Maratec AAA won't turn off

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Newly Enlightened
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May 2, 2009
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Sometimes my Maratec does not turn off. It's my EDC light - other than this quirk I have been very pleased with it.

Anyone else seen this? Is there something I can clean/polish to correct the problem?
 
Maybe unscrew it farther? It's just a twisty, so eventually it just has to turn off if you loosen the head far enough.
 
I had a Maratac SS AAA and an Illumina Ti AAA with a similar problem. Neither light would switch off until I screwed the head off the battery tube completely. Both started to malfunction after I tried them out with some protected AAA Li-ion batteries. I did notice that I had to screw the head down very hard to get them to switch on.

My current theory is that these protected batteries are longer than the other batteries I normally use, and this extra length has pushed on the battery (+) contact plate and done some damage so that somehow the current is passing from the threads into the LE, rather than via the designed path of the end of the battery tube to the LE (which is how you switch the light on/off).

10 minutes later I have returned from trying to "fix" both these lights.

I ran a very small flat screwdriver around the edge of the LE where it touches the thread in the head. The Maratac seems to be switching off OK now (but I'll definitely keep an eye on it).

No improvement for the Illumina, so I thought I would unscrew the LE to see if I could see any problems behind the battery (+) contact plate.

My Illumina Ti AAA is now officially "cactus". I have discovered that the LE was potted (glued in) with a black substance, rather than screwed in like some of my other lights. If you try to screw it out then if you appply sufficient (ie substantial) force you will break the glue and also the wires :shakehead. Oh well, it will make a pretty host for a small custom AAA light someday.
 
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I have a similar problem: my maratac AAA will turn off after a few seconds to a minute or so of use and will not turn back on until I whack it on the wall or my hand (harder whacking works better). Then it will turn off again. Any ideas?
 
Mine had severe flickering/intermittent problems-- along with usual cleaning, I removed the spring, cleaned the tube under it with alcohol on a Q tip and stretched the spring out 1/8-1/4 inch. No flickering at all now! :twothumbs
 
sabre7 said:
Mine had severe flickering/intermittent problems-- along with usual cleaning, I removed the spring, cleaned the tube under it with alcohol on a Q tip and stretched the spring out 1/8-1/4 inch. No flickering at all now! :twothumbs
Click to expand...
How do you remove the spring?

EDIT:nvm it's not attached :p

EDIT 2:no go. It still cuts out after 30 seconds or so of runtime. Looks like I'll be sending it in.
 
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Yeah its not attached, use anything like a small flat head screwdriver to get hold of it and pull it out.
 
wyager said:
EDIT 2:no go. It still cuts out after 30 seconds or so of runtime. Looks like I'll be sending it in.
Click to expand...


As a last resort maybe try another battery. It has also been reported that lightly sanding the open end of the tube on a flat surface with fine grit sandpaper or emery cloth improves contact too.

Unless others have suggestions, sending it back might be the only solution. I had just about given up on mine until cleaning under and stretching the spring fixed it.
 
I've tried tons of batteries all at 1.45v or higher. It's just broken, I've had an RMA for a while I've just hoped it would fix itself.
 
I had a similar issue with an ITP A3 SS (essentially the same light) that started to stay on all the time, after a month or so of normal, but fussy operation.

When I looked into the head with good lighting and a bit of magnification, I saw a small "whisker" of copper that was bridging the ring on the board to the shell of the head. A little delicate work with a "dental" pick, followed by a light sanding of the end of the tube, a thorough cleaning and lube and it's been good for more than six months. It had been fussy even before deciding to stay on full time, but after maintenance it's been entirely reliable. It rides in a shirt or pants pocket every day.


- Syncytial.
 
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~

Do Maratac's have anodized threads to prevent electrical contact through the threads ?

If while cleaning - your cleaning is too aggressive and removes the anodizing - won't that make it stay on ?

I don't have one - so I'm asking .

~
 
syncytial said:
I had a similar issue with an ITP A3 SS (essentially the same light).

When I looked into the head with good lighting and a bit of magnification, I saw a small "whisker" of copper that was bridging the ring on the board to the shell of the head. A little delicate work with a "dental" pick, followed by a light sanding of the end of the tube, a thorough cleaning and lube and it's been good for more than six months. It had been fussy even before deciding to stay on full time, but after maintenance it's been entirely reliable. It rides in a shirt or pants pocket every day.


- Syncytial.
Click to expand...
Wait, I'm a bit confused-is this INSIDE the head? I don't think you can disassemble the head of a maratac AAA.
 
TooManyGizmos said:
~

Do Maratac's have anodized threads to prevent electrical contact through the threads ?

If while cleaning - your cleaning is too aggressive and removes the anodizing - won't that make it stay on ?

I don't have one - so I'm asking .

~
Click to expand...

Looks like the threads on the tube and inside the head are anodized, the end of the tube is bare metal.
 
That shouldn't matter IMO. The negative contact is on the PCB, not the metal of the head.
 
wyager said:
Wait, I'm a bit confused-is this INSIDE the head? I don't think you can disassemble the head of a maratac AAA.
Click to expand...

No disassembly required...

If you look at the part of the head where the battery tube would make contact with the copper plated ring at the edge of the board, that's what I'm referring to. A little sliver of copper was making contact between the copper ring and the metal shell of the head.

These lights make contact, on the negative side, between the top edge of the battery tube and a copper ring at the circumference of the exposed board. Given that, and if there is no connection to the shell of the head from the negative side of the circuit, there should be no requirement for anodized threads.

Thus, I'm a bit skeptical about these lights having anodized threads. In the case of my stainless one, when it was "locked" on, it would come on as soon as the head touched the body, with the battery making contact with the centre (positive) contact on the board, indicating there was a conductive path from body to the shell of the head. I'll check some of the other ITP and Maratac AAA lights I've got later.

What finish is the light with apparent anodizing?


- Syncytial.
 
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