Problem with LMI Sunray2000 LED lights

Hi all

My Sunray2000s which I have been using for the past few years have both started going a bit wacky. I have done a load of testing (swapping batteries, pods, and light heads) and I think I have it down to a battery problem but I wanted to check if any of you have had a similar problem...

Symptom: lights flicker when set to full or half power, shine perfectly on low power.

The problem only happens with the new batteries (black stickers on both ends # 800-0138) but not with my old one (white paper label on one end) - I have 3 new and one old and the problem appears consistently. I take good care of my batteries, always leave them fully charged and totally discharge from time to time.

I really don't want to buy more of these batteries as they cost a motza and don't seem to last very long, anyone know of anyone that re-packs batteries in Oz or know of another solution?

Cheers

Josh

Josh, apparently David Cheung at Scubacam in Singapore makes a good job of repacking L&M batteries. I'm planning to send some of mine to him at some point. There was a thread about it here.

Hi all

My Sunray2000s which I have been using for the past few years have both started going a bit wacky. I have done a load of testing (swapping batteries, pods, and light heads) and I think I have it down to a battery problem but I wanted to check if any of you have had a similar problem...

 

Symptom: lights flicker when set to full or half power, shine perfectly on low power.

 

The problem only happens with the new batteries (black stickers on both ends # 800-0138) but not with my old one (white paper label on one end) - I have 3 new and one old and the problem appears consistently. I take good care of my batteries, always leave them fully charged and totally discharge from time to time.

 

I really don't want to buy more of these batteries as they cost a motza and don't seem to last very long, anyone know of anyone that re-packs batteries in Oz or know of another solution?

Cheers

Josh

Definitely sounds like a battery problem. Not enough voltage to supply the required Vf to the LEDs.

The fact that it's only happening with the newer batteries also sounds like a batch problem. This happens from time to time with just about all battery manufacturers...occasionally a bad batch gets through their QC. Thats happened to cells I've used in the past. A good supplier will replace substandard batteries for free. It's upto the light's manufacturer to take the issue up with the battery supplier/manufacturer. In our case when I found the issue during QC the battery manufacturer confirmed the fault (not reaching full capacity during charging) and replaced about a hundred batteries (yes, batteries...not cells).

Well made, well maintained NiMH batteries should last for over 500 cycles. Have you spoken to the people who made your lights?

One of the problems with these battery "packs" is it only takes one bad cell to make the whole pack fail.

If they are new batteries have you tried contacting L & M and try returning and exchanging them?

Steve

Hi all

My Sunray2000s which I have been using for the past few years have both started going a bit wacky. I have done a load of testing (swapping batteries, pods, and light heads) and I think I have it down to a battery problem but I wanted to check if any of you have had a similar problem...

 

Symptom: lights flicker when set to full or half power, shine perfectly on low power.

 

The problem only happens with the new batteries (black stickers on both ends # 800-0138) but not with my old one (white paper label on one end) - I have 3 new and one old and the problem appears consistently. I take good care of my batteries, always leave them fully charged and totally discharge from time to time.

 

I really don't want to buy more of these batteries as they cost a motza and don't seem to last very long, anyone know of anyone that re-packs batteries in Oz or know of another solution?

Cheers

Josh

Try new batteries, if it still does the same thing, get in touch with L&M, definitely the batts though.

Frazier

Symptom: lights flicker when set to full or half power, shine perfectly on low power.

Hi Josh,

Can you be a bit more specific about the symptom. Does flicker means light level drops momentarily then back to full power? Or does it drop to a lower power level and stay there?

Regards

Peter

Josh, apparently David Cheung at Scubacam in Singapore makes a good job of repacking L&M batteries. I'm planning to send some of mine to him at some point. There was a thread about it here.

David repacked some discontinued L&M batteries for me a while back. I got another year out of them (and then sold them). He knows what he is doing and has access to a good supply of different cell types.

Regards

Peter

Hi Josh,

 

Can you be a bit more specific about the symptom. Does flicker means light level drops momentarily then back to full power? Or does it drop to a lower power level and stay there?

 

Regards

Peter

Hi all

Sorry I lost track of my own thread, please excuse the slack reply time. The flickering was a constant strobing effect on the higher power settings. I did contact LMI who understandably said the batteries were out of warranty. I should clarify my "new" batteries were only "new" in relation to my "old" batteries, they had still done quite a few hundred dives - they have probably done somewhere near the 500 cycles HDVdiver mentioned.

I have since had the batteries checked out by battery experts (BatteryWise for those of you in Oz) who told me the batteries were indeed stuffed. They re-packed them with slightly better cells (so they tell me) and the whole thing is working great now - at least in my living room. I'll take them for a test dive soon.

Thanks to all for your input.

I have since had the batteries checked out by battery experts (BatteryWise for those of you in Oz) who told me the batteries were indeed stuffed. They re-packed them with slightly better cells (so they tell me) and the whole thing is working great now - at least in my living room. I'll take them for a test dive soon.

If it works OK in the living room should work OK underwater - as long as you are not diving in below zero or above 40 degree water...

I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that most problems come from batteries.

I was having some strange problem with my new LED lights. They'd run fine on lower power settings but, on full power, they'd drop down to the lower intensity after 3 to 5 minutes of run-time. Once the manufacturer swapped the batteries, they work fine.

Regards

Peter

PS. If you are test running LED lights in your living room for more than a couple of minutes, you should put the light heads in a bucket of water.