Novatac 120p problem

[Dan0s]

I've got a problem with my 120P and am just curious if anyone else has had the same thing, i only noticed it a few weeks ago.
When my light is on in any mode and i put it down to tailstand hard enough to make a thunk noise, then it immediately changes to another mode and switches itself off.
Has anyone else had this?
Thanx for any replies

 

[southernstar]

You could try streching the internal spring a bit, that helped with mine.

 

[effulgentOne]

It's probably the battery briefly breaking contact with the head of the light, because the spring in the tailcap isn't stiff enough. As southernstar said, you could try stretching the tailcap spring a little and seeing if that helps.

 

[Dead_Nuts]

Had this problem with the 17670 tube until I modified it. Sounds like the spring needs twanged a bit.

 

[Dan0s]

Thanx for the advice guys, I just stretched both of the springs inside it a little, not heaps though and it hasnt seemed to have helped, how much should i stretch it?
cheers!

 

[Derek Dean]

Hmmmm....... trust me, the 120P is a great light, and worth a bit of effort to get it tweaked right....... just like a finely tuned sports car.

I wouldn't go overboard with stretching either of the two internal springs. For the big one around the battery, you might try unwinding it rather than stretching it..... but again, just a tiny bit (I think you understand that).

Next, check both the tailcap retaining ring and head retaining ring to make sure they are tight. You will notice them as slender silver discs down inside both the tail cap and the head. They have 4 tiny notches that you can use a pair of tweezers or makeshift unfolded paper clip to twist clockwise just a bit and make sure those rings are tight.

Next, use either some contact cleaner (like Deoxit) or some rubbing alcohol to clean both ends of the big spring and the end of the tail cap spring. For good measure it wouldn't hurt to go ahead and clean the threads on the battery tube and mating sections in the tailcap and head.

Next, make sure you have a fresh battery inserted and then reassemble all pieces together fairly tightly.

I know it seems like a lot of stuff to check for such an expensive light, but many of us had to do the same thing, and usually once these procedures are followed we haven't had any further problems.

Let us know if any of this helps....... and then enjoy your new light. I use mine EVERY night on my job and wouldn't trade it for anything (well....anything IS a big word, but certainly not for another light).

Good luck!

 

[brighterisbetter]

Though rare in occurence, the switch itself under the rubber shield can come apart on the inside if it's heavily used. I'm not sure how to test this though. The same thing happens with a calculator where one button either needs to be pressed really hard, or a light press causes two character inputs. If this is the case, contact Jesse @ Novatac and request a replacement tailcap.

 

[dyROT830]

2008-10-23T06:48:15Z
It sounds to me like the spring in your switch cap is
compressing and causing an open circuit at the positive
contact for an instant. This was a problem with my GPS for
rough use, like on a bicycle, and the GPS would reset, so
the fix was to "harden" the GPS with a shim kit for the
spring battery contacts.

The 120T switch cap is hardened with a medium-firm rubber
collar around the spring to disallow spring compression.
Attachment appears to be superglue, or the like.

The rubber collar is approximately 11mm ID with 9mm height.
Wall thickness varies from about 1.5mm at its base to 2.5mm
at its top where it contacts the battery negative end, so OD
is from about 14mm at its base to 16mm at its top. Its
height is flush with the edge of the switch cap.

 

[Dan0s]

Thanx so much for all the advice, i dont know if it would be the tailcap button cause i can bump the light hard any other angle while its turned on and it wont happen, it only happens when i bump the tailcap. I'm going to give it all a clean like you said Derek Dean. If that all fails then i think i'll try what you said dyROT830.
Thankyou again, i'll let you all know how it goes :thumbsup: