My CMG Ultra vs. my AAA le!

Hello again.

I just received my new AAA Le 3.1 yesterday and of course the first thing to do is compare it to my Cmg ultra.

Well the Ultra is definately brighter when on a lithium cell and a hair bit brighter with a larger hotspot when on an alkaline.

I am just alittle disapointed because of what I have read with this debate of the two. Its a keeper but I'm not as impressed as many others have been.

IMHO, It's advantage to me is size but thats it. Also, the le is difficult to turn with one hand. It is very tight. My ultra turns smoothly.
Need to lubricate I guess? The ultra didn't have to.

My opinion;

Runtime: Ultra
Quality: Better finish on Le, built stronger Ultra
Brightness: Intially, Ultra
Size: definately the AAA le
Value: definately the Ultra, paid $15. Le $35

I'm not posting this to start another big debate, I'm just giving my experiences. I love both torches.

See ya!

Originally posted by FLASH1:
Hey forgot to ask,

When I screw in the bezel to turn on the AAA le and then back it out 1/4 turn to turn off the light, the o-ring is visible. Is this normal?

I'm thinking the rubber washer between the battery and the contact is too thick. The bezel screws in alot further when no battery is loaded.

I don't like seeing the o-ring when the light is in the off position. Any of you experience the same thing?

Thanks,

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">It sounds like you got one of the older version LE's. Two verions ago, the batch of LE's suffered what you're describing. Either live with it or attempt to do the re-soldering deal that's been suggested. Your best bet would be to get one of the LE's from this most recent batch.

Thanks guys for the advice on the AAA LE,

Bought Ultras at Texas Tactical Supply, I ordered a bunch of stuff so shipping was like $8.95.

I do beleive mine is recent because the package says 50 feet waterproof and has the french instructions.

I'll try removing some of he contact point and see if that helps.

Any problems using vasaline as a lube?

Also,

Package on AAA LE says Kemkote interior thats suppose to be gold in color. I looked inside, all I see is aluminum. No gold color at all.

Did someone pull a switch on me?

The latest batch of Arc-LSs were also shippied without the chemkoting.
Just a guess but Arc has been pretty busy.

Originally posted by GJW:
The latest batch of Arc-LSs were also shippied without the chemkoting.
Just a guess but Arc has been pretty busy.

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">That's no excuse. We're not talking $10 lights here.

The Arc-AAA LE do have Chemkote. I just went and checked them. It can be hard to see but the metal should have a light gold hue to it. It is easier to see up close around the inside threads.

And yes, some of the P-123 packs had the bottom contact remilled to correct the thread length. We forgot to rechemkote them. I took the rest down to the plater earlier today so at least the ones from now on will be coated. This affects the contact only (still very important), the threads are still chemkoted since the milling did not affect that area.

Peter Gransee

GRANSEE,

I took your advice and sanded down the contact point and now the o-ring is not visible. The light works perfectly although I still beleive my AAA Le is missing the kemkote. I had a number of friends look at it and no one can see any gold or yellow hue.

I love the light but I think some of your LE's got pass QA regarding the missing kemkote.

See ya,

Hey forgot to ask,

When I screw in the bezel to turn on the AAA le and then back it out 1/4 turn to turn off the light, the o-ring is visible. Is this normal?

I'm thinking the rubber washer between the battery and the contact is too thick. The bezel screws in alot further when no battery is loaded.

I don't like seeing the o-ring when the light is in the off position. Any of you experience the same thing?

Thanks,

Depends on what you mean by "seeing". It's concealment must be enough to affect water tightness. For this to happen, the apex of the ring must be covered by the lip of the battery compartment.

The allignment of the o-ring can be tuned by adjusting the height of the positive contact. This contact is made of solder so adding or removing solder affects the position of the o-ring in the LED off mode.

Some batteries are longer than others so a lower contact may be required. We design the light to work with most batteries right out of the box without any concern from the user.

Peter Gransee

Sorry to hear about the problems. As to one handed turning, here is what to do. Clean the threads, inside and out with a contact cleaner. Then regrease. Work it back and forth a few dozen times. It works.
As to the o-ring, it should not be visable. There was a run about a year ago that had the o-ring slot cut in the wrong place. I hope this has not happened again. Look inside the foam ring and see if the solder has blobbed. That may be the source. You can take some off yourself or return it to Arc. I modded mine just fine.
I hope this helps.

FLASH1,

Where'd you find the Infinity Ultra for $15, and what was the shipping cost?

Thanks!

It is possible. Stranger things have happened! We can swap it out for you or if you want, just send you a new battery compartment (email us).

I say it would be very strange because chemkote is a batch process. They load all the parts in a basket and then dunk them. Pretty simple actually and we are considering taking it in house.

Peter Gransee

I hate to get back on topic (darell, help me out here), but I got my Ultra today & am very pleased with it. Puts out a nice light on rechargable, alkaline, & lithum AA's. On that note, it'll never take the place of any of my 5 ARC AAA series lights. It'll probably by my only Ultra, unless someone puts a Ultra G up for a good price. As far as my 5 ARC's go, I plan on getting at least 1 more; the CPF 2003 Special Ed. So I think everyone should have at least 1 Ultra, after they have 3 or 4 ARC AAA's. TX

If the head on your Arc is still too hard to turn then just remove the o-ring and forget about it. I have done this to all my Arc AAA's. I always carry one in my pajama pocket for night-time navigating (I stay up much later than the rest of the family). Because of this, I have lost track of the number of times that they've gone through the washer and dryer. Sometimes a little moisture ends up inside which is easily removed with a paper towel. I have several different versions from the earliest to very recent, and they all just keep working like new!

I've seen the strengh Arc vs CMG before, and it still confuses me. I have both, and have yet to figure out how to break either one by anything close to an accident. I considered running over with a car, but am almost certain that this would hurt my tires more than the light. I thought about shooting it, and concluded that the hardest part would be finding the light afterword, and I'm still doubtfull that mere handgun ammunition would damage it too much. I came to the conclusion that a solution of boiling lye is the most likely way to accidentally damage either light, and I'm pretty sure that this would wreck either one equally, being made of aluminum.

Along the same lines, an M-16A2, being made largely of aluminum, could be damaged the same way. So if either light is AT LEAST as tough as the service rifle of many NATO countries, why is relative toughness an issue?

Sounds like I'm joking, and I guess I am to an extent, but really, what's the big difference?

hmm maybe the CMG has a thicker case wall (i'm not sure cos i only own an arc-aaa), hence its more crush-proof.

anyway my arc was initially very hard to turn as well, so what i did is i kept it in one hand whilst doing other stuff and continously screwed and unscrewed the head until the O-ring got worn down enough, then i lubed it again. now its not much stiffer than a mini maglite, and i can turn it on or off with a flick of my thumb and forefinger

i forgot to add this, but perhaps a smaller diameter O-ring could be used? it seems like the current one is too big. it fits loosely around the head of the light and has a hard time squeezing itself into the barrel.