E1 & LOP Protective End Cap (Chapstick)

For those of us who are anal about getting dust, scratches or crap on the business-end of our Fenix E1s or LOPs, try this:

Take off the cap of a Chapstick (or generic) brand tube and cut half of the length off. It will then press on tightly to your Fenix E1 or LOP. Presto, no more smudges or crap on your lens glass! Also, with the cap installed, it acts as a gentle light level diffuser for finding your seat in the theater et cetera..(so people don't get hosed-off from a full-blast light).



Regards,
F-Phreak

Great idea!

LOL anal

i am freaking anal about the dust and finger prints.

i mean, come on, a nice nice light and some dust and finger prints RUINS it.

What about scratches from keys in your pocket, gouges from dropping it, your kids are playing with it and whammo a broken lens ?... Some folks are really rough on their EDC techniques. I prefer a MONK approach.

To each, his own.

Does anybody know a chapstick brand with a clear cap?

kurni said:

Does anybody know a chapstick brand with a clear cap?

Click to expand...

My problem is solved; I made a hole at the top of the cap & filled it with a Bumpon whose adhesive has been removed.


Sorry I don't have any camera, only a mobile phone. I cannot take a proper beamshot because I my mobile phone can only do automatic mode The beam is smooth; and to my naked eye, I don't see much difference in total output (this of course is a subjective opinion).


Pardon the reflective tiles; I keep my bathroom clean

My tools were nowhere near elegant; I used my wife's nail grinder, some sticky tape & a piece of sand paper. Note the matte finish on the sanded bumpon. Unfortunately the photos couldn't show the pattern, but when I looked closely, it was circular because the sand paper was rotated by the nail grinder. The center was not actually grinded because the sandpaper was floppy; it couldn't stay at right angle while spinning. So I had a non-matte circle, whose diameter was 1mm, right in the middle. The circular pattern allowed the beam to be a nice circle, unlike the ellipse that scotch tape threw.


Note the white area at the lip of E1; my cap happened to be quite tight, so I cut it rather short; otherwise it would be too hard to put on & take off.

I was lucky to have the hole almost as wide as the Bumpon, so by pressing it against a hard surface (the flat side was outside), it stayed securely in the hole. The elasticity bit the 2 components together. The next photo showed the Bumpon at the bottom, note the cavity between the dome & the cap begged to be filled with adhesive. I didn't know what adhesive was suitable; I remembered super glue frosted plastic. I already had an even circular matte, I didn't want want to frost it with super glue.


This is how the unit looked from the top; the flat & shiny surface levelled with the lip of the cap. If I want the throw, I just take the cap off & plug it at the tail.


I'm happy

Kurni,
I don't know who you are but you're a true cpfer!

Nice beamshaper/protector mod and welcome to cpf. :goodjob:

Thanks Spudman.

I'm still hunting for an adhesive that doesn't produce any nasty frosting effect like super glue. Suggestion, anyone?

Thanks,
KK

Rc56 is generally good on plastics. It is a white semi flexible glue that dries almost clear overnight. Available at hobby shops. If you can control it and work fast, hot melt glue will surely do the trick. Clear silicone cement (RTV) is onother possibility.


Hondo

Kurni, way to go!

kurni said:

My problem is solved; I made a hole at the top of the cap & filled it with a Bumpon...I'm happy

Click to expand...

Great work kurni! This mod makes a decent light into a great light.

Amazing that more manufacturers don't offer a pop-on diffuser/lens-protector as an option.

Even a cheap home-made diffuser can really impove the usability of a light for close up work. The diffuser lens is the easy part - the lens holder is usually the hang up.