Problem with my MTE P7

landrew
landrew Posts: 69
edited September 2010 in MTB workshop & tech
I have just got a P7 light from DX which unfortunately does not work properly. I can get a short flash from the light by twisting the battery compartment but nothing more.

Does anybody know whether there is anything that I can do to fix this or do I need to return it?
Andy

Comments

  • bails87
    bails87 Posts: 12,998
    Make sure the little bit in the cap which the battery contact is attached to is screwed in tight?
    MTB/CX

    "As I said last time, it won't happen again."
  • lemoncurd
    lemoncurd Posts: 1,428
    My battery gave up after using all of last winter. A few of my mates bought them as well, we've all had different problems - none have been trouble free.
  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    Is usually contact problems: often can is as above a tightness and contact problem.
  • Northwind
    Northwind Posts: 14,675
    One of mine developed a slightly loose tailcap switch, to fix it I got a big paperclip and bent it round so that the "legs" fitted into the holes on the switch, then just gave it a spin. Yours is probably the same. That said, if it's DOA possibly best just to send it back.
    Uncompromising extremist
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Northwind wrote:
    One of mine developed a slightly loose tailcap switch, to fix it I got a big paperclip and bent it round so that the "legs" fitted into the holes on the switch, then just gave it a spin.
    Bloody hell, are you serious? I just tried that with one of mine that's malfunctioning, and the two little holes on the switch are giving way (deforming) before the damn thing turns at all, in either direction.
  • Buy a decent lilght in the first place
    4 wheels bad
    2 wheels good
    1 wheel for fun
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Buy a decent lilght in the first place
    NO

    For the price of a "decent" light, I could by about 10 P7 torches.
  • Try stretching the spring in the tail cap a little with pliers, it fixed a problem I had with the light flickering when going over bumps.
  • Northwind
    Northwind Posts: 14,675
    Bloody hell, are you serious? I just tried that with one of mine that's malfunctioning, and the two little holes on the switch are giving way (deforming) before the damn thing turns at all, in either direction.

    Yep, dead easy. That's how they're fitted I reckon. You need to keep the "legs" parallel so you need a strong bit of wire, otherwise the wire'll bend and collapse the edges of the holes I reckon.
    Buy a decent lilght in the first place

    He already did. Course, he could spend £300 for something that gives no more light, and is just as likely to get broken in a crash or suffer some sort of battery failure...
    Uncompromising extremist
  • My first SSC light, now three years old has a similar problem, I used a piece of folded kitchen foil at the end of the battery, it'll probably go in the recycling soon.

    No such problems with Aurora P7s though or the X2000.

    They are just a few £ in any case.
    'nulla tenaci invia est via'
    FCN4
    Boardman HT Pro fully X0'd
    CUBE Peleton 2012
    Genesis Aether 20 all season commuter
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Northwind wrote:
    Yep, dead easy. That's how they're fitted I reckon. You need to keep the "legs" parallel so you need a strong bit of wire, otherwise the wire'll bend and collapse the edges of the holes I reckon.
    Hmm. I'll have another crack tonight, but I reckon it must be threadlocked in or something, it just really didn't want to budge.
  • bails87 wrote:
    Make sure the little bit in the cap which the battery contact is attached to is screwed in tight?

    ^This worked. Not been out with it yet, hoping to get out tomorrow. Very impressed with the brighness, fantastic light for the money.

    Thanks for all the advice.
    Andy
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Hmm, it's nothing from the tailcap causing problems on mine.
    Has anyone opened the front end of one before? It looks like it might be bonded, not just screwed.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    WOOP!
    Sorted mine. I used a massive spanner, and a set of pipe grips to open the front end, and found a loose connection.
    After fixing that I found that the solder trail in the tail-cap wasn't making a great connection with the screw-in bit in the cap, so I'm going to solder a jumper between them.
    Now I have two working P7s again.