Waaaaaa - My Arc-LE works half the time HELP!

I've had my Arc-LE for about 2 months. I put a battery in it the moment I got it and it worked without a problem for 1 month.

I decided to put a new battery a couple of weeks ago and the problems started.

About half the time when I screw the top to turn it on, it doesn't. Weird. The really weird thing is that when it doesn't turn on, if I just leave it on, it eventually will come on. Weird. Very weird. I'm also not shaking it during the times when it initially doesn't come on but then does later.

Can you LED geniuses make sense of this? What is wrong?

I don't own one, but remember something about using a pencil eraser to clean up the battery contacts..............

I'm having the same problem with mine. Somtimes I can just unscrew the head & screw it back on. Most of the time I have to remove the battery & wipe the ends. Sometimes, I need to clean the threads on the head. I have had it where none of this worked, left it at home for the day, come home & it works fine.....for a little while. Very strange (and frustrateing). TX

One of my Arc LE`s was temperamental the same way until I cleaned the contact area in the LED head, using rubbing alcohol and a Q-tip. Has worked fine since then.

Clean the whole thing (threads of the head and body, both contacts of the light and both contacts of the battery). relube the O-ring. If you still have the problem, send it back to Peter instead of pulling your hair out.

This is the first problem I've heard of with the LE. Bummer.

I've been lusting over the Arc-LS and am now having second thoughts. I'm really unhappy (as I'm sure you are) that when you go to use your LE, it doesn't work.

I don't want a light that needs me to carry alcohol and qtips around with me before it will work. My Photon-3 comes on *every* time and I never do anything to it.

Back to the LS,,, from what I see, it's going to work the same as the LE. I certainly don't want to pay $100 for a light that needs me to carry qtips and alcohol for regular cleanings or (worse yet!) need a cleaning just when I need it the most.


<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by txwest:
I'm having the same problem with mine. Somtimes I can just unscrew the head & screw it back on. Most of the time I have to remove the battery & wipe the ends. Sometimes, I need to clean the threads on the head. I have had it where none of this worked, left it at home for the day, come home & it works fine.....for a little while. Very strange (and frustrateing). TX<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Forge. You mention the problem started with a new battry. Go from there. Try a different brand as maybe you got a bad contact with the batch you have. I had my LE for two months and no problems but saw a post about a flicker problem. Well, mine started that also. I used the eraser method and it's been a month with nary a blink.
If your still unhappy, I'll trade you two glowrings for your LE.

Cleaned my LE contacts ONCE with a pencil eraser and have not had a flicker problem since. I can't speak for Arc, but I can tell you their customer service is top notch if you feel a need to return your LE. Many of us here own multiple Arc products (I myself have purchased 7 - 2 of which are LE's and I'll be getting a couple more). They're a great torch, but like any product every now & then one is produced that's just not quite right. At lease Arc stands behind their product, whereas others hardly care.

Let's remember that the LS is in the early part of its lifecycle. I think it's unfair you've taken your LE probs. and lumped them in with the growing pains of the LS. I'm sure you're frustrated, but I (and many others that are pleased with Arc and their products) can assure you that if you take the time to politely tell Peter Gransee of your problems he'll make sure you're a happy customer.

If Peter replaces your LE, I'll take the "defective" one!

I've been lusting over the Arc-LS and am now having second thoughts. I'm really unhappy (as I'm sure you are) that when you go to use your LE, it doesn't work.

The very latest generation of Arc-AAAs (including the last of the current LEs) have improved contact surfaces- the inner of the body is coated with corrosion resisting and contact enhancing stuff, which should reduce contact troubles that usually come from oxidation in the bottom of the body. The eariler LEs and regular Arcs didn`t have this, maybe the one mr Forge has is one of them?


The upcoming Arc-LS is even better than the AAAs- not only does it have that inner coating stuff, but the positive battery contact is cobalt/gold plated- resisting tarnish that causes those bad connections. I expect it won`t have nearly as many contact related troubles. And if it does, there`s that Arc guarantee to fall back on. Don`t worry about it- keep lusting!

Hmmm, I have AAA arclights in each color except IR and UV. Also have three LE's. All work perfectly. Perhaps I have been lucky. The only problems I have had is that one of the LE's is badly centered but the other two are perfect. Perhaps I have been lucky.

