Skilhunt H04 built-in problems (h04 and h04 mini) Warning!

STANDING OFFER* ANYONE THAT “LIKES” THIS UNWANTED STROBE MODE CAN BUY BOTH MY LIGHTS FROM ME. 4 PAGES OF NAY-SAYERS AND NO TAKERS YET!

So I thought I had a great light. I bought the h04rc and then 2 weeks later bought the h04 mini. Well…….

Seems the stupid engineers at skilhunt designed in an annoyance. They call it a feature. It IS verified by an email to skilhunt.

When the headlight drains the battery to 3.4v aprox. it starts flashing the main light AND the activation button light 3x every few seconds. YES THE MAIN LIGHT! So instead of slowly dimming light like every other manufacturer they cut power to main light and make it flash. It will even do the flashing on firefly mode!

So you are working away and the next thing you know you are wearing a beacon instead of a headlamp. Runnnnnnn-FLASH-FLASH-FLASH—-runnnnnnnnnnnnnnn-FLASH-FLASH-FLASH—-runnnnnnnnnnnnnnn-FLASH-FLASH-FLASH—-runnnnnnnnnnnnnnn-FLASH-FLASH-FLASH—-runnnnnnnnnnnnnnn-FLASH-FLASH-FLASH—-runnnnnnnnnnnnnnn-FLASH-FLASH-FLASH—-runnnnnnnnnnnnnnn-FLASH-FLASH-FLASH—-runnnnnnnnnnnnnnn-FLASH-FLASH-FLASH—-runnnnnnnnnnnnnnn-FLASH-FLASH-FLASH—-runnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

Any else see a problem with this? Im so pissed! I now have a $110 dollars worth of paperweights with a “designed-in” flaw.

I mean who doesnt want to use 2/3rds of your battery before getting NAGGED TO DEATH by a flashing beacon headlamp. Why not slowly dim light like every other maker? It flashes on firefly so voltage sag isnt the issue. USING BRAND NAME BATTERIES (Samsung-Panasonic) I tried 5 different batteries. I then took batteries out of flashing skilhunt and they worked fine in armytek and fenix and zebra.

“Hi Michael,

Yes, that is correct function on headlamps. Because when you use the light on head, you can’t see the indicator on your head. Have to set blink on main light beam.
Sorry, that is not problem but a function.”

Chinese New Year Holiday: 2022-1-22 ~ 2022-2-7

Best Regards
SKILHUNT Service

Shenzhen SKILHUNT Electronic Technology Co., Limited
Website:www.skilhunt.com
Tel: +86-755-2930 9121

1 Thank

That would make me crazy.

I was literally about to order an H04 before reading this. That would drive me insane! Thanks for this info.

That design makes sense to me. A good low voltage warning from the main emitter on a headlamp seems useful.

With that said, I prefer the way Anduril does it. It’s a big, noticeable, one-time brightness stepdown every time the cell hits 3V. That seems a little less annoying that Skilhunt’s solution and 3.3V seems a little high to me for a low voltage warning.

Want to sell them? :innocent:

You literally shouldn’t be using a lithium cell too low anyway. If you keep a cell between 30-80% charge, you’ll almost double the charge cycles.

Your battery voltage is 3.4 volts after removing it and checking with a Multimeter, correct? When it’s in the flashlight it’s under load and so the voltage is more like 2.9-3 volts at which point you should be charging it.

Don’t put others off buying something when you don’t know your stuff :wink:

Also what cells are you using?

3.4v seems relatively high, Is the voltage measurement while under load or with the cell out of the light?

From zeroair review for the H05 RC:

“On bench power, the main emitter flashes a few times at around 2.9V, while the indicating switch also blinks red 3x. At 2.7V, the light shuts off completely.”

Its from Manual:
“4. Power indicator & Low voltage indication
Every time turn on , the side indicator will be light 5 seconds to display the battery power.
4 blinks: 100~80 , 3 blinks: 80~50 ,2 blinks: 50~20 , 1 blinks: 20%~0.
When the battery voltage drop down lower than 3.0V,indicator flash twice every 2 sec.
the light fast flash every 30 second at same time…”
3.4V without load?
H300 have same lame “feature”
Skilhunt have really nice host and brainless software devs for sure. Already 5th generation of headlamps and they didn’t figure out a proper UI. Like … Olights. :smiley:

It’ll be measured out of the light since the H04 doesn’t blink out voltage, even if it did, it’s not under the same load when in battery check.

As above it’s stated in the manual to indicate low battery at 3.0 volts.

I highly recommend the H04 & H04R RC. They are fantastic and come with one of the best mounting brackets available

That is very good feature IMHO.
On 3.5v you have to change battery and as they said you cannot see the indicator while using it as a headlamp.

on my headlamps FWs I have similar feature.

So dramatic and hateful about lights! :slight_smile: I agree…somewhat irritating but also a useful Feature on a headlamp. Lots of lights do this, by the way, flashing the main emitter as a warning. I don’t think it’s a reason to scream out “do not buy this light” - it just doesn’t meet your personal needs, so leave it at that without the drama.

Maybe you’d prefer a light with Anduril instead.

If it’s actually warning at 3.4V then that would be irritating, certainly, although as said above it’s wise to swap/recharge around that point anyway. Depending on which theory you agree with, somewhere around that range is “functionally empty” anyway, although we know that we can run them far below that without too much harm other than reduced cell life if that’s done with higher current draws. This could also mean that your cells aren’t up to snuff if this is happening “too early”…simply that the cell voltage is sagging under load and the driver sees that. Under a lighter load or with a little rest/rebound time (i.e. not constant drain) the cell can still deliver. So maybe a change to a better-suited cell if this is the case.

Wow this seems quite well thought out, actually. Indeed, the switch indicator isn’t visible in use, so the low voltage warning must happen on the main emitter. Flashing for below 3.0v is fine, though I like anduril’s “all you get is very low now” until it cuts out better.

Yeah, 3.4v ocv wouldn’t surprise me, especially depending on the mode and cell used in this example.

While I agree that OP is being too dramatic about it, the blinks could be more discreet and still serve their intended purpose, they are a bit obnoxious.

Since all modern batts. can go down as low as 2.5V, 3V blinking is really nonsense.

Awesome you think so. Send me $110 dollars and Ill send you the awesome working lights. Lets see what you do.

I re-worded the post to issue a warning instead of a do not buy. Now buyers can make an “Informed” decision. I NEVER would have bought the lights had I known!

If "idahofarmer" has an analyzing charger, it would be interesting to determine how many watt-hours are required to charge the battery after the headlamp's low voltage warning appears.

Then use the analyzing charger to discharge and recharge the battery (using the same charging current rate as before) to determine how depleted the battery actually was when the headlamp's low voltage warning appeared by comparing the watt-hours required to charge the battery.

Selecting a discharge current rate on the analyzing charger that takes about the same amount of time to deplete the battery as the headlamp did will provide the most accurate results.

I tested it here. Mine starts flashing at 3v. And there are 3 very fast blinks every 30 seconds, nothing that interferes much. I think the OP is overreacting a bit and I still recommend this headlamp.

Well?