MJP Extreme III Problem

I recently purchased an Extreme III from ARC mania. After I received it, I popped in a battery and started to play with it. As soon as I powered it on (moved it to the first indention), the light turned on to a low mode for about a half second and then immediately turned to a high mode. After testing, I found that no matter where I position the flashlight, after turning it on it goes to a low mode for a half second and then immediately to a high mode.

I can then turn the bezel to any point on the flashlight and it just stays in the high mode. I twist it back and forth... high mode. I cannot get this flashlight to do anything other than the low-then-immediately-high mode thing.

Has anybody else had this problem? I e-mailed ARC mania about the problem and he just told me to read the instructions. I then re-explained the problem I am having and he is now ignoring me. Any suggestions?

try twisting faster,mike does not ignore people like that,it not him.did you go thru the complete thread and read the link to the instructions?

Lumenz said:

I recently purchased an Extreme III from ARC mania. After I received it, I popped in a battery and started to play with it. As soon as I powered it on (moved it to the first indention), the light turned on to a low mode for about a half second and then immediately turned to a high mode. After testing, I found that no matter where I position the flashlight, after turning it on it goes to a low mode for a half second and then immediately to a high mode.

I can then turn the bezel to any point on the flashlight and it just stays in the high mode. I twist it back and forth... high mode. I cannot get this flashlight to do anything other than the low-then-immediately-high mode thing.

Has anybody else had this problem? I e-mailed ARC mania about the problem and he just told me to read the instructions. I then re-explained the problem I am having and he is now ignoring me. Any suggestions?

Click to expand...

here try this
http://mountech.myweb.hinet.net/operation%20manual%20-%20english.pdf

Lumenz,

If you ever feel like selling your Extreme III, let me know.

Lumenz said:

As soon as I powered it on (moved it to the first indention), the light turned on to a low mode for about a half second and then immediately turned to a high mode. After testing, I found that no matter where I position the flashlight, after turning it on it goes to a low mode for a half second and then immediately to a high mode.

I can then turn the bezel to any point on the flashlight and it just stays in the high mode. I twist it back and forth... high mode. I cannot get this flashlight to do anything other than the low-then-immediately-high mode thing.

Click to expand...

hello lumenz,
P1 is the first indentation represented by ONE milled concave dot on the body. P2 is the second indentation represented by TWO milled concave dot on the body.

in your case, i suspect you are twisting from the "loosen is off" position. therefore the first indentation that you reached is P2. i.e. 2 dots. therefore you get the "low mode for half second and then immediately to high mode".

please remember that the Extreme III is the opposite of "loosen is off" concept. to correctly operate the Extreme III, please completely tighten the head until the white dot is aligned with the laser engraving "MJP Extreme III".

now twist the white dot to P1, you should get only low output. then twist further to P2 and you should get a higher output. take note of the location of the transition point from P1 to P2.

to get to other modes such as strobe or SOS, you need to do the relevant number of switch cycles (SW)

a SW is P1 to P2 back to P1 within 1 second. do not wait for anything to happen while at P2. just twist it back to P1 to complete a SW and start the next SW.

STROBE - 3 X SW
SOS - 4 X SW

follow the instructions and you should be able to access the other modes and functions.

have fun.
khoo

LED Cool: For clarification, I did turn the light off by fulling tightening the bezel. I also tried turning it off by completely loosening it.

I did get the problem resolved. I am not completely sure how I did it, but I think I was able to get the reset function to work. I ended up twisting the flashlight enough times quickly back and forth that I probably could have started a fire. I did this several times, mostly out of frustration that my light would not do anything other than show a single output mode.

During one of my random twisting fits, the light started to strobe. I thought, "Hallelujah!" After that, all of the functions are working perfectly.

I still haven't heard back from ARC mania though.

Lumenz said:

LED Cool: For clarification, I did turn the light off by fulling tightening the bezel. I also tried turning it off by completely loosening it.

I did get the problem resolved. I am not completely sure how I did it, but I think I was able to get the reset function to work. I ended up twisting the flashlight enough times quickly back and forth that I probably could have started a fire. I did this several times, mostly out of frustration that my light would not do anything other than show a single output mode.

During one of my random twisting fits, the light started to strobe. I thought, "Hallelujah!" After that, all of the functions are working perfectly.

I still haven't heard back from ARC mania though.

Click to expand...

Very strange, I didn't comment earlier because I could have sworn LED Cool nailed it. Arcmania has stated he double tests every torch before shipping it. Not sure what to say other than congrats on getting it to function as expected!

I am having the same problem.

Guess I am just not getting it.

I have tried putting the light to position one and pressing on the tail like Mike suggested but no success.

When my light is in the OFF position with alkaline batteries the light is off. When I put a Lion battery it is on a low mode.

I'll try switching between position 1 and 2 quickly.

