Is your Arc-AA head REALLY hard to turn ???

I finally broke down and bought an Arc-AA. I like the appearance of the light, a little smaller than my CMG Infinity-G; much nicer looking, and the beam is better as well.

But the head is so hard to turn, especially the last 1/8 turn, I find it very difficult to turn on with one hand. If I'm wearing gloves, it's simply impossible to turn on with on hand. (Winter in Minnesota.....)

I have lubed the O-ring, threads, and even the surface of the anti-rattle foam washer twice now, with Nye 739G. Lots of lube...

I assumed it would get easier to turn on with time and use, but it's like the O-ring is a half size too big, so that even with sufficient lube, there's so much pressure on the head, it's very hard to turn on /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif

Is this something on all of the Arc-AA's, and/or has someone found a solution to this problem? TIA

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My arc AA is hard to turn too.
It was VERY stiff when i got it, no chance with only one hand.
And the O-ring is properly lubed too, but seems a tad too big, like you have mentioned.
Now, after a week of use it is better, but no match to my AAA's.

Maybe there are smaller O-rings to exchange?


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pyro

I had an AA from the original batch. It was much easier to turn than the one I got recently.

Yes, it is.
On all three.

I have observed my AA is very difficult to turn on if I twist it on, but if I go towards the loosening direction first it then will turn on ok.I am going to try some break-free with teflon and see if that frees it up some

How does it do when there is no battery in there? Mine is very easy and buttery smooth with no battery, but kind of gritty and hard to turn with a battery installed. To me that means that the foam pad is either too thick and pressing on the battery, causing extra resistance against the bottom or it's compressing and pushing against the sides of the tube. Anyone tried making their foam ring smaller in thickness or diameter?

I saw another post somewhere that mentioned using a mild abrasive such as toothpaste to clean the threads. So here's what I did with my Arc AA:

I removed the battery and O ring, applied a small amount of Crest toothpast to the threads (not sure if it was tartar control or not /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif) and screwed the head on and off 5 or 6 times. I then rinsed off the toothpaste and wiped the threads clean with a damp cloth. There was a dark residue on the cloth that could have been aluminum powder. When everything was dry I lubed the O ring and threads with Radio Shack Lube Gel and reassembled.

As a result the light went from a two-hander to a one-hander. Not effortless to turn on, but much smoother.

Maybe combining my post and Zigzago's is an answer? The extra pressure from the foam pressing on the battery combined with somewhat gritty threads might cause this phenomenon. All I know for sure is that I really like the precision feel of the head turning when there's no battery in there.

Sorry you guys are having to jump through hoops to get our lights to turn more easily. I called the machine shop today and asked them to cut the o-ring groove deeper on future AA models. The water resistance will still exceed our 100ft target but the head should be a little easier to turn.

Peter

[ QUOTE ]
Mattman said:
How does it do when there is no battery in there? Mine is very easy and buttery smooth with no battery, but kind of gritty and hard to turn with a battery installed. To me that means that the foam pad is either too thick and pressing on the battery, causing extra resistance against the bottom or it's compressing and pushing against the sides of the tube. Anyone tried making their foam ring smaller in thickness or diameter?

[/ QUOTE ]

Mine is still very hard to turn without a battery in it. It's mostly due to the too-large O-ring, with the too-thick anti rattle foam washer just making it that much harder for the last 1/8 turn. I wish I could get just a little bit thinner O-ring; that would this a one hand light, instead of a two hand light. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif

@ Gandalf

Why not take a pair of scissors then and cut a little bit away from the *sides* of the foam washer? This should make it easier to turn and wouldn't mess up the function of the washer.

-Connor

I got a couple AAs out of Peter's first run. They both turn on smoothly and more easily than any of the 3 AAAs I've owned. Maybe some of the later AAs are slightly different. I'm sure that Peter will get the specs back to the original run. It is absolutely a one hand light. In some cases it is even a better one hand light than my LS Kroll since it can be turned on and off without having to flip the light around to get my thumb on the switch.

After going to several hardware stores, I managed to find, in a bin of O-rings the exact same size as the one that came on my Arc-AA, one that is just a little bit smaller in diameter, and cross section. It was pretty hard to put it on (would have been *a lot* easier if the foam ring wasn't there), but now my Arc-AA is about the same as my Arc-AAA's. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif It's *easy* to turn on, now, one handed, as it should have been when it left the factory.

IMHO, Peter should find a source for these in bulk, and offer them to the people who have really tight Arc-AA's, like mine was. Buying in bulk, they would only be a few cents each, instead of the whopping (!?) 53 cents (and 2 1/2 hours driving around town, in neg.15F windchill temps) I paid for the one I got.

The Arc-AA's never should have been sold with the O-rings that are on them.

How about it Peter? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smoker5.gif

We use the same bladder technology in the Arc-AAA and AA. Overtime, we have tuned the AAA to have a good pressure. The AA, being a new product is not as optomized yet. No excuses for imperfect engineering.

It turns out the anodize process changes the durometer of the buna. The prototypes all turned nice and smooth but the production units were stiff. Since I really like the other advantages of buna and the standard sized o-ring spec'ed, adjusting the o-ring grove is what our rubber guy recommended.

As far as a retrofit, the easiest thing is to change the o-ring diameter. This can be done by changing the o-ring, sanding the o-ring or wear over time. We can send you a thinner o-ring for no charge. I need to spec one first. Again, this will reduce the water resistance but as it is, the AA probally is good for over 500 feet.

Peter

I believe the "wear over time" factor Peter just mentioned has happened with my AA. While I don't use the light alot, it does get "tested" almost daily and can now be activated one-handed. I do think the foam ring is also a possible cause, as it does turn easier with no battery. Just like the AAA, with more use I've no doubt it will loosen up nicely.

My one also stiff to turn...

Great lights, but "stiff turners" they are... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

My search for new o-rings starts tomorrow.

Thanks, Gandalf! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

My Arc AA has about the same head tension as the two CPF edition Arc AAAs I have handy at the moment. It's a one-handed light, but if you're wearing mittens or gloves, you can probably forget about one-handed operation.

I have no complaints about it, but I don't depend on my flashlights for my life like some CPFers might. One-handed operation with gloves or mittens on might seem inconsequential for the most part, but could be critical for some applications.

Just my 2¢ here...your results may vary.

Mine is slightly stiff, but I prefer it that way. Luckily, I have very strong fingers so turning it on and off one-handed is not a problem. The extra stiffness just before it turns on has to the foam washer in the head.