U2 selector ring friction fix

[turbodog]

About 2 weeks ago while 4 wheeler riding I got stuck in a clay pit. The fine particles made their way under my u2's ring while we were digging out with a shovel in the dark.

I washed the light under the faucet when I got back, but the ring was harder to turn. And it kept getting harder as time went on.

I washed it again under running water, while turning the ring. It didn't take long before the ring became almost impossible to turn. I figure whatever lube was under there had gotten washed out.

I took the light and a needle oiler that was filled with 10w-30 mobil1 synthetic and tried my luck. I unscrewed the head and stood it face down on the bench. Then I applied a THIN bead of oil around the closest edge of the ring. I then worked the ring back and forth for about 2-3 minutes. The oil disappeared into the crack, and the light was maybe 10% better.

I put the head back on the light. As I rolled the light in a circle, I ran another bead of oil into the frontmost crack of the ring. Then I turned the ring back and forth many times as I gradually rotated the light around (to keep the oil from pooling to one side and dripping).

Presto! Smoooooooth ring. And I mean smooth. I can now turn it easily with 2 fingers while holding the light with the same hand. I can even turn it with 1 finger if I want to (and with a little luck).

Whatever friction point that's under there is apparently toward the front.

Also, to clean up the extra oil I first tried a cotton rag. That didn't work well as it was not absorbent enough and tended to smear the oil. I finally settled on a q-tip. It vacuumed up the oil so cleanly it left no oily residue.

Anyway, that's it for what it's worth.

 

[TACTICAL WAREHOUSE]

turbodog,
Thanks for the info - That's good to know! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Dan

 

[wasBlinded]

Surefire recommends silicone lube for the rings. No telling what motor oil might eventually do to the O-rings, I think its a gamble that may or may not pay off. O-rings are cheap, though, aren't they?

Chip

 

[turbodog]

If it dies I'll let you know. As for now, it was worth the risk.

I was going to try some triflow with teflon, but the hexane solvent in it made me leery of using it.

Unless you want silicon all over the place you'd have to figure out how to get it in liquid form so you could carefully apply it.

 

[wasBlinded]

I have some 3M silicone paste that comes in a can with a brush built into the cap. Useful stuff to keep around the house.

Chip

 

[turbodog]

I don't think paste will make its way down into the crack very well. Maybe if it was heated slightly to liquify it.

I know oil can swell rubber, but *something* had to be done.

Too bad SF didn't make the ring come apart into 2 pieces so you could get it off.

 

[sotto]

[ QUOTE ]
turbodog said:
Unless you want silicon all over the place you'd have to figure out how to get it in liquid form so you could carefully apply it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have a can of spray silicone at home. I wonder how that would work?? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[Luminosus]

Turbodog, try some Nyogel 759G from surefireparts on Ebay. He is a very nice guy. The 759G is what surefire uses and worked great for me, but it is a little on the expensive side. It's $14 for a 10 gram tube.

 

[turbodog]

[ QUOTE ]
sotto said:
[ QUOTE ]
turbodog said:
Unless you want silicon all over the place you'd have to figure out how to get it in liquid form so you could carefully apply it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have a can of spray silicone at home. I wonder how that would work?? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Spray?

I think you'd get nasty, greasy, hard-to-remove silicon all over everything.

Now if you sprayed in into a cup, then let the solvent/carrier evaporate you might have something.

Whatever's going into that crack has got to be very flowable.

 

[Kiessling]

thanx turbodog! was worrying about this, too.
very interested in long-term results.
bernhard

 

[cy]

mine is kinda stiff, but don't want to take risk of hurting the hard to get at O-ring inside.

I sure hope Surefire issues an official how to take care of stiff ring issue.

 

[Size15's]

I believe it was found that people prefer it tighter rather than looser. The dial needs to stay where its selected.

Al

 

[turbodog]

If yours is like mine. it will just get tighter as time goes one.

 

[turbodog]

[ QUOTE ]
Size15's said:
I believe it was found that people prefer it tighter rather than looser. The dial needs to stay where its selected.

Al

[/ QUOTE ]

Meant to post this days ago, but holidays got in the way.

Mine is buttery smooth AFTER it starts moving. There is still significant static friction with the ring. I don't think it would move in your pocket.

Time will tell on mine. Time will also tell on other's lights. Someone else will have to lube theirs also.

 

[Ray_of_Light]

I have found out that when the ring is too stiff, it is enough to have the light turned on for one hour at level 6. The heat generated is enough to "fix" the excess of friction, even when the U2 cools down.
The selection ring seems to be made of an high temperature fluorine based polymer, like teflon but harder since it is loaded. This type of polymer has always an "oily" surface, and is therefore self-lubricating.
Under normal conditions of use, I am not requiring any lube to operate the U2 ring correctly.

Anthony

 

[Kiessling]

Hm ... mine has more friction when hot ... ???
bernhard

 

[turbodog]

[ QUOTE ]
Ray_of_Light said:
I have found out that when the ring is too stiff, it is enough to have the light turned on for one hour at level 6. The heat generated is enough to "fix" the excess of friction, even when the U2 cools down.
The selection ring seems to be made of an high temperature fluorine based polymer, like teflon but harder since it is loaded. This type of polymer has always an "oily" surface, and is therefore self-lubricating.
Under normal conditions of use, I am not requiring any lube to operate the U2 ring correctly.

Anthony

[/ QUOTE ]

I have to disagree with this assessment. I think there is residual lube/grease under the ring that is being freed up due to the high heat of constant running.

IIRC my light even displayed the "squeaky dry o-ring" symptom before I added the oil.