I ordered one each of the Copper Astrolux M03 lights (XP-G3 and Nichia) when they were on sale awhile back, and they just arrived today.
The batteries appear to be charged (green light when USB cable is plugged in), but neither of the lights would light.
I was about to post here, asking if anyone had gotten these lights, but then I thought I should check if maybe they had put some kind of insulator on the batteries for shipping, and, looking at the negative side of the batteries, sure enough, that was the case. This shows the piece of insulator (looks like the punch out from a hole punch):
and, here’s the insulator removed:
There wasn’t ANY guide or anything, just two small O-rings wrapped in the paper or something, so if anyone gets one of these, I hope that this helps!
LOL, good catch! I am glad they have a safety on these for transit, but they should have something telling you it is there…
How are the threads on your M03’s? My M02 was very loose and o had to epoxy them to tighten them up enough to carry the light without the head coming off.
Post some pics of these copper beauties if you have time…
Im sad, my M03 flickers like crazy on Low… so frustrating
here are couple of pix anyway
like other Astrolux copper lights, these come coated with lacquer, so they stay shiny. I used acetone to wipe off the lacquer. looks like I missed a few spots
My two M01 usually don’t light up at all before the high mode…
Yes i have 2 of them…
Luckily they were only 12 bucks each at the time…… (introduction i think)
Really, checking for insulating spacers should be SOP when you get a 10180 light like this. DQG includes them, as do CooYoo and Astrolux.
Still we should be warned by the makers, I mean c’mon…
Lucky you, bro. I’ve had the displeasure of getting several DOA or week-lived lights, of reputable brands at that (Olight, Thrunite and Jetbeam), to the point where I expected a lemon out of half the torches arriving by mail. :weary:
I managed to fix my M01 by taking a precision file to the threads on the head, the pill, and the top of the body (where it connects to the head). Just filed inside the threads (don’t remove them, just enough to get some bare metal) and only did a small portion of them so I didn’t destroy the fitment. Works great now, was flickering and barely engaging the high mode before. Not sure if they had a coating or oxidation on them or what.
Not happy they come in such bad shape from the factory, but at least in my case, it was fixable.
YES!!! I took your idea and wiped out the threads of my M03 with Acetone. Now Im getting a rock steady, NoFlicker, medium.
my “calibrated integrated light meter” confirmed, steady lumens…
I will try cleaning the threads too.
Who knows if it’ll work.
Bit strange though, since it’s bare stainless steel (the M01)…
But now i have a charging problem with one of them…
USB seems to make no connection to ground (body).
When i mess with it the light turns red (charging). :weary:
[edit]
It seems there was some solidified flux on the contact trace of the pcb, isolating it from the body…
…so yes, i took it apart completely…
I also have an M01 with a bad charger, several issues, it wont stop charging (and exhibited the jiggle me to turn me red feature you mention), that is, no more green light. Whats worse is the light drains the battery, the body gets hot, and the voltmeter shows rapid drain
but with all respect, Banggood refunded that one… it is truly unuseable
for anyone interested the Astrolux M2, and M3 w Nichia are on sale
Discount codes and link deleted, Ive been informed Im not supposed to share… sorry… contact Freeme and M4D M4X and Pablo and Banggood
imo, the M01, M02, and M03 lights with Nichia are very nice, the fact that they failed to clean the contact points is minor to me now… I did not have to disassemble the head, no soldering… just an easy cleaning
can you think of any other 10180 lights for $20 that come with a Nichia?
I have one more on the way, an M02… Assume it works great, unless you see me posting to whine and complain about my folly
Just look at what it is.
Less parts then a BLF 348.
No glass, no switch, no driver, no clip, no keyring.
Okay it has a generic charging PCB with micro USB and it comes with a $1.50 battery and a $0.80 box…
Awesome, glad to hear this might be an easy fix for some people. I wonder what the issue is, maybe some sort of chemical left on the metal to prevent corrosion or used in the machining process? Maybe something Astrolux can easily fix by cleaning their parts before assembly.
well, its much better, but not quite as good as I first thought
the copper lights have a lacquer coating, so I think it was also on the threads.
as far as your M01, maybe just some sort of production oil residue?
Another possibility is that the threads on the Astrolux’s are pretty wobbly, and only the O ring holds things steady. So when I oil the Oring it does not grab as much, and maybe lets the head wobble more? It is also possible that a new O ring would help if its related to the wobble of the head being reduced by a tighter fitting ring (either unoiled or new)
right after cleaning my threads with acetone, the light was rock steady on medium
but then I oiled the O ring, and now it is back to flickering… its much better than before the acetone, but it definitely flickers more after oiling than before…
