Arc AAA led removal

[zorba]

Self explanatory really,
How do I remove the led form the head of the arc AAA?
If it helps, what I want to do is remove the anodizing, so in order to do so for the head, the led assembly has to be removed.
Thanks

 

[koala]

Disassembly
'Peel' off the crimp on the head that holds the circuit board at the bottom of the thread.

Clamp your ARCAAA head.

Find a small piece of rubber, preferably 7x7mm.
Find a nail with a head of 5x5mm.

Place the rubber between the nail and the LED.
Use the nail inverted, hit lightly with small hammer.
The LED epoxy assembly and the circuit board will slide out slowly.

Because of sharp surface of the nail, careful not to slip and hurt yourself and the ARCAAA head.

Assembly
Push the LED epoxy assembly back, if you find it too tight use some thing to hit it back. Before finishing, apply some conductive paint between the curcuit board and the lips of the head to enhance negative electric contact.

Conductive paint can be bought at any automobil shop, used to repair rear windscreen heating elements.

I take no responsibility if your light does not work after disassembling. This mod will void your warranty. There could be some other ways to waterproof that LED before you submerge that head into stripping.

Vince.

 

[NightStorm]

I have a slight variation to what nukiez said. Instead of hammering the LED and circuit board out, I place the head assembly on a piece of aluminum foil that is sitting a top an electric stove burner. I then heat the head on low until its almost too hot to handle (140+ degrees F, 60+ degrees C). This softens the potting material enough to where the LED and circuit can be pushed out with the eraser end of a pencil. Have fun!!

Dan

 

[koala]

Dan, your right, most electronics can survive a 60+ degrees heat easily. Zorba I think Dan's way is good alternative solution to my brute force. However, does the epoxy remains
ok after the heat? I can shaft it back and it's still tight.

Vince.

 

[NightStorm]

Vince,

When I've used this method, the encapsulation remains intact to the point where it is an exact negative of the inside of the head. Reheating the head should allow for re-insertion. However, as I haven't tried this, I cannot vouch for the thermal integrity or the waterproofness. Later.

Dan

 

[zorba]

Ok,
Tried heating the head and the solder started running out, so didnt work.
Took some TUBOFLO (LYE in the US) and dipped the arc AAA body in it. Everything went well. Took the head and dipped it really fast in the stuff, anodizing was off, rinsed it, blew it with compressed air and it still works.
THE DOWNSIDE...
It looks like I dipped the body a tad too long in LYE, so at the poin where the head screws, became so soft that it ripped a milimetre or so when I polished it.
SO, if any of the thousands of guys in this forum feels like sending me their spare arc AAA body, any colour as a donation or at a nominal price, feel free to pm me
Thank you all.