I’m a relative newbie as far as flashlights go. For decades I used boring department store lights and thought they were adequate, until one day I came across the Defiant 3C Super Thrower on clearance at Home Depot for $13 (normally $25 or so) and decided to grab it because it looked “neat” and was intrigued by the claimed 500 lumen rating. The 40-page thread about the light started by garrybunk on these forums was encouraging as well. I never expected that I would suddenly hate every other flashlight I had ever used! I don’t know if it truly is 500 lumens, but it is definitely far brighter than any other light I have seen, including a few that neighbors purchased for a LOT more money and that claim 800-1000 lumens or more.
I’ve loved using this light for spotting animals in the mountains around our cabin because the tightly focused beam only lights up a small area that I want to see instead of flooding the whole area, lighting up all of the nearby trees and making it difficult to actually see the animals. Flood lights definitely have their purpose, and I also have the Defiant 3D “Unbreakable” flood light that I picked up for a similar clearance price for when I want to make daylight in a wide area nearby. I’m sure neither light is truly exceptional, but for the price, I’m quite pleased with the results.
Anyway, on to the purpose of this post…
I’ve been using the Defiant Super Thrower with Sanyo Eneloop AA rechargeable batteries and AA to C battery adapters to make them fit. It has worked great for a little over 2 years, but I guess the heavy use and frequent drops (and the one time I used vigorous application of the hefty metal battery tube to discourage a would-be mugger during a midnight dog walk ;)) added up and it is no longer working properly. It will sometimes turn on, but not always, and when it does turn on the light flickers and dims frequently instead of producing a steady beam. It’s annoying so I think it’s time for a replacement. I would just get another Defiant, but as far as I can tell they are no longer being made, so I’d like to know if there is another super thrower available on the market for a similar price. Under $30 is preferred, and I can go a bit higher if something better is worth it, but this is just for fun so I can’t rationalize spending much on it to the boss (wife). I don’t mind using different batteries if needed, I just have lots of Eneloop AAs so they are convenient. It doesn’t have to be 500+ lumens necessarily, but I would like something bright enough and focused enough to light up a deer/moose/etc. at 100 yards or more the way the Defiant can, and of course, brighter would not be a problem…
The Defiant Super Thrower was a one of a kind light, especially for the price. in stock form it could out throw a beam better than lights costing 3 times as much, and with modifications it can throw as far as the best “big” thrower lights on the market.
Here is a stock Defiant DST comparison i did back in 2013. ( the Defiant Super Thrower is the top left corner)
and below a heavily modified Defiant DST out-gunning the mighty Olight SR90 and BTU Shocker:
Since this is a regular hangout for flashlight modders, I could be persuaded to ‘resurrect’ the Defiant if there are parts I can swap in for a reasonable price, especially if there aren’t any good options available new that would fit my needs. The problem is figuring out exactly what needs to be replaced. I suspect the LED board or the controls behind it since the switch and battery cap appear to function perfectly when I test them for resistance and continuity. There’s no significant variance in resistance or voltage at all for as long as I can stand holding the test probes in place (up to about 10 minutes or so).
There’s a handful of modder’s on here that’ll be glad to get that thing back in shape. I would do it but I can’t make any promises on turn around time as work and school have me booked. The DST is a legend around here, so I bet most people would be glad just to get to “play” with one for a bit while they tune it up beyond what you may expect is possible.
Edit- And if you’re up to it, this could be a great opportunity to learn. As for the problem you’re describing, I’d check any grounding locations in the head (namely the driver ring on the pill) along with weak, mangled, or overheated springs causing bad contacts.
Some of the Defiant throwers were and are amazing deals when on clearance. Some stores still have the big 5C in stock for $9.99. I just picked up a couple last week. By the way, a piece of vinyl tubing shoved down the barrel of C lights works well for converting them to AA. I pick it up by the foot at Lowes.
Thank you all for your advice and suggestions. I haven’t had a chance to open up the DST until now, but it turns out there was a very simple and free fix. While I was trying to separate the section of the light containing the button, driver, and emitter pill from the battery tube to check the wiring, I noticed that the front end of the aluminum pill where the LED is located was rattling around a bit. It was so loose that I could spin it with just light fingertip pressure. I guess the multiple drops and other violent uses probably not recommended by the manufacturer knocked it loose so it wasn’t making a good electrical contact with the tube. I tightened it back in as much as I could using my fingers since I didn’t want to risk using tools that might wedge it in tightly where it shouldn’t be just in case I was doing something wrong, and the light is now stable with no more flickering and back to being as bright as I remember it being when it was new. Yay! Now I can blind deer at 500 yards again… :evil:
I still want to eventually add a smaller and more portable thrower for convenient pocket carrying when I’m out hiking at night and don’t want to keep the heavy DST in my hand or pack, but for now I’m happy to have my portable spotlight back to normal again!
I got there just by Googling “Defiant 3c” and the second hit was for Home Depot.
You can also just go to the HD website and search by Model #, Internet #, or Store Sku. For the 3C these are:
Model # HD15BF01 Internet # 206091479 Store SKU # 1001396908 and for the 5C they are:
Model # 809-3751-D Internet # 203838454 Store SKU # 736392.
Mine said I could have Free In-Store Pickup but it turned out not to be so because they didn’t have them in stock and apparently would not have them sent to my store from the store 13 miles away. For laughs, I checked the OP’s city and there is one in stock in a store in Salt Lake City.
LOL I just went back online to see if there were any other stores nearby that had them and the one that showed 7 in stock now shows 69 in stock! Group buy?
Or maybe they got a new shipment in of this thought-to-be-discontinued light?
Several of the Home Depot stores around here have Defiant lights of various sizes including 1AA, 2AA, 3AAA, 3C and 3D, but they are all flood lights and not the super thrower, unfortunately. www.homedepot.com hasn’t even listed the SKU of the DST (639226) as a valid part number for a long time. I’d pick up another if I could since the long throw beam on this thing just makes me happy, but since that’s not possible I’ll be satisfied with knowing that mine isn’t actually broken and just needed to be adjusted…
knocked it loose so it wasn’t making a good electrical contact with the tube. I tightened it back in as much as I could using my fingers since I didn’t want to risk using tools that might wedge it in tightly where it shouldn’t be just in case I was doing something wrong, and the light is now stable with no more flickering and back to being as bright as I remember it being when it was new. Yay! Now I can blind deer at 500 yards again… :evil: