Update: AAA intermittant operation

[RoninPimp]

Never had a problem with any of my AAA's. Been testing everybody's I bought for them as gifts since the first I got AA acted up.

I just like having my keychain light, EDC ARC w/2AA, and my camera all use the same battery. The stand up feature of the AA is just a nice bonus...

 

[dtlent]

The problem is the failure of good contact at the positive contact point at the head of the ARC AAA LED and the positive contact of AAA Battery. It appears that the ARC AAA LED is made of solder-type material.

If the ARC AAA LED positive contact point was made like the ARC LS (cobalt/gold contact), then there shouldn't be a problem. However, this cobalt/gold contact is probably a little additional expense.

This is just my opinion and observations.

 

[brickbat]

The + battery contact may be A problem, but it's not THE problem that's been described in this thread.

 

[Owen]

I sent an email to Arc about the AAA-P I just received today, which I am extremely disappointed in, due to an uncentered spot, poor color, and its lack of reliability--some "Premium", good thing I didn't get a cheap one /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif

Anyway, it failed to operate after about 20 on/off cycles, and has failed several times since with three different brands of AAA battery. The first time it took four tries to get it to come on. Then it started failing every few tries. The last couple of times it took over 20.

So I cleaned the threads.
I have been sitting here fooling with it, and have cycled it over 300 times without it failing to come on.
Tell me it's not that simple.

 

[asdalton]

[ QUOTE ]
Owen said:
So I cleaned the threads.
I have been sitting here fooling with it, and have cycled it over 300 times without it failing to come on.
Tell me it's not that simple.

[/ QUOTE ]

Usually it's not. I've had four defective Arc AAA lights pass through my hands during the past year, and none of them were fixed by cleaning the threads, changing batteries, etc.

 

[Owen]

Yeah, intermittent was a good choice of words. I cycled it 750 times total without failure after cleaning. At 751 it failed, and I cleaned the threads again, but now it's back to screwing up every few cycles /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[screw3d]

I have returned my Arc AAA twice and I still get the same problem. My newest replacement - I can probably turn it on and off forever and it will work *provided that* it is turned on immediately after it is turned off, and vice versa.

If I go on-off-pause for a few seconds-on, it wouldn't light up again. I have to unscrew it almost all the way back, turn it back, and then if I'm lucky, it will light up again!

 

[Badbeams3]

I can`t agree that this is a new problem. I have purchased many AAA`s over the years. Given several away...every one I have had has had this problem. I used to send them in for replacement...and they always were...great customer service. But all the replacements failed in time as well. .

I reached a point that I felt bad expecting Arc to keep replacing them...I have two that are sitting in a drawer somwhere that don`t work...one is a hardly used blue CPF model. Some time ago I stopped purchasing the AAA`s. I have a AA model that so far has not given any trouble.

I never felt it aproiprate to discuss my expirence on CPF as I felt Arc would realize they had to change something in the design and were backing it up dependably with thier replacment policy (expensive for Arc).

My guess is the clamping pressure placed on the potting epoxy and resulting micro internal cracking is reponsible. Sometimes the conection is made again as it expanse or contracts (depending on tempature and the pressure aplied) and the light works again...or not. One other thought I had was that perhaps disimilar metals might be reacting over time and causing corosion but this seem less likely.

But either way, from my point of veiw this is not a new problem unless I have had a string of bad luck with them.

I`m sure the problem can be fixed...good luck /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Ken

 

[Dave Wright]

It does indeed sound like a subtle electonics issue. An early Arc AAA of mine started failing after a good dunking. I think the replacement had the crimp fix. A year or two later it generally works but sometimes flickers or fails to fire. My 2003 CPF Edition AAA has never flickered or failed to fire. My Arc AA sometimes fails to fire, and falls precipitously through moon mode into blackness. I use it a lot, but not when 100% reliability is required. I'm sure Peter will work through this. The concept can be done reliably. My regular and Ultra Infinities have never flickered or failed, despite being run 8 hours per day powering my nightlight.

 

[nexro]

I have one problematic AAA-S too. But I think I can bear with it for now. Guess I will wait till Peter fixes the problem on all the AAAs, then perhaps I will send mine in for replacement /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[David_in_Seattle]

I have an intermittent problem with my brand new Arc-AAA Premium flashlight, ordered 16-Feb-04, received 18-Feb-04. I ordered it through the website and have used the supplied Duracell battery. On three different days it failed to turn on and each time I had to remove the head completely (after turning the head tight and loosening it half a turn and repeating a half-dozen times with no result). The last time was Monday, 23-Feb-04, and I had to remove the head and screw it back on twice before it turned on. A half hour later, after several successful attempts, it failed to turn on again despite multiple attempts ... then it turned on after I removed the head and screwed it back on. I sent an email to Arc sales on Monday night and they haven't replied yet, so I'll call them tomorrow morning (Thurs Feb 26th).

I really like the size, weight, and light power of this tiny flashlight, I want to take it as a dependable backup light for various activities, so I hope they can get it working correctly.

 

[asdalton]

It's definitely not a new problem, since my first Arc AAA (purchased in Feb. 2003) had this affliction. The difference is that the defect rate went from around, say, 5% to nearly 100% starting last December.

 

[Badbeams3]

If I were Arc I might consider...if legaly possible...offering everyone to have them replaced once more by a specific date and after that no more replacements. And I would cut future warranties down to 1 year. If you want cutting edge technology you have to take some risk same as Arc did by spending the money to create these.

But perhaps the picture is not as bad as I`m painting it. Only Arc knows.

Ken

 

[JerryM]

This is interesting because when someone asked what lights he needs there are always several who will tell him that he needs an Arc AAA. That it is small, tough, and reliable.
I recognize that each of us admires the size and workmanship of the Arc and truly hope that Peter will be able to correct that problems, and survive as a business. I suspect that he will.

But at this time, there seems to be not greatly reliable 1AAA light except the Dorcy $6 light.

The Sonic has problems, and CMG like Peter is very good at replacing the faulty ones.

If I had to choose one small one cell light for as close to toral reliability as I could get, it would be the Ultra. I have several and have never has a single problem, and the comments here confirm that it is a greatly reliable light, and is less costly than the Arcs.

Jerry

 

[Badbeams3]

The Arc AAA is a great little light...needs something changed though to improve the dependability.

 

[Mike75]

Well, I don't know about ARC AAA, 'cause mine is perfectly normal and works fine for a year already, but I have the problem you're talking about in my ARC AA which I've got about 2 months ago. This is not to disturbing, it happens once in a while, but anyway..
I didn't even know that there is some known quality issue with those lights. Is it just my ARC AA or there are more?
Michael