Question for Novatac 120P Owners - Able to Tailstand Reliably??

I finally bit the bullet and bought a 120P, and of course it is awesome, except for one thing...

I also had a 120E (which I just sold since I bought the 120P), and I had also purchased a flat tailcap for it. My 120E with the flat tailcap could tailstand perfectly with absolutely no wobble. But my 120P has a slightly convex button, and therefore does not tailstand well. It protrudes too far, and causes the light to be unstable.

Has Novatac changed their flat button designs, or did I just get one with an out of spec tailcap button? Has anyone else had this problem? Should I exchange it for another one?

Here's a couple of pics comparing the 120P tailcap I got to the one I purchased:



120P Button


Purchased flat-button tailcap


Thanks for your help.

-Rich

Re: Question for Novatac 120P Owners

Interesting. I'm not sure if there has been a thread about this before, but I haven't seen one if there has.

Novatac have obviously gone through more than 1 production model of these. I don't know if maybe they had trouble with early ones, but I haven't heard that. If they worked OK, there's no obvious reason I can see why they would change them.

The one on my 120P looks like the one on the left in your photo, except it doesn't have "Made in USA" printed on it.

Re: Question for Novatac 120P Owners

I bought one this summer and was a little concerned when I read on the Lighthound site that although the 'P' version will generally tailstand, it is not guaranteed. When mine arrived I saw that the rubber switch did protrude slightly, just enough to be visible when I held the torch side on, level with my eye. Placed on a flat table top, there was just the merest hint of a wobble, but the 1" diametre of the body stopped it being really noticable or even a problem. By contrast, I had the same thing with a Fenix L2D R100, but the narrow body made it really unstable. So anyway, I played with the 'Tac' for a couple of weeks, mainly trying to get to grips with the UI, and I discovered that the switch settles itself. Right now I've had my torch just over two months and it tailstands just fine. Very solidly in fact. The rubber cap still stands slightly proud, but there is a tiny gap between it and the switch so that when you place it on a flat surface, the bulk of the torch deforms the rubber just enough to allow the ring of the tailcap to support the torch completely. The switch just needs time to bed in. My guess is that because you have had a Novatac before, unlike me, you didn't need to give it a hammering while working out the UI so yours just needs to be used more.

Off-topic: One other thing I learned the hard way was that you have to reset the torch when switching from rechargeables to primaries. I missed that bit of the manual and thought mine had developed a fault when it started flashing and indicating a dead cell, even on new ones. Moral of the story? Read the manual properly.:thinking:

Thanks for the info DM51 and Tomcat. Has anyone else had the same experience as Tomcat and myself with the protruding button? Unfortunately I am not so sure mine will "work in" enough to be stable because of the amount of protrusion.

I'm just trying to get a feel of my odds if I go to the trouble of exchanging my 120P for another. Has anyone else had this problem, or is it fairly isolated?

my 120P tailstands perfectly, both while on and off.

Mine tail-stands reliably, but they are not guaranteed to do so. you can always ask for a replacement switch - 'no' is the worst they can say. From their website FAQ:

Will the NovaTac EDC flashlights "tail-stand?"
The programmable model will generally tail-stand due to its flat switch. The EDC model and Tactical model will NOT tail-stand. The term tail-stand refers to the ability to turn the flashlight on and place it on a flat surface so that the light is emitted straight up. This bounces the light off the ceiling for general lighting similar to a candle.

I have a 120P that normally has no trouble tailstanding. I spent a week in Salt Lake City over the summer. The difference in air pressure from my home in San Jose was enough to make my button cover protrude significantly when I first arrived at the higher elevation. The 120P wouldn't tailstand until I broke the o-ring seal and equalized the pressure.

So, if you only have a slight wobble, try pressing the button in while screwing the tail cap on. I doubt it will help, but maybe it makes an ever-so-slight difference, and maybe it's just enough.

I'm in a similar boat as the OP. Except my brand new Novatac looks as though it was built from used spare parts. Can I work with Novatac to resolve this? Otherwise, I'm getting a refund.


Convex dome.


How many versions of this tailcap do they have?


Mine doesn't say EDC or 120P on the side???

gswitter said:

So, if you only have a slight wobble, try pressing the button in while screwing the tail cap on. I doubt it will help, but maybe it makes an ever-so-slight difference, and maybe it's just enough.

Click to expand...

Hey that worked!!! No more rock-a-bye baby!!!

But that still doesn't solve my other issues. My light came with a solder ball/spring on the positive terminal (broke off), and a reflector that looks like was wiped.

Update: worked only once. Unable to duplicate rock-a-bye baby solution