McR-XX Observation

[tnuckels]

Is it just my imagination, or is the silvered orange peel material that is affixed (sprayed on?) to the inside of the bezel of the McR-XX reflectors quite delicate?

I purchased a McR-18 a little while back for my aging LongBow Micra. This was a great upgrade that really helped the light achieve much better throw compared to the stock optics, and a wonderfully crafted piece of hardware in its own right.

My next thought was to see if this reflector might improve the beam on my Peak Caribbean, but I needed to remove a small amount of material from the final aluminum stair-step on the outside of the reflector in order for it to fit, diameter wise. Using a piece of 300+grit sandpaper, I carefully made my way around the circumference, removing the material a little at a time. When I thought I had removed enough material, I blew the dust out of the inside of the reflector, and then carefully wiped it out with my shirttail. Inspecting my work I was much chagrin to see, not a beautiful shinny reflector, but one marred with yellowish green blotches. The more I wiped, the worse the blotches got.

Looking back, I probably should have blown the reflector out more thoroughly with my compressor, then used a clean cloth, one that wasn't possibly exposed to the dust from my material removal, to wipe out the interior. My other thought, however, was WOW … it didn't take much to totally ruin this reflector, and I hope others don't run into this problem modifying them to fit their lights. Silly me, I just assumed that the shinny surface was something hard and durable, like the rest of the reflector.

After quite a bit of effort, I was able to remove all the coating from the reflector's inside by using successively finer and finer grit sandpapers, then using a multitude of finer and finer polishes I was able to bring the interior surface to an acceptable sheen, so that the reflector was not a complete waste. Not as good as it was, but not bound for the dust bin either.

Just call me careless, but I'm a bit reluctant to repeat this lesson at $20 a pop, and I post this here, not as criticism, as I think these are wonderful little creations, but simply as a heads up for others not to repeat my folly.

 

[kennyj]

Yeah, it's known to be quite delicate - touching it with anything is actually warned against in a few of the PD and Aleph FAQs, if I remember right.

IMO it's best cleaned by washing it with mild soap and water or alcohol, but not touched with anything. If it must be wiped, I'd only try it with a lint-free, scratch-free microfiber cloth, and even then, only very gently.

 

[Kiessling]

Yes ... stippled reflectors in general are very delicate. Touching those is a no-no! Once dirty, you're in trouble ...
bernie

 

[PoliceScannerMan]

I use one of those cans of compressed air to get the dust out of mine, works for me!

 

[kennyj]

This reminds me, I once tried using a soapy kitchen sponge on my McR-20 after noticing that some dust found its way in when I swapped the Sapphire window for a UCL on my PD. It left the nastiest thumbprint-esque mark that I've ever seen. It now lives in my Minimag with extended bezel and side-emitting TLE-5 (the original reflector sucked hardcore.)

 

[tnuckels]

Thanks for the replies. I was starting to think my sweat had gone caustic or something.

Maybe I'm just getting lazy, but searching through a gazillion posts for this small pearl of wisdom doesn't seem like it should be a mandatory part of the purchase process. Maybe a little note, as part of the description at the Sandwich Shoppe, or included in with the shipped product, illuminating this "feature" might be helpful?

Surprisingly, as easy as it was to damage the high points of the coating, getting the last remnants off the aluminum was down right difficult. I tried a number of solvents, including that nasty Goof-Off stuff, but to no avail, and ended up resorting to pure brute force, AKA sandpaper.

So, how is this stuff applied? And is there a source available somewhere on the net, as I've never seen a can of stippled silver spray down at the local hardware store? And will I die a horrible death from accidentally inhaling the vapors?

 

[luxlunatic]

I learned the hard way too. Had the reflector in my work area, not realizing how delicate that surface was, something got on reflector, wiped it off and no more shine . Sand paper, polish, and some sore fingers got it to a near mirror like finish. Live and learn .

 

[tvodrd]

The better (available) reflectors have coatings produced by the vaccum metallizing process. They are placed in a vacuum chamber facing high amperage heating coils which surround the material (usually aluminum) to be deposited. Under high vacuum, the aluminum slowly boils away and deposits on everything. Sometimes when the target reflectors are metal, a high voltage is applied to the targets and boiling source to speed and better direct the flow of metal vapor. The resultant coating is typically only a few dozen atoms thick.

Plastic parts may be "chromed" by this process, but require subsequent clear coat paints to protect the very delicate coating. Detroit is moving in this direction for environmental concerns with conventional electroplating.

The resultant reflective surface is no better than the surface it covers, as the layer is typically way less than .0001" thick. The beam-smoothing texturizing/stippling processes done prior to metallizing are propriatary.

My less-than-2 cents worth.

Larry (I have never worked in the metal finishing industry, but have toured many anodizers, platers, and the local vacuum metallizing house.)

(Did I fail to mention Don's reflectors are magnificent? Oh well. )