Updates on all products

Updates on all products. Although I don't really have any big news on product shipments, etc I do want to let you know what we are working on.

Arc-AAA

All varieties are out stock right now and there are considerable back orders on the books. The good news is that both the AAA standard and Premiums are now being made slowly (compared to not at all for most of this year). The problems with flickering, not coming on, etc that plagued the production at the beginning of the year are mostly behind us now. We reached a settlement with our chip supplier over the defective chips in the AAA and got a year's supply of tested (new test procedures) chips and diodes from them. For anyone who has received a new AAA from us in the past couple of months, you can see the chips are working much better now. I believe the AAA product is at is best it has ever been for the past 3 years we have been making this product.

We have taken steps and are continuing to add other improvements to our manufacturing to increase supply.

However, because of the Christmas ramp up and a general increase in marketing (magazines, Amazon, etc) supply will continue to be difficult. I imagine back orders will remain in the 3 week range for the remainder of this year. My advice is to get your order in early. As always, orders are filled in the order they are received and we don't charge your card until we ship.

The Premiums continue to be more rare than the standards. The CPF edition is planned for Christmas. When the time comes, I will put up a vote so I know what color, model, etc you want in this year's CPF edition.

The design for the AAA is fairly static at this time with no changes scheduled. The RGB and other special versions are sold out and discontinued. We make more variations in the future, but for now, none are on the schedule.

Arc-AA

Because the AA shares parts and procedures with the AAA, supply has improved as AAA production has improved. I estimate back orders will continue to hover around the 1-2 week mark.

LSH

Although originally intended to be phased out in favor of the Arc4, another production run was ordered by CPF request. However, this change of plans set us up for a big delay in getting the PCBs. It is a long story, safe to say. Fortunately, the worst is hopefully behind us. We are scheduled to get a small batch of the production run boards today. As usual, we plan on shipping warranty returns first and those should go out as soon as this following week. That is if there is no more disasters along the way of course. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

The design is unchanged from the LSH we were making earlier this year. We plan on making all variations: LSH-S, LSH-P and LSHF-P. Production is tentively planned for the rest of this year. At some point, I still intend to phase them out but as long as enough of you want them, Arc will make them.

Arc4

Ah, the queen herself. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif I have spent quite a bit of time on this design this year. The Arc4 is our biggest project to date. I continue to refine the design with the intention of making this light similar in maturity to the AAA. The Arc4 has had problems getting just the right operation in the switch. We have made small improvements in the design and have also added to our testing regiment, these steps have created a noticeable improvement in the switch operation as many of you can attest. It is still not up to our usual standards though but that is going to require some redesign. Now way to get around that.

I have drawn up a bunch of variations and have hired two engineering teams to build some of the better ideas into prototypes. Their initial results have been promising. For awhile, it looked like I was going to have to throw the whole design out. Goals for the new switch design include improved tolerance for variations in battery length, etc, increased drop resistance and backwards compatibility with the existing design. This means that if you have an early Arc4 that you just love (great LED, good serial number, etc) except for the switch, and we haven't been able to fix it so far, the new rev should be able to improve the switch without having to lose all the existing hardware. As this new design progresses, I will have a better idea how the final product will work.

I am calling the lights with the new switch design, "rev3". We may also include the new software in the rev3. From the user's perspective, the new software really won't act any different than the old software. At least at first that is. But as time progresses, we will add new features. But before we added those new features, I am having the code totally rewritten from the ground up in assembler so it is clean and efficient. This gives us a solid foundation for future improvements. The new code is also more compact. This is important if we are going to add new features since the old code had pretty much used up all the available space in the controller.

I am expecting to have the new switch ready to go by October. The basic software will be done before that. We may release a small update for Arc4 users with a few new features. Small stuff like settable triple click, strobe, etc. If you have a suggestion on a future feature, please post it to the Arc4/5 software suggestion thread.

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As always, we take care of our customers. Eventually at least. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Not always as fast as I would like, but if an Arc breaks, we will replace it. All of our products (except for factory seconds) now come with a lifetime warranty. If it breaks, we fix it.

This works exactly how you would expect. If you bought an Arc4 and the switch is giving you troubles, let us fix it. If we can't fix it right away, we will fix it with the new switch design. If that doesn't work, I will keep at it until you are either satisfied or we give you your money back. Nothing complicated about this.

And as always, when you do order, we don't charge your card until we ship.

