Etched Glass and problem with DX MTE SSC Z-POWER light - ideas?

[Dimmy]

I have one of these lights from DX and it was awesome, at first. When it first arrived I noticed there was an oily liquid inside the head of the light that leaked into the battery compartment. It had a chemical smell, but nothing worse than any other Chinese made stuff would have. I initially thought it was just a lubricant and tried to clean it out as best I could. Several days later when I went to use the light, it was very dim and flickering. I also noticed a haze inside the glass (which I thought was just condensation or dust). So I first checked the batteries and they were discolored and had some of the lubricant from the light on them (I was using the purple LIR CR123A's from DX as well). I figured that they had gone bad so I popped some fresh ones in the light, but it was still very dim. Thinking that the leads may be shorting or something similar, I opened the head of the light and checked the star. I did not see any issues there (except that it was poorly secured down with the two different sized screws (looked like they put the larger dia screw in the smaller hole and vice versa). The guts of this light are not that impressive. I then opened the head of the light up to clean the glass. I applied some pretty good pressure and even tried toothpaste to clean it, but there was nothing to clean (it appears to be etched). I could only assume that the glass was etched by whatever the liquid inside the light is, since it was clear when it arrived. The light was just sitting on my desk (standing on it's head) for several days between arrival and days later when I noticed the problem.

I have asked DX whats up with the liquid, but so far they have only offered to replace the light.

Any suggestions on what could have caused this? Has anyone else seen something similar with this light? TIA

 

[r0b0r]

Probably some kind of volatile machining lubricant

 

[Dimmy]

Sounds reasonable, but also pretty nasty.

Here is a pic, not the best but it does show the haze:

On a side note, it looks like DX is down for me ATM. Cant't get to it from Google Language tools either.

 

[FlashCrazy]

Haven't noticed anything like that with mine. I did have to remount the star with better heatsinking compound due to it shifting tint (towards blue) when run for more than a couple of minutes. Totally cleared up the problem. All in all, I love the light. That must be some pretty nasty stuff to etch glass...

 

[r0b0r]

Woah!

Wierd

Just take 'em up on the replacement.... don't fuss yourself too much

 

[Dimmy]

I would rather not ship this without knowing exactly what it is that caused this to happen. This probably means no refund, but I can live with that. I am wondering if there may have been some reaction between the batteries and the lubricant or something. The light was not exactly dripping with the stuff, but it was enough to leak into the battery compartment and discolor one side of the first and some of the second battery. I did not test the batteries I removed to see if they were still holding a charge. I would not trust them the way they looked anyway.

I did not see any liquid in behind the glass or in the reflector when I took it apart so it is really strange. It was standing on it's head for several days before I noticed the problem.

 

[IsaacHayes]

uhm, its not hydrofluoric acid is it? That stuff will etch glass. From a lithium battery venting? I hope it's not that. Perhaps they tested it at the factory and a cell vented and they went a head and shipped it?? hmmmm

You sure the lens is glass? Try acetone or anything strong to get the "oil" off?

 

[Dimmy]

Hydrofluoric Acid from a LIR venting? Is that possible?

Good suggestion on the acetone, but I don't think I am going to mess with this thing anymore.

BTW, I still have my fingers :rock: (for now)

I hope the HF is not the case, it looks to be very nasty stuff (and from what I have read it causes intense pain up to 24 hours after the exposure). I think that I would have some awareness of a problem by now, considering I have had the light for a week (though I only noticed the problems a couple days ago). I am not going to panic at this point. I think (hope) my exposure to whatever it is was low, but I was not wearing gloves since I thought it was just a lubricant. I think (hope) this was an isolated problem.

 

[frenzee]

Are you certain that the batteries ddin't leak into the head, rather than the other way around?

BTW, toothpaste will haze glass (or plastic).

 

[Dimmy]

I would not rule out the batteries leaking. They were new (but that does not count for much). However there was a liquid near the head of the light in the barrel when I got the light. The location of this liquid correspond to the discoloration on the batteries when I removed them several days later and found the haze (the liquid was near the head of the light and it was the battery in the head which got the most discolored).

The toothpaste was a final effort to see if there was anything I could rub off the glass. I have used it many times in the past to clean up scratches on my watch which seems to get more than a fair share of dings. My initial thought was the haze was just condensation or dust, but that was not the case. My initial efforts to remove the haze did not work (washing with soapy water, rubbing with a cloth). It looked the same after I tried the toothpaste. In hindsight I could have tried a strong solvent or something, but I was impatient.

I also just tried a test with toothpaste on a glass bottle (I know it is not the same glass, but if anything it is softer) and did not notice any etched appearance after I buffed it with some toothpaste (it was actually clearer).