Novatac tactical switch failure

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eric_wolf

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Dec 8, 2007
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I have a black body tactical switch that has started acting strangely. Lately, about 25% of the "clicks" on the switch are being ignored by the light. By swapping swtiches and lights, I believe the problem to be with the switch and not the light.

Has anyone else seen such problems?
 
This question is worth a bump to the top. I haven't heard of any problems, but let's hope someone will answer.

If your Novatac is a black one, I think that must mean it is quite new - these are recent, as the first ones were all HA nat. It could be a problem with the new batch.

Whatever the case, my advice would be not to try too much self-help, or you may void the warranty. The best course would probably be to return the light and ask for a replacement.
 
I plan to send it back to them this week. Their policy requires that I request a "return material authorization number". I have done that and hope to have a new switch in the next week or two.
 
As with all Novatac problems, check the retaining rings inside the body, and stretch the spring a bit, these 2 simple fixes don't void warranty and work a lot of the time....best of luck and don't give up on Nova just b/c of this, mine's solid as a rock since the tightening.
 
I can almost guarantee that this is a switch retaining ring issue. My original low profile switch on my black 120P was loose from the factory and out of the box and gave the same issues.

Tighten it down - and your problems likely will go away.

-Steve
 
My 120P is in to Novatac for service right now with a similar flakey switch issue.

When I called to request an RMA number the rep did suggest trying to tighten the switch retainer ring. Using a makeshift spanner, it did not appear to move but did work much better for a few days before starting to miss clicks again. Perhaps the pressure I put on the retainer attempting to tighten it temporarily produced better contact...

Strangely, during my initial troubleshooting I discovered the problem seemed much worse when the spring was flipped in one direction versus the other. Since it wasn't clear exactly what was going on they eventually requested I send the whole light in.

Even if it works perfectly when it is returned, it is going to be hard to feel comfortable replacing my Peak Caribbean with the 120P as my primary EDC... I'll probably keep it, as it is a really cool little light, but my gut feeling is that it has just a few too many single points of failure. But I'm trying to reserve judgment as much as I can, as I'd love to have the flexibility a light like it provides.
 
How much force do you need to apply to tighten it? If it's loose is it obviously loose, or a very little bit? Can I tighten w/ a stretched out tweezers, or do I need a real needle nose or snap ring pliers?
 
flash2.jpg


The photo above shows the view into my older (13k serial number) 120P head ... the Muyshondt Nautilus is the light on the right. Do the black 120Ps look like the photo left above?
 
BTTT cuz my new black 85T I just got from Lighthound is exhibiting this same behavior. I can get the button to "click" without activation if I press it lightly. I cleaned the contacts, checked the rings, stretched the spring a tiny bit, the whole deal. It's not enough to affect the operation per se as long as I push the button with normal effort, but it's enough to shake my confidence in this light. A couple times I've hit the button with what I thought was normal force and it didn't respond.

For those who have sent their lights back to Novatac, what kind of service have you received? What was the determined cause of the outage? I'm guessing they won't just send you a replacement tailcap to see if that fixes it?
 
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I had the same problem with a 120p about a year ago. I called Novatac, and they sent me a new tailcap straight away, no questions asked..
 
asfaltpiloot said:
Have you tried a few drops alcohol?
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showpost.php?p=2805181&postcount=253
Click to expand...

Ah ha. No, I haven't tried that. I cleaned the SURFACE of the contacts with isopropyl alcohol, but not the swishing explained in that post. I'll give that a shot. Thanks!

UPDATE.....

You guys are AWESOME! That seems to have done the trick! I cannot reproduce the click without the activation. Thanks very much for that suggestion! I actually dribbled some isopropyl (91%) alcohol into the tailcap, swished it around, clicked it 5 or 6 times, then shook it out, blew some compressed air into it, let it sit for a bit, and reassembled. (Word to the wise, make sure you lube your threads and o-rings after using alcohol!)
 
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Checking back in on this, I've had no more problems, ZERO, with the Novatac since cleaning the tailcap with some alcohol. I took it camping, carried it in my pocket everyday, and it's worked perfectly. Only thing is the tactical button occasionally activating the light in my pocket.

I have a flat-button "P" series tailcap on the way thanks to the police/EMS/fire supply down the road. They stock Novatacs in their brick and mortar retail store and have ordered me a black flat-button tailcap.
 
Update: Just picked up my flat "P"-style tailcap this afternoon for pocket carry without worrying about inadvertant activation. Did that a few times with the tactical button. This one is marked "120P", but it doesn't matter. Works great and tail-standalicious too!
 
sween1911 said:
Update: Just picked up my flat "P"-style tailcap this afternoon for pocket carry without worrying about inadvertant activation. Did that a few times with the tactical button. This one is marked "120P", but it doesn't matter. Works great and tail-standalicious too!
Click to expand...

Have you tried enabling the programming on your light?

If you do, you can turn on option 5, "Automatic Button Lock". When this option is turned on, you can lock out the tailcap by clicking 3 times when the light is off. The lock will also engage automatically if the light is off and inactive for 5 minutes. To unlock, simply do the 3 clicks and your light turns on to the primary mode. If you try to turn on the light when it's locked out, it will flash 3 times and remain off.

This feature is one of the main reasons I love my NT's. I want a clicky without the worry of it turning on without my permission.

If you have the habit of leaving your light on, you can also turn on option 6, "Automatic Turn Off". With this enabled, if you leave your light on for 5 minutes without changing levels, it will slowly ramp down, then shut off. If you want to extend the time by another 5 minutes, just click once.

Here's the thread telling you how to enable the programming mode on your 120T.

Hope this helps,

Rich
 
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