DISCLAIMER: The deliberate alteration or attempt to modify a flashlight that is still under warranty, will definitely VOID said warranty! The descriptions herein provided are solely for the educational purposes of those members interested in modifying a product that has a lapsed warranty, or for those persons who fully understand and accept sole and full responsibility for any irreparable damage caused to any product still under warranty that you attempt to modify. Please make prudent choices!
In addition to the variety of heating and freezing methods to help loosen the bond of a threadlock-type of adhesive where it's known or thought to be present, I've had great success with using a heavy-duty, double-sided tape such as 3M™ VHB™ (Very High Bond) tape found at most hardware, office supply, or general stores.
In a recent example, I used the 3M™ VHB™ in two different ways on the same light to perform an otherwise nearly impossible emitter swap of an Olight S15. In this example, I first applied a 1" long piece from a 1" wide roll of the double-sided, foam tape onto the side of a mid-size tape measure. (I used this tool specifically because I found its size fit the palm of my hand just right to provide greater torque. Additionally, the t.m. case's exterior is slightly convex which I found adhered to more surface area of the very small and thin bezel ring of the Olight S15). Whereas the rubber gloves and silicone pad methods previously mentioned didn't budge the ring in my prior attempts, this newer method worked immediately. Although I may have first loosened the ring a tad bit with the other methods, when I used the 3M™ VHB™/ tape measure method in my first attempt to loosen a second Olight S15's bezel ring, I had it off in seconds.
NOTE: the bezel rings on the small S-series Olights were not glued, they were simply threaded onto the bezel very tightly.
The second way in which I used the same 3M™ VHB foam tape was to remove the reflector which is also threaded into the bezel. However, since this thread is about bezel ring removal, I won't describe the reflector removal details here.
If you would like to learn more about the Olight S15 reflector removal method I used with the 3M™ VHB™ tape, or have any questions about removing the bezel ring, please feel free to PM me. Please understand that Sunday is family day in our household, therefore I will not be able to reply to any questions until this evening at the earliest, with tomorrow being more likely.
I hope the bezel ring removal method described above helps you as it helped me!
Wishing you all the best,
John Calvert
