Twisty downside??

I bought another LSH from Moses with a twisty. Somewhere I read about battery rattle with twisties. Are there any other downsides to the twisty other than having to use two hands? I'm kind of excited, er I mean real excited about getting an LS with a twisty. Although I do have a clicky coming for it just in case. I think the thing about the twisty will be being able to set it on a table or something to light up a room or tent or whatever. Chompin on the bit in Nebraska. Doug /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I bought one from Moses too. I already have one, and the only additional disadvantage is that the color and knurling mismatch might be more severe than other tails. At least, that's my experience.

It is possible to turn the twisty on and off with one hand. I've practiced and become quite good at it. I use a sort-of-SureFire grip.

I have found that if the twisty is turned to just the right position, the light acts as if it had an ultra sensitive clickie for the momentary mode. At that sweet spot just a tap gives a flash of light.

You may already know -- you can get a free foam washer from Arc to keep the battery from rattling. Just send a SASE with your request.

Thanks Paul W,
Did you buy an LS or just the twisty? I thought I saw a thread where he was selling some twisties. I bought an LS w/twisty with it. Where does the foam washer go? In the tailcap bottom? Is there a spring in the bottom? I have never seen one of these in real life so I don't know how they work. Thanks, I may have to send for a foam washer. Doug /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Twisty problems:

1. You can crush the battery just by turning it on.
2. You can destroy the battery by dropping it on the light's head.

Doug,

I bought the Arc Grey kit minus electronics. I needed just the twisty, but the grey kit was only $17 -- had to take it. I'm using the this twistie for a making a box which will hold C cells connected to an Arc head. The twistie is the perfect interface after some drilling.

The foam washer goes in the head. There's no spring in the bottom, just a little nipple that fits into the base of the 123.

I have decided not to use the foam washer. It would prevent me from using the sweet spot momentary mode. In addition, when the light is in that sweet spot, you can roll the light across the floor and it will flash on and off. I don't want to give that up. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Paul

Thanks Darell,
I will definately keep that in mind.
Paul W,
So the foam washer would just be a bigger version of the AAA washer? I am going to try the sweet spot momentary mode, that would be great. Thanks for the great info Paul. Doug /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

10-4 for sure. Have fun with your new light.

So, Paul W, would that make the head up for sale?
just asking /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

You can still have the "sweet spot" with a foam washer in
there....though you will lose that floor blinker trick,
Which I think I have to go try! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I cut my own foam washer from some material used for cushioning PC mainboards in their retail box. I cut it to fit in the bottom of the twisty pack and it works well there to stop battery rattle. I think if the twisty were redesigned to have a longer (2mm longer?) negative electrode and a heavier Arc AAA type pad in the bottom of the twisty cap, it might solve the battery compatibility and rattling issues.

I mostly operate the twisty one-handed. I learned the motion long ago operating mini-mags. Thumb and forefinger do the turning of the cap while holding the head with the middle and ring finger.

Shiftd,

Head up for sale? I don't know. I want to play around with it first. It has no electronics, but it does include the heatsink, retaining rings, and other stuff. If I ever decide to change the sense resistor in one of my LSs, the retaining ring would be very useful. If I should decide that the head is of no value to me, I'll send you a PM.

Paul

For me the twisty is the best way to EDC it. No downside for me. I prefer "small" to any added convenience the LARGER switch-pack might offer. If the switch didn't add any significant length, could stand on end, and you could have the option of twisting or clicking it, that would be the best of both worlds. I'd probably go for that.

I own one LS hybrid and two grey kits (these are not completed yet) and have had opportunity to handle 9 others and have found that some of the twistys were too easy to turn on and others were very tight.
I guess this is due to variances in either the O-ring, internal head machining, or O-ring groove in tail piece.
My LS hybrid was too loose so I wrapped some string around the groove under the Oring and it's just right and has stayed that way for about 5 months. The greykits were too tight and after extra lube didn't fix it, I put the Oring on the end of a piece of pipe and rolled it against a piece of sandpaper to reduce its OD. That fixed it. I also did this with my AAAs and they are easy to use one-handed (even though I wish the head knurling were as grippy as the body). My LS is very easy to turn on with one hand, by holding the tailpiece between my middle or ring finger and palm and twisting the head between thumb and forefinger so the optics are pointing ahead or up. (This is a position I don't think can be done with the clicky.) The other way to use it is holding the head between the middle and ring fingers and twisting the tail pack between thumb and forefinger, so the optics are pointing down. I have somewhat small hands so this may not be as easy for others. The foam washer does an excellent job of eliminating rattle.

