Terralux acting weird

nismotor · Mar 17, 2009

I got a TerraLux dropin inside a barely used 3D maglite, and it's been acting funny as of late.

When i click on the button, it will stay on for roughly 1 second, and goes off. I would click it again, and it would do the same thing. Won't stay on. I put the old Kryton bulb back in, and it works fine. I cleaned and lubed all the threads, fresh batteries, no use....:thinking:

It is a TLE-6EXB, for the 2-3 cell mags. It is the older version with the SSC p4 die. Any suggestions or remedies?

nismotor · Mar 18, 2009

C'mon, no one? :mecry:

Where all the flashaholics at?

darknessemitter · Mar 18, 2009

nismotor said:
C'mon, no one? :mecry:

Where all the flashaholics at?

People have reported the Terralux Seoul upgrades overheating before, if you do a search you should be able to find some threads on it.

ZMZ67 · Mar 18, 2009

I would contact TerraLUX and see if you can exchange it.In the past they have done this for defective units.

chmsam · Mar 18, 2009

If the LED is not defective, my guess would be oxidation or a bad contact, so I'm going to again preach about quick and easy fixes. Even a small change in current can make an LED drop in act up while an incan might still preform to at least some degree.

Did you clean all the electrical contacts and the battery ends? Also, remove the spring in the tail cap, clean and/or polish it and the inside of the tail cap and give that a go. I give all my lights a once over every 6 months to a year. I use Caig products (and a little goes a long way) but a light touch with a soft pencil eraser can work too (just not as well and the oxidation will return but yes, it is cheaper). Remember that there are two electrical contacts on LED drop ins and/or bulbs so don't just clean the bottom contact and expect things to be fine. Be sure to clean every surface of the flashlight where a contact is made. Battery terminals also oxidize so they need to be treated.

A lot of people make the mistake of using too much lube and causing electrical problems -- just wipe off any excess with a clean rag and a very light touch. I use a dab of pure silicone grease about the size of a pea for the tail and bezel each (including o-rings), and that's more than enough.

Every little bit helps. Even allowing for the sprays to dry, a flashlight takes me about 10 minutes or less to fix and make more reliable.

csshih · Mar 18, 2009

hmm.. it's weird how it goes on for a second. it sounds like it might be a problem with the switch, have you considered that?

nismotor · Mar 19, 2009

Thanks for the replies

ZMZ67 said:
I would contact TerraLUX and see if you can exchange it.In the past they have done this for defective units.

It's been more than a year, but I'll still give it a shot with them

csshih said:
hmm.. it's weird how it goes on for a second. it sounds like it might be a problem with the switch, have you considered that?

it's not the switch, works fine when I drop in the Kryton bulb, the Maglite-brand led module, and the Malkoff.

chmsam said:
If the LED is not defective, my guess would be oxidation or a bad contact, so I'm going to again preach about quick and easy fixes. Even a small change in current can make an LED drop in act up while an incan might still preform to at least some degree.

I'm thinking it might be oxidation/contact probs like you said. I did everything, practically detail stripped it and cleaned & lubed (slightly) everything, after that didn't work was when i got the idea to try the other bulbs. As i mentioned above, the Kryton bulb, Maglite-brand dropin, and the Malkoff all worked as they should...sighs

Watchguy · Mar 20, 2009

A friend had me look at his 3D which had the same problem. I tried another TLE-6EXB (out of my 2D which works fine) and it had the same problem. New batteries didn't help. With regular bulbs the 3D would work great. I kind of came to the conclusion that the contact spring under the bulb socket has too much resistance. :shrug: I could push the socket up and down a bunch and it would get better for a little while before cutting out again. I suspect the switch\socket assy needs to come apart to be cleaned.

nismotor · Mar 20, 2009

Watchguy said:
A friend had me look at his 3D which had the same problem. I tried another TLE-6EXB (out of my 2D which works fine) and it had the same problem. New batteries didn't help. With regular bulbs the 3D would work great. I kind of came to the conclusion that the contact spring under the bulb socket has too much resistance. :shrug: I could push the socket up and down a bunch and it would get better for a little while before cutting out again. I suspect the switch\socket assy needs to come apart to be cleaned.

i tried what you said about messing with the bottom contact and twisting the terralux back and forth. Now it would stay on for anywhere from 8 seconds to the longest time of 53 seconds before shutting off again.

Guess i'm not getting another terralux until they redesign them, or just save up for another Malkoff.:devil:

chmsam · Mar 20, 2009

Might try to gently lengthen or compress the spring in the tail cap if you still think the contact is not quite right.

If you are up for it, you might want to try removing the switch assembly for the Maglite and cleaning up those contacts as well. Actually a pretty easy thing to do and you the only tool you need is a 5/64" (2mm) Allen wrench. There are instructions for doing this that you can find by doing a search. If the switch is removed you can give it a gentle blast with a good quality spray electrical contact cleaner. Just allow it to dry for 5-10 minutes before you put it back together and wipe off any excess if there is any. The only tricks I would recommend are to read up on how to realign/center the switch when it is ready to go back in, remember to never touch the reflector (should not be a problem at all but I mention it because they are way too easy to ruin by even the slightest touch), and be careful not to get the LED sprayed with the cleaner. Still should take no more than about 15 minutes if you have never done it before, including the time to work up your nerve if you are worried about it. I've even done this for buddies of mine. And if it doesn't help the Terralux it is still good preventive maintenance.

MattK · Mar 21, 2009

chmsam said:
If the LED is not defective, my guess would be oxidation or a bad contact, so I'm going to again preach about quick and easy fixes. Even a small change in current can make an LED drop in act up while an incan might still preform to at least some degree.

Did you clean all the electrical contacts and the battery ends? Also, remove the spring in the tail cap, clean and/or polish it and the inside of the tail cap and give that a go. I give all my lights a once over every 6 months to a year. I use Caig products (and a little goes a long way) but a light touch with a soft pencil eraser can work too (just not as well and the oxidation will return but yes, it is cheaper). Remember that there are two electrical contacts on LED drop ins and/or bulbs so don't just clean the bottom contact and expect things to be fine. Be sure to clean every surface of the flashlight where a contact is made. Battery terminals also oxidize so they need to be treated.

A lot of people make the mistake of using too much lube and causing electrical problems -- just wipe off any excess with a clean rag and a very light touch. I use a dab of pure silicone grease about the size of a pea for the tail and bezel each (including o-rings), and that's more than enough.

Every little bit helps. Even allowing for the sprays to dry, a flashlight takes me about 10 minutes or less to fix and make more reliable.

Great post! Worth quoting in full.

Please humor me and try this also. Make a little ball of aluminum foil, remove the TL drop-in, drop in the ball of foil and replace the drop-in. There are a number of generations/variations in the Maglite builds over the years - sometimes the bulb holders are deeper. If that's part of the issue here this test would confirm it.

If all else fails then contact TerraLUX - they will cheerfully replace it for you.

nismotor · Mar 21, 2009

UPDATE:

I don't think there was any contact issues to begin with, though i did suspected in the beginning. I've conclude it is definitely something with the resistance of the springs, whether it be the tailcap, or the bulb socket one.

Anyhow, I'd since dug up a really old, beat-up (7-9 years ago??) maglite 3D from the basement and popped the "problem" Terralux in, and guess what? Works like a charm!!!!

I been just turning it on randomly here and there and it has not missed a beat.....yet.

.... just funny how it "prefers" the beat-up 3D over the brand-spankin-new.:shrug: whatever... i'm satisfied, and now i have an extra working 3D lying around :twothumbs

Terralux acting weird

nismotor

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