Misterious behavior from Elzetta tail cap

[Flashlight Dave]

I recently purchased this Elzetta Bravo with the high/low cap. I assumed that it operated in the same fashion as the hi/low ring for a MD2 but apparently I am wrong. The tail cap is apparently not working properly.

I was wondering if anyone could explain what is causing the different behavior when using different voltage? I assume there is electronics involved instead of a simple resistor but if you smart folks can school me on it I would much appreciated it!

https://youtu.be/BRt7aCNjr98

 

[kj2]

In the tailcap there is a small pin right next to the larger spring. If that pin makes contact with the the battery tube you get High. If the pin doesn't touch the tube, you should get Low.
Looks like, for some reason, that pin isn't working correctly.

 

[Flashlight Dave]

I agree its not working but it also is not acting like a simple resistor either. In the first part of the vid I zoomed in on the pin to show that it was a hi/low or at least hi/strobe tail cap.

I've been thinking that if Elzetta has a hi/strobe tail cap that cap would haft to have some sort of electronics inside so maybe the hi/low cap does too and that is what is malfunctioning.

I'm a little puzzled at why different voltage would behave differently.

 

[Grizzman]

Here's the way the high/low and high/strobe tailcaps operate. When the tailcap is screwed onto the body contact is initially made between the extended pin and the body, which sends the battery current through he apparatus that causes low mode, then the current flows onward through the light. I would have previously said it's a resister, but won't make that distinction here. When the tailcap is tightened further, the spring loaded pin is pressed into the tailcap until the inner flat section of the tailcap comes into contact with the body directly. This contact bypasses the low mode apparatus, sending full current to the head.

I recently removed the internal tailcap component from a high/low tailcap, but didn't look at it closely enough to know if it uses a resister. The common belief is that the high/low tailcaps use a resister, just like the Malkoff high/low drop-in retaining ring.

Since you bought it from Oveready, they should be able to assist you. There is a contact form on their website for this purpose.

 

[Flashlight Dave]

Thanks for the info. Yes I have contacted Oveready. I got a reply from Dan. He is looking into it for me. Just waiting for him to reply back.

 

[vadimax]

This is what Oveready warned A bored body has issues with a two-mode tail cap: the spring loaded pin does not ride the tube edge properly. This is the main reason I have bought the original non modded Elzetta.

If you need two mode function you have to buy a non-bored battery tube.

 

[Grizzman]

Oveready sells high/low tail caps to be used with their bored bodies. The only tailcap that doesn't work with their bored bodies are the non-click, rotary tail caps.

I personally own 4 Oveready bored Elzettas, and high/low, high/strobe, and clicky tail caps work great. Three of them have high/lows and one has a high/strobe. I have one rotary tailcap, and it does not work with the bored bodies. All others deliver flawless operation. Please provide your source of the mis-information.

 

[Moddoo]

Sometimes the multi-mode switches work perfectly with the bored bodies, sometimes they do not.
It really is a roll of the dice.
We offer them to you guys because you wanted them and no one else was doing it.
The pin in the elzetta tailcaps is on the very edge of only hitting air inside the larger bore.

 

[the0dore3524]

I guess that clear it up lol!

 

[Grizzman]

This topic of two mode tailcap compatibility on Oveready bored bodies has been brought up repeatedly.

I suggest adding verbiage to the product page identifying that there's a potential for them to not work properly.

I'm generally not an overly lucky person, so if it's going to fail, it's likely to fail for me.

 

[Moddoo]

This topic of two mode tailcap compatibility on Oveready bored bodies has been brought up repeatedly.

I suggest adding verbiage to the product page identifying that there's a potential for them to not work properly.

I'm generally not an overly lucky person, so if it's going to fail, it's likely to fail for me.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention.
I thought that we had something written up already.
I'll discuss this with Dan.
Our team is small and it's not easy to stay on top of every detail. But we try hard to do so.

 

[Flashlight Dave]

Thanks for all the info. I was not aware of the issue with the bored body and the hi/low tail cap. If I did I would have chosen a different cap. Moddoo is there a way of maybe testing the cap to see if it does actually work? Unfortunately I do not have another Elzetta.

 

[Flashlight Dave]

Thanks for all the info. I was not aware of the issue with the bored body and the hi/low tail cap. If I did I would have chosen a different cap. Moddoo is there a way of maybe testing the cap to see if it does actually work? Unfortunately I do not have another Elzetta.

Well I just tried the Elzetta tail cap on a Surefire 6p using a small nut as a spacer and I got the same thing with a 17670 battery. It went from fully on to completely off. This is a non bored Surefire. Maybe not a perfect test but maybe there is truly something wrong with the cap.
Moddo if you have any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it!

 

[Str8stroke]

For the Record, Elzetta had some issues, problems, not working, broken (keywords ) with the High/Low Tailcaps on some of the first Alpha lights that first hit the market. I believe they had a issue with a Resistor in the tailcap. Elzetta replaced two tailcaps for me at no cost other than shipping. You do have to ship the entire light back to TN. They will not just swap caps. However, the repairs were done in one day! Their customer service/repair could be useful for those with non modified lights.

I posted this not for discussion purposes, I don't want to derail the thread. I just thought I should include this post as a "addendum" to the thread due to the broadness of the OP's Header. I came here to see the that the OP had issues with a Alpha. So, I figured some folks may land here in the future to read this thread if they were searching more info on issues with a Alpha light.
I hope this helps folks. Y'all carry on and have a great day.

 

[Flashlight Dave]

For the Record, Elzetta had some issues, problems, not working, broken (keywords ) with the High/Low Tailcaps on some of the first Alpha lights that first hit the market. I believe they had a issue with a Resistor in the tailcap. Elzetta replaced two tailcaps for me at no cost other than shipping. You do have to ship the entire light back to TN. They will not just swap caps. However, the repairs were done in one day! Their customer service/repair could be useful for those with non modified lights.

I posted this not for discussion purposes, I don't want to derail the thread. I just thought I should include this post as a "addendum" to the thread due to the broadness of the OP's Header. I came here to see the that the OP had issues with a Alpha. So, I figured some folks may land here in the future to read this thread if they were searching more info on issues with a Alpha light.
I hope this helps folks. Y'all carry on and have a great day.

Thanks for your input. I have heard that the Alpha uses a different hi/low cap from the bravo which led me to speculate that there were electronics being used in the different tail caps. However I believe you mentioned a resistor being the problem so maybe I am wrong.

 

[INFRNL]

When you have the light on high and you back off to what should be the low; try backing it off further up to a full turn to see if it ever come on in low. If you can get it on in low the exposed area at the end of the threads may need to be filed flat. Depends on what that edge currently looks like but being bored leaves a narrow surface. If you carefully file it flatter leaving a tiny bit more surface it should work properly.

As oveready has stated, boring leaves a fine line for that pin to make proper contact which can lead to finicky operation.