I recently bought a Novatac 120T that was unreliable. It would turn itself on, or sometimes the switch would not work at all, or sometimes when screwing it together with a fresh battery it would reset itself and forget the custom programming, or it would start strobing…
the cure was to replace the battery sleeve spring.
so here are some pics of several different springs, from Novatacs I have handled, plus some springs I bought from Unique Titanium.
there are variations in weight, and wire diameter, as well as variations in length, and the design of the spring with tight winds in separate sections…
1. this spring was defective, making the black 120T unreliable. this spring had no tight winds in the middle and is very light weight
2. this spring from Unique titanium made the light reliable, it is longer than the others, and has 2 bands of tight coils in the center section
3. this spring came in a Silver Novatac SPA Defense 120T, it works very well, even though the wire is slightly thinner than #4. It has one band of tight coils in the middle.
4. this spring came in a Pewter colored SPA with a black bezel, it also works very very well, the wire is thicker and shinier than #3. This spring has the same design, one tight band of coils, as #3
the light on the left was unreliable with the #1 spring shown, the two lights on the right are reliable, spring #3 is in the middle, and #4 on the right
Spring #2 shown on the left, made the Black 120T reliable. that light also worked with spring #3 and #4
the spring on the left is the unreliable one listed as #1 above, the middle spring is #3, and the spring on the right is #2
Here is a modification that allows the use of 18350 by replacing the signal spring with a brass signal bar. Pic is a link to the source
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here is another brass bar mod, for using 18650 in a Novatac, starting with a 17670 tube, pic links to the original source:
[QUOTE=Hogokansatsukan]Here is a pic from the top with the battery and bar inserted in the tube.
The nipple on your battery MUST be slightly higher than the brass bar.
Now screw the head on your light. It works!!! Or not.
If not, here is the trouble shooting section:
1. Light fails to come on at all (1 second dim light): YOUR NIPPLE AINT HIGHER THAN THE BRASS BAR. Fix it. (Twisting it in your fingers will not work for this.)
2. Light comes on for 1 second, turns off. Switch does not work: Your brass bar is too short and not touching both the head and tail. Good thing the brass bar is long enough to make two or three of these things. Try again but be easier on the cutting this time. Maybe less beer as well.
3. Light comes on bright and stays on. Your bar is making contact with the retaining ring in the head or tail. Bend the tail section a tad more. Check and make sure that the head section of the brass bar has it’s top most point away from retaining ring.
4. Light starts to smoke, vent gasses and explodes in my hand: Brass bar was making contact with the positive terminal on the battery. [/QUOTE]
Item 3 making contact with the retaining ring was the problem in both the Black 120T, and the B42 tube. Both were solved the same way, a new spring from Unique Titanium. It is crucial for any bar, wire, or spring not to make contact with the Novatac retaining rings.