ARC AAA-P problems

Hi:

I received my ARC AAA Premium version two nights ago. The first couple times I tried to activate it, it wouldn't light. Then after unscrewing the cap and reinstalling, it lit.

It appeared to be reliable after that, but then a few hours later I went to turn it on, and again it wouldn't light. I carried it over to my workbench to measure the battery and to test a replacement battery (in case perhaps the internal battery connections were intermittent), and it was quite warm! I had carried it with the twist in the on position. The brand new battery measured only 1.4V and was definitely warm to the touch. I suspected something was causing the battery to get shorted.

Sure enough, once again a few minutes later it wouldn't light, and I left it that way for a few minutes. This time the battery became warm again, and was down to 1.3V.

So then I connected it to a programmable power supply with a current limit set to about 200mA. Sure enough, the first time it shorted the power supply which went into constant current mode and stayed that way until I disconnected the circuit. After that first shorting incident with the power supply, I couldn't make it short the PS again.

Right now it lights, and I can't replicate the problem.

This is a bummer. I certainly didn't expect any problems from this highly rated light. I will likely send it back and see if a replacement shows no problems. If so, I will keep it.

But this is also unsettling because I had hoped to put in a Li-AAA for long term reliablity, but now I am afraid that this would be too risky in a light that had incidences of shorting the battery.

Has anyone else ever had any similar or other problems with ARC AAA lights?

Contact Peter (or your vendor) and send it back; shouldn't have to fix anything right off the box.

My arc AAAp does a similar thing. Occasionally it won't turn on. Opening the light and then re-assembling it seems to fix the problem. But I keep expecting it to go on and then it doesnt!?! Maybe it is the insanely thick foam pad.

have you tried cleaning the contacts with a pencil eraser? That usually takes care of the flacky operation in mine (had to do it once or twice in... oh, I can't even remember how long I've had mine).

greenLED said:

have you tried cleaning the contacts with a pencil eraser? That usually takes care of the flacky operation in mine (had to do it once or twice in... oh, I can't even remember how long I've had mine).

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Yeah, sometimes that is it, but that wouldn't explain a short circuit condition.

I have one of the earlier models of the AAA P and it does the same thing. That why I bought a PEAK Solutions Matterhorn ultra. It might not be quite as bright as the new ARC P I bought, but it has never failed to turn on and work correctly.