Well I got a new AA light today because I was not happy with my current AA lights that I own. The lights that I have are not bad, but I just did not have that "perfect" light for my uses. Here are my lights:
The lights are:
Romisen RCA Q5
Trustfire R5A3
Akoray K106
Ultrafire U20
I have to say that the Romisen is made well with nice smooth threads and a nice clicky switch. It has problems for me though....the thing is chunky with its large head for an AA light. It also carrys led up/switch down....I prefer it the other way around.
The Akoray K106, what can I say about it. You can pick and choose your three most wanted brightness levels and make the light that you want. It does have its flaws though...the ramping is way too fast to get a low low mode.....and I am not sure why but mine flickers as if it is dirty or something. I will try and clean my light the best I know how to and see what happens. It is not reliable, thus I do not use it much.
Now we come to the Ultrafire U20....I am mixed on this light. It has blinky modes (yuck) and not pocket clip at all. I also do not want to mess with turning the bezel to get a high mode. Not a big deal, but my light is slick so my hands slip on the head when trying to trun it.
Now, on to my new light that arrived in the mail today. The Trustfire R5A3. Within 30 seconds of holding it...I liked the way it fit in my hand. It is the thinnest AA light I own. It has a nice pocket clip and carrys switch up/LED down.....perfect. It has three modes with no blinky modes at all....(ask me how I got my hands on this....ask me, I dare you). The only issue so far is that it is high/med/low....rather than low/med/hi. I can over look that. I see why now folks around here like this light. I will get beamshots tonight and post them. I think I am going to enjoy my new Trustfire R5A3 AA light for EDC.
I do like the no memory part of the C3 because you never have to deal with the flashy modes. The other nice thing about the C3 is the pill from the R5-A3 will screw in making into an XPG if you want a really cool mod light. A C3 would complete your collection of really cool AA lights. A Trustfire R5-A3 with no flashies I think I know were that one came from, maybe someday I'll part with the XML one.
When I press the switch to turn on my K106 the light will flicker, it does not matter what battery is in it. How do I troubleshoot this, where do I start?
I cleaned the threads on the boday and head and that is all you can get to. It does not look like the switch end on the light comes off, if it does I can not get it to move....so I can not clean the area of the switch nor tighten it if it is loose like the CPF article mentions. Hmmmm The flicker happens with a gentle press of the switch turning it on or off or changing modes....it does not affect it working.
With the Akoray are you trying to pull the plastic retaining ring out? You can just go to the very end of the tailcap (almost at the rubber button cover) and unscrew that. It isn't obvious but it does unscrew.
As far as getting the lowest low...if you hit the "save" button before you see the light it isn't the lowest you can get. If you wait until you see the light that's not the lowest either. You have to put it in programming mode and halfway between the very start and when you can see it...that's when you hit the "save" button.
The key however is after you've done it to use a DMM to verify the low and try again if it isn't low enough. I don't still have mine and I can't remember the lowest reading I got but it was in the .10 mA range as I recall. I read online that others were getting low figures and I didn't believe it at first based on my initial efforts but you can do it. Just use a DMM to verify otherwise you don't really know when you have it at the lowest.
On an unrelated note...Romensen always seems to make their flashlight bigger than necessary for the batttery size. That's the only reason my first Romensen was my last.
Ok, I'll bite...how did you get your hands on the R5A3? BTW, all nice lights to me. What I'd really like to know is where you got the K106? All I can find appear to be the non-programmable versions.
The K106 came from Don and the R5A3 came from E1320. Both great and helpful dudes. :) They have helped me a lot to learn and grow as many on this forum, now on to more pics. These pics were taken like this:
Romisen RCA5
Akoray K106
Ultrafire U20
Trustfire R5A3
Trustfire flame 14500 @4.09v
pics @ 50feet
The UF U20 and TF R5A3 are the clear winners here. Of those two I prefer the TF R5A3. :)
I would be real careful with the switch on the K106. I would not recommend taking it apart it a huge PIA, try spraying it full of WD40 fill it like a cup click it on and off like a madman as many times as you are patient enough to do. You want the WD to soak in then turn it upside down and let it dry outside so you don't get in trouble with the misses from the smell. In the AM wipe it all off and try again switch repair is complete move on to other causes. Good Luck E
I will go give this a shot right now and let it sit over night outside but out of the weather....it is not raining, but it is cool and damp. Thank you for the tip.
That is why the only Romisen I own is the RC-C3 neutral from SB. One of my first real LEDs and still one of my favorites seriously a 5C tint is almost incandescent very nice, f you like twisties.
