DId I improve my LGI?

I received my LGI and it seemed to be a very fine and bright flashlight. However there was a warning notice that came with it. If the head is screwed on any farther the LED will be crushed.

This seemed to be less than a fool-proof design. Especially around here where most of my flashlights are turned on by screwing on the head.

Well I replaced one of the O rings on the body with a snap ring. Now it is an unconditionally fine flashlight.

I noticed that when the head is screwed on it slides over two O rings. Actually it just touches the second O ring when it is about to crush the LED. So I removed the O ring and replaced it with a KD tools external snap ring number 3100-68. I think it has an internal
diameter of 5/8 inch and it fits perfectly.

Anyone could make this mod in two minutes assuming you had such a snap ring in your pocket and a pair of el cheapo snap ring pliers in your other pocket.

Actually I didn't completely remove the second O ring. I slid it over the first O ring and now it resides happily in the space between the threads and the first O ring channel.

The head now can't crush the LED. It is stopped by the snap ring when it's around 1/32 inch from it. If I shake the flashlight I can hear the plastic lens do-hickey rattling. I guess it's called a columnator or something like that. If it bothered me I could fix that too, but it doesn't.

And now I'm the brightest SOB around here.

Amazingly simple tools for small problems which can lead to BIG problems.... Glad you posted it here for the rest...

HAY! How dare you fool with my non-foolproof design???!!! You are now officially CUT-OFF!!!

(and, um, what's the part number for that snap ring again?)

Great suggestion, Thank you Steve!

Mr Bulk,

So what is the exact procedure for properly tightening the cap without the snap ring? I've played with it in candle mode a couple of times just to enjoy the luxeon To put it back together I carefully lined up the colimator and then tightened until the lens stopped jiggling when I rubbed my finger back and forth on it.

So not very tight, but putting some pressure on the o-ring in there. Does that sound OK?

My question for the snap ring would be does the lens still fit snugly when you do that?

Thanks,
James

Mr. Bulk I'm glad you didn't take offense, none intended. I'm just a socially challenged individual. Actually my LGI has the smoothest and whitest beam of any of flashlight I've seen.

I compared it with a Craftsman 3 D cell flashlight with krypton bulb with smooth reflector. I figured comparing it with another LED light would be unfair to the competition. The craftsman pretends to be a high end light. O rings everywhere, yellow body, red yellow and green leds to monitor the batteries, and a tailcap that holds a spare bulb.

When it comes to illumination there is no comparison. The LGI does the job very much better. The Craftsman's hot spot is extremely irregular and a sickly yellow. The LGI spot is very smooth and very white. It's possible that a light meter placed precisely in the best part of the Craftsman's hot spot may give a higher reading, but the human eye knows better.

Everyone seems to have different preferences when it comes to flashlights. I am always looking for rugged ones that can be dropped, stepped on, run over and otherwise abused. I guess that's why I just had to find a fix for the "don't screw the head on too far" problem. With the snap ring in place, this would seem to be much more rugged and reliable than the original unmodified flashlight. No filament to break or burn out.

If I inferred this was anything but a high quality light, I apologize. Obviously I bought it because it claimed to be very bright, and it certainly is, with a superb beam to boot.