LED-ENGINE-UV365nm shuts-itself off after ~40seconds

aL1 · 2019-10-26T09:42:56.000Z

Finally, this is the 'professional response' I got from the seller, 'CustomLites':

"Hey

First off the ledegine have NOT BEEN SOLD in years, we do not warranty them for life and read our warranty we guarantee they work not that you do not screw them up. SO what did you do to screw it up other than run it so hot it won't work.

GO ahead and talk shit about us no problem we do what we have always done build the best we can for what is available at the time.

If you had just bought then we would cover but not after years of not knowing what or how it was handled.

Customlites

djozz · 2019-10-26T09:54:45.000Z

It sounds like a response to a not so nice email that they got from you (but is not shown), or else that he was not having a great day to begin with.

But apart from the tone, and from CustomLites written warranty statement, from a builders point of view he does have a fair point. UV leds are a sensitive type of led that do not like to be driven very hard and are known to fail/detoriate much sooner than white leds. If I would sell such drop-in I would not like to warrant it for years (but I would also warn about the sensitive nature of UV leds). Maybe yours does have a fault and failed without heavy use and without ever overheating, but the builder has no way to know apart from what you tell him. And he clearly is not the type of seller “lifetime warranty no questions asked”.

Henk4U2 · 2019-10-26T09:52:49.000Z

Well that pretty much says it all. This does not lead to a solution you would like.
The short version of this response is: if you want to last something for ever, don’t get it out of the box.
The language used indicates that the warranty on your light expired a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

The best thing you can do is buy a Convoy S2(+)UV when that is up for sale.
The next best thing is to buy a cheap UV drop-in from FT or KD.

djozz · 2019-10-26T10:12:00.000Z

The next best thing is to buy a cheap UV drop-in from FT or KD.

In principle I agree with Henk. If a CustomLites drop-in is not bomb-proof anyway, you may as well get a cheap KD drop-in. The Ledengin led was a bad led anyway, very expensive, big die that was even badly centered, lots of visible stray light. There was not much better at the time, but nowadays there are much better 365nm leds.

Edit: a quick search does not find a P60 drop-in that uses one of the better Nichia, Seoul Viosys, Luminus or LG leds, so the best is to have someone (other than Nailbender ) make it for you.

kennybobby · 2019-10-26T10:26:50.000Z

It appears to be a thermal issue and not a defective component. If the board is potted with epoxy then troubleshooting will be difficult until the epoxy is removed. Epoxy has a high thermal coeff of expansion, it moves and grows quite a bit due to temperature change.

There is likely a bad solder joint that is being pulled by the expansion of the epoxy which is causing the circuit to open.

If it works for brief periods to scan currency then it may still be useful to you; if you need a longer duty cycle and the cutoff is not acceptable, then it will need to be repaired or replaced.

Who does repairs? seems to be plenty of smart guys on this forum.

Lexel · 2019-10-26T10:45:42.000Z

repair with a 10 pound hammer —> get a good light or drop in with a modern LED

So they sell products at a premium price with no support after 30 days?

Best is to get a Convoy or similar light its dead simple ON/OFF, you may even replace the driver with one with same AMC amount and modes running biscotti
Or even go with a Bistro driver that can thermally throttle when the light gets warm or hot

aL1 · 2019-10-26T10:58:22.000Z

djozz:

It sounds like a response to a not so nice email that they got from you (but is not shown), or else that he was not having a great day to begin with. But apart from the tone, and from CustomLites written warranty statement, from a builders point of view he does have a fair point. UV leds are a sensitive type of led that do not like to be driven very hard and are known to fail/detoriate much sooner than white leds. If I would sell such drop-in I would not like to warrant it for years (but I would also warn about the sensitive nature of UV leds). Maybe yours does have a fault and failed without heavy use and without ever overheating, but the builder has no way to know apart from what you tell him. And he clearly is not the type of seller “lifetime warranty no questions asked”.

@djozz

Yes djozz, your intuition is very good, my email to them was a bit 'frosty', because it wasn't the first time that I emailed them about this problem.

I do understand they have a '30-Day Warranty'.

