Got an A2, got a few questions

Black Majik

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Sep 11, 2006
Messages
32
Location
Orange County, California
Hi guys,

I received an A2 from a board member, but I'm not really sure how it works since its a twisty.

When I put the batteries in, it feels as if the momentary on button doesn't work if I screw in the tailcap tightly all the way down. Am I suppose to leave it not screwed in all the way so that the button has room to move? Or is my tailcap broken?

Also, does the A2 come with a lock out function? If the light is a twisty, that means I twist the tailcap or the lamp to turn on the light permanently? If I screw it in all the way, first the LED comes on, then the incan comes on all the way.

If the tailcap is screwed in all the way, I can turn on and off the light if I tighten/loosen the lamp. This obviously doesn't sound right.

Am I suppose to leave a gap on the tailcap and not have it fully tightened all the way? That just seems weird, I cant help to think that it should be screwed in all the way and have the button still work. If its screwed on all the way then the button sticks/wont move.

Otherwise, it seems like quite a nice light.

Please advise, thanks.

-Richard
 

marxs

Enlightened
Joined
Jun 19, 2006
Messages
361
Location
Philippines
yes the A2 comes with a LOTC. essentially you have momentary low/high and constant low/high. the momentary low/high can be accessed by pressing the tailcap (depends of course how the LOTC is twisted in). the constant low/high can be accessed by twisting the tailcap further until either just the leds come on (low) or until the incan come one w/ the leds (high). You mentioned that when you twist the tailcap the leds come on (this is the constant low beam) then when you twist further the incan goes on (this is the constant high beam with the leds also on).

the constant low/high should be straight forward, the momentary is a bit tricky, let me try to explain this in words.

when you first put in batteries, put the tailcap back on and twist one full turn (360 degrees). you should "slightly" see the end of the threads/o-ring. make sure that tailcap marker matches the body marker. essentially this is what i call the Lock-out mode. if you press the tailcap nothing should come one. ok, now rotate again another 360 degrees, again making sure the markers more or less match up. this is what i call the Low mode lock-out (my terminology). if you press the tailcap, only the low leds will go on. ok now twist one more time, this is the engaged-mode (again, sorry for my own terminology). if you press the tailcap slightly you get the leds to come one. press further now the incan goes on. from here you twist again to get the constant low/high.

hope you were able to follow. my advice, play with it for a while, youll get the hang of it in no time.

EDIT: ok just tried the above instructions...i think that pretty much sums it up, i took out the tailcap and twisted it its indeed 3 full turns until you get to engaged-mode.

mark
 
Last edited:

SCblur

Enlightened
Joined
Dec 30, 2005
Messages
818
don't worry, the A2 tailcap (and all twisties for that matter) are supposed to be kept loosened to the point that the light doesn't stay on full-time. If you need intermittent light, you just press on the button and enjoy. If you want the light to stay on for an extended period of time and don't want to hold the button down, tighten the tailcap until the light stays on by itself. To use the lockout function, simply unscrew the tailcap until pressing on the button will not turn on the light at all.

This is how a simple twisty switch works, the only added complication w/ the A2 is the low and high feature. With the A2, when you twist the tailcap, the LEDs will come on first, and if you keep twisting the incan lamp will come on. Likewise, if you back the tailcap off so that neither light is lit, you can do the same thing by pressing on the momentary button: pressing down halfway will light the LED, pressing all the way will light the incan.

I know it can be disconcerting at first, thinking that your light is going to come apart when you unscrew it to turn it off. If you are used to clickies, it can seem weird. Don't worry though, your A2 is meant to work this way, and it won't come apart on accident. It should also retain good water resistance with the use of the O-ring and lube inside the tailcap. Twisties have been around a long time and they are probably one of the simplest methods around in terms of ease of use, reliability, and simplicity.

Once you get used to the way your A2 works, I think you'll find it quite an elegant solution.

Enjoy,
Josh
 

js

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Aug 2, 2003
Messages
5,793
Location
Upstate New York
Black Majic,

You are obviously not familiar with the SF LOTC's! They are NOT clickies! You do NOT tighten them all the way down. They are NOT "loose" when there is a gap. From the moment the tailcap covers the o-ring, the spring is engaged against the battery stack and the tailcap is as tight as it's going to get. In fact, it's probably best not to turn the thing down all the way until you jam it up against the body. No need to do that.

Install batteries, then thread on the LOTC to the body of the light. Keep turning until the LED's turn on. NOW STOP! And turn back until the dot on the tailcap and the dot on the body line up with each other. The LED's should now be off.

This is the standard position for the LOTC, and in this position when you push the button, the LED's come on first, then with more pressure, the incan turns on. If you turn the tailcap in further then the LED's will turn on whether the button is pushed or not. Pushing the button will activate the incan. Turn in even further and the incan will turn on--at this point the BUTTON DOES NOTHING.

Turning back one turn from the "standard position" will lock out the incan. This is the best position for almost any situation where you need to lock out your light. I never have needed to turn back yet another turn so that not even the LED's will turn on. But you can do this if you want. It is just before the o-ring will get exposed.

Anyway, the most important thing to remember is that when you twist on and twist off the tail cap, you are not "tightening" or "loosening" it--you are only turning it in and out. Stop thinking of it in those terms.

All of this is well described in the manual. Check it out if you have it. If not, I think you can download it or get SF to send you one.
 
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