Question about ARC4 Button

Ok, so when I got my ARC4 today I fiddled around with it and in the process disassembled the button assembly. (I know, I saw in the online instructions I wasn't supposed to after I did it) After fiddling with it I'm not real sure how the spring is supposed to go. If its like I think it was, which is behind the silver washer, with the wide end of the spring towards the button end of the light, there is virtually no button travel but it works fine. If OTOH the spring is turned in the other direction, with the wide end toward the front of the light, then there is the kind of button travel I expected, the light works just as well, but I worry about the flexing disk that contacts the battery.

Thoughts Peter? (or anyone)


Edit:
Anyone have a quick picture of the inside of the tailswitch, I could have swore I saw one, but now I can't find it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/broke.gif

It goes wide end pointing to the rear, narrow end pointing to the front, like on a regular flashlight. Of course, the actual switch is in the front of the light, just behind the positive battery contact.

Hmm, I thought I had it back together correctly, but now it either initializes only when I hold the button down, or randomly initialize when I bump the button.

Dang thing turned out to be a little touchier than I expected.

Update: Ok, with a lesson in remedial mechanics from Peter I now have an up and running ARC4. What my problem was was that I didn't have the base of the spring seated into the prongs. (Never leave home without your Leatherman P4) Never would have occurred to me to push it in there without Peter's help, so more Cheers for Arc customer service.

Oh and BTW, the reason I initially disassembled the button assembly was because when I first removed my ARC4 from its packaging I tried the button and there was no give to it at all. I was expecting some degree of movement with an audible click like in Peter's videos. Wondering if something was wrong, (Ok, and curious about "how it worked") I shortsightedly disassembled it, and my troubles began. I soon learned that its the battery pushing the spring back that allows the button to move. (Duh) Something to keep in mind for those that haven't yet received their light and might be similarly concerned upon opening.

MM: Is there no audible click?
If not, I will remove it from the sim.

I really really need to get one of these things.

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JonSidneyB said:
I really really need to get one of these things.

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yea, you do /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

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Rothrandir said:
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JonSidneyB said:
I really really need to get one of these things.

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yea, you do /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

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Don't we all?

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jpeg said:
MM: Is there no audible click?
If not, I will remove it from the sim.

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And I just figured out how to add one... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif

Jpeg, its there, but its not likely anyone in the same room is going to hear it. I think the reason is that there is very very little travel in the button, and its the end of the travel that makes the sound, there's nothing specifically built in for tactile or audible feedback, the click is just an incidental part of the mechanism in action. Like I said, I was expecting more movement and sound and thats what initially concerned me, even though the light itself was working. I'd leave the sound on your simulator even if it is exagerated, its a useful training aid IMO.

BTW, thanks for the sims guys, I'm hitting them tonight to try and perfect entering the Brightness Menu. Tried it on mine probably 10 times today and always ended up in some part of the Options. This thing is definitely a Flashaholics Light.

MichiganMan, do you have the same problem getting to the brightness menu with the simulators as you do with the Arc4? I ask because I have absolutely no problem with the simulators, so I assume I will not have a problem with the actual light.

Actually using the sims, I picked it up in five minutes and am now looking through the posts for a consensus on what a good secondary level is. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif (Primary is Level 3, a decidely equivalent brightness to my LSH-P)

Having never done it, and therefore not seen it, I didn't really know what what I was doing looked like, despite reading the instructions. So I ended up getting lost in the options as I looked from my light to the screen to see where I was and if I was doing it right.

Seeing it in action on the sims, complete with Help text made it childs play.

MichiganMan, I knew you'd get it by using the sims; they are very helpful. Also, you should look at Peter's videos, he explains the menus very well and you get to see someone else work the light.

I also plan on setting my primary to level 3, it seems to be the best compromise between brightness and runtime. Like yourself, I also have not decided what level to set the secondary at, although this one is almost impossible to predict without actually seeing the light in action. I plan on having the secondary level at either 8, 9, or 10. Have you compared some of the dimmer levels to an ARC AAA or AA? I think I'd like to set my secondary to something slightly brighter than that.

MichiganMan: Glad to hear our sims are proving helpful...
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif


George: Funny, I was about to take out the click sound to see if I could improve performance... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Whoops, Day Three, blink blink blink, time for Battery Three. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif Yep, you definitely want to get the primary off Level 1 brightness. Its "real purty" to look at, but brutal on the battery. I still have secondary on the default (not real sure what that is) It seems to be a good middle of the road. I'm using the third level, which is Level 15 for anything I would use an AAA for.

I'm really loving the versatility of this thing. My poor Eternalight is in danger of being replaced as my "Walk around the house and checking on the kids" light.