Black Diamond Revolt Headtorch

[MrFaulty]

Well, in the past 6 months I have gone through 4 black diamond Revolt headtorches - not including the 4 that they opened in the shop before they found one which was not faulty. The problem was the charging system, it kept flashing the code which meant that eithger the batteries were installed incorrectly, werent black diamond batteries, or the batteries had been decharged too much - all of which was rubbish. The store I bought them from (mountain Designs) was initially not all that helpful and I'm not surte if the rep for Black Diamond actually exists!) but they now have a new manager and I have now swapped the revolt for the storm - not happy about the fact it isn't rechargeable but at least I know it will work.

If looking for a headlight and you want a rechargeable, I would stick with a pretzel for a bit until they sort the revolt out.

[neilmny]

Don't worry about the charger bit too much, it would be handy, the storm is a really good waterproof head torch we have 2 of them.

[Strider]

Get a Zebralight and a good quality AA charger. Simple.

[north-north-west]

I'd always be wary of something called 'Revolt'. You just now it's not going to do what you want it to do . . .

[MrFaulty]

Get a Zebralight and a good quality AA charger. Simple.

Nah, I just had a look, for that sort of torch I'll stick with my LED Lenser M7R - so far this thing has been brilliant, even the charging system seems to work lol

[Watertank]

That is interesting - I also bought a revolt from Mountain Designs a few months ago - it sat in a box until a couple of weeks ago - charging didn't work - batteries appeared dead - of course I couldn't find my receipt so new black diamond batteries were bought - expensive. I've, hopefully been able to restore the original batteries using the whiz bang charger that was recommended on this forum. Perhaps I should have stuck to my Storm...

[Gadgetgeek]

I've got the most recent version of the BD Spot, and its great. you trade a bit of brightness for runtime. As far as the revolt goes, not surprised, since by the time anything hits shelves in Aus they've been in storage for months, maybe longer. any time you are charging in the unit, there is going to be added complications. hopefully you can keep things sorted out.

[Strider]

Get a Zebralight and a good quality AA charger. Simple.

Nah, I just had a look, for that sort of torch I'll stick with my LED Lenser M7R - so far this thing has been brilliant, even the charging system seems to work lol

How do you attach it to your head?

[keithy]

I'd have another issue with the BD Revolt torches- they uses non-standard NiMH cells to force you to their brand of batteries.

And with some torches that incorporate the charging circuitry, you are unaware of the type of charging cycle, or the termination method. Things that can lead to shortened battery life.

There have been other complaints about the Revolt headlamps here.

I would also recommend a portable USB AA/AAA charger, good quality Low Self Discharge (LSD) NiMH batteries and standard non-rechargeable Headlamp/torches.

I've made a few group orders for friends in the past three months of single AA torches that can use both AA NiMH, AA lithiums, or rechargeable 14500 Lithium Ion batteries. They can be used as headlamps with a headlamp holder.

[markg]

I have had nothing but bad luck from BDs and LED LENSERS. I bought myself 1 Spark ST6 500 for use at work and then got another one for camping etc. Fantastic, great beam, solid construction,(alloy) waterproof , no plastic here. Got a charger with 3200 mah batteries and they hold a charge for a heck of a long time. Without doubt the best headlamps I have used.

[South_Aussie_Hiker]

MrFaulty, by what method do they prevent use of any rechargeable AAA other than their own?

I have absolutely no doubt the included NiMH batteries won't last long, because as Strider indicates, you need a special type of charger to get good results, and importantly long life, from NiMH for several reasons:
- the charging system on this torch (USB) probably charges the batteries in series - a guaranteed quick death for NiMH (for NiMH, each cell should be charged separately, except certain special circumstances)
- NiMH are hard to terminate correctly, and most chargers will overcharge them - a guaranteed quick death
- the quality variation in NiMH batteries is astounding

Either BD shipped these with junk, cheap NiMH cells - or they didn't do their homework on the technicalities of NiMH charging problems and the torch's inbuilt charger is crap.

I imagine this light would fare well if you used Eneloop AAA batteries and removed them from the torch for charging, in a unit like the Maha C9000 charger.

Not good enough BD. You should be offered a full refund.

And yes, I second Strider's Zebralight recommendation.

[South_Aussie_Hiker]

Just had a quick look on the Amazon reviews, and they support your position MrFaulty. Lots of people having trouble with it.

Good news for you:
- you can use any NiMH in there
- you can charge any NiMH in there too, you just have to cut some of the battery wrapper off in the right place so the side of the battery earths to the charging system inside the torch

I'd buy three Eneloops, shave off the wrapper where required, and try using them.
If it still doesn't work reliably or well, you're going to have to charge those Eneloops externally in a good quality charger.

[MrFaulty]

Not sure how they limit the charging to their brand of batteries, but I now have the storm - it is brighter and I can get a decent set of rechargeables and separate charger - sure I have to take the batteries out to charge but better than being able to leave them in and having poor/no reliability.

I like the look of the Spark - looks rugged but also a bit heavy. Hopefully the storm will last a few years after which I'll do some more research but def not going BD again.

[benjabimon]

I have one of these and I find it is a bit hit and miss. When I had just started using it the first few times, the indicator light was telling me I was using the wrong batteries, or that they weren't charged when I knew they were. It was annoying, but for some reason the problems have gone away. It is an OK head torch, but I wouldn't buy it again.

If I was buying again, I would have gone for a second Zebralight.

[rodb2013]

There's a trick with the initial deep cycle charging with these things. When you first get it out of the box and plug it in and after a while the green light goes off, so you unplug it thinking great, that was quick. Wrong. It hasn't finished. Need to leave it 24 hours. I bought two the first time (for another family member) and didn't realise it to the second one and then just because I forgot. If you have a problem you will need to use a standard wall recharge unit that does deep cycle. Ni-MH battery recharging is complex electronics. So, what could be different in the battery, don't know, but potentially a lot. These are great units. Recently did five nights out and no problem. I've given up on Petzl now, but will check out the Zebralight.

[rodb2013]

I've got two of these and both now work 100% reliable. The confusing thing with the instruction is that when charging and it goes solid green, don't unplug it as it's not finished. After a while of solid green it will go back into flashing charge mode. I had to take the batteries out and deep charge in a standard power point charger but then no problems.