Has anyone had the same issue with it? The battery I sent to ZL for testing is an eneloop with 1.3V and I could reproduce the issue in less than 2 minutes with the replacement headlamp. Could the flashing/paint on the contacts in the cap be the issue?
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On video i see only 1 issue . Its flashlight user. He trying to crash MCU loading.
Wow. I had to look up what MCU means. I did not expect flashlights to to be crashable and thought perhaps it’s normal to expect to be able to turn on a flashlight reliably once power is connected but apparently not.
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Start by isolating the problem by taking the tail cap out of the equation. That at least gives you a direction to start looking . Break out the paper clip and see if you still have the issue . First most obvious answer is to clean and tighten , try a little bit different size battery
sorry to hear you now have 2 Zebras with the same problem (at least one was free… lol)
I hope you find a way to make them useful.
Could the flashing/paint on the contacts in the cap be the issue?
I dont think so. And I dont think Eneloop batteries is the problem either.
however, I do have some history of solving contact problems in some of my flashlights, by cleaning off excess lubrication, particularly on the contact ring and on the end of the body tube.
Lube is non conductive, and can accumulate between the body tube end and the contact ring on the tailcap.
suggest you just wipe the contact ring and the end of the body tube with a dry paper towel, do not add more lube… excess lube is not our friend 
lube is most needed for the O ring to glide and seal well, we dont actually need a lot of lube on the threads
if you want to be more thorough, a qtip w isopropyl alcohol can reach the contact ring more easily, and will remove excess lube more completely
the goal is to have good metal to metal contact between the contact ring and the end of the body tube
here is a video (not mine) explaining the idea of less lube is better:
I have tried testing by just switching on and off without disconnecting the cap and it is also not reliable with the eneloop. Regular AA alkalines and freshly charged eneloops seems to switch on reliable without cap disconnection so I suspect the switching is only reliable above a certain threshold input voltage. It is what it is.
agree, but it is not as it should be
Those Zebras are being disobedient, and not operating withing specification:
“Operating Voltage Range: 0.7V - 2.0V”
At least you figured out how to give them an Attitude Adjustmet by Twisting their Tails, when the Stubborn Little Zebras become Eneloop Resistant…
Do they work better with a freshly charged new Eneloop? Any chance your Eneloop is old and has reduced output capacity?
The eneloops aren’t that old or have gone through many cycles. The measured voltage was 1.3V. It does turn on more reliably with a freshly charged eneloop but even with the ones that it does not turn on reliably with, the light is nice and bright when it does turn on which is probably 95% of the time. It’s that 5% that bugs the heck out of me.
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understandable
maybe a perfect excuse to buy an Emisar D2 and or a Skilhunt H150
Contact Zebralight support for troubleshooting. Ensure proper battery installation and clean contacts. If the issue persists, request further assistance or replacement.
Is the way the light behaves persistent until the next time you remove and reinstall the tailcap? I.e. if it doesn’t work, does it continue to not work, and if it does work, does it continue to work?
The issue persists even with the RMA returned replacement flashlight.
What I mean is, after you insert a cell and tighten the tailcap, if the light turns on correctly, does it continue to turn on correctly until the next time you reinstall the tailcap? And the same for if it doesn’t turn on.
The behaviour is persistent. At that 1.3V eneloop, it will turn on over 90% of the time, then it will stop turning on with set of clicks and after another set or two it will turn on again even without disconnecting the tail cap. I noticed when I keep disconnecting, if the light dimly quick flashes when the cap connects, the first click will turn on the light. If I reconnect the cap and I don’t see the quick flash, it will not turn on with the first click.
You’re going to love it here, apetsworld!
This is really sounding like a design / manufacturing defect to me. Many will be reluctant to reach that conclusion, but I’m not. I’d be asking for another tested replacement that works reliably, or in lieu of that, a refund. I would not live with that “5%”.
It sounds like the tailcap isn’t making proper contact. I would be interested to see what the unanodized end of the body looks like, as well as your AAs.
I cleaned the body end contact and the cap contact as best I could with contact cleaner and turn on is still unreliable. In any case I am pissed enough at it that I bought the skilhunt h150 that jon_slider suggested. Here’s another 2 minute video of the issue without the constant resetting.
that looks terribly frustrating!
I hope the H150 works better for you.
[quote=“Wing, post:1, topic:223429”]
Could the flashing/paint on the contacts in the cap be the issue?
[/quote] Edit: okay never mind so that’s some cut out where they use a tool. I still think you should try putting the cap on tighter.