Xtar D26 1600

[stuartv]

I think the spring was supposed to address the issue of the battery discharging even when the light is not being used.

 

[fmerkel]

Seems you guys are beta testers. Sounds like a circuit/hardware/firmware problem, not a spring.

 

[inka]

@stuartv:Yes, i understand, but the spring seems to be a realy simple fix for a complex problem,otherwise, they would not change the electronic

 

[scubadiver888]

Just curious to know what the new spring would have changed to the problem, seems strange solution to a bigger problem

My problem was not the battery died when not in use. I told them my only problem was that I'd take a fully charged battery and the light would only run for 3 minutes. According to the rep at XTAR (Catherine Hu) the engineers told her the new spring would fix the problem.

I've pretty much given up on them now. After talking to Catherine Hu, she sent me a new spring and a tube to put in the light. With the tube in the light, only an 18650 battery would fit in the light. XTAR seems to be saying that never using a 26650 battery and only using 18650 batteries will eliminate the problem of the battery only lasting 3 minutes.

Turns out they are correct. If I use the tube and an 18650 battery, the light runs for just under 2 hours. HOWEVER, and this is a big one, the light only emits 600 lumens. That is not a typo. My D26-1600 dive light no longer emits 1600 lumens. The maximum brightness is 600 lumens. So the claim and reason I bought the light is that it will run for 2.45 hours at 1600 lumens but it only runs for just under 2 hours at 600 lumens. My D26 Whale cool light runs at 1100 lumens for 2.15 hours. I wanted a light which was brighter!!!

I've posted my results on the XTAR Facebook page. Everyone here can read this thread. I've recommended XTAR to my dive club in Canada. So I feel obligated to tell them the D26-1600 is not worth it. I'm going to Dallas January 3 for a meeting of my dive club down there. I'll probably mention it to them as well.

 

[scubadiver888]

Seems you guys are beta testers. Sounds like a circuit/hardware/firmware problem, not a spring.

I'm not an engineer but I've worked with enough electrical engineers to know that sometimes the wrong resistor or capacitor can totally mess up a circuit. I remember working on a satellite board. Trying to program the DSPs and it just behaved all wrong. Engineers probes the thing, takes some needlenose pliers, LITERALLY rips a capacitor off the circuit. Bam! The thing starts working.

I was doubtful the spring would solve my problem but I thought I'd give it a try.

Li-Ion batteries can come protected or non-protected. A protected battery will turn off when the voltage gets too low. If the device you are using will drain the battery down to zero volts, you need to get protected batteries to prevent this (never drain a li-ion battery to zero volts). But a lot of circuitry will shutdown if it detects the battery voltage is too low.

It seems like the D26-1600 has circuitry to detect when the battery voltage is too low. The problem is that if the voltage drops to ~4.15 volts, the circuitry in the dive light turns off. The circuitry should not shutdown until the battery reports 2.75 volts. A fully charged 26650 battery is ~4.20 volts. Because the circuitry in the dive light thinks it will damage the battery if it drains it any further, it shuts off.

I suspect the D26 Whale didn't have auto-shutoff circuitry. So it would drain the battery until the circuitry in the battery turned the battery off. So it assumes you have a protected battery. I don't know if the engineers at XTAR are investigating this but they aren't really talking to me. I believe I'm talking to a sales rep and she isn't actually asking me for any of the details I have found. At some point when I'm positive I won't be able to send this back for some sort of refund, I'll probably get out my electronic probes and start testing my theory. Once I do that I doubt I have the equipment to make it waterproof again.

 

[stuartv]

@stuartv:Yes, i understand, but the spring seems to be a realy simple fix for a complex problem,otherwise, they would not change the electronic

Right. My point was that there are 2 problems and the spring only alleges to fix one of them.

 

[Damian G. Finch]

Just wanted to drop a note of thanks to the folks who took the time to post about the Xtar D26 1600. I have learned a lot about the light and more importantly, the company who makes it. I thought it might be worth the hassle of dealing with Alibaba or somewhere to get the light, but after reading about the product and the lack of support, I am going to look elsewhere for a good dive light. Thanks again!

 

[fmerkel]

In general Xtar makes good products. I like their chargers (better than Nitecore IMO), and I have a few of their smaller dive lights which are OK.
Does seem they've screwed up on this particular light. I'm sure they sourced the drivers and LED from somewhere else, if not the entire build. I think the driver is hopelessly screwed up. Hopefully they'll make good on it.

 

[admikar]

Just wanted to drop a note of thanks to the folks who took the time to post about the Xtar D26 1600. I have learned a lot about the light and more importantly, the company who makes it. I thought it might be worth the hassle of dealing with Alibaba or somewhere to get the light, but after reading about the product and the lack of support, I am going to look elsewhere for a good dive light. Thanks again!

I had two D06 (lost one and gave the other as a gift) and "old" D26. All three worked and are working great. Don't be too quick to judge....
P.S. How I know lost one is working great? It was found six months later at 10m. It needed just a cleanup ( battery was OK). Still going good (don't know about battery).

 

[stuartv]

Quick update: I emailed back and forth with Xtar a bit more. They had asked me to ship them my first D26 1600 back. That was going to cost USD$23 or so, which made no sense to me. They have now said never mind on that and they are shipping me a replacement, which should arrive next week.

Meanwhile, the spring they said they had shipped did finally arrive. I guess it took about 2 months to come, shipped ePacket (or whatever they call it) from China. But, as I don't readily see how to remove the old spring and put the new one in, AND I don't believe it will fix my main issue anyway, I'm not even bothering. It seems a shame but that light will probably just go in the trash.

I will update this thread when I get the new light and have a chance to test it.