Info on durability of the Brinkmann 2AA tail switch?

Mr. Blue

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with all the mod talk recently, I was just curious if the clickie switch has staying power?
 

Lux Luthor

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I have had a couple of the Legend 2AAs since Friday. I've clicked them hundreds of times since then, and I noticed a problem with one of them. The switch would flicker, or sometimes not fire (i.e. the light wouldn't come on).

Fortunately, I had two of them, and took them both apart and compared. There is this metal spider-like thing in there with 4 legs. If the legs are not spread apart enough so that this spider thing is held in snugly, it will give you problems. Spreading the legs slightly, and reinserting it works, though. Since I've done this, I've had no problems at all with the switch.

I was planning on using these lights for upcoming 5W Luxeon mods. They're aluminum, use 2AA batteries, perfectly accomodate an LS, have a tactical switch, and feel very good in the hand, with a nice and balanced feel. They're a rather ideal size for me, and slip into your pocket nicely.

The only drawback is the lack of waterproofness in the tailcaps. Having taken them apart, waterproofing them appears to be a serious challenge. Maybe someone will come out with a better tailcap switch as an aftermarket product. They do already make such things for the minimag.

I think Lambda chose a very good light for his mods, but we can always strive to improve it. One thing I would want would be to harness the focusing mechanism for use as a dimmer. This may be too hard for me, but I hope someone can figure out how to do it.
 

InTheDark

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I've gone throught 3 brinkmanns, all had problems with the tailcap switch, 2 of them have broken on me and the third one is a little bit touchy. I swore never to buy those again but I couldn't resist having a tailcap switch. They can be fixed relatively easily like Lux Luthor said, but I wouldn't want to rely on doing that a lot. Unfortunately, until somebody makes a reliable tailcap switch for the Mini-mags, i'm stuck using them
 

Empath

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Daniel Ramsey has expressed some expertise in lubricating and reinforcing the Brinkmann tailswitch. If the thread doesn't attract his attention, maybe an email drawing it to his attention might help.
smile.gif
 

papasan

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i bought one to see how well it would work for moddign purposes...i haven't used it very much since i got it so i can't really comment on the durability of the switch or the rest of the light...but they do *feel* cheesey to me...the mag has much more of a solid feel to it...and the mag is smaller and has a bazillion pieces of add-on hardware for it...the extra length of the brinkmann hurts it also because it wont fit into mag made pouches and other stuff...it's worth the extra effort to mod a mag-lite in my opinion...
 

cave dave

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Make sure when you replace batteries that you screw/unscrew the light with the Metal part of the switch not the plastic switch itself or you can over rotate the switch and break it.
mad.gif


From experience
-Dave
 

Daniel Ramsey

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It has my attention
grin.gif

Go to Radio Shack and get a tube of Multi Purpose lube gel part# 64-2326 It was selling for $2.99 here in Alaska, its 3oz. that will last for a hundred or more switches.
Its a clear non-running non-toxic waterproof Teflon lube that I put in ALL my Brinkmann Legends (like over 200, no problems afterwards)in the tailcap switch, don't fill it up but put a good daub inside. The problem has never been the tightness of the contacts when new but an electrolysis that occurs. This stuff will still be there even if you wash your Legend by accident, I know I did just that.
Even Peter recommends this stuff, it will not swell O-rings either.
 

Daniel Ramsey

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And BTW for a nice "tweak" try taking a tailcap switch from the AA Legend and thread it on the AA Maglite Minimag, its an almost perfect fit, just a small gap but with a dremel tool you could chase out the inside of the Minimag and have a perfect switch.


On the other hand you could just keep twisting things around forever
wink.gif
 

Klaus

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Daniel,

did you try to dremel out the mag ? I tried the other way round and made the part behind the threads smaller - same gap - I measured and I think the real problem is that the threads are slightly different - only so slightly that it will seem to fit but when its in so far that just this gap is left the different threading will make it stop.

Oh and yes - the MiniMag with Brinkmann tailcap switch is also too long for a standard Mag pouch - I just got the spare-power pouch from NiteIze and its just that tad longer than standard mag pouches and fits the Mag w/switch nicely - not shure if its long enough for the legend 2AA. And I second the quality difference between Brinkmann and Mag - not only for the AA sizes but also for the xD sizes - I disassembled them and besides the made in china stickers the design was definetely inferior to Mag in pretty much every aspect - I do like the tailcap switch though.

Klaus
 

Daniel Ramsey

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You are right about the different thread pitch, I assumed it was a depth clearance that made the gap, I just stuck the two together one day long ago and left it sitting on my unfinished flashlight shelf, along with about 2 dozen more and forgot about it. Everyone knows my disdain of maglites.
grin.gif
 

Velcro

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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Klaus:
Oh and yes - the MiniMag with Brinkmann tailcap switch is also too long for a standard Mag pouch - <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Klaus, I assume you are talking about the nylon pouch with the velcro (
smile.gif
) flap?


Greetings,
Velcro
 

prn

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Daniel says:
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Go to Radio Shack and get a tube of Multi Purpose lube gel part# 64-2326 It was selling for $2.99 here in Alaska, its 3oz. that will last for a hundred or more switches. Its a clear non-running non-toxic waterproof Teflon lube that I put in ALL my Brinkmann Legends (like over 200, no problems afterwards)in the tailcap switch, don't fill it up but put a good daub inside.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sounds good. I have a tube of that. But how do you recommend getting it inside the tailcap switch? There's a brass fitting in the tailcap with a hole in the center and a plastic piece holding a coil spring. Do we just shove a blob of the "lube gel" down the center of the spring with a toothpick or something? It doesn't seem like that would spread the gel around very well. Or are we supposed to remove the plastic piece holding the spring or even the whole brass piece? (It looks like it may screw out.)

Paul
 

InTheDark

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Unscrew the brass piece, and everything should come out. It's reverse threaded, but not glued in or anything.
 

Daniel Ramsey

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Sorry. I assume too much
smile.gif
you can usually unscrew the nut with the spring clockwise by hand, its a left hand thread, hold it by the spring, keep the switch part upright or the contacts will fall out, they are slotted into small grooves on the main housing, put a good size daub in the part with the spring, screw back on counter clockwise, make it snug. Thats it.
 

Klaus

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Velcro,

what I use has no flap for the flashlight but flaps for the cells - the newer one has a flap for the flashlight and kind of elastic bands for the cells - there was another thread just recently on those NiteIze holsters.

I bought it here Nite Ize Holster at Globetrotter
in the "hot offers" section for 2.51 Euro

Klaus
 
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