Lunal_Tic
Flashlight Enthusiast
It was a PITA but I finally got it done. I had picked up a Cree drop-in from LiteMania and had a McGizmo two stage (30 ohm) for a Surefire classic switch and decided I'd try to put them together in a brand spanking new G3 I'd gotten recently. I had taken apart a fair number of Surefire tailcaps both classic and E series so I figured that I had enough experience getting these apart, I was off by a bit.
Normally you can get all the parts out of the tailcap with a little elbow grease and a Zip-loc to boil the glue loose that holds the threaded plastic nut in place. Well this works fine for metal tailcaps but Nitrolon is a different animal. No amount of boiling, acetone, freezing, or anything else I could think of would loosen the part. After every new attempt and failure I'd set the whole mess aside and come back to it when I had time and patience again.
Finally I realized that it was a job for Mr. Dremel and went after it with a metal bit that works like a router. The problem is that it is tough stuff so I would skitter off if I went to fast or pushed too hard. The other problem is that the threads are not tough stuff. So I gave up on saving the deepest ones and just ground with reckless abandon once I'd decided this project was going to get finished no matter what. After getting most of that plastic removed I switched to small course sanding band and lastly the green grinding wheel that is almost the same size diameter as the inside of the tailcap.
Since the plastic was gone as were the threads at the back of the tailcap I needed something to keep the rubber boot in place I used a ~20mm washer pressure fit hold it. Because the hole in the washer was too big I had to put a small piece of rubber hose on the switch to keep it from going up into the boot too far. I used the Dremel and the green wheel to smooth the walls where the switch moves up and down and put the whole mess back together.
It was not a pretty operation but it works well. The low is plenty for walking around outside and for most tasks and the high is great for the "reach out and touch" something when I need it. I had planned on doing the switch treatment for a G2Z but after the G3 I may just have to rethink it. :green:
I stuck a couple of yellow plastic elastic hair bands on the tail of the body just for grins.
And there you have it. Any questions, fire away.
-LT
Normally you can get all the parts out of the tailcap with a little elbow grease and a Zip-loc to boil the glue loose that holds the threaded plastic nut in place. Well this works fine for metal tailcaps but Nitrolon is a different animal. No amount of boiling, acetone, freezing, or anything else I could think of would loosen the part. After every new attempt and failure I'd set the whole mess aside and come back to it when I had time and patience again.
Finally I realized that it was a job for Mr. Dremel and went after it with a metal bit that works like a router. The problem is that it is tough stuff so I would skitter off if I went to fast or pushed too hard. The other problem is that the threads are not tough stuff. So I gave up on saving the deepest ones and just ground with reckless abandon once I'd decided this project was going to get finished no matter what. After getting most of that plastic removed I switched to small course sanding band and lastly the green grinding wheel that is almost the same size diameter as the inside of the tailcap.
Since the plastic was gone as were the threads at the back of the tailcap I needed something to keep the rubber boot in place I used a ~20mm washer pressure fit hold it. Because the hole in the washer was too big I had to put a small piece of rubber hose on the switch to keep it from going up into the boot too far. I used the Dremel and the green wheel to smooth the walls where the switch moves up and down and put the whole mess back together.
It was not a pretty operation but it works well. The low is plenty for walking around outside and for most tasks and the high is great for the "reach out and touch" something when I need it. I had planned on doing the switch treatment for a G2Z but after the G3 I may just have to rethink it. :green:
I stuck a couple of yellow plastic elastic hair bands on the tail of the body just for grins.
And there you have it. Any questions, fire away.
-LT
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