Novatac 120P / Tactical Switch Q

Hello... "long-time lurker, first-time poster."

I put a tactical switch on my 120P but the most it will do is flicker--did I get a dud, or is there some obvious fix I am missing? When I put the flat switch back on, it works fine.

I admit I am not Mr. D-I-Y, but I installed a forward-click switch in an LD20 with no troubles, it seems this should be pretty simple.

I apologize if this has been answered a hundred times before, I am usually pretty good at finding solutions via the search function but no luck this time... any advice is appreciated.

Sounds like poor connection. Make sure everything is tight, not just the cap.

Thanks Dead Nuts, but no-go...

I cranked everything down tight from the bezel on up with no results. I put the flat switch back on and it lights right up. If I didn't get the occasional flicker from the tactical switch I'd say it was a lost cause.

dont tighten too much the threads will suffer

Hand tightening as tight as you can get it won't hurt none.

As dead_nuts mentioned you want to check the contact/retaining ring inside the tailcap. Though rare in occurance this ring can loosen over time in the Novatacs. It has happened to me. You need a pair of snapring pliers or fine needle nose pliers and be carefule not to gouge the threads.

Well, I checked the retaining ring, it seems plenty tight. Near as I can tell, the problem should be in the tailcap--stock end works fine, new one will not.

I don't want to mess with shipping it back for an exchange so was hoping there might be an 'engineer' or two who could figure it out, but it looks like the switch is bad and I just need to accept it.

Thanks to everyone who pitched in here, I do appreciate your help.

My next guess would be the battery tube spring, but I'm not sure why that it would work with one switch, but not the other. Make sure the spring protrudes from both ends of the tube when the head and tailcap are removed.

Aside from making sure everything is tight, make sure all the contacts are clean.

Sounds like this may be a good question for Jesse to answer at Novatac HQ, excellent customer service.:welcome:

I really doubt the spring is the problem here.

What I would do is, take the retaining ring out of both tailcaps, then switch the retaining rings.
Now if the switch with the flat top does not work, you know it is the retaining ring, it just needs cleaned.
However, if the switch with tactical top still does not work, you need to look at the contact area between the retaining ring and the switch and make sure it is clean.
Beyond that, you can just switch the boot covers out to get the one you want, or send it back.

brighterisbetter said:

Sounds like this may be a good question for Jesse to answer at Novatac HQ, excellent customer service.:welcome:

Click to expand...

Yup. Novatac CS is A++.

2008-10-19T03:44:42Z
shuto,
You might try bridging the gap between the switch cap
retaining ring and the bare aluminum end of the battery tube
with a conductor to see if that gives you normal operation;
I used a short length of 19-gauge stainless steel wire that
mimicked the shape of the o-ring to bridge that gap and
verify that I needed to tighten the 120T switch cap more
than it was wont to be tightened.

My impression was that the 120T switch is machined to
bottom-out on the inboard side of the o-ring groove on the
120P battery tube about one turn before it makes electrical
contact, perhaps to avoid the mislabeling of a 120P light
engine with a 120T switch cap, though I didn't measure
diameters; my first digital caliper isn't due to arrive
until next Tuesday.

To make the 120T switch cap fit, I removed the o-ring from
the switch-cap end of the battery tube, slathered the
threads with silicone grease, clamped a big Vise-grip on the
bottleneck battery tube, and another Vise-grip on the switch
cap, and tightened and loosened the switch cap a hundred
times or more, until whatever seemed to have prevented
electrical contact had yielded enough to give me the victory
flash. I have left the o-ring off of the switch-cap end,
because the fit is so tight, and I can hand-loosen the
switch cap, provided I haven't tightened it to the extent
that it seizes to the battery tube.

I would rather have swapped the switch internals between the
switch caps, but the retaining ring looks like it requires a
special tool, like a splined sleeve with only four evenly-
spaced splines, that I would have needed to buy, if such is
even available for sale, or that I would have needed to make
for myself, because my needle-nose pliers and tweezers
wouldn't turn it; others may have had success with snap-
ring/circlip pliers.

I really enjoy the 120T switch I've just put on my new 120P,
because it's easier for me to click/press with my thumb,
without my needing to resort to clicking/pressing with my
forefinger. Accidental turn-on has not been a problem, and
the 120T switch protuberance doesn't impede mouth-hold.