Help! My EDC is busted!

[formicae]

A couple of days ago I found out my beloved Civictor V1 had stopped working. I had used it the day before, but now it doesn't work and exhibits some strange symptoms. I've been EDCing this thing for years now because of its reliability, simplicity, and small form factor (no clickie to add a centimeter, fits in my jeans' lighter/watch pocket) and of course they're not available anymore, so I'd really rather be told there's a fix than have to shop around for a short 1AA replacement.

When I twist the head on, the LED winks for a fraction of a second before going out. If I try again without letting it rest, I don't even get the wink. If I let it rest for ~10+ minutes, I'll manage to get another blink out of it.

I've tried different batteries (NiMH, alkaline, lithium), cleaned the rim of the battery tube and the contacts on the LED assembly, and I'm pretty much out of ideas. Has anyone had this happen before, and managed to rescue it, or is it a lost cause?

 

[Crenshaw]

It could be that the boost circuit has gone bust.

Not a lot you can do about that sadly.... time to upgrade!

Crenshaw

 

[Marduke]

You might want to checkout the Nitecore EZAA for a replacement if you need one.

 

[bshanahan14rulz]

try disassembling it and see how big the boost circuit is, or if there is something obviously wrong with it, like a short or a burnt cap or something. Maybe there is a boost circuit already being sold that mightfit it?

 

[MrGman]

I had a different LED module that died after it was working perfectly normal. Opened it up and found that some of the insulation for the inductor had melted and shorted the inductor to circuit board on a section of exposed copper plane. I lifted it up and it worked. Wrapped it with mylar tape and its been working ever since. It had only melted through the insulation at the one spot where it was touching the copper plane, so I got lucky.

You might find something just as easy if you can open your unit. I definitely would suspect driver over the LED from what you have said about the symptoms.

 

[formicae]

All right, I guess I'll borrow someone's snap-ring pliers and see if I can find anything wrong with the driver. I actually thought at first that maybe something had burned out because it had turned on in my pocket, but the battery was about 75% full so I figured that ruled out that theory. Thanks for the tips, here's hoping it's fixable.

The NiteCore EZ AA looks great, and I like that it's only two-mode, but it's just above the price point that makes me nervous with it as an EDC. One of the other nice things about the Civictor was its ~$30 price point. I should have bought two! (actually I bought three, but gave two away as gifts. :( )

 

[Flying Turtle]

Great excuse for a new light. Like Marduke said, the EZAA is worth checking. I just compared it to my old V1. The Civictor seems fat beside it. Another small twistie AA that might still be found is the old Jetbeam CL-E.

Geoff

 

[hyperloop]

go take a look at the akoray k106, i got the 3 mode programmable and its pretty darn decent for its price point, its reasonably hardy (already dropped a few times from my cabinet to the tile floor and still works fine) and programming it is a cinch! Got mine from KD, took a while, a loooooong while to arrive but arrive it did and i am really pleased with the light.

it may not be the brightest or the dimmest but its a good workhorse of a light for EDC, i run mine of 14500s and usually have 2 spares with me, if going out without spares, then a freshly charged 14500 goes in.

 

[formicae]

Just to follow up, I ended up pulling the trigger on the EZ AA W. Thanks for the advice, GREAT little light.