring is turns but with resistance. i dont wanna break something if i force it open

Henk4U2 · 2018-03-29T12:31:20.000Z

Do take good care before you go any further. Jetbeam lights are quite notorious for torn off leads if you don’t use the correct procedure for (dis)assembling the driver and ring. I can’t help you any further, but I assume this issue has been written about in older threads.

Edit: have you tried a button-top battery?

firestorm · 2018-03-29T12:29:55.000Z

Henk4U2:

Do take good care before you go any further. Jetbeam lights are quite notorious for torn off leads if you don’t use the correct procedure for (dis)assembling the driver and ring. I can’t help you any further, but I assume this issue has been written about in older threads.

someone modded his tcr10… still waiting for his reply for disassembly tips… he also mentioned that the wires are fragile… its also hard to find info on a limited run light since there arent many around.

gi.lumens · 2018-03-29T18:42:34.000Z

High impedance short. If it was a dead short, battery would be arcing as soon as you put it in. Take an ohm reading from head center post+ to ouside head-. Not sure your driver but in off mode with twist head you should have open load. rotate the head and you should have a high impedence in the Megaohms. If you dont then one of your components in driver is bad. I apologize if this is brief but it can get entailed if its more complicated than this. There is probably only 3 possibilities 1. Mechanical switch failure 2. Led failure 3. Chip failure on board. All 3 can be checked with a DVM

firestorm · 2018-03-30T10:32:29.000Z

gi.lumens:

High impedance short. If it was a dead short, battery would be arcing as soon as you put it in. Take an ohm reading from head center post+ to ouside head-. Not sure your driver but in off mode with twist head you should have open load. rotate the head and you should have a high impedence in the Megaohms. If you dont then one of your components in driver is bad. I apologize if this is brief but it can get entailed if its more complicated than this. There is probably only 3 possibilities 1. Mechanical switch failure 2. Led failure 3. Chip failure on board. All 3 can be checked with a DVM

thanks for the reply mate…
am i doing this right? im no electrician hehe

also while off… there is continuity between center post(+) and the body…

off

low

medium

high

cera · 2018-03-30T10:52:52.000Z

With 17-18 ohms between + and - of the driver , looks that this one is gone...

firestorm · 2018-03-30T11:41:54.000Z

cera@1967:

With 17-18 ohms between + and - of the driver , looks that this one is gone…

thanks for the input… what should be the normal value of the + and -? is it possible to change the driver on this one? considering that has a magnetic switch?

cera · 2018-03-30T15:43:20.000Z

There is not a "normal" value , as a standard one .., depending of the type of driver you should have a value between few Kiloohms (teens) to hundreds of Kiloohms ...You can fit a lot of drivers , but you'll lose the magnetic switch features.., and I think you don't want that !

Only few lights are fitted with magnetic switches ( maybe 10% ?!!!) , and I never heard of this kind of drivers to be commercial ones , I mean , easy to be found in shops... IMHO , the only place where you can find a replacement is the Jetbeam itself , but I have no experience with their customer service...Maybe someone could chime in with this ?!!!!

firestorm · 2018-03-30T16:19:42.000Z

cera@1967:

There is not a “normal” value , as a standard one …, depending of the type of driver you should have a value between few Kiloohms (teens) to hundreds of Kiloohms …You can fit a lot of drivers , but you’ll lose the magnetic switch features…, and I think you don’t want that !

Only few lights are fitted with magnetic switches ( maybe 10% ?!!!) , and I never heard of this kind of drivers to be commercial ones , I mean , easy to be found in shops… IMHO , the only place where you can find a replacement is the Jetbeam itself , but I have no experience with their customer service…Maybe someone could chime in with this !!!

ah ok… i tried my other lights and they are in the mega ohms…
seems like the end of the line for this light… will try to contact jetbeam if they can help… last option…

gi.lumens · 2018-03-30T18:52:34.000Z

Great job, Im not familiar with the magnetic switch in flashlight but it seems that your switch is more than likely your problem, your numberes are almost the same in all the positions. Should be open in off.

firestorm · 2018-03-31T11:59:37.000Z

gi.lumens:

Great job, Im not familiar with the magnetic switch in flashlight but it seems that your switch is more than likely your problem, your numberes are almost the same in all the positions. Should be open in off.

i see. can the faulty switch cause the light to heat up? and the burnt smell inside.

