Possible you might need to contact neal directly, not sure if he ever listed it on the site. But you can email wildtrail directly as well, either should work.
Well, my WildTrail WT90 arrived today. I was very excited to try it. But, end up being disappointed. First, this is not a troll post. It is simply my experience with the light. when I opened the box first thing I noticed, was the bezel head cap was loose, and what appears to be the retaining ring for the LED, was also loose inside. Undeterred, I put a fresh set of Samsung 40T cells in the carrier and then tried to click the light on, but no dice. Not working. So, I tried a different set of Astrolux 21700 cells, still not turning on. So, I tried a set different set of fully charged 40T’s, but still no luck. while reading the manual I noticed that it says the battery carrier is supposed to show an LED status indicator. Mine is not showing an LED indicator. But, when I plug a cable into my phone to see if the power bank function is working, it shows that my phone is charging. All be it, very slowly. Not, fas charging at all. And I am using my phone’s cable, which normally fast chargers my phone. So, it cannot be the cable.
Where do I begin? First, I am sorely disappointed in the QC, or lack there off, in this light. WildTrail should be on top of their game with the QC. I fully understand, shit happens, but, for a light in this price range, the QC should be job number one. And the fact that the light arrived DOA, is my biggest gripe. Again, I understand shit happens, when traveling all the way from China. So, I am willing to cut them some slack. I contacted them via Ali. Now, the waiting game. I will see what they tell me? has anyone who received this light had similar QC problems? I’m curious to know how many people have had DOA lights. My other question. Is this a retaining ring for the LED? It seems to have a small mirror. I’m guessing to magnify the light? How do I put this back on top of the LED? Is it supposed to be glued on top of the LED?
That is very strange and I can understand why you are upset.
The loose bezel and button retaining ring could be (and most likely is) factory QC but also a chance that they could of come loose in shipping. Particularly the retaining ring, I have had that happen on several lights when I opened them.
Now as far as it being DOA, it sounds like the carrier is working (you can know 100% by testing the voltage between the center post and the outside ring on the end of the carrier, should be around ~16v), also one end of the carrier the center button sticks out further then the other side, make sure that end faces the driver.
So that leaves us with the light itself. If the switch LED is not lighting up then most likely power is not getting to the driver since that LED is super simple and very rarely fails unless the switch is damaged.
The first thing I would do is check the driver retaining ring, if it is loose it will prevent the driver from getting power.
Next, try putting the carrier in without the tailcap on and pressing down on the carrier manually, watch the switch to see if the LED blinks.
If neither of these work, then the last simple fix option is that the switch could of been damaged since the retaining ring was missing when you opened it. You can remove the driver retaining ring and you should be able to pull the driver out enough to check all the wires, make sure they are all connected and none are loose, same for the back of the switch.
If all that checks out then yes, it appears it is DOA for some reason.
If I had to guess though, I would be sure to try the driver retaining ring, that has caused me issues plenty of times over the years.
I must say, WildTrail has made good. On solving my defective flashlight issue. They have already contacted me. They will be sending me another head for the flashlight. I am glad that the company is willing to stand behind their product. as I mentioned before, I know stuff happens while items travel from China. Is a long journey. But, I am happy to know the company will rectify its mistake. I’ll simply have to wait for the new head to hopefully arrive in one piece. To see how the light is.
Good to hear. They did the same for me when I had a problem with WT3M - sent a new unit without delay.
As a result, I’m a bit of a WildTrail tragic 
Good to hear it, I knew they would take care of you.
Have you tried the steps I mentioned above by chance? I am curious if the issue might be as simple as a loose retaining ring on the driver or not enough pressure on the battery carrier.
Thank you for the advice. No, I haven’t had the chance to try the steps you suggested. Unfortunately, I am at work right now. But, as soon as I get a chance tonight, I will use my multimeter to test the voltage. But, when I put the carrier in the tube, and tighten the tail cap. The LED on the button lights up. So, I am assuming it has power. But, as you mentioned, it could be a problem with the retaining ring? I am not as experienced as a lot of you guys at modding lights. So, I do not know my way around the inside of any light. Is that retaining ring essential for the LED to power up? Is the retaining ring supposed to go on the LED, or switch? Is possible to show some pictures as to how it goes? I had some issues posting some pictures to show you. I will try to post them tonight. Thank you again for your help. And thank you to Wild Trail as well. They came through.
Oh, I thought that you said that the switch LED was not lighting up, if it is but the light will not turn on at all then you can skip most of those early steps since we know power is getting to the driver. Still possible there is a wire loose in the driver compartment, that is worth checking for sure, past that, yeah it gets more involved.
