Help with an old ARC Flashlight

Thanks in advance.

I have an old ARC LED light marked as follows:

ARC LS LED
LSL-P 271

It is pictured below. This light has been used very little, but the lens appears to have fractured. It is still in one piece, but when I pull a fingernail lightly across the surface I can feel some of the cracks. It needs to be replaced.

I have done enough research to see that ARC is no longer around, so I need a source for the lens, instruction on how to remove the electronics/led from the head (looks simple enough...slots in the edges indicate it might screw out) or, if it's complicated, a suggestion regarding someone who might repair the lens for me.

Again, thanks. Tons of good information here.

Welcome to CPF!
You have a nice old ARC LS there. There used to be a FAQ about old ARC models on CPF, but I don't know if it still exists. Your LSL-P should have a low-dome Luxeon LED with selected premium tint (P). 271 is the serial number. You could double the light output by replacing the LED with a Seoul Semiconductor (SSC) P4 LED (also obsolete).

It should have a plastic lens, very hard to crack. It may actually just be that the anti-reflective coating is bad. I have to leave now and can't look up my notes on size, but try flashlightlens.com if the CPF buy/sell/trade doesn't pan out.

I once posted some disassembly instructions, but I keep losing my image servers, so my posts on that have no pix now. Disassembly is not too tricky, but reassembly alignment is touchy. Inside the back of the head is a ring with opposing holes that has to be turned and unscrewed, however some units have a lot of Loctite on them and can be extremely hard to remove. Then inside, there are some tricks with disassembly and a groove inside the bare head.

I can post more later if no one else chimes in.

Thanks, louie. You may well be right that it is a coating. As badly as the lens seems to be 'cracked', it would seem very unlikely it would hold together. If you get around to it, any disassembly hints would be helpful. Meantime I'll check out flashlightlens.com.

Welcome Cy,

The Lexan lens size is 19.8mm X 1.12mm. You can also replace the lens with a mineral glass watch lens. Esslinger(dot)com can provide the 19.8mm size in a 1mm thickness. If wanting to keep the light OEM, Flashlightlens(dot)com can manufacture a custom replacement for you. The Optic under the lens is a NX-05 optic. From your pics, it appears to be just a damaged lens.

If you prefer to keep the light with the original optic you can get a new one.

http://theledguy.chainreactionweb.com/product_info.php?cPath=48_50_65&products_id=68

Sigh...
Makes me nostalgic to see that old thing. We were just discussing them on another thread. I had one of the same run, which came with a AA and a 2xAA battery tube as well as the CR123 tube. Lost the head and CR123 tube many Halloweens ago. I remember when that was the absolute cutting edge of flashlight performance.

Years ago I bought a set of earbuds that were sold with a small zippered case. At some point, I lost/dumped/something those earbuds and put the ARC in the case...never to be seen or thought about until a year or so back. I found the case (in a travel bag I use regularly) and lo and behold the ARC was inside. Probably 7 or 8 years missing. Didn't even know it was gone, having moved along to an A2 Aviator, then various LED generations.

It it was a nice find. I think it's one of the coolest lights I've owned. I hope it can be restored. (It actually works just fine.)

If you PM me with your email, I have my own 500k PDF of Arc disassembly instructions. It's a PDF of a webpage I once made.