The way I look at our relationship with our customers is like this: what you do with your time and money is none of our business. But once you cross over that barrier and purchase an Arc, we have a duty and passion to meet our committments to you. Your time and your money as relates to our product is now something we have a committment to protect. This is why I am thankful when people contact us so we can help them solve a problem with one of our lights. No matter how good the design, problems will happen, you can't always avoid that. But if people don't give us a chance to fix the problem, then we really are at a disadvantage. Just like in any other relationship, I can't read your mind. But if you tell me something is wrong, I am going to try to fix it in a fair way. Now sometimes, I haven't fix things exactly how a customer wanted it fixed but not all requests are always reasonable. But I do try to be fair and take as long as it takes to do exactly that. Fair in my book is you get what was clearly represented by Arc at the time of the sale. Sometimes this means we loose money sometimes this means we gain a customer for life. I don't know how each situation will work out so we just try our best to be fair to everyone.

At any rate, there have been a lot of delays this year. I apologize since many of these were within my control and I didn't avoid them better. I have spent a lot of time lately focusing on improving our infrastructure so these delays can be avoided or minimized in the future.

Of course, I am working on some new designs that I find pretty exciting. Too soon to say anything of course. But just know that I am hard at work on it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Please let me know if I left any important information out and I will see what I can do.

Thanks again for giving me your support. Without it, we would be missing a vital ingrediant and Arc would not be the company it is today.

Peter Gransee

Any progress on a AA extension for the ARC4??

You are a class act Peter!Keep up the great work and thank you for the updates. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif

How about an Arc Accessories Addenum Randy?

Accessories

The TSP-2AA pack for the LSH will continue to be available for most of the time that the LSH is being sold. However, since it is difficult to match production with demand at the end of life for a product, it may run out before the LSH does or vice versa. But for the time being, stock on the TSP-2AA is good.

As previously agreed, I will be making a small batch of 2x123 and tail guard for the Arc4 rev1/2. If the rev3 changes the design of the tail (hopefully it won't), then we will make a seperate variation of the 2x123 and tail guard to fit that revsision too. After we are done with the rev3, I do plan on at making at least a tiny batch of 2AA packs for evaluations. At some point, we will evaluate all 3 accessories for future production. Of course, if there is sufficient demand (quite likely), we will continue to make that accessory.

Still undecided on what to do with the Arc4 pouch. We thought about making our own for awhile but now there seems to be several off the shelf (Ripoffs TM brand, etc) solutions that work pretty good. Since we are a flashlight company first, I may just pass on the whole pouch deal if the return on the time spent working on pouches is not as attractive as a return on time spent with a new flashlight design.

Peter

As always, the updates are much appreciated Peter. Let's put the pouch to rest and just take the existing design and lengthen it a bit. That's all this is really needed.

[ QUOTE ]
this_is_nascar said:
As always, the updates are much appreciated Peter. Let's put the pouch to rest and just take the existing design and lengthen it a bit. That's all this is really needed.

[/ QUOTE ]

Very true!

Great job Peter!

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Thanks for all the info Peter. I look forward to buying more ARC products in the future.

Thanks for the updates Peter, one of the reasons I support Arc is because this kind of relationship between manufacturer/customer. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinser2.gif

You gotta love a company that takes devotion in caring for its customers like how Arc does. Keep up the good work Peter! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/clap.gif

Excellent, look forward to buying more LSHs.

Would you consider offering optional twisty battery packs again? Ones that are finished with HA 3 and not bare??

Quite a bit of great news Peter.
Thank you for the updates, and a description of warrant for the existing rev1 and rev2.

mut

*****

Double post deleted by PG.

Gandalf, please read CPFR #7.


*****

Gandalf,
So...how do you REALLY feel? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif I understand your problems with the Arc LS series. The only one I ever liked was the LS with the twisty switch. Peter has had a few problems hit him at once and is just recovering.
If you HAVE to have a twisty 123 light with a "pick your own bin" Luxeon just get the much superior DSpeck Fire~Fly II. It has a twisty switch, much smaller, it can use different optics and whatever sandwich to give you the output you want. Heck, it will even have a hi/low switch if that floats your boat.
One of the reasons Peter is fazing out the LS series is due to the massive market expansion of LS lights. The Arc4 is something unique in the rising flood of Luxeon based lights and that is what Peter wants. He builds what he feels is the perfect EDC light.
So for 2004, Arc has delt with Mag lawsuits, money problems, CNC company problems, AAA/AA regulator problems, LS replacement boards delayed and Arc4 chronic switch problems... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif That could be a strong explaination why there are delays with the LS series.
I am not an Arc fanboy... I don't own (or want) any Arc Luxeon product since I use rechargable AA batteries. If I was waiting 4 months to get my flashlight fixed, I would be writing nasty-grams myself. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rant.gif Hang in there and hopefully your LS will show up soon.