Thanks for the suggestions

Rob

I'm not sure if this will help or not, but I've noticed that some Li-Ion batteries are too long and will cause this exact problem. Because they are too long, this prevents the switch from shutting the light off. If this is the case, you will see a gap between the head and body when screwed down. Also the dot on the head won't line up with the flat, although one brand I have lines up, but only because it's actually one full turn out. AW's work fine and are a bit shorter than both other brands I have. All NiMH's I've tried were OK.

Dave

Roboholic said:

I have tried putting the light to position one and pressing on the tail like Mike suggested but no success.

Click to expand...

To use the pressing of the head/tail cap, you must be in the P2 position. Tighten the head fully to 'off'. Slowly rotate head 'on' just until the head dot (SW) gets directly above the two dots on the body (P2). The body actually has three dots. One by itself and two others next to each other. The two close together is P2. Due to possible slight variances on Extreme III"s, the SW dot may have to placed above the second dot of P2.

From this point, you can now do the head press to program or use the other functions.

While still in that P2 position, hold the Extreme III in one hand with the tail on the palm and the head/bezel between your thumb and pointer finger. Pulling down on the head will bring you to P1 and releasing will bring you back to P2.

Try doing a master reset holding the Flashlight as above. REMEMBER... P1 is USUALLY ALWAYS the starting point and you are in P2. You must press down on the head on hold it there to stay in P1. From this P1 position, release the head and pull back so that you do P2 (head release) TEN times and stop back on P1 (head still pressed). Do this quickly, steadily and at a constant rate. A good pace would be around 10 seconds or just under to complete the above. Try not to twist the head. After the TEN P2 pumps and stopping and holding on P1 (head depressed) you should see a single blink to show that a master reset has been done.

To get out of blink, strobe, sos or any other mode when first 'on', Turn off the Flashlight by tightening head. Go to P1... wait a second or two then quickly go to P2 back to P1 then back to P2 and stop there. This should bring the Flashlight to the pre-programmed P2 setting and same with P1.


To get to strobe mode using one hand, hold Flashlight as stated above while already on P2. Press head down and hold (P1). Release head THREE times (P2) and back to P1 (head depressed). The Flashlight should be in blink mode. Release the head, to P2 and now you should be in strobe.

You can do all the other functions the Extreme III has to offer using the one hand method rather quickly. Just REMEMBER that you have to have the Flashlight in P2 to begin.... YET, you should always start at P1 by holding the head down before counting P2's.

After playing with the modes and should the mode you desire be the P1 setting. No need to keep it pressed. Simply release the Flashlight and rotate the head to P1.

Now try doing the battery voltage test. P2 x five. Flashlight again held in one hand as above in P2. Press head (P1) wait a second or so, release head (P2) five times and back to P1 and hold (head pressed). Wait for the blinks. Depending on battery type, there will be a series of blinks. First set indicates voltage in front of the decimal point... pause ... second set indicates voltage after the decimal point. Example --- Blink... pause... blink, blink = 1.2v
The battery voltage is one of the modes that you do not have to get out of. It reverts back to the last mode before battery test.


Also, see post #138 on this thread... https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/185395&page=5


I'll be making another video on the other functions as well as on how to do the one hand method.


Hope this helps a bit.


Njoy...

qarawol - all the things you say are true, but aren't the issue on this problem.

Mine arrived yesterday and did exactly the same thing. It isn't a programming issue, and I could not get to the Reset function or any other function while this was occurring, also as stated by lumenz and Roboholic. With an Eneloop, mine even sometimes stayed On when turned firmly to Off.

See the thread you mention, a little farther down - Post #144, for my solution - clean out the threads - the head is apparently making intermittent contact.

It occurs to me that it might be best to use a 10440 until the threads lap in and stop fouling themselves with microscopic wear particles - the higher voltage might get thru the gunk better?

Also, it's worth noting that, contrary to earlier versions of the instructions, the transition point from P1 to P2, i.e. for a SW operation, is the double-dot, which is located at 180 degrees from Off, not 90 degrees. The single dot is completely meaningless - think of it as a freebie...

Since the original problem posted and another one having the same, the Flashlight seems to be in the User Adjustable Mode.

Again, try this...

To get out of blink, strobe, sos or any other mode when first 'on', Turn off the Flashlight by tightening head. Go to P1... wait a second or two then quickly go to P2 back to P1 then back to P2 and stop there. This should bring the Flashlight to the pre-programmed P2 setting and same with P1.


If the above does not work or you notice flickering while turning, the body/head contact points may have lube or other debris on it. Clean the inner head with a Q-Tip and wipe the top edge of the body.

I have three Extreme III's and not one has this problem. I use only AAA 1.2v NiMH batteries. I have noticed that at times the Flashlight would start doing its own thing and I have found that the batteries were almost dead. Pop in a fully charged one and all is well again. I don't use the battery save feature for I have plenty of rechargeable AAA and don't mind if one fails due to over discharge. I would rather have dim light when needed then to have to re-program to turn off the battery save mode. I would say this feature is a must for Li-Ion users.

