Arc4 earns 4 bottles of wine

Actually I wanted to add this to a thread lately about good stories with the Arc4, but I thought it deserves an own one.

Last week I was sailing in Croatia. At the first evening we stayed in a bay at a restaurant (you know one of these typical restatarants with just place for 5 or 6 boats and no other way to get to them) on one of the many islands (actually it was the island of Kornot if anybody knows the place) and the boat next to us (friends of us) managed to entangle their propeller in the mooring line. This was at 10:30 pm at night (that means after nightfall). And they wanted to leave at 6 am in the morning and the local diver was not available earlier than somewhere in the late morning. So I got the offer for 4 bottle of good wine when I'm able to free the propeller at night. No problem with my Arc4, it is a wonderful diving light, much brighter than expected, I was able to free the propeller in maybe 10 minutes or so and my crew and I enjoyed the wine.
I never thought that the Arc4 will make such a useful diving light and I already have a good solution to attach it to my mask strap.
As there is no problem with overheating, I run the Arc4 at full power underwater (I have rechargeables anyway).
I have to add that I was not really prepared for night diving and did not intend it, but had my Arc4 as my EDC light with me (on a lanyard, as it may fall into the sea otherwise).
Of course it served also other purposes on the sailing trip, one time at night we needed it to identify other boats as it was by far the furthest throwing torch/flashlight on board.

Unfortunately I do not have any pictures from my 'night dive'.

In two or three weeks I will try a 'real' night dive with my Arv4 as my main diving light.

If in continues like that, the Arc4 pays for itself .-)

I work as a charter skipper here around the Balearics and I had that problem with other boats a couple of times, just give a hand, go snorkeling with the light and knife and cut the line off. Of course I hadn't such a light like the Arc 4+ and I think I will try it this week. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I've been lurking around the forum for awhile and am not yet an Arc owner, but I was thinking of using it in recreational free diving (not deeper than 65 feet/20 meters). Would this work? The water-proof specification on the arc website says "depth pending" for the Arc 4+

how deep can you safely go with an arc 4?

Pablo

simbad: Of course it is no problem at all, but if you don't have an appropriate light at hand and first have too look around for everything it may have been different. The guy did not even have time to think about his own offer .-)

PEU: I will try it next time and I have no doubt about it down to 30m (my personal gestimation).

I even did a short cave dive with it in a so called blue cave but was not deeper than 8m with it.
This one would have been a very good photo, but we realized it too late.

I think to remeber that the Arc4 was rated for 50m or so one time, but it was not guranteed.
Actually, when you read the forum carefully, you see that especially the Rev2 had quite some tolerance in front lens fastening torque.
Some people report that they need specialized equipment to open it, others report a rattling lens. So if you never changed the front lens, check it.

Peter,

What type of rechargeables are you using with your 4+? Are you happy with their performance?

Thanks,

Marc

I ve changed the lens two weeks ago , I have the UCL installed and the difference in thickness is unnoticeable, Ive measured both lenses with a good digital caliper and are almost the same, once the retention ring is back on with the new lens stays in the same postion than before with the stock lens so I think the glass one doesn't compromise the water resistance of the light.Otherwise the beam pattern is better with the UCL.
Yes one thing Ive seen was that the ring was loose and I could unscrew it just with my index nail, as a tool I used the top jaws of the caliper, they fit perfect in the notches.

Excellent story PeLu. Thank you! Yes, please do get pictures from your future adventures.

Peter

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marcspar said:What type of rechargeables are you using with your 4+? Are you happy with their performance?

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The 'usual' rechargeable CR123 which JSB and Arc intend to sell in near future (or already do?).
But mine may be from another manufacturer.
The cell itself has ~480mAh at 0.5A and gives 38 minutes at level 1 with my light (Arc & JSB's version will have 650mAh).
I just had to add a 5k6 resistor to charger to get the cell fully charged, but this was discussed ad nauseam in another thread and is not Arc specific.
Actually I would prefer a 18650 tube.

[ QUOTE ]
Gransee said:Yes, please do get pictures from your future adventures.

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What a pity I completely forgot about it. I only have a photo from the wine .-) and myself filling up the car with the remaining Croatian money. It was almost too much money left over (or too less space in the tank, depends how you look at it) and I had to watch fill carefully not to spill any Diesel. Otherwise we would have lost the money more or less (they do not change back coins). So the Arc4 paid again for itself .-)

I will try to look down some 100+m pits in a cave this week. And up some avens.

PeLu give us some pics when you can, I think you got good wine after the job and a good laugh with your mates, I like being onboard after lunch in summer, in nightime at the sea is absolutely dark around..no "lighting polution" from the city /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/jpshakehead.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinser2.gif

Peter, how deep can you go with an ARC4? and with an arc AAA?

Pablo

I would not consider an Arc4 a dive light. I'm sure the switch would activate itself at the 50-100' level. Take your Arc4 in the pool, go snorkeling with it, drop it in a puddle. Don't go diving with it.

TIN: I will use it as a diving light anyway. You have to risk something to make progress .-)
But, to be honest, my deeper dives will be in freshwater...
IMHO a cave is a much harsher environment.
For my light I calculated ~ 15m water depth (50ft for the metrically challenged .-) for the self activating depth.
So what happens when the switch is pressed (assuming the light is switched on at secondary (level 1 at mine))?
It will switch to full power, which is the same.
Peter what will happen then?

We haven't depth tested the light yet and haven't heard of any lights leaking for our customers. I imagine that if the button was depressed due to pressure the light would come on in momentary at your primary or last used brightness (depending on your configuration). As soon as pressure returned to normal, the light would shut off.

As a word of caution, I have seen small cracks in the rubber switch boot of a very well used Arc4 (my edc). This could cause the light to leak although I have been dunking mine regularly with no problems. If your boot looks worn, to be on the safe side drop us a note and we can send you a replacement boot for free.

Peter

[ QUOTE ]
Gransee said:I imagine that if the button was depressed due to pressure the light would come on in momentary at your primary or last used brightness (depending on your configuration). As soon as pressure returned to normal, the light would shut off.

[/ QUOTE ]

Of course and when it was already on it will be like described above. Is there no time limit on these functions (monetary on and full power)?

No time limit but there is a battery and tempurature limit to both.

Peter

[ QUOTE ]
Gransee said:No time limit but there is a battery and tempurature limit to both.

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Battery limit is obvious and temperature should be no issue underwater.
Sorry that I did not explain in the first run what I meant. There is a 'broken switch detection' mentioned in the FAQ. That means for me that the Arc4 detects a faulty switch. The only situation I can think of that it detects a broken switch is that it is pressed an 'unnatural' long time. Am I correct? and the latest software release states:
> 205 Broken switch detection now defaults to secondary brightness setting

So I set the secondary to level 1. When water pressure activates the switch for a longer time, nothing will change for me.
So in the case I interpreted everything correctly, how long is this time until the broken switch detection jumps in?

I'm shure more people are interested.

[ QUOTE ]
PeLu said:
So in the case I interpreted everything correctly, how long is this time until the broken switch detection jumps in?


[/ QUOTE ]

I think it only detects the broken switch when the battery first forms a circuit with the light. So, if you break it with the tail screwed in, you have to unscrew it and then screw it back in for it to be detected. It is detected at the same time as the RFS I think.

Peter, how deep can I go with my Arc4? What I mean is how deep and still have you fix it if it leaks? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I will gladly test it but don't want to be stuck with a useless light.

JT, I will agree to 100 feet with a good boot and tight parts. After that, you are on your own. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Peter