All I asked was if I could pay for them to troubleshoot and/or repair it, as it was not a budget lite, or at least that they give me a clue or a little help where to begin to look for the fault.

I didn't ask for a life-time warranty or a free repair or replacement.

All I asked for was some courtesy and a reply that was 'Professional' from a builder that sells not-so-cheap lites.

djozz, you're 'The Man', THANKS!!

ConvoyS2+NichiaUV365mm

Henk4U2 · 2019-10-26T11:44:32.000Z

Okay, didn’t directly think about a third option. How about THIS.

https://illuminationgear.com/products/sportac-p60-led-module-two-mode-incls-adapter-ring

It comes in all kinds of flavours, IR UV red blue green, just pick one.
Not as cheap as a FT or KD one, but a lot better, and it has 2 modes so you are not obliged to toast the thing.

I own a SF with Sportac 1-mode drop-in for 5½yr now. It is recently promoted from EDC to nightstand light.

djozz · 2019-10-26T12:10:05.000Z

What led do they use?

Henk4U2 · 2019-10-26T12:13:55.000Z

djozz:

What led do they use?

Isn’t mentioned anywhere. But my experience with their CS dept. is very good. If they know, they will tell.

aL1 · 2019-10-26T13:29:17.000Z

Henk4U2:

Okay, didn’t directly think about a third option. How about “THIS.”:https://illuminationgear.com/products/sportac-p60-led-module-two-mode-incls-adapter-ring https://illuminationgear.com/products/sportac-p60-led-module-two-mode-incls-adapter-ring It comes in all kinds of flavours, IR UV red blue green, just pick one. Not as cheap as a FT or KD one, but a lot better, and it has 2 modes so you are not obliged to toast the thing. !{width:80%}https://isteam.wsimg.com/ip/14a4abd0-407b-11e6-a5a4-14feb5d39f58/ols/81_original/:/rs=w:600,h:600! I own a SF with Sportac 1-mode drop-in for 5½yr now. It is recently promoted from EDC to nightstand light.

Believe it or not, I bought two of them when they were first released and were single-mode only.

Not sure, but I think they are now 2-mode....

BlueSwordM · 2019-10-26T15:45:12.000Z

@aL1, have you thought of asking them what kind of MCPCB, what kind of LED, and what kind of current they are running the LED at?

RobertB · 2019-10-26T15:57:27.000Z

Never heard you mention the type of battery(s) you’re using. I have a few lights that if the battery discharges down to 3v they will just shut off.

BlueSwordM · 2019-10-26T15:58:23.000Z

^ That is a possibility.

chops728 · 2019-10-26T16:15:17.000Z

First off I would take the Drop In out of the host and wire it directly to make sure it’s the Drop In itself and go from there—I’ve had ground issues athe the head and also around the switch

RobertB · 2019-10-26T16:16:56.000Z

BlueSwordM:

^ That is a possibility.

Should be the first thing to check, IMO. Battery and dirty contacts

aL1 · 2019-10-26T22:08:10.000Z

BlueSwordM:

@aL1, have you thought of asking them what kind of MCPCB, what kind of LED, and what kind of current they are running the LED at?

They were not very helpful with any info.

aL1 · 2019-10-26T22:23:23.000Z

RobertB:

Never heard you mention the type of battery(s) you’re using. I have a few lights that if the battery discharges down to 3v they will just shut off.

BlueSwordM:

^ That is a possibility.

I used an OPUS BT-3100 to test the batts....both fully charged....

As it turns-out, two new batteries seem to have resolved the issue, time will tell.

BTW, the batts that appear to be the cause were (almost never used 16340 KeepPower 700mAh Protected Button Tops), replacing them with CR123's looks like the charm.

aL1 · 2019-10-26T22:18:29.000Z

chops728:

First off I would take the Drop In out of the host and wire it directly to make sure it’s the Drop In itself and go from there–I’ve had ground issues athe the head and also around the switch

Did that too-

aL1 · 2019-10-26T22:23:42.000Z

RobertB:

BlueSwordM:

^ That is a possibility.

Should be the first thing to check, IMO. Battery and dirty contacts

See Post #23 above-below??, both batts were fully charged and the contacts cleaned.