I know this is a long shot but I’m going to ask anyway!
I have an old Zebralight H501 that has some sentimental value. It has served me well for many years but is now starting to fail. When running on a NiMH AA it will start in a mid level mode and not allow mode changes. If I bump it pretty hard on the tail (presumably causing a slight voltage drop as the cell moves away from the brass button) it will then allow mode changing but HI is only slightly brighter than MID.
If I use a 14500 it works normally for a short while then starts acting really strange, turning on really really low with a slow ramp up and no mode changing.
I’m skilled in fine SMD work, but without a schematic and component values I’m not sure where to start with this one. Am I kidding myself that it can be repaired? My last resort is a driver change but that will be difficult also as it’s quite tight in there.
Unfortunately, no replacement driver is going to be as good as the original. Zebralight is known for making some of the best buck-boost drivers in the business.
Then just like whoever it was somewhat recently who wanted to fix a sentimental-value… what was it, a Maglite?… you might just have to buy another one of the same type, and transplant risk transplanting the innards from that into the original.
That’s assuming, of course, that ZL will refuse to fix it out-of-warranty.
With the shipping I don’t think it’s going to be economical to have them repair it, and I’m guessing if they could have done so they’d have advised me in our recent correspondence. Thanks for the suggestion though
My recollection is Zebralight charges a flat fee of $15 to fix out-of-warranty Zebralights. You probably have to pay for 1-way shipping back to Zebralight. Doesn’t hurt to ask them.
Troubleshoot everything you can first. I'd clean all the contacts and check the bottom spring, and double-check the voltage of your cell when fully charged. Maybe even try it with a fresh Alkaline AA or Energizer Lithium AA.
The H501 is a really old light, with a max output of just 80 lumens. Would you pay $25 for a refurbished one? You can buy a brand new H52 for $49 from Zebralight, and it goes up to 300 lumens.
I like that Zebralight offers cheap repairs. But, at some point, even cheap isn’t worth it anymore.
I’ll have a go at repairing it myself - I am quite attached to the light but not quite enough to be sending it back for repair even if it were possible (they don’t have driver boards for these any more). (“Beloved” probably overstated the sentimental value somewhat). Worst case I’ll frankenstein something using some other parts I’ve got about the place….
H501 is a nice little light, I can guarantee 25$ won't buy mine .
Output be damned... for years you bought zebralights for their lows not their highs.The H501 is old in the same way a Porsche Speedster is considered old or slow .... at this point they're iconic
