Romisen, Fenix problems (and a solution for at least one)

[dks]

I have had some problems to solve with 3 torches, the past few months.

Fenix E05. This was gifted and it developed a problem (after being used daily as a torch and carried on a keychain for most of the day) with switching on and staying on. If you knock it a bit on a hard surface it may come on again, though it stopped being dependable, something necessary for a keychain, emergency, torch.
As I mentioned in other posts I cleaned, scrubbed lubricated, cleaned shouted at, checked the electricity path for proper conduction (loooots of times) and nothing helped. The problem seems to be with the electronics, so the solution was to replace it with a new Tank007 E09. I have gifted several of those and so far they have proven to be pretty robust. I have also gifted a few more Fenix E05s and as far as I know those ones still work.

Romisen RC-G2. This was really annoying. The Romisen is practically new as it resided next to my bed as an emergency torch. It was used very few times, for less than a minute as I have several other options close to me too. It was however the one I would have depended on if I had to get up quickly to check something in the house.
So, I was working in a cupboard, under a sink, (using a Victorinox to cut the side of the cupboard) and the romisen was used to light the cupboard by resting on a pipe under the cupboard. It fell from a height of 30cm onto the soft, wooden, lower part of the cupboard and immediately its beam weakened (think of older single 0.5W LED torches). So I recharged the batteries, gave it a clean did the checks and so on but again there seems to be a problem inside the pill. It is weird as that was a single mode torch, so I have no idea how it is now operating in a low mode. Connecting the power directly to the pill worked once for 20s and gave me a bright light, but it went to low again. The only theory I have is that some heat protection has been triggered from the knock thus it is working in a lower mode.
The solution was to replace it with a Jetbeam (reliable emergency light) and just use it when I need just a bit of light.

Fenix E11. This was again gifted (and used daily) and I was informed that it would not switch off. I checked it and found that the only way to switch it off was to take the battery out.
After various checks I realised that the pretty long spring that the torch has on the switch was slightly bend. So when the battery was in it, pushing on it, it would tilt to the side, touching the walls of the torch and the battery at the same time and conducting electricity from the bottom of the battery to the walls, bypassing the switch.
The solution was to straighten the spring so that it does not slide to the side anymore. I think that this is pretty bad design, as a shorter, stouter spring would have done the same job without being able to slide around, and maybe made the torch smaller too. I decided against cutting the spring myself for the time.

[Gareth]

Nice bit detective work on the E11 mate.

[dks]

Thanks. Off all 3 the romisen was the biggest dissapontment

tapa beta

[space cowboy]

I have 3 Romisen RC-G2's without a problem. My E05 has no problems either. The sad thing is they are not drop proof from a reasonable height unlike the potted E01.

[dks]

I have several other Romisen and they are fine, though I have not dropped them yet.
I have dropped hard disks, phones etc from heights over 1m and they were fine. I have seen laptops fall from that height with no problem.

A 30cm drop onto a relatively soft material should not affect any light electronic equipment. The romisen was not even scratched, though it is damaged.

The E05 seems to develop the problem from the fact that you need to unscrew -screw its head to work, so maybe if you do it hard a few times, or if the contact points/pill become damaged, loose or dirty you have problems. The Tank 007 has a worst finish thatn the Fenix and has higher currents flowing through it (Li-Ions) but has proven tougher so far.

[Tofty]

Do you run the Romisen on protected Lithium-ions?
I was just wondering if it could be the cells protection circuit that's damaged rather than the light itself.
Rather unlikely but a possibility.

[dks]

That Romisen, as far as I know, does not take lithiums. It has a Duraloop in it. Now that it is damaged, maybe it will take them 

I am sure someone willing to open the pill may be able to fix it but I do not have the right tools to do soldering on such a small circuit board.

[space cowboy]

The good news is these lights are inexpensive. I would be upset if it happened to a 100 dollar light! The best 2 lights I have that can be dropped without damage are the Arc AAA & the E01. They just take a 6 foot drop & keep on ticking.

[jekostas]

Big thumbs up on the E09, great light.  The one on my keychain is getting near two years old and it hasn't missed a tick.