Yes.They are tight.
I am sure you will figure it out when we swap carriers. Is it possible it’s the driver or would it have to be to carrier? Thanks
Hhmm, should be the carrier, but could be a mechanical issue on the driver side. Batt+ goes through the brass center rod to the end nuts, and batt- goes through the 3 rods, where the outer aluminum ring makes contact to the driver. Maybe an end cap problem, or something about one end doesn't make good mechanical contact. With a DMM, you could check voltage across the center brass nut and the outer alum ring on each end, or simply check continuity on both sides of batt- and batt+.
Dunno, maybe some carriers have higher drain than others. Of course you have to add driver drain.
If average drain is 1 mA, then a 4000 mAh cell has 4000 hours, or 167 days, but that's only on one cell, so 501 days for 3 (16 months).
If you assume 1.5 mA average drain from the carrier, about 250 uA for the switch LED and driver, a 4000 mAh cell has 2286 hours, or 95 days, but that's only on one cell, so 285 days for 3 (9 months).
If you have the switch LED off, eliminate the carrier drain, the drain is about 25 uA, so a 4000 mAh cell has 160000 hours, or 6667 days, but that's only on one cell, so 20001 days for 3 (55 years).
Voltage checked out identical on both ends with DMM.
Try pressing the carrier against the head and see if the main LED flashes or the switch LED lights up (whichever is easier for you to see) to determine if the tube is involved or if it’s just a connection issue.
Another oddity of this flashlight. Has anyone noticed that the flashlight works even without the tail cap? Just push the battery holder with your fingers. Mah.
That is normal for almost all carrier based lights.
Nope.I did that.Won’t illuminate that way Or when the cap is tightened.
Like I said.It Only works when the USB end of carrier is at the tail end.
I have limited knowledge but I say it must be something with the driver.
Is it too late to get in on the group buy on the silver light (either color, really)? If not, how do I sign up?
Thanks, beer
It would be the carrier that is at fault since the driver only gets power, it doesn’t care how it gets the power.
Try tightening the retaining ring of the driver, possible it is loose and causing some clearance issues.
Short of that see if there are anything different about one side of the carrier from the other.
The next set of silver is being made as we speak. They are like 90% finished but held up due to lack of raw materials to finish them.
Driver retaining ring is tight.IF it was not, Why would it work for one end of the carrier and Not the other?
I have had lights act really odd when the retaining ring was slightly loose. It would work sometimes and not others randomly. Was just something to check.
More then likely there is a slight tolerance difference between he ends causing the issue. You can manually check the electrical path by checking the voltage on both sides of the carrier, it should be the same.
I noticed the USB end, the end that has to be at the tail cap to work, is More recessed in the center contact…brass nut…That should not matter for contact when it is at the head, because there is a spring.
For whatever reason when the USB end is at Head of light, it does not work.
I checked contact at both ends already.Tom E. Suggested that several posts ago.Readings were identical .
Ok, the USB end being more recessed could be the reason, the tolerances are very tight and even being slightly too far in could cause an issue like this. I have had that happen before on several occasions. On the GT the tolerances are surprisingly tight.
Dunno, maybe you tried this but I'd try removing the battery tube and hand mount the carrier, USB end, to the driver - you should feel pressure of compressing the spring. The carrier ground (Batt-) ring makes contact to the retaining ring when fully compressed. Maybe they mounted the driver retaining ring upside down or something?
As long as you are compressing the spring, and the outer ring is pressed against the brass retaining ring, it should be electrically good.
I can confirm the USB end's brass nut (Batt+) is more recessed than the other end.
The most important thing to me is the parasitic drain issue. If I had to put the battery carrier in only one direction that would not be a big deal.
However a nice gentleman named Tom E. Is going to swap carriers with me.His modified version should resolve both issues.
When he gets mine I’m sure he could modify it to his liking so that the parasitic drain issue is resolved or much better and the contact issue with the USB end of the carrier is also resolved. Although I’m not sure why with the spring in the head why it wouldn’t make contact?
USB end
Non USB end
Driver
Not sure Why they had to put that Recession lip/ level change on the USB end near the Brass nut?
Hhmm, that spring looks different than mine. It appears to be compressed. The top of the spring should easily clear the retaining ring and yours looks about level at best. This would explain it. Here's mine from the production unit:
Notice the spacing between the coils.
I wonder if yours came that way or got compressed from usage, perhaps got heated up. I think these are beryllium copper springs - high quality, low resistance, so shouldn't deform so easily. Even the pic in the OP of all the heads matches what I have with spacing between coils.
Yes I see that. Almost certain it came that way. I’ve only used it like 10 times. I have no modding skills. Can I use a screwdriver try to lift it up and stretch it? Seems like I’ll get the same results with your carrier in regards to contact for the USB end? At least a parasitic drain issue should be resolved.