wizardlabz
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2016
- Messages
- 2
Hello all, this is my first ever post on CPF, though i have been with CPF for some years now. and i have seen lot of problems and solutions here.
one of the major problems i have seen is the chipping-off of the anodized coating / or the custom paint job on flash lights , there by making it ugly. though stainless steel and other hard metal bodied flash lights are less vulnerable to this, they are not so common as aluminium bodied ones.
Recently i bought a fenix E-05 2014 edition key chain flash light and hooked it up with my keys. within few days, the keys began to chip off the anodized coating of my lovely lil flash light. so i was searching for some solution. And one day, i found few Heat shrinking tubes ( its a kind of rubber tube used in electrical/ electronics field to isolate contacts and wire joints from shorting out or simply for putting as some protection on components ), so i got this idea. and i would like to share it with you.
Here is my E-05, you can clearly see that its tail cap is chipped-off by stupid keys , but luckily there is less damage on its body since i found this and removed it from key ring.
This is the heat shrink tube that i have, and its as the same size of the flash light, though it is lil tight when it is inserted into the body of the flash light. but its OK, lil pressure and effort will make the thing. All you need is find the right size of heat shrink tube from your local electronics shop, as they come in various sizes. I saw some which are big enough to fit d size mags. and they are pretty cheep too.
Now you need to push your flash light tube(s) into the heat shrink tube, and cut out it accordingly. but make sure that you leave lil extra on ends as the tube will shrink down lil bit when we apply heat, it also ensures extra protection on corners in case of accidental drops. Also make sure that you remove the "O rings" and battery before you apply heat.
Now you need to apply heat on the tube. You can use zippos,lighters, hair dryers, or even flame from stove ( i used a lighter with torch like pointy flame) . Don't use cheep plastic lighters as u need to operate it for some time and it will cause possible melting or even exploding lighter.
Now apply heat from one end to another end uniformly, don't apply too much heat, as it can damage and burn the rubber tube. You can see it shrinking down. Also take care not to burn your plastic lens while applying heat.
when it is done apply some extra heat on edges, and bend the ends of the heat shrink tube with your fingers. It will help the tube to cover the corners as shown in the above picture.
You can use some Petrol or Thinner or Nail polish remover soaked cotton /tissue paper to erase the prints on the tube. But make sure that these chemicals wont touch your plastic lens as it can fog out the lens.
When its all set your flash light is ready to take some nasty handling.
Though your lovely flash light does look less beautiful than the original body, it still looks lovely and neat. ( may be like a lovely curvy women in a spandex:kiss: , just because , though it covers the body, it still show of the curves
).
Benefits of this mod are :-
1) protects and keeps your flash light beautiful for long.
2) adds some extra shock proof with out making it bulky or heavy.
3) adds some extra grip especially on glass and other slippery surfaces.
4) adds some extra chemical , dirt , scratch , drop or even water ( yes , if you use the heat shrink tube wisely along with a layer of glue stick/ rubber adhesive in between the aluminium body and heat shrink tube , it will stop water ingress ) to the flash light.
This tube can survive a lot of wear and tear and hence you don't have to change it for long. but when ever you want to remove it, just cut open an end and tear it out. It will not leave any residue or anything on the body of your flash light ( will be clean as changing the cover of a book).
There is a draw back to this mod, the tube have a tendency to loosen up after one or two months of usage (as it is rubber). but still it have solution, just apply heat and it will shrink back again. Also if u have a high power flash light with so much heat dissipating fins, don't cover the fins with the heat shrink tube as it will block out ventilation.
Thank you all flash light lovers, i hope this will solve one of your worst nightmares.
one of the major problems i have seen is the chipping-off of the anodized coating / or the custom paint job on flash lights , there by making it ugly. though stainless steel and other hard metal bodied flash lights are less vulnerable to this, they are not so common as aluminium bodied ones.
Recently i bought a fenix E-05 2014 edition key chain flash light and hooked it up with my keys. within few days, the keys began to chip off the anodized coating of my lovely lil flash light. so i was searching for some solution. And one day, i found few Heat shrinking tubes ( its a kind of rubber tube used in electrical/ electronics field to isolate contacts and wire joints from shorting out or simply for putting as some protection on components ), so i got this idea. and i would like to share it with you.
Here is my E-05, you can clearly see that its tail cap is chipped-off by stupid keys , but luckily there is less damage on its body since i found this and removed it from key ring.
This is the heat shrink tube that i have, and its as the same size of the flash light, though it is lil tight when it is inserted into the body of the flash light. but its OK, lil pressure and effort will make the thing. All you need is find the right size of heat shrink tube from your local electronics shop, as they come in various sizes. I saw some which are big enough to fit d size mags. and they are pretty cheep too.
Now you need to push your flash light tube(s) into the heat shrink tube, and cut out it accordingly. but make sure that you leave lil extra on ends as the tube will shrink down lil bit when we apply heat, it also ensures extra protection on corners in case of accidental drops. Also make sure that you remove the "O rings" and battery before you apply heat.
Now you need to apply heat on the tube. You can use zippos,lighters, hair dryers, or even flame from stove ( i used a lighter with torch like pointy flame) . Don't use cheep plastic lighters as u need to operate it for some time and it will cause possible melting or even exploding lighter.
Now apply heat from one end to another end uniformly, don't apply too much heat, as it can damage and burn the rubber tube. You can see it shrinking down. Also take care not to burn your plastic lens while applying heat.
when it is done apply some extra heat on edges, and bend the ends of the heat shrink tube with your fingers. It will help the tube to cover the corners as shown in the above picture.
You can use some Petrol or Thinner or Nail polish remover soaked cotton /tissue paper to erase the prints on the tube. But make sure that these chemicals wont touch your plastic lens as it can fog out the lens.
When its all set your flash light is ready to take some nasty handling.
Though your lovely flash light does look less beautiful than the original body, it still looks lovely and neat. ( may be like a lovely curvy women in a spandex:kiss: , just because , though it covers the body, it still show of the curves
).
Benefits of this mod are :-
1) protects and keeps your flash light beautiful for long.
2) adds some extra shock proof with out making it bulky or heavy.
3) adds some extra grip especially on glass and other slippery surfaces.
4) adds some extra chemical , dirt , scratch , drop or even water ( yes , if you use the heat shrink tube wisely along with a layer of glue stick/ rubber adhesive in between the aluminium body and heat shrink tube , it will stop water ingress ) to the flash light.
This tube can survive a lot of wear and tear and hence you don't have to change it for long. but when ever you want to remove it, just cut open an end and tear it out. It will not leave any residue or anything on the body of your flash light ( will be clean as changing the cover of a book).
There is a draw back to this mod, the tube have a tendency to loosen up after one or two months of usage (as it is rubber). but still it have solution, just apply heat and it will shrink back again. Also if u have a high power flash light with so much heat dissipating fins, don't cover the fins with the heat shrink tube as it will block out ventilation.
Thank you all flash light lovers, i hope this will solve one of your worst nightmares.
