Some weeks ago I got into contact with fenix.de to ask about a problem with my Fenix UC30. I want to tell you a bit about my experience.
If you don’t know the UC30 and it’s versions, here’s a little introduction: It’s a 18650 flashlight (meaning the battery it’s using) with about 900 lumen. It’s “non-tactical” which means, it doesn’t have tactical features like instant light, strobe, a tail switch or a striking bezel or glass breakers. It has a small reflector which means it won’t throw very far. That’s all fine because it has something, many “tactical flashlights” with 18650 batteries miss: It’s small and easy to use. It’s as small as it get’s with a battery this big and you can use it as an everyday carry flashlight. Other features include a charging indicator LED and a USB port for charging the battery while it’s in the flashlight. This port connects to standard micro-USB cables which means you don’t need a proprietary charging cable like with other brands. Event though it’s quite bright and you have the charging port, the UC30 has a relatively small price tag compared to more tactical flashlights. The indicator LED is beneath the switch on the side, covered with glow in the dark material so it will glow a while even when the LED is off. (Newer versions replaced that switch)
![Fenix UC30 (old version)](https://gear.widhalm.or.at/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/20200715_112058-1024x498.jpg)
That charging LED was the root cause for my problem with the UC30. When I disconnected it from the cable, the LED kept on glowing (not just the GITD button). So even when a small LED only uses very little power the battery would die after some days or weeks when I didn’t unscrew the tailcap for storing. It’s ok, if you know that you have to, but it’s still an annoyance. So I wrote an e-mail to fenix.de being the local representative of Fenix. I asked them if they know some sort of trick to have this fixed. Maybe there’s a known issue with dirt in some places or there might be a combination of clicks or press and hold on the button to reset the lamp. I told them that I don’t expect any replacement. I told them that I grabbed this flashlight in some electronics store during a business trip, that I don’t have the warranty card or even the receipt and that I had this lamp rolling around in several backpacks for years so I’d be ok with it just being through. I used i as my primary flashlight for some time but even more often had it with me as a backup in my backpack. So even when it wasn’t used that much, it suffered quite some wear and tear.
![Charging slot on the Fenix UC30](https://gear.widhalm.or.at/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/20200715_112116-1024x498.jpg)
What fenix.de did, really astonished me. They said, they never heard of this behavior and sent some general tips I could try to fix the issue. When I said, they didn’t work, they asked me to send it to them. I reassured them that I didn’t expect a replacement or even customer service under the given conditions but I sent it in anyway. After some time I got my UC30 back with the head replaced and a notice with the new serialnumber. No questions asked. The didn’t even ask for the shipment to be paid.
Long story short: I’m really, really astonished about the customer service fenix.de showed. I want to use this post to say thank you. Honor, where honor is due. Oh, and by the way, the flashlight is now working like a charm and has a fixed slot in my weekly rotation of EDC flashlights.
Thanks for the info!