Bought a used AAA; first arc; question

I just bought an Arc-AAA used online. This is my first Arc-AAA. I dont know the exact model but it has Arc-P on the end of the battery tube. I noticed the beam is sorta like a egg yolk and the center is noticeably off. I was just wondering if this is normal or could something be wrong with the thing. I'm tempted to buy a new GS just to compare.

That's fairly normal. If it is not a GS (supposedly the LED lens sticks out slightly past the bezel) then it is most likely a CS, which was in production for a pretty long time. That's assuming it has the tapered bezel?

Yes, that's a current (MTD LLC) Arc, so it would be a CS, DS or GS LED. My guess is that it's a CS LED because the DS LED models were a very short run before the GS came out. I believe they did use BS LED's in the Arcs after the MTD ownership but those were never labeled Arc-P?

So is it normal for Arcs to have off-center hot spots? Just wondering if I got a used dud, since when i compare the beam to my E01, the arc is less center.

What exactly do you mean by egg yolk exactly? The hotspots of the Nichia GS are rectangular and are not in the exact middle of the beam.

Carrot, I thought Arc fixed the GS issue with it sticking out?

Kind of looks like this. Main beam i kinda off like the yolk.

I vaguely recall there were some "seconds" sold at one point, could be you got one of those third hand.

sounds like the typical beam

The DS was the best Arc AAA. I miss mine.

fyrstormer said:

The DS was the best Arc AAA.

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+1

Yeah, I hopped on the DS bandwagon and I love mine. Wonder why Peter isn't using them? They're only 2 or 3 lumens dimmer than the GS at the current drive level, and supposedly a much nicer beam.

As for the off center LED, this is normal.

Im a new Arc aaa owner, but a long time flashaholic and I will say with pride that the Arc aaa is the best small edc anyone could ever own hands down!

defloyd77 said:

I thought Arc fixed the GS issue with it sticking out?

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The sticking out issue was rectified after the initial batches.

deer hunter said:

Im a new Arc aaa owner, but a long time flashaholic and I will say with pride that the Arc aaa is the best small edc anyone could ever own hands down!

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https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/205309

carrot said:

Yes, that's a current (MTD LLC) Arc, so it would be a CS, DS or GS LED. My guess is that it's a CS LED because the DS LED models were a very short run before the GS came out. I believe they did use BS LED's in the Arcs after the MTD ownership but those were never labeled Arc-P?

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Carrot, how can it be a CS if it has ARC-P on the head?

The Premium model always uses the brightest LED Peter can get his hands on. At one point, the CS LED was the brightest. I remember this to be the case when I was considering buying my first Arc, but instead I got lucky and got an Arc-AA.

It looks like I have a CS which says Arc-P on it. The weird thing is I don't remember buying it, so I'm not sure how I got it. :shrug:

paulr said:

It looks like I have a CS which says Arc-P on it. The weird thing is I don't remember buying it, so I'm not sure how I got it. :shrug:

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send it to me, then you wont have to worry about anything at all! :nana:

zenlunatic said:

Carrot, how can it be a CS if it has ARC-P on the head?

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From a snapshot of the 2005 ARC FAQ web page:.

... The Arc-AAA use a 5mm Nichia LED part number NSPW500BS/CS. Like all good LEDs, Nichia bins these LEDs by tint and flux. The Standard Arc-AAA uses S flux and B2 or B3 tint. The Premium Arc-AAA uses a U or V flux with a B2 or B1 tint. The difference between the Standard and Premium is the Premium is brighter. ...