gi.lumens · 2018-03-31T15:44:49.000Z

I dont know anything about how a magnetic switch on a flashlight works, but a switch is a switch if you have continuity in the off position then you have a short that will cause battery to heat up and if said switch is electronic in nature and/or there was additional failure(s) on the board yes you will smell burnt electronics. I THINK your light uses some kind of reed switch with the magnet system that opens and closes. Hypothetically 1. your reed switch could be stuck in the closed position, but that would cause your light to stay on if there were no other problems. (that doesnt explain low resistance). Usually a reed switch is not used to carry load current, it triggers something like a mosfet (acts like a relay) that carries the current needed to push your LED. 2. That electronic relay could have failed-shorted to ground, this would have basically put your light in DirectDrive which would still turn on your led. 3.Relay failed to ground and stayed open on load side thats why led doesnt turn on and light heats up. 4.Led failed. Without driver or schematic i can only make assumptions. Id love to hear someone else opinion that is familiar with this type of board.

cera · 2018-03-31T16:52:19.000Z

The "magnetic switch" for flashlights are NOT reed relays , but "Hall Effect Sensors" . Physical , they are looking like a small , three terminals , common transistor .

They are situated on the circumference of the driver board ( for the lights with rotary switch ) , in a linear pattern ( for the lights with linear switch ) , or as a single electronic switch ( the case of Xtar D26 ), Unlike the reed relays , the Hall effect sensors are more reliable , shock proof , and very low power consuming ...

IMHO , your problem is the fet transistor ( the low resistance in any mode is leading to the conclusion that this one is "shorted" ...) . Of course , could be the controller itself , but the most common problem is the FET transistor...

firestorm · 2018-03-31T17:07:51.000Z

cera@1967:

The “magnetic switch” for flashlights are NOT reed relays , but “Hall Effect Sensors” . Physical , they are looking like a small , three terminals , common transistor .

They are situated on the circumference of the driver board ( for the lights with rotary switch ) , in a linear pattern ( for the lights with linear switch ) , or as a single electronic switch ( the case of Xtar D26 ), Unlike the reed relays , the Hall effect sensors are more reliable , shock proof , and very low power consuming …

IMHO , your problem is the fet transistor ( the low resistance in any mode is leading to the conclusion that this one is “shorted” …) . Of course , could be the controller itself , but the most common problem is the FET transistor…

can this FET transistor be replaced? desoldered from the board then replaced with another?

gi.lumens · 2018-03-31T17:09:44.000Z

Thanks cera@1967 that clears it up for me, so i assume magnetic field as head rotates equates to Hall Effect sensor creating the control voltage. Im sure you are correct FETs are the first to blow. By the way 1967 good year :+1:

cera · 2018-03-31T20:18:03.000Z

@ g,i,lumens : Thanks , 1967 was indeed a good year .., it produced my wife !!!( I'm a little older , 1958 !...) And you assumed right , this is the way the hall sensors are working . The only weakness of those , is that the distance between the magnet in the ring and the hall sensor should be very small ( about the thickness of the tube ) , otherwise...Just as an example , I opened once a Niwalker Vostro BK-FA 02 , with rotary ring , in order to mod it , increasing current to the MT-G led.., changed the resistors , assembled it back and..., no light at all !!! Opened again , everything seems to be in order , no shorts , all the measurements were ok !..., and I decided to test the driver outside of the light , on the bench . Surprise , with a small , but strong magnet , at about 5 mm close to each hall sensor the light was doing what it suppose to do , on , modes , off... Then , I noticed that the sensors were SLIGHTLY bent towards the center of the driver.., I straight them back , up to the point where , inserting the driver back , they were touching the metal body ! That was the solution , everything came back to normal ! So , for these sensors , 1 mm counts , and for sure , the magnetic field generated by the magnet is important !!!

@ firestorm : Yes , this transistor could be replaced , there are , lately , a lot of good fet ... The only problems are that you have to identify it , check the specs , and find the original or better one ( higher drain current , lower Rds on ) , in the same case ... and to have the ability to desolder and solder small components ...

A soldering station , with hot air will help a lot ...

The idea is , that after you'll take out the old one , to check again the resistance between + and - of the driver ( as you done it before ) , and if the 17 ohms resistance is gone ( and you measures will be in the ranges of kiloohms , as was discussed here , earlier ) , you found the problem and you can proceed to order a new transistor ...But , if the " short" persists after removing the fet , there are some other possibilities for a short as : a defective capacitor , or MCU ...

I suggest you to take out the driver ( do NOT forget to make signs with a permanent marker ) , take some quality photos , of the both sides , so we could see and , eventually identify , the components , and guide you thru the process .

I'm sorry , I do not have this light , to open myself...