Darell, You mentioned battery crushing problems. Mine however never gets crushed. I only need to twist enough to make the slightest contact and it never flickers or turns off on its own. There's no need to twist any harder than that, and using it one handed virtually eliminates the chance of applying too much torque. Same goes for my AAAs. I have dropped my LS once, on its head with the light off. No battery damage. I suppose with the light ON it might happen but the threads are very well mated, in mine anyway, with no play, so I think that would minimize any such crushing.

[ QUOTE ]
gyverpete said:
Darell, You mentioned battery crushing problems. Mine however never gets crushed. I only need to twist enough to make the slightest contact and it never flickers or turns off on its own. There's no need to twist any harder than that, and using it one handed virtually eliminates the chance of applying too much torque. Same goes for my AAAs. I have dropped my LS once, on its head with the light off. No battery damage. I suppose with the light ON it might happen but the threads are very well mated, in mine anyway, with no play, so I think that would minimize any such crushing.

[/ QUOTE ]
Excellent. That's good to hear. Yes, the destruction would most likely occur when the light was on, for obvious reasons. This problem isn't one that everybody experiences, the twisty just offers the potential for these issues, and I wanted to bring them up.

I can't believe that none of you handy machinists have not made a better clickie for the LS... It can't be THAT hard considering some of the incredible mods/custom lights I've seen around! I've got a Taig Micro mill that needs to be tinkered with. To bad I don't have any bits or metal to work with!

It is pretty obvious that when compared to the rest of the light, the kroll switch is WEAK... but pretty damn handy. I like the look and feel of the light better with the twisty, but the switch is sooooooo handy that I can't part with it most of the time. I used to carry EDC with the twisty for size and put on the clickie at night when I'm more likely to use it. Maybe I'll try the twisty today for sh!ts and giggles...

GearGuy,

That's interesting. My usage is just the opposite. I have two Arc LSs. I keep a clickie on the premium for EDC because I use that mainly in momentary mode. I keep the twistie on the standard beside the bed in case I need to take a walk somewhere.

BTW, welcome to CPF. Nice to see you posting. I'll look forward to seeing any of your ideas, experiments, suggestions, and questions in the future. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Paul

P.S. Looks like you work at a fascinating place.

[ QUOTE ]
GearGuy said:
I can't believe that none of you handy machinists have not made a better clickie for the LS... It can't be THAT hard considering some of the incredible mods/custom lights I've seen around!

[/ QUOTE ]
Welcome to the boards, Mr. Guy.

I think that if it was just a matter of hacking out a hunk of metal, then yes, we'd have a better one by now. But folks expect a lot out of a switch, including being waterproof, etc. Takes quite a lot to make the perfect switch. I think our best bet is to tell Don that we don't think he can do it.

"I think our best bet is to tell Don that we don't think he can do it."

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I used to have people pull that on me all the time - thing is I usually didn't catch on 'til I'd done "it." /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Hey! Don! Betcha can't! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jpshakehead.gif

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/poke2.gif

This post is backward.
It should ask about the downside of the KROLL SWITCH a.k.a. (foul use of language deleted by mod)switch. You would get a lot more responses and have a lot more to talk about if it did.
The (deleted)switch has kept many I know away from the ARC LS and has kept me away from CPF for nearly a year.
The twisty is the way to go!!
Good luck,
STEELHEAD

(edited by Peter Gransee 6/10/03 for violation of CPF Policies. This serves as an additional warning)

steelhead: that's the harsh reality! 8 out of 10 people who've seen my arc LS said it looks phallic because of the kroll /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

If the Kroll looks phallic, then it is best not to go into how one holds it and has two hands free.
BTW, I like both the twisty and the clicky. It all comes down to where and how it's used.