Looks like the battery is being pushed down by the head [ crush fit ] , Mine looks to be about 10th of a mm , so if there was 0.25mm more space ..
With mine the Nimh seem to work fine , but due to the design of DRY [ non rechargeable ] batteries tightening the head down turns on the light ..
No time for pictures ATM , but the bottom of many of my non rechargeable is stepped , you have the rim and then the bare neg base protrudes almost a full mm , this then makes contact with the switch ..
Otherwise with Nimh rechargeable batteries it works fine ...
But this should have been sorted at the factory , [ Quality Control ] ..
Looks like there is enough meat on the bottom of the pill , to remove some , carefully for a better fit ...
I will give it a try Wednesday ...
Got mine today as well. Fast shipping to the US. yes the tube is short. I stuck a protected trustfire flame in and it wouldn't even screw in enough to cover the o-ring. Guess i won't be using a 14500 with it. It still worked that way though. With a NiZn it actually screws in enough where there is just a small space like others have reported. Fortunately, it is almost as bright on a NiZn as on 14500. PWM is really bad on medium and low, but I'm not one to be bothered by it, but if you are, it is very slow. Tint on mine is reasonable. Don't have a true neutral light to compare it to, but I don't think its neutral. Its definitely not blue or purple. Seems like Tank007 is throwing in whatever Osram they have laying around rather than buying a batch of a specific tint bin.
I'm disappointed. I was thinking about buying a stainless itp a2 instead, but I went ahead and bought this to support BLF. Definitely will get the A2 at some point in the future now.
So from reading the posts = The battery tube my vary in size ... [ At school ATM ]
Can we post some measurements [ will do when I get home ] of the length of the battery tube ?
or the depth of the head [ ill post a picture ] certainly sounds like something is amiss ...
oh no:( Now I am disappointed I jumped on this purchase so quick. Mine may be at the post office for pickup tomorrow and I am scared to see what this E07 has to offer now.
Honestly, Jim should just offer a $xxx credit to all who purchased the botched first run as a gesture to justify we haven't been duped. It's just the right thing to do. It's not like we were getting some smokin' deal anyway. This is a $12 light on CNQG. Sure, that's minus the multiple modes, but then again everything else works as far as I know. I appreciate his enthusiasm and maybe that clouded his judgement when reviewing the sample, but that doesn't mean we should all pay for this. Because this was a promotional thing and everyone got swept up in the gimmick, in a way it would be taking advantage of the customer if there wasn't any reparation. I know I know... cue the crying baby emoticon :)
^^ I was waiting for someone to say that :P
Can't wait to receive mine. I also chose this over the ITP A2.
Just received mine and the one I ordered for a buddy. I'm pretty dissappointed. Mine won't light with alkalines or IMR's, only Eneloops and my protected AW 14500. It doesn't seem much brighter on a 14500, can't be over 120.
It is a finicky light where you have to play with the tail and the head to get the right distance. The tint is not neutral, but isn't unbearable. Looking a ceiling fan the PWM is obvious, but I'm not overly sensitive to it. On an Eneloop, it heats up pretty quick for the amount of output. The mode memory isn't my favorite style, but it would be usable.
My problem is I wanted an EDC light that just works. Not one I have to play with each time to make it work. The light is a neat design, but I can't understand why they make it so sensitive to battery lenght rather than just making the tail solid with a spring.
Maybe Jim or Tank will offer some sort of solution. I'm guessing return shipping would probably not be cost effective. I really hate to complain, but this is quite a let down.
got mine today,
protected tf flame 14500s too long to close all the way. head oring lines up with body opening. tail unscrewed as far back. light works.
imr 14500 from lighthound closes all the way but loose so no contact made. needs spacer or drop of solder.
regular aa closes all the way and good contact.
The funny thing is I purchased extra TF Flames just for this light :D
Fortunately we didn't spend a ton on this light and it's a lesson learned - dealing with flaky operations. But we're still waiting to see if Jim finds a resolution for all who jumped on board literally within minutes after the deal was offered for sale :)
Hi everyone,
I've been in contact with Jim @ Manafont. They are aware of the issues with this first build. They have been reading this thread, and they elaborated a list of issues you have reported. They will see how Tank007 handles the issues, and I'm sure they'll decide how to proceed after they have a bit more information.
Several use have mentioned a prototype stage for these custom projects. We did have the option of a prototype for the customized E07, but the manufacturer's price was something like $300 for the first sample. That's enough cash for almost 20 of the final units.
Not to be negative but isn't it easier to just find a better light in the first place and then perhaps try to get a volume discount?
I think it's pretty safe to say that communications and expectations are never going to be at any reasonable level. Perhaps I'm wrong.
This deal isn't over yet. We'll find out if projects like this could actually work or not. If not, lesson learned.
This is the first time I've heard of this and maybe I'm speaking out of turn, but isn't that OUR cash? I wasn't aware this was a deal where someone was representing my money. I thought this was simply a promotion collaborated by the staff of this forum, Tank007 and Manafont and the rest of just pay enough so the rest profit a little and we get something nice and unique.
Hopefully Jim learns a valuable lesson from this mishap. Proper testing of a new product goes a long way. Although at this point he hasn't lost much because he still got our money. Of course, it might cost him future business. I know I'm a little hesitant now.
Why did I order 3... I can't even give them as gifts. I haven't received them yet, but I'm already disappointed. Seems like a huge oversight for Tank and Manafont to go ahead with this obviously flawed design.
I ordered 2 and its a bit hard to gift them to non flashaholics if regular alkalines don't fit properly.
i dont think manafont had much to do with the flaws. they were simply acting as a middle man for our requests. sounds to me like tank took a handful of 2nds and put "BLF" on it and called it a day.
i say we flood solar force with requests for a l2m with the 2 way clip, blf edition
Got out the calipers :
Depth of battery tube = 62.23mm - 62.3mm
Head depth into battery tube = 12.39mm
Nimh 50.23mm
smallest measurement = 62.23mm [ Batt Tube ] - 12.39mm = 49.84mm [ Nimh was 50.23 = 0.39mm short ]
Funny my Trustfire Flame fits fine ....
I will grind the base of the pill and see how it goes ...
Ground the pill , Helped a little !
There is another issue ..
Some AA batteries have a step down extended tail [ neg end ] that sticks out like a little button ... And with these batteries , the light turns on when the head is screwed down .
Batteries with a flat tail [ neg end ] dont seem to do this at all ...
+ Dont grind the pill , or you may damage the center post [ + on the pill ] , mine is lose now [ Light still works ], but it seems to have been pushed back and seems to be ok .
Here are a few pictures of the issue. I don't own any 14500 cells so I can't speak for those. But the pictures below are with an Eneloop inserted. It's about the same with a some junky chinese NiMH cells and with standard Alkaline cells. As you can see, the gap is minimal, doesn't seem to affect functionality. I wonder about water resistance though.
