Flickering eagletac rescue?

[compnaut]

I have an EagleTac GX25A3 which I was very pleased with initially, but which quickly became unreliable. The light would flicker and sometimes turn off completely for no reason. It became a shelf queen. I should have returned it or sent it in for warranty service, but didn't. Recently, while researching a planned Sunwayman D40A purchase I came across a mention in Selfbuilt's reviews of the need to clean EagleTac contacts. Last week I stopped by LightJunction to pick up the D40A (a very nice light) and mentioned my GX25A3 problems. They also informed me I should try cleaning the contacts and even showed me where I needed to clean (I had not thought about the endcap, for example). Since then the GX25A3 seems to be working. My question to fellow CPF'ers is: have any of you restored to reliability a GX25A3 or other EagleTac light through cleaning them? I ask because I am running out of time to send the light in for a repair under warranty. Thanks.

 

[ven]

Have you cleaned threads? if not try it..........i have read a few posts where it has solved issues,nothing to loose,if does not work then send off

Presume good cells used,have you tried other cells?

Regards ven

 

[reppans]

I'm not familiar with your light, but I usually use a paperclip/tinfoil battery by-pass test to determine if a problem with the head/driver, or the tube connection points/mechanical clicky.... and it's usually the latter, always easily fixed. Electronic clickies are a different problem though.

 

[compnaut]

Have you cleaned threads? if not try it..........i have read a few posts where it has solved issues,nothing to loose,if does not work then send off

Presume good cells used,have you tried other cells?

Regards ven

Yes, after the guy at lightjunction pointed out I had forgotten about the end-cap connection (I had only cleaned the floating contact pins that face the head, duh!) I cleaned the bare metal portion of the threads and end-cap connection. So far, so good, but sometimes in the past it would work for a while. Just wondering what others experiences have been. There is much I really like about the light so I hope it can be restored to reliable functioning. Thanks for your help.

 

[compnaut]

I have not tried that yet. If it continues to flicker, I may try that before sending it in for repair. Thanks.

 

[ven]

What cells are being used compnaut?

 

[compnaut]

Sorry, I missed the part about the cells. I'm using eneloops. When it was flickering, changing or topping off the cells did not seem to make any difference. I think I can say, after using the light for walks around the neighborhood this past week, that cleaning the threads definitely seems to have fixed the problem. Thanks for your replies.