Sorry for the confusion. I should have clarify it more closely in my original post. Yes, the switch LED does light up. But, the Flashlight still won’t power on. As I mentioned I tried different sets of fully charged batteries. But, the light won’t power on. If you are saying to skip the steps you mentioned before, then I may try removing the driver to see if is a loose wire as you said. But, I am not an expert when it comes to fiddling my way around a flashlight. I’ll give it a try nonetheless. But, how do you remove the driver? Do you simply unscrew the screws on top? Or, do you have to unscrew the entire driver from the bottom? Do you need a specific plier for it? I am so sorry for all the questions. I do appreciate your help.
You can still do the earlier tests but if the switch LED lights up then it means the driver is getting power in some form.
To remove the driver you unscrew the retaining ring on the inside of the driver compartment where the battery carrier goes. Generally a pair of needle nose pliers will do the trick. Then the driver should pull out enough to look at the other side and basically you are just looking for any loose wires. If it is nothing obvious then it would need more in depth testing that I am guessing you are not up for.
Since the switch retaining ring was off when you got it, there is a chance that the switch wires were damaged and thus the light is working fine but the switch is not able to tell it to turn on.
I’ll definitely try to check the driver tonight after work. No, if is anything more evolved, it will be out of my technical capabilities. Not sure if you want to take a Crack at it? And of course whatever you want to charge me to fix it. I could send it to you. I’ll pay for the shipping both ways. But, if you simply don’t have the time I’ll understand. We all lead very busy lives. Anyway, I managed to upload the video I made last night. I emailed it to WildTrail. I uploaded it to YouTube.
Here is the link: WildTrail 90.2 Flashlight. - YouTube
Thank you for your time, advice, and patience.
Based on that video it looks like the switch is working. So the issue is either at the driver level or it is the LED. While I could fix it if they are already sending you another head that is most likely going to be the easiest and quickest option.
That would be my guess as well. Thank you for the advice and support. It is much appreciated. I’ll simply have to wait for the new head to arrive.
It’s not absolutely necessary but yes, over time it will tarnish a bit. What it ends up looking like depends on the particular alloy and on how it’s been finished. I don’t know about these WT hosts but many of our lights are not the 6061 that is advertised. 6061 takes a very nice polish if you do your job and it will stay that way for a long time…something as simple as a coat of car wax will protect it pretty well. Without a durable clear coat, however, it will tarnish. Usually just a greyish color not unlike silver, but sometimes it develops black areas (or black spots where there may be pits or impurities in the metal surface), and it can even do a little bit of a brassy color sometimes in spots. Since he removed anodizing and left the finish a little rough-ish (not polished) it’ll keep its looks for longer before you start to notice. The spots you can see in the crenulation are left over bits of anodizing - since it penetrates into the metal it’s hard to remove it completely without a lot of extra work and removing enough metal that it can be difficult to maintain lines, corners, and flat surfaces (unless you machine it or are skilled and patient with fine hand files/stones).
Any time bare aluminum is exposed to the atmosphere it starts to oxidize right away, changing the color somewhat. It’s a self-protective layer…you can call it “rust” but it’s not destructive like iron rust usually is…it’s almost like self-anodizing, pretty neat. If you abrade or scratch the surface, it’ll oxidize again.
Some types of aluminum to not polish very well. You can get them fairly bright and with a decent shine, but not as nice as some alloys. 6061 is on the upper middle end of taking a nice polish. None of them will ever get like chrome or polished stainless, but they can look great. The ones that polish poorly…nothing you can do about that because no amount of extra work or finer polishing compounds will clear it up.
If you are a flashlight enthusiast, you should seriously consider this light. It’s become my favorite light for the size. The beam is beyond perfection. Balance is perfect. Quite amazing.
For sure :+1: The plain black box it arrived in was rock and WT90 was Excaliber - I was the only person who was able to pull the torch from the box!
Any tips on removing the driver retaining ring? Mine won’t budge using a grippy surface. I may have to 3D print a tool for it or something.
I have a pair of needle nose pliers that I ground down to a finer point that I use on most retaining rings.
That’s interesting about the differing polishing characteristics of different aluminum alloys. I never thought of that but it makes sense. Thanks for taking the time to write this informative response.
Does make a sense to change xhp70.2 for this sbt led? Iam lumen hunter.Sadly dont know the driver eficiency.Its Wurkkos new model with xhp70.2…