Morning guys.
My 6 month old EC4S has died. Hardly been used, 1 hour run time max.
Only been using protected cells. It APPEARS as if its a dead short, on putting the cap back on there is a small spark on contact with the 18650’s.
Any issues like this known?
It was a banggood buy, but I’ll email nitecore in the first instance.
Thanks
I’ve emailed Nitecore, and i’ll let them reply before speaking with banggood.
Its hardly a middle of the range unit, it shouldn’t fail for years!!!
Shame, its a cracking flashlight otherwise(apart from the drain, I use it as an emergency search torch, so i end up charging cells every 2 weeks!)
Mine has high parasitic drain, too, so I hope this doesn’t happen to mine. I will only use it with protected cells from now on.
Please keep us informed what Nitecore says. Good luck
I’ve only ever used protected cells because non-protected seem a tiny bit too short for the ec4s.
I’ll grab my multimeter and confirm…
I feel the need to chime in and B*$&% a little about the standby drain. Total BS. Drains two high cap cells in just a few weeks. I actually bought two of these as I ruined the first one after an alligator clip popped off and shorted out the driver while I was characterizing it. I felt so bad about ruining the stock driver…. for a minute. Now, I realize I didn’t lose too much. I’m eventually going to do some hi power - hi CRI mod. It really is a great and unique host capable of dumping a lot of heat.
As I mentioned, I bought my ec4s as an emergency search (and rescue) torch.
First time I came to REALLY (L&D situation) need some serious lumens it wouldn’t even turn on. 2 weeks without a charge of the eagletec 3500mah 18650s.
Ended up using my trusty Thorfire VG10 that night. Did the job, but proved that the best torch is the one that works when you need it most !
Wait? So the Cometa isn’t the only light with issues from the factory? Say it ain’t so….
My solution for the parasitic drain is using unprotected batts that I can disconnect after each use by loosening the tailcap 3-4 thumb turns. Then before each use, I re-tighten the tailcap. Works like a charm.
I was under the impression they had fixed that in the S model? I was very fond of the EC4 form factor initially, but the high parasitic drain definitely took away some of the usefulness as a high power light to keep handy if I have to keep extra cells around as well.
KuoH
It appears to be hit or miss with the high standby drain. Both my Ec4S and EA45S are very low drain. I keep cells in both.
my EC4 is got the same problem and i contact nitecore to ask for a replacement :innocent:
So I’ve contacted Nitecore - who have asked me to UPS it to china………
I’ve also contacted Banggood to see what they advise.
Given the time frame, I’ll probably need to buy another torch of a similar output, maybe with more throw than the ec4s
Any suggestions?
How about thorfire s50?
But the size is quite big,there is a review for that light by blf member the miller.
I have the EC4S that I bought from Banggood, and I do find that the parasitic drain is rather high.
I think it is a known issue with some of Nitecore’s flashlights that using dual-electronic switch such as EC4 families, EC11, TM16, etc.
Thanks OP for posting this. I almost bought one of these, glad I didn’t. In fact, I’m done with Nitecore until they put a service center in the US like Olight has. I had a DOA MH27. Nitecore never answered my emails, and Banggood gave me a two month major hassle.
EC4S: .015mA
EA45S: .08mA
That explains a lot… I have a Nitecore EC4, won as a giveaway from OL. I really like the light, it’s a good combination of output/runtime/size/features. I had a couple of unprotected laptop pull cells; these were very good cells from a newer laptop pack that had seen little to no use. I had put the light away for a while, unaware of the parasitic drain. When I needed the light, it wouldn’t power on, so I checked the cells and found that they were at less than 1V. I had to toss those; maybe I should invest in a matched pair of protected cells to keep this from happening again.
So, a quick update.
Banggood have been Bangcrap.
They are refusing to help, even though this torch was shipped less than 180 days ago.
So, guess its getting shipped to Nitecore in china.
Total load of BS.
Oh, and nitecore will only accept UPS deliverys. £50 ups to china……
holy moly 