My Arc - AAA just stopped working.

Peter,

I purchased a Arc AAA frim CountyComm for $18.00 before the Flack started (About two months ago).

A couple of time before today it wouldn't come on with the firs try but if I removed the head it always worked great. I just assumd that a little bit of the rubber gasket was getting in the way.

Today on my drive on I decided to "play" with it a little bit.

It wouldn't come on.

I tried a different battery but that made no difference. At home I hooked up a battery with wires to the the solder button and the threads on the head, Still no go.

Now I understand that CountyComm was not an "Authorized" dealer but I am still hoping that the warrantee will be honored.

I will understand if it isn't as I was "Part of the problem" with a situation that actually caused finical harm to your buisness.

Let me know what to do.

Thanks for a great product and I really like it (Just need to get it to work again) and the LSL-P Second I got.

wwglen

You've eliminated the tube, threads, and foam washer as the problem so try this next:
I have a AAA that also doesn't work all the time. It was bought as a "seconds" dud. I did some tests on it and I found that the capacitor seems to be overcharging and, somehow, preventing the light from turning on as a result. The voltage across the - and + contacts is about 0.65 volts when normally it's 0.35 volts. To make the light work, I removed the head, took a wire and jumped the head thread(-) to the solder blob (+) for about 5 seconds, discharging the cap. (which is inside the sealed head). I then reassembled the light and it works again. After leaving the light on or turning it on and off a few times, it eventually will refuse to turn on. Jumping again does the trick. This is of course not a convenient or long term fix, just an illustration of what is going on.

This may or may not be what's ailing yours, but if it turns out to be, then replacing it is the only fix, because it is a non-user-serviceable internal circuit problem.
Arc will most likely replace it, but I'll let Peter answer.

Did not help but thanks.


wwglen

If discharging the capacitor *always* starts the light, then you can solder a small SMD resistor between the (+) solder bulb and the ground contact ring. The capacitor inside is a 47uF tantanium, a 1K resistor should discharge it in a fraction of second and only waste 1mA or so when the light is in use.

wwglen,
Sorry to hear it didn't work. But the good news is someone else here might have a simpler fix. Otherwise, warranty. BTW, Peter is currently on vacation for a few days, and mentioned he won't be checking emails, messages or CPF during that time. See his thread in this ARC forum for more.

LED Mods...
Thanks! I'll try that.
Yes, it always works afterward.

So how hard is it to take apart an Arc AAA and mod the circuit? For example to replace the led with another color, or more ambitiously, with a Luxeon.

The circuit and base of the LED are potted into the aluminium head (the head is completely filled with epoxy).

Modding the circuit would is fairly easy - getting it out of the head is difficult ... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I had the weirdest thing happen to my CPF version Arc AAA last month. I was up at about 13,000 feet in Colorado, and needed a little light; Turned it on, got a dim little flash, and then nothing.

Changed batteries: nothing. Cleaned contacts and threads: Nothing. My turquoise ARC AAA worked fine, as well as a "regular" white Arc AAA. Three Arc LSs worked fine, but the CPF edition didn't work at all in Colorado, no matter what I did....

Got back home, was getting ready to email Gransee about what to do about it, twisted it on, and it worked fine. Has worked perfectly ever since.

Maybe there is a "ghost in the machine"??

You musta missed the fine print at the bottom rear of the card in the blisterpack ...

<font class="small">Code:</font><hr /><pre>This light not for use in Colorado</pre><hr />

Maybe it caught Rocky Mountain Fever? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif

My Arc AAA 3.3 just stopped working as well. Changing the cells doesn't help. I have a bit of a black smear on the head's solder contact. I'm gonna try to scrape if off nondestructively, and see if that works. I'll keep you all posted.
(Edit: it didn't.)

I just sent mine into Arc for replacement.

Chuck

btt

I removed the foam washer from mine that did not turn on each time. I found some black gooey stuff between the crimp and the circuit board, foam goo I think. A scrub with an alcohol dipped toothbrush dislodged the shmoo and now with a new foam washer it works fine.

Long time lurker/flashaholic, first time poster.
My Arc AAA stopped working the day after the blackout. It was on all night in the bathroom. The next day, it wouldn't turn on. And, when it does it does it randomly.
I sent it in for repair. I was hoping to get it fixed but Arc sent me a replacement. I still love the thing but the one I had was on my keyring for almost 2 years and had those nice worn areas on it, not to mention the name around the tube.
Thanks to Arc for replacing the flashlight. I wish more people would buy these instead of those 2 aa cell thingys.
Also, glad after a short power outage last summer, I gave my turquiose AAA to my mother. That came in handy during this summer's blackout.

I've been instructed to ship my AAA back to Arc for inspection and possible replacement. Two ideas:

First, has anyone else been using the reversed-clip-as-momentary-switch trick? Second, what revision are the various AAA's mentioned here?