Good news, it looks like they’ve come through. They’ll be sending a new ‘lens’. Assuming they mean head (if that’s it, that’s actually very generous) or just the glass lens (that makes no sense)? We’ll see what turns up. Let’s chalk this up as +1 to their reputation. The last part of this thread probably fits better under Budget Dealer Experiences though.
I think the main problem is that their English is poor and this complicates matters (this is not unique to them, goes for many Chinese stores). It’s also not my native language, so there’s that too. In my last contact I’ve been very direct, plain and used short sentences. Hate to do that, but that seems to have gotten the message across. Still only got short 1 liners as reply, but case closed apparently. I like their lights and will probably buy from them again. As long as mistakes are taken care of I see no reason not to.
Will report back how the emitter cleaning goes. Still waiting for some things and improvise some tooling. Seems strap wrenches are not a thing around here, so need to get creative. Saw they do sell them on amazon.de so that’s the backup plan.
Hope you are able to get to the LED Verodin. I highly doubt isopropyl alcohol will clean that up since it looks like it’s below the surface. Maybe you’ll get lucky!
And if not, hopefully the new “lens” will be a replacement head, or perhaps a new MCPCB. Curious to find out what you actually receive.
Good and bad news. Isopropanol arrived and had another at it. I managed to get in with a pair of glue clamps and some rubber. Not ideal, but it worked. There were rosin/flux splatters on the inside of the head as well, only visible after removing the reflector. Must have been the same thing on the emitter. I wanted to take a good look and decided to take the entire mcpcb out. Took a moment though…. the head kept sucking up all heat (really need a different soldering tip for better contact as well). So I ended up lifting it off of the shelf and hold it suspended with a piece of metal wire. Then it went quick. Slipped once and hit the emitter on the side… not my best moment.
Anyway, here’s what it looked like removed from the head, before and after;
As you can see I haven’t been able to get the big spot away completely. Hard to see on the photo, but judging by eye with magnification, it really looks like it’s in the surface, not on top. So I’ll go with this until the replacement arrives. If I mess any more with it (e.g. apply more pressure to ‘scrape’ it off), I’m afraid I’m going to damage it even more. On the other hand, what more do I have to loose It is visible when it’s dim, but probably not at all at higher brightness.
Can you spot the dark pixel?
Btw, MCPCB size is 23,9 x 1,5 mm (silkscreen states so)
It definitely was flux splatter to start with. I may have burned it’s way into the phosphor, but like you said, it’s likely not a practical problem any longer. Thanks for sharing the update! Hopefully manufactures can fix this issue that is more apparent now flat emitters are commonplace. Some simple cleaning in the factory is all that’s needed to avoid these headaches.
It is visible when it’s dim, but probably not at all at higher brightness.
