Maratac Extreme AAA problem

I bought a Maratac extreme AAA a few weeks ago. I like the light and the tail switch. The light had been sitting for about a week when I decided to use it. It was dead as a doornail. I had put a freshly charged eneloop in it. I had convinced myself that I had left it on low by accident.



I put another freshly charged eneloop in the light. It worked fine. A couple of days passed and it was still working as it should. Two more days go by and it is again dead. I know for a fact that I did not leave it on low this time. Has anyone else experienced this problem?

Yup, me too. I received a brand new one and got less than a week on a freshly-charged Eneloop WITHOUT ANY USE! I will be returning mine.

Have you checked for parasitic drain ? If there is any you could try unscrewing the tail cap to see if that stops the drain.

Maratac Extreme AAA issues?

do you own a maratac extreme aaa? is your light discharging the batteries?

Re: Maratac Extreme AAA issues?

It sure is. I got less than a week out of a fresh battery with NO USE.

It's all parasitic drain. I don't want to have to unscrew the bottom of a tactical light. I feel that defeats the purpose.

cc told me i could return the light or give it 1/4 turn to keep the bat good

I returned my light to CountyComm at their direction. I was told the lights were out of stock but they would ship me a new one as soon as the new batch arrived. They said they had not heard of any other drain problems. About a week and a half after I Sent the light back I got a paypal refund for the light without explanation. I guess they won't be selling these anymore.

My Maratac AAA is about 15 months old. No drain problems noted. Still using my original Energizer primary lithium cell. (Obviously, I don't use this light on a dialy basis...it's more of an emergency backup for me.)

I ended up returning mine for a refund.

I'm curious to know way they're not selling the light anymore. Perhaps it has something to do with this issue.

DaveTheDude said:

My Maratac AAA is about 15 months old. No drain problems noted. Still using my original Energizer primary lithium cell. (Obviously, I don't use this light on a dialy basis...it's more of an emergency backup for me.)

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Is your light the AAA extreme? I didn't think they were sold that long ago. I have several of the regular AAA's that are that old but not the AAA extreme.

Does anyone know if this is affecting the AA version or is just an issue with the AAA model?

Hi all,

Any updated information on the "AAA" Extreme ? I see CC is still out of stock. I wonder if the "parasitic" issue has been addressed/corrected ? The AAA Extreme looks to be a nice little light otherwise. Oooh, is parasitic drain an issue with the SS "AAA" flashlights ? Thanks.


SixCats!

SixCats! said:

Hi all,

Any updated information on the "AAA" Extreme ? I see CC is still out of stock. I wonder if the "parasitic" issue has been addressed/corrected ? The AAA Extreme looks to be a nice little light otherwise. Oooh, is parasitic drain an issue with the SS "AAA" flashlights ? Thanks.

SixCats!

Click to expand...

I visited CountyComm's website yesterday and the Extreme AAA appears to be back in stock. I wrote and asked about the cell drain issue, and received a response: "The new lights don't have the parasitic drain problem." This is good news. [Edit:] I have ordered one.

awesome means I'm putting my order in too, I've been looking this problem up for some time almost lead my away

I received the Extreme AAA on Wednesday, so that evening I popped in a rechargeable AAA that measured 1.445v fresh off the charger. Tonight (Friday) the light was activated for just a second, then the cell was measured at 1.386v. I will continue to monitor and will see what the reading is in a few more days.

Rexlion said:

I received the Extreme AAA on Wednesday, so that evening I popped in a rechargeable AAA that measured 1.445v fresh off the charger. Tonight (Friday) the light was activated for just a second, then the cell was measured at 1.386v. I will continue to monitor and will see what the reading is in a few more days.

Click to expand...

To improve your test you could also test the same battery (after topping it up on your charger) out of the light to see what the "base line" voltage drop is - IIRC freshly charged NiMh batteries will drop in voltage even when not being used.

After 5 days this (EnergyOn LSD) rechargeable read 1.370 volts. After 8 days it's at 1.362v. Looks pretty good for the Extreme, it does not seem to be draining the cell. Or if it is, the drain is pretty small.

Good idea about getting a baseline, although the fact that the light has been activated briefly a time or two will corrupt the results somewhat. I was thinking maybe I should repeat with an alkaline cell, and try to take care not to activate the light.