Looked again at pics and realised this is a twisty light, ignore my tailcap troubleshooting!
Do however check the contacts are all nice and clean.
That’s the big question. Perhaps not. I have the driver and will try to take some measurements in the next day or so.
Please try to measure the LED base. I can’t tell from the pic if it’s a 3535 or 5050 emitter (i.e. 3.5mm or 5.0mm). I wouldn’t suggest gluing down the emitter board, so perhaps reflowing a new bare LED is best considering the special shape of the MCPCB.
when my Maratacs do that, I clean off all the lubrication in the threads and on the contact surface of the driver
that usually solves the erratic mode switching and flickering. Too much lube interferes with proper contact between the body tube and the driver contact ring
I then relubricate with only a very small amount of lube, mostly on the O ring. I like Nyogel better than Nano Oil, because oil tends to migrate and pool between the body tube and the contact ring on the driver.
Thanks again for all your help.
I’m afraid my good 10x loupe is in my bag at work but I’ll bring it home today. But at the mo with my rather useless older magnifying glass I’m afraid I can’t read any of the numbers of any components particularly well.
By led base - do you mean the emitter itself and the small square it sits on - that is 3.5mm so I guess that makes it a 3535…?
Ah I did do a full clean of the body with isopro alcohol, and I only ever grease sparingly, using Haynes Lubri-film. Tried several diff types of battery too, and my only other thought was that the bottom spring was maybe the barest smidgen not as strong as it once was, but the battery only has lateral movement when really shaken
suggest you try cleaning off all the lubrication on the threads and inside the head, by wiping with a dry paper towel.
just as a test, do not add new lubrication
does the light work normally after cleaning off any old accumulated lubrication?
I hope so 
you can add a very small amount of lubrication once you know the light works again… if not, maybe James C can help you find a new driver… I have no experience
Yep, that’s a 3535. So if you want to reflow a new led into that board you could a 519a like you mentioned in your first post. Reflowing is probably easier than you might think (that was the case for me anyway).
Jon has some good tips on cleaning the light. If you can’t get it to work with the stock driver then a replacement would be in order. It’s possible some little component has worn out. Troubleshooting and potentially fixing it may be more trouble than it’s worth.
Upgrading the LED can be done independently of the driver situation in case you get the light working again (if you do need a new driver it may make sense to order it with a new LED(s)).
I did a little searching online and sub-17mm drivers are pretty uncommon as standalone parts. I’ll look again and maybe someone else can chime in.
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I don’t own a Lumintop Tool aa, but the driver is available. I think it supports aa/14500. I believe it’s smaller than 17mm. I did a quick search and saw one source saying the ears are 16mm across. So this might be perfect. You may have to modify your pill if the ears are not the same size.
good find… since Lumintop makes the Maratac and the heads are interchangeable, odds are good that the driver is the same size
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Ah, I didn’t know that. In that case, I agree, I think this is probably one of the safer bets if a new driver is desired/needed.
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Ahh I’d forgotten that the heads were interchangeable with Lumintop, and didn’t know they made them even.
I’ve tried cleaning everything and adding no lubrication and shimming the battery to so there’s as little movement as possible (I could hear a tiny shift before) and I’m still getting some flickering, not every time, and 70-80% it’s good.
It’s a bit dispiriting to realise that it’s a very awkward size for modding, so perhaps I’ll have to relegate it to a backup/pair it with another light
Totally up to you of course, but IMO it looks like a nice host and is worth a shot at repairing/upgrading. I’ll admit though, I’m biased towards repairing it since I enjoy modding.
One thing you could consider is getting a Tool aa. They’re about twice the cost of just the driver. Then you could have it in hand to see if the driver swap is feasible. If not, perhaps you’d find the Tool useful. I’ve never had one, but it seems like a good light.
We’re here to help if you decide to tinker with it.
Edit: one other thing, if you’re having flickering issues and you’ve cleaned everything, perhaps there’s a loose component on the driver. You might try desoldering the LED wires to remove the driver and search it with a magnifying glass for anything that looks or feels loose. If everything looks ok then it could be a component itself going bad. There are probably ways to test them but I’m not too knowledgeable on drivers.
try a new O ring
twisty heads can wobble and make contact from lateral pressure… the O ring limits that lateral wobble.
Thanks guys,
Alas a new o-ring didn’t improve things.
James C are you perhaps UK/EU based, would you perhaps be willing to mod it for a fee?
As like you, I’m very keen on repair and not just binning things.
And as I have found I am not particularly in many flashlights anymore, too many modes, buttons, complicated UIs, for me, I am fond of the Maratac. I really like a nice tint, something around 4500 I think, probably just 3 modes, ML, L, H or L, M, H. Sturdy, simple, elegant, an Okluma for instance. Or one of my Malkoffs. I also like a sensible high so it has a longer run time than a silly super max turbo for 1 min then drop off.
I looked at the Tool, have actually had a soft spot for it for a long time, surprised I never ordered one years ago or one of the AAA ones. But now, I wish it didn’t have any branding on the body (I really really dislike branding/logos), and don’t like the RGB switch, and no idea about the new 3.0 led version, reading quickly about it, it sounds like it will be cool white?
Still I need to order some workshop clamps so might add one to my basket to reach free postage maybe.
There’s a used copper maratac for sale here
I’ve been following that thread for about 3 weeks wondering if I should buy it with another of the lights for sale… I honestly don’t need more lights though 
it is in the nature of twisties that lateral forces can turn them on and off… it is also possible to turn a twisty on by pressing the head towards the body… (unless they are uscrewed far enough)
that is why I no longer carry one… I kept seeing my Maratac AAA turn on in my pocket (when getting into my car)… its not a problem for me as a desk light.
Mine does not flicker when twisting it on… maybe Ive learned not to apply lateral pressure…
I dont think a new driver would make any difference
I’m in the USA. I’m afraid shipping here and back wouldn’t make sense. Perhaps you could make a new post searching for any local modders who would be willing to do it.
Another easy fix to try is cleaning all the contact surfaces. If you have some fine sandpaper, or even a pencil eraser, lightly sand the end of the body tube and all the exposed metal on the underside of the driver.
Not much to do about the branding (though I don’t find it to be intrusive on this light) , but you can get the optional magnetic tail cap ( I bought mine as a kit with the diffuser and magnetic tail cap) and just use it as a twisty. I also am not fond of lighted tail caps especially on lights that use the AA/14500 cells. The Tool AA is compatible with AA alkaline /NiMh/14500 cells.
I like the Tool AA quite a bit.
fwiw
The tail light stays OFF w AA batteries.
Some people break off the tail LEDs so they stay off w 14500 too.
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Watched that and thought wow, that’s nuts, I swear mine don’t do that… And then checked and yup they do… Ha
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There can also be some variation in how long the tailspring is:
on my Maratac the battery sits MUCH higher than on my Tool
you might want to check how far your battery sits above the body tube… if it seems very slight, maybe consider stretching the spring out a little (carefully, we dont want to break it… spare parts are not easy to find)
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