Space Between ARC-AAA Head And Body?

I LOVE the ARC-LS's and I finally went for an ARC-AAA about a month ago just to check it out, (yes, I'm always a late bloomer!). It's a nice little light and for $25.00-$30.00 it SHOULD BE but really, it's nothing that impressive for a $30.00 light except it runs on a single AAA and okay, THAT IS somewhat impressive. Not as impressive as the LS's! One thing I immediately noticed was the gap around the back of the head. For some reason it bugged the heck out of me. I have an assortment of o-rings laying around and found one that filled the gap. I have seen pics of this piece where it looked like the gap doesn't exist. Was I seeing things or do they ALL come with the gap between the head and body?

Help out here, Peter, but I think the gap is there to accomodate the slight length differences in various brands of battery.

Unless I totally misunderstand what you're describing, the gap is normal. The o-ring that is already installed is sufficient to seal the interior.

i desoldered the blob, added a blob with the best solder i could find, and filed it down to as short as possible...my gap is extremely narrow, and whenever i see a picture of someone elses light, it looks wierd

The "gapless" ARC pics I've seen were not lit leading me to suspect that there was no battery inside them. Both my ARCs came with their heads screwed all the way in, in the packaging. I think one reason for the gap is what GlockDoc suggested: battery length differences. Also, since the contact is only solder, it will wear down with use and the gap ensures that the battery will still allow contact probably all the way down to the nub. If there was no gap, the head would eventually bottom out on the body and fail to light properly And as Rothrandir suggested and as also presented in the Peter's Arc-AAA maintenance thread, the blob can be remade.

On another note, my ARC heads have side-to-side play when not fully seated, as though the threads are not mating tightly. It does allow me to use it as a momentary-type switch by turning the head almost ON and then pushing sideways on it to light. Sort of a tactical feature. Is this normal? I'm not complaining really, just asking, since my LS threads are not like this.

COOL! Mine does that too. Thanks!

GlockDoc, glad I could help. And the AAA gains another bonus point!

Another thing. As Empath said, the o-ring does seal the light well. I'm pretty sure that in an older version of the AAA the o-ring was partially exposed even with the light on, but Peter fixed this.
I substantiated darell's claim that the Arc's potted setup is not affected by water by using the light submersed with no o-ring and even though the insides got wet, there was no adverse effect. Truly, amazing.

I have three Arc AAAs and both the LE and my blue one have the gap.
BUT the newly acquired white AAA without the laser engraving from darkgear has NO GAP and does work fine. I like it better this way, but do not dare to use it since it is SO RARE ... stupid collector's soul !!!

bernhard

mine is capable of doing that, but the rocking of the head is not noticable.

i always have the head about an 1/8 of a turn before on so i can press on the head...unless bowling or something, when it has a tendancy to fly up from my beltloop and turn on.

Thanks Bernhard! I knew I had seen some somewhere without the annoying, (to me), gap. Wish I would have grabbed one! To clarify, I just filled the gap on mine with a small but thick neoprene o-ring. It doesn't do anything to seal against moisture, it just fills in the annoying gap. It also works pretty well as an "anti-roll" device as it sort of "grips" when laid on smooth surfaces. Still, (again, to me), the little guy would be much more aesthetically pleasing without that gap.

Originally posted by Gransee:
Gene, I can confirm what the others said: The gap is part of the design. It is a buffer against the length of the battery. This allows a wide varitiy of brands to be used. It also allows for the slight shortening of the battery that happens with normal use.

Without that "gap", the light would not work with some batteries.

Peter Gransee

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<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Hi Mr. G.
Off topic, but why do you suppose the addition of a special magnifying lens attached the Arc-AAA results in an eradication of the "blueness" of the Nichia LED. Is it simply because it's magnifying the yellow phospor of the (really) blue origin of the LED?

p.s.-still enjoying perfect operation of my LE after a year of heavy use. Overall, the greatest small light I've ever had. The $35. sticker-shock has eroded very nicely also!

In the same length of time that I've had my AAA, I've had 2 Stylus' quit on me, but the AAA just keeps on shinin'!

Thanks Peter and all.

Gene, I can confirm what the others said: The gap is part of the design. It is a buffer against the length of the battery. This allows a wide varitiy of brands to be used. It also allows for the slight shortening of the battery that happens with normal use.

Without that "gap", the light would not work with some batteries.

Peter Gransee