Arc AAA PE Problem

I have had the same problem with my AAA PE since I bought it (bought it used on ebay) a couple months ago. I am hoping someone can help with a DIY solution. You turn it on then you turn it off... everything is fine so far... then you try to turn it on again and nothing... won't come on. So you loosen it a little more then tighten to the on position and still nothing... then you loosen some more and then retighten and still nothing ... then you loosen some more and retighten and then a little more and more etc etc and still nothing. You end up having to loosen the top to the point that it is completely removed from the rest of the light or comes very very close to being removed from the rest of the light, then you can screw it back down to the on position and it "may" come back on. Sometimes it take several trys to make it come back on. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif Please help. Thanks!

I have seen this behavior a lot with the entire aaa line. It does not appear to get worse if that helps.

Thanks, that does help quite a bit to ease my mind. Now if only I could figure out how to fix it. The overall design of the light seems to be so simplistic (few parts, etc) that I just can't figure what is going on in there to make it behave this way. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

What i think is happening brian, is the little foam ring is expanding over the contact and blocking it. Ive had this same problem with my AAA-P. Next time your turn it on successfully, just inscrew it till the light turns off. then see if you can turn it back on.

If the expanding foam is the problem maybe you can trim the hole a little with a fine knife?

Carefully tear away the foam pad, remove all the adhesive that is left (on the led head and the foam pad) and put the pad in the battery tube. That has somehow fixed my AAA.

Chris

You ARCAAA will work without the form but the battery will rattle when switched off. If your ARCAAA still exhibits the same problem after removing the foam, your ARCAAA needs servicing. Consult the DIY Maintenance: The Arc-AAA Series If still no help, you need to find someone who can help you fix it.

A batch of ARCAAA have bad chip problem. I hope you are not one of them. Goodluck.

Vince.

a larger part of the arc AAA have grounding issue (or so i heard), so that might also be the problem.

If you are having contact issues with your ARC AAA. And your light is older than one year. It's not from the chip.

Follow FAQ except part about removing foam donut as those are no longer available. You can still re-seat contact with a chisel, foam in place.

I understand the chip failure isn't actually that common, and the majority of those were caught in house, and there is a grounding issue in the design as shiftd mentioned, on top of the foam ring issue.

That's a lot of useful information. Based on the specific symptoms I am experiencing, it seems that the foam issue is most likely the cause. I think if it was a grounding issue there would be other/different symptoms.

You may try lighting up the led head with the battery removed. This may eliminate the bad chip senario.