It’s like a bad joke by now wondering what will be in the bag when it arrives.
When i was a boy, i was a huge fan of an crime series from England: Tales with unexpected end
So, this can be called: Package with unexpected content :bigsmile:
I’d suggested elsewhere that we need a reward for “Best and Worst Light of the Year”
and I thought it would go hands down to DealMetic, for first improving their $7 zoomie to an outstanding solid-pill $9 zoomie, then over a few months degrading that product to the point that they’ve been shipping lights that blink and die that aren’t even easy to fix.
But ya know, the people handling and packaging these hosts really are putting their employers in contention for the award.
The mishandling and bad packaging might not be all Banggood’s problem.
I’d guess the host stuff is coming pre-bagged from wherever the parts are made/collected, and shipped in bulk to Banggood.
But — who can tell from this distance.
It takes doing it right at every step
— design, execution, assembly, packing, shipping, and communicating —
to produce a Best Light of the Year candidate.
It makes me wonder how well China’s hot new bullet trains, jet aircraft, submarines, and fission plants are working out as they come on line.
I hope those industries found, and hired, all available competent people for quality control work, and it’s only the flashlight companies that are turning out such bad work.
I had to post a little bit about my current saga, and to say that this may not all be Banggood's fault, although the quality control on their end is obviously lacking. If they are receiving the parts kits from the host manufacturer (Adega), they are probably having the same serious communication issues and runaround that I've been getting from them.
A few months ago, I ordered about 100 "hosts" from them. When they came, there was no parts with them, just the outside metal "shell". No switch, no reflector, no switch PCB, no o-rings, no lens--nothing. After some back and forth with them, they said that they don't consider a host to include any more than that. Even though the industry standard is contrary to their description, I decided to just try and buy the parts separate from them, at my cost. Well, it looks like that's probably not going to even happen now. They tell me that they don't have any in stock, and that they would have to have an entire production run done for me, and that the minimum order quantity just for the parts is 500 pieces.
I have kindly been sending e-mails back and forth for about two weeks now, but I am about ready to file a PayPal dispute on this one if something doesn't budge. I sell parts, and I deal with the Chinese almost every day. I understand that sometimes there are language and cultural barriers, and that mistakes happen all the time, but this is unacceptable. So now I'm sitting on quite a few unusable hosts, that apparently I have very little hope of ever getting parts for them at this point.
I believe that the host kits were put together by the manufacturer. Neal is seeing about having them re-packaged…haven’t heard where we are with that yet.
But as far as Adega telling you that that is all that comes in a host kit…well…that is just ridiculous. They need to butch up and supply the industry standard parts along with the shell. If not, it seems absolutely reasonable to file a PP dispute and get your money back.
I agree with you both. Adega is dodging.
- switch & switch PCB. Thee are standard parts used in multiple lights, they have stock.
- switch boot. This is a standard part used in multiple lights, they have stock.
MCPCB isn’t really part of a host kit normally?I was responding to a typo it seems!
- o-rings. Typically used in multiple lights, they have or can purchase stock to sit on with minimal cost and low risk.
- lens. Possibly only used for the EE X6 They’re probably using this lens for multiple lights, I just don’t know of the specific lights. We already know AR lenses are available in QTY=50 though, Ric_CN’s friend does it. Custom-Making AR Coating Flashlight lens of Any Size
- reflector. Possibly only used for the EE X6 It seems to me that this is the item most likely to cause a supply problem. I don’t believe that the MOQ is >100 for them though. Let’s consider: Adega has already had >1000 of these reflectors manufactured (in batches of 500 though, we note). So all engineering and tooling has already been done. Of the fixed costs for a production run that leaves only “setup”. They already order other reflectors since we assume Adega manufacture lights of various types constantly… I could be wrong but I strongly suspect that adding 100PCS of 29mm reflectors onto an order of 500PCS of 20mm reflectors (or whatever) would be fine.
Sorry, I meant to say PCB, for the switch, not MCPCB. Either way, their responses have been less than adequate. I have asked at least 3 or 4 times what the price would be for the parts, even at a quantity of 500, but they still haven't responded.
Richard - That is not just a mistake. That is the way some Chinese companies do business and that is why on our end (the individual) we must stick with and deal with people we know. File the dispute with PayPal. They will never even miss it because it sounds as of they were just trying to unload some shells.
Well, I can probably use a dozen of those shells only. From my perspective I’ll be replacing the reflector anyway and the triples don’t need a lens. I already have almost a dozen lenses if necessary. The o-rings, well, I don’t have those but man they’re out there by the bagsful so that shouldn’t be a problem. I have or can get proper switches for them as well, so again a dozen or maybe 10 would be pretty easy for me to use up.
If a few others did the same, we could use up that supply of “parts” you have on hand concerning the X6. 
I suspect that getting perfect O-rings is the biggest trick for triple builds with those ‘unhappy’ hosts (assuming that RMM did receive all the retaining rings).
Richard..or anybody that knows...these incomplete hosts are complete for metal parts but no internals or lens or o-rings.
In other words sans:
- switch
- lens
- reflector
- o-rings
If that is the case I definitely want at least a few. I am not even worried about 32mm or 24mm parts because I or anybody can always use 20mm parts for triple builds and the lens is available separately.
I will check for sure when I get back home in a week or so, but I think I do have the retaining rings.
I’m sure we can do something fun with them.
I know this is coming of left field but does anybody know of any singular optics as close to the size as possible but not 100% required. Just thinking of other things other than triples and quads.
why do model rockets come to mind?
Shhhhhh 
:bigsmile:
35mm optics are very close I suppose. Khatod and Ledil have those. EDIT: yes, including for the XHP70.
I have a 35mm Optic that would work well in one. It won’t fit over the dome of an MT-G2 but works pretty good with a de-domed one.
I have 2 different 35mm reflectors on the way here to try in the X6 with the XHP70. Hoping to get over 4000 lumens from it, might get closer to 5000.
One is from Ledil, the Mirella, the other is a Fraen from Cutter.
If you can afford to sell just the shell part for under $10, I can see buying a set and putting it in the oven for a color upgrade. I’d much rather do that with a spare set than my only BLF X6.
The reflector is somewhat special in the way the o-ring seals in this light. And the way they are packed in the BG package really makes for a lot of damaged reflectors. Just a wipe with a cloth destroys them. In the GB, these were very well preserved. I would want nothing less.
Are you sure Adega (sp?) isn’t just the metal supplier to Eagle Eyes and just wanted to capture the frenzy? Maybe they don’t do the other parts and that is why you are being stonewalled.
At this rate (not having parts) I'll be happy to sell the shells for under $10 just to try and recover some of my investment.
Adega may be that, but they sent me several other flashlight samples as well that were complete, and offered me the complete light when I first started talking with them, so I know that they can (or at least could) get some parts.