About flashlights’ maintenance

[XTAR Light]

Flashlights' maintenance is essential to prolong the life of them. How do you care and maintain your flashlights? There are some suggestions, which may help keeping flashlights in good condition.

Cleaning and inspecting the flashlight body
First off, look over the body of the flashlight, especially around the bezel and lens. Check to see if there are any visible signs of any damage. Use a small nylon brush to loosen any dirt or mud that may have become stuck. And for lens' dust and dirt, use a microfiber cloth dipped into some soapy water and carefully wipe over the lens.

Cleaning the threads
The threads should have a smooth action when unscrewing. If they feel gritty or unsmooth, there may be any dirt or dust has got onto the threads. After you have the flashlight disassembled with the battery removed. It's time to clean the threads on the body. Remove the O-ring seal if it shows visible signs of damage. Rub some Isopropyl alcohol with using a soft cloth around the threads. The O-ring should be removed easily after you cleaned any dirt and grease. If the O-ring is stuck, use a ring and seal pick tool to loosen. Replace a new O-ring seal if it was damaged.

Lubricating the threads
After cleaning the threads on the body of your flashlight. Then to apply some lubricant to both the threads and O-ring. Use some lubricating oil around the threads sparingly using a cotton swab. And it's important to use the correct type of oil and suitable lubricant. Generally, petroleum based jelly may deteriorate O-rings over time.

Check for oxidized or dirty contacts
Check both the tail and head of the flashlight for corrosion and dirt. Use a clean cloth to remove any grease or dirt from all the shiny metal contacts. Make sure the body of the flashlight is screwed back the correct way. And check if the switch works fine.

Keep up this simple maintenance activity for your flashlights 1 or 2 times a year, and it will help them stay in good condition. If you have other suggestions, can share freely.

 

[Jean-Luc Descarte]

The best tool for applying lubricant to threads in my experience is not a cotton swab, which is disposable and depending on the quality, risks leaving cotton strands on the threads. A thoroughly cleaned old toothbrush is way better - you can grip it more securely, it reaches into the threads' grooves with no issues, and it stretches the tiniest dab of silicone grease really far. It even works nicely for lubing the o-rings, if you run them through the lube-slathered bristles.

Oh, and speaking of o-rings, (again in my experience) black ones are rubber-based and you should use silicone grease on them. Transparent or coloured ones are silicone-based and those are the ones you use petroleum jelly on. If you use a lubricant of the same nature as the gasket, it'll absorb the lubricant and swell up to uselessness.

EDIT:​ If you don't have snap ring pliers, go get a pair now. They are essential to handle the retaining rings or driver pills on any flashlight above keychain size. For smaller lights you can use jewelry tweezers, just not the ultra-fine-point smooth ones. Get a set that can handle a little torque.

 

[YAK-28]

great ideas, keep them coming. i use the computer calendar to remind myself to check and charge lights. i have removed all the alky leaks and rechargeables are now my friends.

 

[Dr_Rez]

When lubricating the threads, are you extremely careful not to get any oil into the actual light or on the cell? Or is it not really a very big deal.

 

[Jean-Luc Descarte]

:welcome:

I don't like using oil of any kind (in my former case, silicone spray) to lubricate my lights' threads. It dries up too quickly. Grease is the way to go.

Couldn't tell you if it's bad because I always remove the battery and strip the whole host into its component parts for this kind of maintenance so I can work without any geometry getting in my way.

 

[VDR]

:welcome:

Grease is the way to go.

I also use grease (Lithium grease to be precise) and it has worked well on my flashlights.
Another thing I like to do is use a black paint marker to cover the nicks and scratches that my black-anodised flashlights acquire through continual wear. Of course after thoroughly cleaning them