As posted earlier, most LSH warranty returns have shipped by now. The remainder should go out by the end of this week. Drop me an email if you are waiting on an LSH repair and you still haven't got your replacement.

New LSH orders will take longer to fill since those are larger quantity than the small number of warranty returns we had to take care of.

I updated the FAQ with some information about the Arc4 and dead batteries.

Peter

Just spotted an issue this morning...

As much as is pains me to tell you about something else going wrong with one of our products, I must.

On our website, we sell the Arc-AAA and specify a, "5 hour run time". When I and other people have tested these lights, they have run as long as 7-8 hours until 50% brightness. So I figure 5 hours is a safe number. Contrast this with some mfg claims of, "dozens of hours", etc.

A CPF'er recently emailed us to say his Arc-AAA only ran for 3 hours on a good Duracell. Without waiting for the light to arrive in the mail, we started tested the PCBs we have on a current meter with a 1.5volt regulated supply. When I had last tested a while back, most units consistently came in at around 150-300mA. But we found some units that were drawing more than 300mA @ 1.50v. This would cause a reduced runtime.

Now I should say that we used to test each board for current consumption but then we had our CM do the testing for us. We like them to test parts as much as possible before the parts leave their shop. This just works better for various reasons. Well, unknown to me, they stopped testing them for a short period. During that time, some units got through that run for less than 5 hours to 50% brightness on a good Duracell.

We found out what causing the high current consumption and replaced the part. If you have one of those, we would like to replace the flashlight.

Our address is:

Arc Flashlight
1930 E. 3rd Street
Suite 18
Tempe, Arizona 85281
USA

I am really sorry that we had this problem guys. Please let us take care of it for you. Each one of these problems does make us better at making a good product, but it sure is a pain in the meantime.

Peter Gransee
Arc Flashlight

[ QUOTE ]
Gransee said:

SNIP... we found some units that were drawing more than 300mA @ 1.50v. This would cause a reduced runtime.



[/ QUOTE ]

Are these units any brighter due to the extra current ?

Good question x-ray. I just tested 4 units. 2 over the runtime spec and 2 under. The ones with the shorter run time were as much as 50% brighter. The variabilities of manufacturing are going to drive me nuts...

So if you have a "hot" unit, you can decide what is more important to you, runtime or brightness. All units should meet our 3 lumen goal but not all units have been demostrated to meet our 5 hour goal. Unless we get other goals, the hot units are to be considered anomolies and we will replace them if you want.

We found out where the extra current was coming from and fixed the problem. I would rather keep our current at the "normal" rating for this product. Operating outside of that parameter may cause undesirerable results such as accelerated LED degradation, tint shift, etc.

For some, this bit is a window in into the everyday challenges of manufacturing. As a mfg, I strive for consistancy and to keep things simple. So the hot units will be considered undesirable for our process but you may think otherwise if you want the increased output power. So if you want it replaced, drop us a line, if you want to test your unit and keep it or sell it as a hot unit, it's your call.

No, I don't want to use the hot units to create another product line. Already been asked that. There is a long answer and a short answer. The short answer is I would rather look for products that don't require pushing things so hard.

As far as why we publish a run time estimate in the first place is because people ask us this quite a bit. Even if we didn't publish it, we would end up estimating it over the phone, etc. So we might as well push for a number we know is doable and keep it. From a safety perspective, meeting an expected run time is more important than meeting an expected brightness. The human eye is more likely to adjust to a dim light than a dark light. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Sometimes, if you stare too closely at the metrics, the details can drive you crazy. If you start to get a headache when you read my post, just forget is all but remember, we spend our time on this stuff so you get the best possible product without having to think about it.

Peter

You could always re-sell any that are returned (as seconds with no guarantee) to recoup some of your expenses, there are a lot of flashaholics that put brightness ahead of everything else /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Peter,

No big deal to me; I use mine sporadically and I don't track battery longevity. When the battery gets weak I replace it. It's a great light.

Thanks for the info,
Dave

Peter,

... no update for the Arc5 ? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif