Should I give Novatac another chance?

I bought a Novatac Classic AAx2 and liked the feel of the light right away. It also had a nice beam running off 2 Energizer lithiums. For about 40 seconds. Then it started to flicker...then it went down to 30ish lumens. It would not go off that setting until I took the batteries out. Then the cycle would repeat. I tried 2 sets of batts just to make sure it was the light...it was. Not what you want in your brand new $100 AA light right out of the clamshell.

Now, I just got an email from BGuy with a deal to buy a Novatac...and get another one (from Novatac) for $28. So, I am kind of thinking of trying them out again...because Any light can break right???? But, I have read a good number of other posts here about quirky Novatacs..and the spring inside the light seems to be made of a pretty soft metal...and I have never had any other kind of light with a loose spring in it.

Help me out, What should I do? Are the new Novatacs built like the old ones...or am I going to just get two more lights that very possibly will not work either?

Thanks for the help!

Did you read the Novatac Flashlight User Guide? I have a Novatac Storm (China) and the User Guide is the same for the Classic, Special Ops and the Wichita. Unknown if its the same as yours but there is a "Battery-Detect-Reset" feature. When changing to or from a rechargeable battery a Battery-Detect-Reset is required.

1. Turn the light on.
2. Unscrew the battery case until the light turns off.
3.Screw the battery case back together, there will be one second of dim light.
4. During the one second of dim light, press and hold the button.
5. You will see five seconds of bright light, followed by a dim light.
6. Release the button when the light goes dim.
7. The Battery-Detect-Rest is complete.

If the button is released during the brighter light period, the Error Flash sequence of six rapid flashes will be displayed. the light will not detect the new battery configuration and damage may occur to the rechargeable battery.

Hope this helps if not Novatac has a limited lifetime warranty from defects in material and workmanship.

woodrow said:

Help me out, What should I do?

Are the new Novatacs built like the old ones...

or am I going to just get two more lights that very possibly will not work either?

Thanks for the help!

Click to expand...

1 -Buy one of the older Novatacs.

2 -No, they're crap.

3 -A cheap, brand new, Novatac is like buying a cheap Corvette. Do you honestly expect it to work reliably?

Concur w/Monocrom on all points. The newest series of Novatac lights (all made overseas) are pretty lousy in my experience.

I have kept one "Storm" because I sat on the fence about returning it longer than I felt was ethical for the dealer. This light is not hard anodized (it's dyed w/type II anodization) an has an aluminum bezel (as opposed to SS on the older ones). The light has a bad habit of coming on at random times and draining it's battery. In use, it will occasionally go into "spontaneous light mode" and require that I loosen the tailcap to give it a "time out".

To Novatac's credit, they did send me an RMA and offered to swap out the light as defective. I may still mail it back to them but I have this bad feeling that the problem is in the engineering not my particular light.

Right now it is sitting with a lithium primary in my office desk drawer with the tailcap in lockout mode.

My policy is to not buy lights from a company that went from quality to cheap. Why would anyone want to buy a light from such a company?

I have no experience with the new NovaTacs, so I won't comment on them.

I do have one older NovaTac 85 T, and think it is great.

My advice is visit Lighthound and grab one of the old ones while you still can.

Rocketman said:

My policy is to not buy lights from a company that went from quality to cheap. Why would anyone want to buy a light from such a company?

Click to expand...

Yes. Fair point. I believe Novatac was trying to lower their price point. To do this they moved their manufacturing overseas to lower labor costs. They additionally lowered the quality of the materials used to make the light. Finally the end product (based upon my samples) is less reliable and buggy.

All this to hit a price point of (drum roll please) ~90 dollars for a Storm.

For 10 dollars more you can get an RA Clicky EDC that is just as bright (~120 lumens) uses the same LED, has an enhanced version of the Storm's interface, has a SS bezel is HA III anodized and made in the US.

If you are looking for something more cutting edge, you can get a JetBeam RRT-0 with over 200 lumens, a thoughtful and reliable (in my experience) UI and clear hard anodizing to die for (IMO second only to Surefire). This one is made overseas and will set you back about 10 dollars more than the Novatac.

I think for the quality Novatac's (current generation) are overpriced. I also think they are banking on their reputation to justify the price point. Sad and short sighted.

andrewnewman said:

Yes. Fair point. I believe Novatac was trying to lower their price point. To do this they moved their manufacturing overseas to lower labor costs. They additionally lowered the quality of the materials used to make the light. Finally the end product (based upon my samples) is less reliable and buggy.

All this to hit a price point of (drum roll please) ~90 dollars for a Storm.

Click to expand...

But think of the profits!

:hahaha:

andrewnewman said:

For 10 dollars more you can get an RA Clicky EDC that is just as bright (~120 lumens) uses the same LED, has an enhanced version of the Storm's interface, has a SS bezel is HA III anodized and made in the US.

Click to expand...

Agreed. If you (OP) were thinking of getting an NT 120, or the Storm version of the 120, I'd go with Ra instead. If your budget is tighter, and/or you want one of the older NovaTacs, the 85 Ts are very well priced at Lighthound, and for me, at least they will do 95% of what an NT 120 would do for me.

rider said:

But think of the profits!