I think you will need to thoroughly clean it only once with the swabs and alcohol; since it seems to me the culprit is the stickum from the foam washer covering the contact point. Did your foam washer come off? The stickum may have spread around.. The earlier ones were not glued on as securely as the subsequent ones..some stickum, a tiny bit, may have adhered to the a tiny point where the actual physical contact is made with the battery, sometimes it is in a dent in the battery, so needs some extra elbow grease to remove..
..if this cleaning doesn't resolve the issue, Mr. Peter Gransee will..

Odd. I`ve had my Arc-AAA for five months now and use it every day and not had any problems with it. Never needed to clean it.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by darell:
Clean the whole thing (threads of the head and body, both contacts of the light and both contacts of the battery). relube the O-ring. If you still have the problem, send it back to Peter instead of pulling your hair out.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Darell,
The only problem with this is there are no LE's currently being produced because of the LED shortage. So I guess I'll keep the one I have & work on getting the bug out. Besides, I do have a backup LE. Guess I'll carry it awhile to see if it has a problem. TX

I also had the same problem with my Arc LE.

It had been working fine, but getting increasingly gritty when turning the head. One time I was screwing the head back on and it locked up just before the point it should have engaged the battery.

I cleaned all the lube off the thread and relubed. Didn't do anything for a while but I eventually got it turning again. Has worked fine since.

Shortly after my last post, I turned my LE on & it didn't light up. Tried it 2-3 times. Nothing. Without doing anything else, I took it off my lanyard & laid it on the shelf. About an hour later I was in the room & tried it again. Came on with no problem. Any ideas? TX
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EDIT LATER: I put the LE with the problem close by after it started working again. After useing it several times, it quit working. This time, after trying it many times with no change, I simply turned it to the on position & set it close by to see if it would come on by itself. Didn't come for 1 1/2 hrs, so I turned it off & back on & it lit up. Don't have a clue of what's causeing the problem. TX

I've been having problems with one of my LE's as well (I have two). It started off as a flickering problem. It would turn on at 1/2 brightness and then ocasionally flicker up to full brightness for a second or two. Now its only running at about 1/2 brightness all the time. All in all it's rather disapointing.

It's a first generation LE, and I've never had a battery leak. Here is what I've tried so far:
1. Cleaning both contacts with a pencil eraser.
2. Wiping off all silicon from threads.
3. Trying different brand batteries.

So far none of these worked, I also tried shaking it/ tapping it to see if there might be a loose contact somewhere but it didn't seem to make a difference.

Next I will try cleaning with rubbing alcohol, then pulling off the foam retainer and reforming the contact first with some sandpaper then with a soldering iron. Then it goes back to Gransee. But is there any LE's to replace it with?

I had flikering problems with my regular arc aaa but cleaning the contacts on a regular basis always seemed to fix it. Still I don't like the fact that you have to clean the contacts every week to keep the thing working right.

gransee -you there

Yes Aragorn, I am! Just waiting to help out when needed.

Cave Dave- sounds like after you reform the contact you will have covered all the bases. I would be delighted to fix this unit for you.

I did keep a small number of LEs in reserve just in case someone required a replacment.

You have told us that our contacts need to be made more corrosion resistant. We have responded by adding Chemkote to the interior surfaces starting with version 3.0. Standard Arc-AAAs in version 3.0 started shipping earlier this week to dealers.

Chemkote is a clear gold-colored tint that is applied to the aluminum surfaces inside the flashlight. It is a corrosion inhibitor and a conductivity enhancer. It improves the action of the thread, the grounding to the PCB and helps the negative contact resist corrosion.

Peter Gransee

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by txwest:
Shortly after my last post, I turned my LE on & it didn't light up. Tried it 2-3 times. Nothing. Without doing anything else, I took it off my lanyard & laid it on the shelf. About an hour later I was in the room & tried it again. Came on with no problem.

Any ideas? TX
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EDIT LATER: I put the LE with the problem close by after it started working again. After useing it several times, it quit working. This time, after trying it many times with no change, I simply turned it to the on position & set it close by to see if it would come on by itself. Didn't come for 1 1/2 hrs, so I turned it off & back on & it lit up. Don't have a clue of what's causeing the problem. TX<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
I added the post, but it didn't move it forward, so I did. TX

Txwest...

Try cleaning the contacts with rubbing alcohol, and wipe off most of the lubricant that`s on the threads.

I bet that will work.