Arc AAA problems?

I'm thinking of getting the white Arc AAA but since I'm having it shipped overseas I'm wondering how common is the LED alignment or flickering problem?

Shipping costs for warranty repairs or replacements would be a killer!

The white AAA is now type III anodised right?

The alignment is good and some Arc's do have a flicker problem. I think I remember Peter saying 10%. This is due to a roll crimp that has been addressed in the ver 3.1 that should be shipping to dealers soon. All of the Arc's are now HA-III.

Cool.. I think I'll just wait a little longer then.

Also I noticed that it also uses a smooth reflector. Does that cause any sort of rings or abnormalities in the beam?

On the white Arc there are no rings. There is a hotspot and than a fade to the corona but no rings. I do not belive that the reflector has any bearing on rings when using a LED.
Hope this helps.

The flicker isn't caused by the roll crimp. Rather the "fix" for the flicker will be the new crimp in v3.1. Centering in the last 30 units that I've seen has been very good.

As Dana says, all AAA's are now HA III black. The reflector has always been "smooth" though not highly polished. I've never really seen rings in the beam of a white one. Of the AAA's I've seen, white always seems to have the nicest beam over all the colored ones. My EV in particular is blobby and ringy as all get-out. It is my second EV, and they were both like that...

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by darell:
The flicker isn't caused by the roll crimp. Rather the "fix" for the flicker will be the new crimp in v3.1.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
It's about time you jumped in. I was floundering there. You the "man".
Now explain to me the difference between roll crimp and new crimp.

Oooh. Easy.

The new crimp will be a roll crip. right now there isn't a crip. So any crimp would be a new crimp. The new crimp in question will be a roll crimp.

Almost sounds like a Monty Python bit...

Anything else I can do for you today, Dana?

This is good news, thanks guys. Any idea the shipping date for v3.1?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>I do not belive that the reflector has any bearing on rings when using a LED.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Oh it definately does. If you get a chance to pair a 5mm white with a smooth reflector (say from a Maglite), you'll definately see rings. The only truly "ring-less" reflector design uses the orange-skin surface.

Has anyone had problems with intermittent operation of an ARC AAA LE?
I just got one about 3 weeks or a month ago, and I hate it. Most of the time I have to attempt to turn it on 10s of times. It never turns on with the first try, and it has become steadily worse. If it weren't for my Zippo, I'd have been left in the dark several times.
I'm glad I traded for it, instead of paying the going cash price for it.

How's their customer service? I just emailed them tonight, after walking home in the dark. (Quite disgusted.)


I have tried Duracell alkaline, two types of Powerex NiMH, and Eveready NiCD, and still this intermittence.
I took the head out of the case, and jumpered the cell to it, and it does work, just not in it's rightful place.
I first thought it was a matter of it "breaking in", and now I think it's just a matter of it breaking.

The flickering issue may be due to the positive battery contact on the head.

It is a nice spot of solder, which can develop corrosion or get contaminated where the nipple (am I allowed to say that word?) of the battery touches it. Some work with a pencil eraser or lightly scraping it may help. Also, make sure the electrodes on your AAA's are CLEAN and SHINY....or am I just repeating a bunch of things that everyone has tried? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ohgeez.gif

well, I looked at it, and it has to contact, but it doesn't look like a ball of solder, it is more flat, than rounded.

I just cleaned it with an eraser, and put it back together. I took 33 attempts to get it to come on, then it came on 8 times before stopping again.

I've had the same problem with my AAA ARC. The difference is that I love mine so much that I wasn't willing to give it up for a week or two to send it back. So I bought another one and just sent it back today.

I thought that maybe the foam had squeezed into the center and was preventing contact, so I trimmed away some of the foam making the hole a little bigger. It seemed to work, but then I had problems again. I changed the foam retainer and cleaned it up real good, and again it seemed better, but I've had periodic problems. Also, when it does work, it sometimes flickers. Not badly, most noticeable when it's dark and I'm trying to read something.

I've purchased 4 of them now, 2 as gifts and no problems with the others. From what I read on the forum, there are very few problems and when there are, ARC stands behind them and makes them good. I have only myself to blame for not sending mine back sooner. I just didn't want to be without one.

The product amazes me. An LED that requires almost 4 volts and 30mA and will run for over 5 hours on a 30¢ AAA alkaline battery???? It looks good, feels good, and is damn near indestructible!!! At $30, it's a deal. At $20, it's a steal!!! I'll be buying more for gifts.

Ken

Mine also has the same "flickering" problem. However, up'till now, the problem seemed could be cured only by removing the head and then screw it back in. It is simply annoying if you have to remove the head first and then screw it back in only to use it for a few moments. Is there any cure for this?

Yes. Yes, mine is like that. I just noticed the pattern after you mentioned that. If I remove and reinstall the head, sometimes it will work right after that.

First I tried trimming the foam washer, then I removed it altogether. Still the same.

I expected to feel like kitelights has posted here, after reading everything so good about them on CPF, but I don't.

I HAD it too...
You can make you're own roll crimp and this usually fixes the problem.
Just roll your arc head (without foam retainer) in a 45° angle on a hard surface and make sure the little alu ring bents down and touches the bare PCB. You can also take a screwdriver and hammer and make a few dents in the alu ring. The dents will touch the PCB and you've made contact.

Hope this helps /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Yeah, that suggestion is helpful. I'd have to see a picture of before and after to be sure, but if I had to guess, I'd say it already has a roll crimp.



[ QUOTE ]
sunspot said:
The alignment is good and some Arc's do have a flicker problem. I think I remember Peter saying 10%.

[/ QUOTE ]

Where did you see this 10%? Is that in a post here?

If it already has a roll crimp, you can still improve it this way.
About a year ago, I bought an Arc AAA turq. and white. The turq. was version 2.5 I guess and the white was 3.1.
Turq. No roll crimp, no problems
White roll crimp, problems...

You're kidding, right? I can definitely bear to be without a light that doesn't work, long enough for it to be repaired.

Instead, I got an answer to my email from ARC. It's going out in todays mail. Some have trouble with the lights, but I haven't seen complaints about their warranty.

Am I the only one who likes his/her AAA better without the pesky foam retainer? A small bit of paper wrapped around the battery stops the rattle without causing potential contact problems.

The only thing I don't understand is why the positive contact on the head can't be made of a stronger material tha doesn't flatten with extended use. Photons IMO are more reliable. The only problem are the batteries.