Inside the Mc Clickie

[Beamhead]

***Please take note of my edits, I think it best to edit the first post to avoid a long read through a long thread. I am also on a learning curve and my eyes aren't as young as they used to be. :green:***



I got my 2 HA Nat Mc clickies today from the shoppe and one was perfect from the get go, but my good buddy schlep-rock(Murphy's orphaned stepchild) goo-ed up the other.:laughing: It had momentary 100% of the time but only latched on 1 out of damn near exactly 5 times.:thinking:

No problem though as I have been inside another clickie mechanism more times than I'd like, so in I went.

I don't suggest anyone do this.

The Mc clickie is very easy to open, just take a precision flathead screwdriver and pry the retaining ring off rotating the switch, taking care as you do. (see pic below)

EDIT: it is not really a retaining ring but the negative contact, it does however aid in separating the 2 switch housing halves seen in pic #2 (the first and last pieces).

When I first opened it I noticed quite a bit of somewhat thick grease inside the button (5th part from the left) which may have been causing the 4th part from the left to not make contact between the contact washer and the positive tab on the 1rst part on the left. (see above pic)I removed the grease, reassembled and all seemed fine until I decided to disassemble it for this write up.

EDIT: Although the grease was thick and quite possibly caused a suction effect, I now think the problem was more of an alignment issue between the tab in part 1 above, the tab in part 3 above and the contact/circuit completion washer on part 4 above. A combination of bending the tab on part 1 up a wee bit and the tab on part 3 down a wee bit, allowed straighter (not so crooked) alignment with the contact/circuit completion washer on part #4.

I apologize if this is confusing.



Then it was mildly intermittent, so I bent the positive tab (see pic below) up a hair, reassembled and it is working flawlessly now.

If I still at some point experience any minor problems, I may try removing the small screw from the 4th part from the left and stretching the spring that sits under the contact washer. (see pic below)

Edit: the small screw mentioned above may in fact not be a screw at all rather part of the piece with the contact washer.

I don't claim that any of my methods are right, but I will share what I try and what seems to work for me.

Now to my overall assessment of the Mc clickie/tail cap.

The tail cap design is very attractive, the finish is flawless with a bit of a gloss.
It tail stands nicely, and has a quarter twist lock out.:goodjob:

The switch module is a steal for the money and if in the rare event you need to replace it, shell out less than 10 bucks and screw the new module right in!:rock:

 

[Cliffnopus]

Good to know, thanks for the tips.

Cliff

 

[Roboholic]

Hi Beamhead,

Is there a way to get a Mc Clickie to go from off - low- high?
Thanks Robo

 

[Beamhead]

Hi Robo, the Mc Clickie is single stage only (on/momentary/off). If you are asking if it can be modded to a 2 stage, I have no idea. Anything seems possible around here.

 

[McGizmo]

One could easily solder a SMD resistor to jump between the tube contact plate and contact spring mount and you would have a two stage where twist off -twist on would power the light up and high or low would be a function of the clickie state (constant on low and momentary or latched on high). Kind of cumbersum but doable I believe.

Beamhead,
I am not happy to hear about a misbehaving clickie!! If anyone else gets one, I would like to swap it out for a working sample and then take it apart to find the problem. :thinking: The switch is rather straight forward and simple in function as well as servicable in dissassembly. I would guess that excessive grease was the culprit but it is a guess at this point.

 

[Beamhead]

Mc Gizmo,

I did not mean to imply that this clickie is bad, perhaps I am the one mis-behaving.

I seem to have solved the issue and apologize if the wrong impression was given/taken.

It's a hot Saturday and I got caught up in this while enjoying the comfort of my AC. :duh2:

 

[kenster]

Beamhead,

Thanks for the pics of the clickie switch disassembled!

I found out that you shouldn`t leave the switch in pieces on a messy work table. It doesn`t go back together well when you loose the little spring! The switch worked perfect but I just had to take it apart for fun.

It is a good thing I bought several of these cool switches.

Thanks,
Ken

 

[Ray_of_Light]

I would like to buy some of the switch internals for some of my mods.

The question is:

The clickie switch assembly does fit inside a SF Z52?

This would allow to convert a Z52 into a functionally equivalent Z57, but cheaper, and physically shorter.

My mod would consist:
1. removing the anodization from the inner threads of the Z52.
2. connect a 22 Ohm resistor between the tube "contact disk" of the switch assembly and the un-anodized inner threads of the Z52.

Guess what you would get. A clickie on-off, twist high-low switch.

I tested this mod with the SF Z57, and the Fenix L1P clickie. I would like to convert the bunch of Z52 I have in click on-off, twist high-low switches.

TIA

Anthony

 

[mccavazos]

I would like to buy some of the switch internals for some of my mods.

The question is:

The clickie switch assembly does fit inside a SF Z52?

This would allow to convert a Z52 into a functionally equivalent Z57, but cheaper, and physically shorter.

My mod would consist:
1. removing the anodization from the inner threads of the Z52.
2. connect a 22 Ohm resistor between the tube "contact disk" of the switch assembly and the un-anodized inner threads of the Z52.

Guess what you would get. A clickie on-off, twist high-low switch.

I tested this mod with the SF Z57, and the Fenix L1P clickie. I would like to convert the bunch of Z52 I have in click on-off, twist high-low switches.

TIA

Anthony

This sounds really cool, I would love to see some pics if you have them.

 

[Ray_of_Light]

It is not a difficult mod.
The culprit is removing the anodization really well, and finding a way to make the drop resistor contact the tailcap.
Sandblasting is the best way to remove anodization.

I used a small spring and some coductive paint to make possible the contact between the resistor with the un-anodized threads.
The other terminal of the resistor is soldered to the switch contact plate (The plate, or disk, that will touch the tube once the tailcap is screwed in fully).

In case of a imperfect removal of anodization, use some silver loaded conductive grease.

This mod works well with SF personal lights, where the threads on the flashlight tube are chemcoated. In teh case of the Fenix, it is necessary to remove the anodization also from the flashlight tube' threads.

I'm not home, I can post some pictures the second week of July.

The concept is simple, there are two paths for the current to flow:

1: via the resistor, through un-anodized thread and the flashlight tube when the tailcap is not fully screwed; this is the low stage.
2: from the switch contact ring (or disk) to the flashlight tube directly, if the tailcap is fully screwed in; this is the high stage.

For both 1 and 2, the clickie switch turns the light on and off in both high and low.

Regards

Anthony

 

[McGizmo]

Anthony,

Yes, the McClickie will fit in the Z52 shell and provided you have an electrical path through the threads of the cap and the battery tube what you have described should work. I see the real challenge in a good wiping contact to the tail cap shell bridging a resistor and the contact ring. You do have the two contact ring recessed drive chambers to host a SMD resistor and its contact? :thinking:

 

[Ray_of_Light]

Don,

in my original idea, there are no wiping contacts. The resistor is connected across the switch disk and the tailcap threads.
Once the all assembly is in place, the only part that will be "wiping" are the threads.
I'll try to make some drawings, if I cannot post pictures of the mod I did to the Fenix L1P Tailcap, that is fairly easy compared to the mod of the Z57.

In the L1P, I soldered the resistor between the PCB pad that connects via the switch to the battery contact spring, and metallic washer pushing on the rubber boot. The washer makes stable contact with the tailcap body.

Regards

Anthony