UK eLED plus - Is it me?

[DougNR]

I bought a new UK C8 eLED plus at Diver's Direct while they were having one of their frequent sales. Yeah yeah I know, disloyalty, burn him at the stake, put CO in his air supply, bla bla bla. Well, just so you know, karma may have got me for my sins...

While removing the light module for the first time to take out the cardboard battery insulator, I noticed there there was a powdery substance trapped between the lens and the reflector. Upon putting it back on, more crap! Hmmmm. It seems there is friction in the bezel of the module that is wearing away at the reflective coating at the far edges of the reflector when twisting the module on or off the light body. At this point I'm sure it does not impact the light performance, but I have no idea if it will get worse in the future. Hope I'm describing this well enough.

In any case, has anyone else had this issue or heard of it before? I haven't had this light in the water yet, and I need to decide if it goes back to the shop for exchange. Right now I'm thinking absolutely yes, but I'd like to know if this is a known issue with this light. Best to go in ready for battle if you know what I mean.

Your opinions are welcome as always.

[marchand]

I would suggest you call Diver's Direct and ask them about it.

[CompuDude]

Hasn't been an issue with my light, but it's only a backup and gets turned on very rarely, especially now that it's just a backup to my backup and lives in my dive bag.

Decent little light, but if you're having a problem and it's a new light, DD may help, and if not, UK certainly has a lifetime warranty that will help.

The vast majority of people with these lights that I've spoken to tend to be pretty happy with them, though.

[DougNR]

Under normal circumstances I'd just clean out the light and move on. In this case the light module is not 'customer serviceable' so I don't want to void any warranty.

With nothing heard so far with regard to known issues with this light, I'll get down to DD and see what they're will to do for me.

Thanks all

[DougNR]

This situation is as resolved as it is likely to get...
DD was good about making a swap. The interresting thing is that we went through SIX (6) lights before we found one that was not flawed. Four exibited the exact same issue as my original complaint. There was powder from friction between the reflector's 'standoffs' and the inner lens surface already present. One had a serious scratch in the surface of the reflector.

If you find yourself looking at one of these lights, unthread the light module and gentle twist the bezel while holding the bottom of the module with your other hand. It should turn smoothly with no binding.

My thoughts are that either UK has a serious quality control issue - at least with the batch my local DD has, or the module is poorly designed. I have made these same comment at the UK web site. It will be interresting to see if they have any response.

As an asside, the young lady that helped me at the store was very nice, but when I asked if as a major distributor of UK products she would be reporting her experience to the manufacturer, her response was just a shrug.

If you have this light, check yours out for this defect and report it to UK if you find a similar issue.

Regards,

[malley1717]

should have bought from ST....

[ChrisA]

Looks like you are OK now. If you have problems with the light check the UK warranty. Mine has a lifetime warranty. I've had great luck going through UK customer service. I had some marker lights leak, They sent me a replacement and did not even ask me to send the old one back. It leaked again I got another one. FInally they just send me a box of four lights. I've sense learn how to make them live longer. Don't let them get under your tanks in the back of a pickup truck

[DougNR]

Originally Posted by ChrisA

If you have problems with the light check the UK warranty. Mine has a lifetime warranty.

The C8 eLED Plus has a limited lifetime warranty. Components therein not manufactured by UK have less - lamps for instance have only a 30 day warranty.

Oh well, there are a good many happy UK customers that swear by their products. With this initial problem solved, I plan to get a lot of use from the light!

[Scoobidoo]

Originally Posted by DougNR

The C8 eLED Plus has a limited lifetime warranty. Components therein not manufactured by UK have less - lamps for instance have only a 30 day warranty...

I didn't know lamps weren't covered in the warranty, must be in the fine prints. It's interesting why they would want to limit the lamp warranty with the eLED Plus, I'd think LED lamps are pretty indestructible anyway.

[DougNR]

Originally Posted by Scoobidoo 143169

I didn't know lamps weren't covered in the warranty, must be in the fine prints. It's interesting why they would want to limit the lamp warranty with the eLED Plus, I'd think LED lamps are pretty indestructible anyway.

I'm guessing here, but I believe it's the entire module that is on the 30 day 'lamp' warantee not just the bulb. All the circuitry for voltage / light brightness control is there.

BTW, I'm not trying to flame UK here. The shop made the problem right with me. Sure, it's a concern that a high percentage of modules I checked shared the same problem, but I now have what I believe to be a good light.