YAY... RATS! (Romisen RC I3)

The goods:



In action:
1xAA


2xAA


Dorcy AAA for comparison (sorry, it's all I had to hand)


First the yay. It is Quite Bright in 2xAA mode, and still pretty reasonable although much, much less impressive in 1XAA mode. Sealed head, orange peel reflector, light is largely free or artifacts (no rings, no visible squareness) and the color is a good, strong, flat, clear white. Not blue, but perhaps a little cool.

Now the RATS! It was a bit flickery, and came on less than half of the time when I clicked it. I cleaned the threads and contacts. Now it doesn't work at all. Tried shimming various likely problem areas with tin foil. Nothing.

Phooey!

Any suggestions? What's the standard protocol to try on things like this? Where do I kick to restore function to my new shiny?

If you have other questions about the light, please ask and I'll try and answer them.

See if you can connect a wire from battery negative to the flashlight tube while you have tthe switch removed. If it does not light up, you have major problems. If it lights up, just look at the ring with two holes around the spring inside the tail cap switch.. Using suitable instrument, rotate the ring to tighten it.

- Vikas

Yep, I get light if I make a direct connection, but I can't get the tailcap off to adjust the ring, or see much down there that looks adjustable. Amusingly, I can put the extender tube on the light, pack the end with foil, and it works. So whatever the issue is, it's south of the extender tube.

Hm. This is turning out to be an education. So the tail section of the light is about 2" long, including the clickie and the little wire pocket clip. I can see two tiny holes at the bottom of the tube, behind the spring, but goodness knows what I'd use to turn them - some tool I don't have.

I've tried to unscrew the section which just the tail cap, starting right above the pocket clip, but it doesn't seem to be going anywhere.

Any idea what the tool for opening these is called, so I could call around and see if I can find out? Some kind of professional screw driver?

Muppet said:

Hm. This is turning out to be an education. So the tail section of the light is about 2" long, including the clickie and the little wire pocket clip. I can see two tiny holes at the bottom of the tube, behind the spring, but goodness knows what I'd use to turn them - some tool I don't have.

I've tried to unscrew the section which just the tail cap, starting right above the pocket clip, but it doesn't seem to be going anywhere.

Any idea what the tool for opening these is called, so I could call around and see if I can find out? Some kind of professional screw driver?

Click to expand...

Circlip pliers should be the appropriate tool but they tend to be either expensive or fragile. Some sort of watchmaker's tool, the things they use for opening watch cases (but the ones of those I've seen wouldn't work down a 50mm deep hole).

However, an awl or a nail of appropriate diameter in one of the holes will often work and most folks can find a nail or two lying around.

However, if you have one lying around, a small disc magnet to make the cells a bit longer and make tighter contact might fix it. If so stretching the springs (if any) slightly might help.

Well you could always make a suitable tool yourself using a file, some metal rod and lots of time. Oh wait, you wanted the quick solution? ;D

Normally the switch is fastened with a retainer ring, I guess thats where the two holes are in. It all depends on the size of those holes. Often needle-nose pliers can be used. (These for example http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000JNNW1M/?tag=cpf0b6-20 ) There are others, the smaller the tip at the end, the better. These are very useful to have around the house, so you might consider buying them. (Have no idea what the prices are over there, so you might consider asking someone who knows where to buy good tools). With those you should be able to unscrew that retainer ring. You might try fastening, but while you're on it you could as well dismantle the switch and take a closer look, they're usually not overly complicated and maybe cleaning is needed. Again while you're on it, put some lube between the tailcap and the metal housing, this will enhace waterproofness.

All you really want to do is to make sure the ring jas not come lose. Even a balll point pen will do in a pinch if you can get the tip in one of the hole.

If it is tight, then it implies that internals of the switch are bad. At that time, you are better of starting the RMA procedure and get the light replaced.

- Vikas

Ive had this light for a few weeks now. I like it, but only in single cr123 mode. to get to the switch to tighten it just take a small pair of pliers and pull the rubber boot off. THeres two holes in there you can put a pair of tweezers in and tighten it. tighten clock wise. You can get the head off but its a job. its glued on. Ive actually put a McGizmo McClicky in mine. Took some doing but it works fine.

Hm. Gave that a try, and I see a switch on top of a silver disk with two holes. Doesn't seem to rotate either way, even with a fair bit of force.

I'll give it another shot in the morning.

Thanks for all the pointers!

Can you return or have warranty work done?

Oh sorry, I forgot completely about RMA.. If it doesn't move, like the others suggested then it might be better to get a new one or to get this reppaired, kind of assumed that warranty was not an option..
BTW: the two holes are on opposite sides, meaning an imaginary straigt line connecting the both would hit the center of the ring?

Yeah, I'm going to return the light to Golden Gadgets tomorrow. Post takes a while from Iceland, but it's busted. I tried tightening the visible two-holes-on-either-side-of-the-center thing under the spring, with some success (i.e. it's back to partial function) but it's not reliable.

Oops, as they say.

Still, it's quite an impressive little light. Particularly on 2xAA.

Does this light use a standard star or is it a custom heatsink/pill sort of setup.. I like the light but really only want the tube and head i want to replace the emitter and driver

Did you ever resolve your problem with this light? I ask because I bought 3 RC-I3's lights, they all work great with 2 AA cells, or with a c123 cell. However one of them does not work with just a single AA cell. I found that the problem is in the tail switch by swapping it around. The problem follows the switch. When running with 2 AA cells all are of about the same brightness. Also while the problem light works with a c123 it does not work with an Energizer lithium cell.

As a side note it looks like this light could me modified to work with a single 17500 cell by removing the plastic spacer in the tail switch. I also found that the pill containing the led was easy to unscrew from the head. It looks like the LED could be replaced with a newer one.

yep, i sent it back, got a replacement, works flawlessly.

great light!