burned GID paint in spotlight

I just got this cheap 1 million candlepower spotlight with a 6 volt lead acid battery. I decided to put some glow in the dark paint on the bulb holder.

Now, after leaving the light on for about --well about the time it takes to set a light down, pee, and pick it up--I don't think the glow in the dark paint liked that at all.

The reflector was a swirling black smokey mess, and now the paint is charred black. The light still turns on but I think I need to pull the bulb holder off and see if I can remove the burnt stuff.

As much as I've worried about thermal management with LED mods, I don't know why I assumed a bright light like this would like some paint smothered close to the bulb. Oops!

When you try to clean the reflector BE CAREFUL and DO NOT USE A SOLVENT to clean it. Some flashlight (especially larger, cheaper ones) have reflectors that use a metallic, reflective paint, and when you rub it (with anything) sometimes they smudge right off.

That is the mistake I made when I attempted to clean my Aleph reflector with alcohol. Now I have a goldish/bronze reflector.

oh- Thank you. That was probably going to be the first thing I tried.

The burned paint is only on the bulb holder---I think I got most of the smoke out of the head before it settled on the reflector, so I won't even touch that. Would anyone know something that would be safe to clean this with?

Best thing for cleaning is water. You can take soapy water and swirl it around in there if you can plug the end, but you want to rinse with water afterwards. The goal is not to touch the metal with anything either, as the finish tends to "cloud" easily. If you have compressed air or an air duster can, you can use that to blow all the water drops off so you don't have any droplet marks when it dries.


Chris