What happened to the AA?

Shaocaholica · Jan 8, 2006

Are any new Arc AAs avaliable? I'd be very interested if they were.

Also, whats the difference between the AA and AAA as far as the LED and regulation circuit?

carrot · Jan 8, 2006

No Arc AA right now, but a lot of people were begging Peter for it. We may see one or we may not. I hope we do. AA may be a bad form-factor for the keychain, but it's the perfect tradeoff between runtime and size, IMO.

You might be able to find one in good condition on CPF BST (buy/sell/trade).

I can't say about the circuit, but I know that the latest AAAs are brighter than the AA. I don't care much, though, because the AA is plenty bright for me.

Shaocaholica · Jan 8, 2006

Well, it wouldn't be too hard to put the newer better AAA electronics into a new batch of AAs. I'd be game if there went back on sale. Especially since they are probably the smallest high quality/high performance AA out there.

Edit: When was the AA been discontinued?

Mrd 74 · Jan 8, 2006

Personally I would prefer the same tail as the AAA.

bucken · Jan 8, 2006

Anyone remember what the run time was for an Arc AA?

paulr · Jan 8, 2006

AA runtime is 12-14 hours on an alkaline iirc. Circuit and led were very similar to the Arc AAA being made at that time. The new Arc AAA circuit is probably approximately the same, except for the new (brighter and more efficient) led. Peter said a while back that an Arc AA revival was in the works. I hope it happens sooner or later, but not until Arc AAA production is up to full speed and the backlog is completely cleared.

bucken · Jan 8, 2006

paulr said:
AA runtime is 12-14 hours on an alkaline iirc.

12-14 hours, WOW! And put in a lithium AA, then double WOW! Glad to hear that Peter's seriously considering a AA revival, especially with the newer LED's. I still have a couple original Arc AA's but I still always seem to keep coming back to the Arc AAA for navigating around the house at night, etc. I really like the compactness of the AA, though.

paulr · Jan 9, 2006

Here's the runtime plot: http://ftp2.itexas.net/Rbost/arc-aa.jpg
With a lithium, the curve should be longer and flatter, but nowhere near 2x as long.

jayflash · Jan 10, 2006

I was too slow to get an AA when they were still available new, so I settled for an Ultra G which makes a great, low level, tent light. Having an old and new AAA, plus the excellent LS makes me happy even though I don't have the complete collection.

Flying Turtle · Jan 11, 2006

I have to admit that my Arc AA is a shelf queen. It's just too nice to mess up, and I have so many others that are less special. I was fortunate enough to snag one when they first came out, in fact probably within minutes of Peter saying they were available for order. It was my first "expensive" light.

Geoff

paulr · Jan 11, 2006

Flying Turtle, does that mean you have an AA with the lug tail? Ooooooh.

Flying Turtle · Jan 11, 2006

No, paulr, mine has the stand-up tail. I was probably quick enough to get one of the lug tail ones, but wanted the new style at the time. I guess I didn't forsee how rare the others would be, and I already had an original Infinity with the big lug.

Geoff

Mattman · Jan 18, 2006

Geoff, I know what you mean about the AA. If someone asked me to see a nice flashlight of mine, the AA would be the one I would show them. My AA is fits between my old AAA Premium and new AAA-P in the brightness category, but is closer to the Premium.

greenLED · Jan 18, 2006

I never got an original ArcAA, but I laid my hands on a body and 2 empty heads - waiting for a Lux mod, or transplanting an ArcAAA circuit in there. The circuit looks identical to the one in the ArcAAA (I've taken "a few" AAA's apart recently

)

Shaoca, PM arewethereyetdad; he's got a stash of them and routinely puts them on BST.

270winchester · Jan 18, 2006

I too would like a Arc AA. My Infinity Ultra-G is the perfect size for my gynormous key chain(lots of keys for those locks), and wouldn't mind having a brighter LED in there like the new AAA. I like the AAA but the run time versus size makes it a little short compare to the Infinities or the AAs.

Eh, for now my 4 Ultra-Gs just have play by themselves....

Gransee · Jan 18, 2006

I posted this before, but the Arc-AA is delayed. Various reasons including: we have yet to catch up on the AAA, the current design project is taking all my time and I decided that when I do the AA, I want to improve it further. Bottom line, it is delayed and I don't want to speculate at this time how long that will be. Good to see there is interest in it, that helps.

Peter

Radio · Jan 18, 2006

I want my Arc AA!!!

D@rk Messenger · Jan 18, 2006

same here!

Shaocaholica · Jan 18, 2006

Gransee said:
I posted this before, but the Arc-AA is delayed. Various reasons including: we have yet to catch up on the AAA, the current design project is taking all my time and I decided that when I do the AA, I want to improve it further. Bottom line, it is delayed and I don't want to speculate at this time how long that will be. Good to see there is interest in it, that helps.

Peter

Do you have any specific improvements in mind right now?

Mr. Blue · Jan 19, 2006

my (4)ARC AA's are the absolute coolest beauties...if Peter does to them what he did to the AAA, I will be carrying nothing but ARCs...

The body on the AA is the nicest design I have seen.

What happened to the AA?

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