Njoy...

I've managed to reproduce this problem again. Apparently this light is unusually sensitive to any lubricant in the wrong places, those places being on the threads or on the contact areas recessed in the head.

I was lubing the threads for smoother action, and to clean them, using a high-tech synthetic lube called Prolix. http://www.prolixlubricant.com/

I've used this stuff on my flashlights for years with no problems. It's has a very thin citrus-based carrier/solvent, and leaves an almost invisibly thin layer of a paraffin-based lube behind.

I very carefully swabbed the threads with it, let it dry, and reassembled the light, only to find that it got all wonky again - wouldn't change modes at all. No how, no way. The SW action was completely disabled.


Got out the alcohol again and cleaned out the threads and the "bullseye" contact area again, and the light was good to go.

I don't know why this light is so sensitive, as I've used this same bottle of lube on my lights for years. I'm not at all certain what the electrical switching mechanism that is triggered by the SW action, as there are no visible contacts or movable parts, but perhaps if it is a very low-level signal generated by non-physical contact. IN any case, it seems very sensitive to any change in electrical resistance on the threads. Weird!


So my recommendation is that you use a tiny amount of lubricant on this light ONLY on the o-ring and the area that it sweeps. This should smooth out the action without the possibility of making the control action unreliable.

FsTop said:

So my recommendation is that you use a tiny amount of lubricant on this light ONLY on the o-ring and the area that it sweeps. This should smooth out the action without the possibility of making the control action unreliable.

Click to expand...

Good advice. Any lubricant, gunk, or whatever should be kept to a minimum. While it is excellent advice to keep the threads clean to avoid this, keep in mind that the circuit is not affected by anything on the threads themselves, as the HA III on them is non conductive. The important parts to keep clean are the end of the battery tube, and the positive contact (center), and switch ring in the head.

Dave

...the circuit is not affected by anything on the threads themselves, as the HA III on them is non conductive.

Click to expand...

I wondered about that.

I just don't quite see how I could have gotten any lube on the bullseye in the head, as I used a damp q-tip only on the battery tube, and thought it was dry before I reassembled it. Maybe not.

Oh well, live and learn...
:shrug:

FsTop said:

I just don't quite see how I could have gotten any lube on the bullseye in the head, as I used a damp q-tip only on the battery tube, and thought it was dry before I reassembled it. Maybe not.

Click to expand...

My LF2 that I've had for a year or so gets gunk on the outer rim of the switch plate, where the battery tube makes contact. I think that's the critical area, and of course the end of the battery tube itself. The tube, I just turn around on my fingertip, every time I change the battery. As far as Q-tips, I've learned to stay away from them, as they seem to always leave behind a few fibers. I just use a rag, like an old t-shirt, to wipe the inside of the head.

Dave

Well, my light is back in "Failure" mode.

It was working fine all day yesterday while I played with it.

This morning when I picked it up and tested, it went back the problem I had when it was delivered: when turned On to P1, it blinks once, then goes to the P1 brightness.

I have cleaned everything off the tube and head, replaced batteries with different types, and Reset it until I am blue in the face.

In my view, this light is Broken with a capital B.

I've sent Mike a note - this is making me crazy.

:sigh:

Well, Mike has my light - I'm assuming a flaky two-stage switch section.

BTW, I LOVE this light - it is exactly what I've been looking for - I just ordered a second one...

:twothumbs

Well, the light from hell is back in "Fail" mode again.

As before, whenever I turn it on to P1, it comes on dimly for a half-second, and then goes to a brighter setting.

There is NO combination of twisting and shouting that will make it do anything else, with either Eneloop or an AW 10440.

I'm not about send this double-damned thing back to Japan for a second time - I guess I'll just write it off and toss it in the junk drawer.

To say the least, I am extremely disappointed.

Lumenz said:

I recently purchased an Extreme III from ARC mania. After I received it, I popped in a battery and started to play with it. As soon as I powered it on (moved it to the first indention), the light turned on to a low mode for about a half second and then immediately turned to a high mode. After testing, I found that no matter where I position the flashlight, after turning it on it goes to a low mode for a half second and then immediately to a high mode.

I can then turn the bezel to any point on the flashlight and it just stays in the high mode. I twist it back and forth... high mode. I cannot get this flashlight to do anything other than the low-then-immediately-high mode thing.

Has anybody else had this problem? I e-mailed ARC mania about the problem and he just told me to read the instructions. I then re-explained the problem I am having and he is now ignoring me. Any suggestions?

Click to expand...

Wow, sorry your having problems, I just spoke with Mike on the phone today he was hospitalized... I am sure once he is fully recovered he can help sort ya out if your still having problems...