Update to Flashlight Section of the Bicycle Lighting Web Site/Problemwith Task Force Cree LED 3W flashlight.

I found an issue with the Taskforce 3W Cree LED 2C flashlight that seems
to have become the de-facto bicycle light around my area. My friend in a
bicycle club in Fremont recently led a night ride, and upon inquiries on
what light to buy for the ride, he started a run on this light at all
the local Lowe's.

To use AA NiMH cells with C size adapters requires that you slightly
modify the + contact inside the flashlight as it does not properly
contact the + contact of an AA cell battery. I found the same issue with
Tenergy 5000 mAH C cells.

Unlike an alkaline battery, where the there is a large surface area for
the + contact which includes the button, the NiMH cells have only the
actual button as a contact, and the rest of the top of the battery is
non-conductive.

If you don't modify the spring contact at the + end, the contact will be
intermittent because the button will be inside the spring. To remedy
this, I cut the end off of a steel hollow wall anchor, leaving a couple
of millimeters of the shaft, and inserted that into the spring contact.
I'm sure there are more elegant ways to solve this, but don't use a
penny or a washer, as you need for the contact to stay in place in the
center of the spring.

On Jul 11, 12:07*pm, SMS wrote:
I found an issue with the Taskforce 3W Cree LED 2C flashlight that seems
to have become the de-facto bicycle light around my area. My friend in a
bicycle club in Fremont recently led a night ride, and upon inquiries on
what light to buy for the ride, he started a run on this light at all
the local Lowe's.

To use AA NiMH cells with C size adapters requires that you slightly
modify the + contact inside the flashlight as it does not properly
contact the + contact of an AA cell battery. I found the same issue with
Tenergy 5000 mAH C cells.

Unlike an alkaline battery, where the there is a large surface area for
the + contact which includes the button, the NiMH cells have only the
actual button as a contact, and the rest of the top of the battery is
non-conductive.

If you don't modify the spring contact at the + end, the contact will be
intermittent because the button will be inside the spring. To remedy
this, I cut the end off of a steel hollow wall anchor, leaving a couple
of millimeters of the shaft, and inserted that into the spring contact.
I'm sure there are more elegant ways to solve this, but don't use a
penny or a washer, as you need for the contact to stay in place in the
center of the spring.

SMS wrote:

If you don't modify the spring contact at the + end, the contact will be
intermittent because the button will be inside the spring. To remedy
this, I cut the end off of a steel hollow wall anchor, leaving a couple
of millimeters of the shaft, and inserted that into the spring contact.
I'm sure there are more elegant ways to solve this, but don't use a
penny or a washer, as you need for the contact to stay in place in the
center of the spring.

Sorry, I should have given the URL, it's "http://bicyclelighting.com",
then go the flashlight section. Or just type "Bicycle Lighting" into the
Google search bar, and click on "I'm Feeling Lucky."