Making momentary pushbutton tailcaps

Hi Folks,


I was impressed my UNNERV's Luminator. It's beautifully machined and VERY functional.

I was also impressed by the way he made a LOTC with a momentary pushbutton. It was machined so cleanly that I did not notice that it HAD a pushbutton.

Well, I was inspired.

I really liked what Patrick did for his momentary on tailcap. I copied the idea, but on a smaller scale. I made a momentary pushbutton for my ARC LSH-P twisty.

I started with a spare un-annodized twisty tailcap from ARC. I drilled a 1/2 inch hole in the end. I built a plunger that is 2/1000 of an inch smaller than the hole. The plunger touches the battery as well as the tailcap.

I added a small spring loaded plastic standoff to the center of the plunger to keep gravity from pushing the plunger against the battery, causing the light to turn on unexpectedly. The standoff presses against the battery. When you press on the plunger it is pushed into the hole in the center. As soon as I'm sure that I have finished changing the design the spring will be glued into the hole.

If the cap is screwed down all the way it acts just like the original.

I put in an o-ring groove only to find that I don't have any that are thin enough.

Here's the pictures;

After I made this picture I had to sand down the button to make it flush. I could have shimmed it from the other side with a drop of glue.


The button does not have to go down far.


On the left is the little nub that pushes the plunger away from the battery. It fits in the hole in center of the plunger with the little brown part towards the battery. There is no o-ring in the groove that I made for it.



Thanks for the idea, Patrick! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

I expect that I will need to add a spring to provide a consistant electrical path when an O-ring in installed.

The first prototype took only 45 minutes once I created a jig to hold the tailcap securely without scratching it.


Daniel

I likee.

I wonder if that could work on the VIP twisty? I wish I had ordered a spare. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif

It's about time someone did this mod and yours is very clean looking /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif.How is it for water resistance? Again,nicely done.

Gadet_lover,

Excellent work. I guess the line starts here when you get around to selling these mods?!?!?! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif

The same idea should work for the VIP. Most twisties have a small nub in the middle to make contact with the battery. Drilling out the end of the tailcap also removes the nub. You may notice in the third picture that there's a raised section that fits into the end of the 123 battery. In effect, it's a movable nub.

Daniel

I'd like one! Can I send you mine to mod? And can you add in a hi-lo switch as well if that's at all possible /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif Ultimate ideal! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

i LIKE IT!!!

would you consider making more for sale? it is a nice addition /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/drool.gif

Currently, the water resistance is marginal. There is not a lot of water that will get through a 2/10 inch long 2/1000 inch gap if it's just splashed on the light. A dab of conductive grease would seal it until I find the right sized O-rings.

Thanks for all the compliments. It's kind of facinating to watch the little curls of aluminium magically appear as you turn the piece.

I'm not sure about a high/low mod. I'm thinking about a way to use the plunger to enable a high/low type switch, but that needs more thought.

Is it worth $25 or so to mod your tailcap? It's rather time intensive. If I do decide to do it, I have no way to match the annodizing of the stock caps. The best I could do is to use an epoxy based paint that's close, or just dye the end black. I think the brushed aluminum looks pretty good too.

Daniel

Daniel, you can just leave the end of mine in the raw and give it a buff or two. I'm on board, if you decide to go ahead. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Britt

Daniel that is very nice. I might have to copy your plastic plunger idea as a replacement for the foam I used in the luminator. The foam spacer sometimes does not uncompress fast enough and goes off by itself (I think Jim and Cindy can testify to that /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif ) Great idea.

Patrick

Jim and Cindy are not the only ones. It's only natural (when looking at a light as bright as the Luminator) to turn it off and then flip it over to examine the lens, reflector and LED. I flipped it over and promptly got blinded. It caught me from about 12 inches away. Boy, is that bright!


I'm going to make a few of these to see how it goes. I'll send private messages to those that have asked for one.

Daniel

Well, I'm happy to say that I've found that I can work with the anodized tail-caps too. Interestingly, there appeared to be a wisp of smoke as the drill bit hit the ano.

Here's a twisty that I bought last year. I think that jsburly bought a batch from ARC and had them anodized. The color match is not perfect, but I bought it to experiment with. I used the same plunger as I used before with the un-anodized tailcap.



Personally, I kind of like the anodized backdrop for the brushed aluminum button.

Daniel

WOW
that looked nice /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Daniel,

Excllent work there!
I love the look also, makes it look like a button /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
I love the LS with twistie, but really miss the push button option,
This is the best of both worlds!

I think I will be in for one for sure. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
If all is needed to mod the tailcap is a hole, can we maybe buy just the button parts, and drill the hole in our own tailcaps?

-John

Thanks guys. I kind of liked the look too. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

John, I can send you just the button if you want to drill your own tailcap. It's not a hard thing to do if you take your time. The hole is 1/2 inch, a size chosen because of the size of my finger tip as well as the available space.

One person noted that the tolerances for the hole are pretty tight, coming close to the lanyard connect point. I am seeing that different runs of the tailcaps have varying depths of cut for the area surrounding the lanyard mount. It's easy to double check before drilling, then adjust as needed. These are custom mods.

Daniel

I love it when you modders get your noggins rockin'.

I too think it looks quite slick.

- Jeff

Oh yeah! That's boss. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

I'd like mine to be done the same way. Everything goes in the mail to you tomorrow morning. Thanks for doing these, Daniel.

Britt

[ QUOTE ]
gadget_lover said:

I'm not sure about a high/low mod. I'm thinking about a way to use the plunger to enable a high/low type switch, but that needs more thought.



[/ QUOTE ]


Daniel,

A fascinating and well carried out adaptation of Unnerv's idea. That said however, your now-ubiquitous resistor-in-a-tailcap idea will NOT work with the VIP.

It'd be fine for other lights though.

Just thought I'd mention this before you forge ahead. Nice work.

Thanks for the kudos, Mr. Bulk.

I am pretty much leaving the plunger hi/low mods to Mc Gizmo. He's worked out some very clever designs for the E series surefires.

I recall from the VIP discussion that your design (already 3 levels) would not work with a resistored tail cap. The Wizard buck/boost converter does not like it either. I have thought of making a twisty cap for my VIP to handle the times when it needs to be in my pocket. Hmmmm. A VIP twisty with push button momentary.... Hmmmm.

I do like the high/low ability in an ARC, so if I can get a reliable two stage design working with the plunger I will make it available. After all, I have to make a few for my own use. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Daniel

One of the things that makes being a modder more challenging is the parts we get to work with. Here's an example:

NOTE!!! These tailcaps are possibly seconds or knock-offs. I was not fortunate enough to get any of the original twisty "first quality" tailcaps.

That said, look at the variations between these caps! The lanyard connetion point is ground from the body of the tailcap. The one on the left (black lines) has a much more shallow grind than the one on the right (red lines). The lanyard hole itself is almost twice the size (blue arrows) and the height to the shoulder is drastically different (blue circle)

Variations like this mean that each part has to be hand modified, and that very few parts can be built up ahead of time. The challenge is part of the fun, so don't think I'm complaining.