Help with repairing Atactical A1

ph0t0g · 2018-12-27T02:57:59.000Z

I got this flashlight a few months ago, and I accidentally dropped it last week and it stopped working. Does anyone know how to access the driver board, or at least how to get it out? It appears to be glued in.

I know this light isn’t really worth it to be repaired if it’s serious enough, but it was my first light and I would love to get it working again to go through another round.

MRsDNF · 2018-12-27T03:38:30.000Z

Try this thread by cadmium.

Muto · 2018-12-27T03:49:54.000Z

It’s a great light and has a 2 year warranty.
I would reach out to Wowtac/Atactical, they will probably just send you a new one.

They back up what they sell.

ph0t0g · 2018-12-27T04:11:58.000Z

MRsDNF:

Try this thread by cadmium.

Thanks! Will try doing what that thread says.

ph0t0g · 2018-12-27T04:23:27.000Z

Muto:

It’s a great light and has a 2 year warranty.
I would reach out to Wowtac/Atactical, they will probably just send you a new one.

They back up what they sell.

Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure the light is just a little bit out of the 2 year warranty. Besides, shipping would most likely cost more than just repairing the light myself. And yes, I agree that this is a great light! It’s survived multiple hard drops right on it’s face, and countless other smaller drops as well. I have no idea why this one drop caused it to stop working.

ph0t0g · 2018-12-27T05:03:12.000Z

Do any of you notice anything wrong with the driver board?

I’ve had experience repairing small electronics before, but never specifically flashlights. Is it normal for a light to fall and just quit working without any immediate sign of damage? I know it’s not the switch, since I tried connecting the terminal of the battery to the light’s casing and still got nothing.

TheOnlyDocc · 2018-12-29T11:06:00.000Z

On your pictures i can not see a obvious defect. And you checked the clicky switch / pcb (and everything looks ok). There is not much else you can do. If you have a soldering iron and some flux i would simply go an resolder all the joints. To be sure it is not a bad /brocken joint.

bilakos10 · 2018-12-29T13:00:04.000Z

ph0t0g:

Do any of you notice anything wrong with the driver board?

I’ve had experience repairing small electronics before, but never specifically flashlights. Is it normal for a light to fall and just quit working without any immediate sign of damage? I know it’s not the switch, since I tried connecting the terminal of the battery to the light’s casing and still got nothing.

Most probably a solder joint has cracked.
Especially the joints that join the two pcbs together are prone to such problems.
As already advised, you can go ahead and reflow everything.

It’s also possible that the connection of the emitter to the star is broken.
Try to power the emitter by directly connecting the battery to the star’s pads.
If you get no light, then you should go through a reflow.