:hahaha:

Click to expand...

GM learned the following lesson the hard way . . . You don't p*ss off your core customer base while trying to get more consumers to buy your products. Oldsmobile is dead because GM tried to appeal to younger buyers and no longer made cars like the ones that appealed to that brand's core customer base of older buyers. There was nothing wrong with the Aurora, Intrigue, or Alero. (The Intrigue in particular was a great design.)

But Olds customers are used to and want models like the 88, the typical Oldsmobile design. GM failed to attract younger buyers to the brand, and did very well in p*ssing off supporters of the brand; until sales declined to the point that the brand died.

Novatac is doing the same thing. Their core customers don't want cheap quality Novatacs at a lower price. And yes, some will be p*ssed that the lights are no longer Made in America.

This doesn't bode too well for me as I just mailed in the Novatac $20 offer for a Classic AA in Gunmetal... Hope I have better luck when I receive mine.

Try a Ra.

Should I give Novatac another chance?

No

Fool me once, shame on you.

Fool me twice...I'm in the dark again.

BIGLOU said:

Did you read the Novatac Flashlight User Guide? I have a Novatac Storm (China) and the User Guide is the same for the Classic, Special Ops and the Wichita. Unknown if its the same as yours but there is a "Battery-Detect-Reset" feature. When changing to or from a rechargeable battery a Battery-Detect-Reset is required.

1. Turn the light on.
2. Unscrew the battery case until the light turns off.
3.Screw the battery case back together, there will be one second of dim light.
4. During the one second of dim light, press and hold the button.
5. You will see five seconds of bright light, followed by a dim light.
6. Release the button when the light goes dim.
7. The Battery-Detect-Rest is complete.

If the button is released during the brighter light period, the Error Flash sequence of six rapid flashes will be displayed. the light will not detect the new battery configuration and damage may occur to the rechargeable battery.

Hope this helps if not Novatac has a limited lifetime warranty from defects in material and workmanship.

Click to expand...

Have you tried this? I bet it will fix your problem. The cells you are using are 1.7 V (3.4V combined) so it thinks you are using a depleting rechargeable. This is not the fault of the light, it's built that way for a reason.

FlameOn said:

Fool me once, shame on you.

Fool me twice...I'm in the dark again.

Click to expand...

Thanks everyone for their posts....I think Im gonna pass on this one. Its too bad, the light felt nice...maybe it is time to pick up a RA! I don't think the reset thing was an issue. It was a brand new light and only had L91 primaries in it. Never a rechargable. Also, it did not do the quick flash thing...just lit normally for 30 seconds..then lost power. And I forgot...then would not always turn back on until the tailcap was taken off and put back on. The spring inside felt like soddering metal.just super soft.

Thanks for the advice...I will listen to it..and steer clear of this brand.

Novatacs decision to go to China for production of these lights does not sit well with me at all. The price we pay everytime a company does this in the US is far greater than the few dollars we think we are saving initially.

But, I thought NT still is making the original ones in the US at the higher price ? And those ones are still being made to the original specs?

I could be wrong

Novatac moving production overseas is lame. Why would I buy their cheap china junk when I can just get a Fenix even cheaper, or a made in America HDS for a touch more?

My 120p had some regulation issues a few years back, I sent it in for repairs and they fixed it good as new shipped it back and all I paid was shipping one way. Can't complain about the service, but with the shift in manufacturing I don't think I will be buying any more Novatacs.

Give them a chance. And buy an older one from the MP or a new one produced in the USA. Don't go for the China-models. I love them and I never had (major) issues. Even not with my Storm but thay maybe an exception. I am talking of scratched lenses, bezels that I coud not remove or pills that did not go out easily. No functional issues at all. Of course, any RA-light is worth to be considered too (as you can see). Henry Schneiker even supports warranty for 2nd hand lights, so no risk to buy one on the MP.




Andreas

What makes no sense is I bought an American made 120E for $85 + shipping compared to $90 + tax for a Storm made overseas that I saw at Sportsman's Warehouse. No way was I paying that price. That store has been a major disappointment. Granted, the Storm can be found online for $60 to $70 (I think). I haven't paid that much attention to them.

Cheap is never a value.

I guess they decided to cash in their reputation. But I suppose if someone offered me enough money, I'd probably sell also.

I don't know if this is what happened, but it's a common theme. Somebody makes a great product and it gains a well earned reputation (e.g. Timberland) and then sells the brand for buckets of cash. They then slap the "Name" on a piece of crap and people buy a lot of it. I use Timberland as an example simply because I still have a pair of shoes that I've had resoled 3 times and will soon get a fourth. I bought them in the early 80's. Bought a pair of their boots in the early 90's and they were in the trash 2 years later.

I doubt Novatac will be any different. If the 85E qualified for the $28 deal, I might do it. But it would still be a $20 light and $8 overpriced.:shakehead

Edit to add:
Just to be clear I'm not implying that the 85E is a $20 light but rather the Storm is a $20 light.

Throw it up against the ceiling

If it sticks order the other one:shakehead