C-LE thread lubricant roundup, what works, what doesn’t

Now that Jetbeam has introduced a new C-LE v2.0 'clicky' version, most folks can enjoy this fine light without worrying about finding a high performance lubricant for the 'twisty' threads.

If like me however, you still like your old 'twisty' v1.2 C-LE because it is more compact for EDC, you may wonder what lubricant will give your treasured light the best performance and life.

I have tried more than a dozen lubricants for my C-LE v1.2 and have found that the quality of the lubricant makes a huge difference in the performance. Almost no other lights place the demands on the thread lubricant that the C-LE does because:

A) Some are NOT 'twisty' designs, so if they do have any bare aluminum threads it's only on the tail-cap (where we don't care as much about wear, because the thing isn't getting twisted every time you turn the light on).

B) If they ARE a 'twisty' design, unlike the C-LE v1.0 and v1.2, they use an alternate design which lets them anodize the theads (My ultrafire B3, Fenix L0D, and other twisty light are ALL in this catagory and have HARD ANODIZED threads).

Because of these issues the lubricants for most flashlights are not one tenth as critical as they are is on the C-LE.

On the C-LE, using an improper lubricant can wear the threads out, and if this happens, THE LIGHT BECOMES USELESS.

So with this in mind, it makes sense to make an effort to find the best possible C-LE lubricant.

Here is a list of the some of the lubricants that I have tried and the results.

What works -

Nyogel 760G
Works well overall, not quite as smooth as fresh Mobil 1 automotive grease (which was the smoothest), but very close and unlike Mobil 1, Nyogel is colorless and doesn't have an unpleasant smell. Nyogel is also close to Mobil 1 automotive grease in giving good reliable electrical switching operation in the C-LE's twisty switch. 2 oz. is less than 10 dollars shipped at Battery Junction.

Mobil 1 Automotive Grease
This Red Grease had the smoothest operation (by a very small margin over Nyogel 760G). It also had the best overall electrical contact reliability for the C-LE's twisty switch (also by a small margin over Nyogel 760), but Mobil has a slight odor that some might find unpleasant (only really noticeable when changing the batteries). Also, because of the odor issue, there is a question of whether Mobil 1 grease has volatile components that might evaporate and condense on the optics. I used this grease for more than six months in my C-LE and did not see any problems, but the head of the C-LE has some potting compound and is pretty well sealed, so the results in other lights may vary. Mobil 1 is a good general purpose grease that you can use on your car, and around the house and a 1 pound can should costs about $7.75 at your local automotive parts store (I got mine at Kragen).

Generic Lithium Multi-Purpose Grease
You can get a tube of this stuff for only a few dollars, at a local home dealer. There is white lithium grease as well as darker brown/black compositions. The lithium greases that I tried worked quite well (close to Nyogel 760G) so if you don't want to spend the money for the Nyogel because you already have some of this stuff lying around, then it's a good bet. Even if you don't have any suitable grease on hand already, this is by far the lowest cost solution. I saw a cylinder of multipurpose lithium grease at Home Depot for only 1.95 and decided to give it a try, and it worked fine (This cylinder is designed to work with a grease gun, but you can just pop the cap off the cylinder and scoop out some grease). This grease was black rather than white, so I wasn't able to evaluate the thread wear by looking for dark particles in the grease, but it should be low, because the threads turn very smooth even under moderate pressure.


Things you can use in a pinch –

Plain Automotive motor oil (30 weight, 10W40 etc).
Turns smoothly when applied, but doesn't remain smooth as long as any of the above greases. Unlike Mobil 1 grease, I didn't do any long term testing with motor oil, and the fact that the lubrication decreases over time gives some concern about so the volatility. If the motor oil has volatile components, this creates some concern about the oil evaporating, and re-condensing on the optics. Ok if nothing else is available, but I would clean it off and replace it with one of the above options as quickly as possible.

Teflon Grease or Lubricant Oil with Teflon [PTFE]
I tried both Tetralube G (grease) and Tetralube L (lubricant oil) and both worked reasonably well, but these PTFE (Teflon) lubes did not completely eliminate the 'skritchy' rough feel when the threads were turned under moderate pressure (Moboil 1, Nyogel 760G, and even Generic Multi-Purpose Lithium Grease all showed no roughness under the same conditions). The Tetralube G grease was slightly smoother, but I did note some aluminum wear occurring. I think even the soft Teflon particles in the grease are abrasive to bare aluminum. For Fenix lights and other lights which have hard anodized threads, the extra hardness provided by the anodized surface can allow Teflon (or generic PTFE lubricants) to provide very smooth operation, but I no longer recommend them for long term use in the C-LE due to wear concerns.


Things that DON'T WORK WELL –

WD40
Much too thin to provide effective lubrication, and will attack the o-ring over time.

Dow 111 Molycoat silicone grease
This is a very thick grease, and is recommended as an o-ring lubricant, so you would think that it would make the threads of a C-LE turn smoothly, but that is not the case. This grease gave the C-LE a very scratchy feel and turned black with worn aluminum very quickly. Silicone plumbers grease is essentially the same stuff. These types of silicone grease are ok as an o-ring lubricant on plastic bodied flashlights, but DON'T use them on your C-LE unless you want the threads to wear out very quickly.

Bicycle Chain Lubricant
Most bicycle chain lubes contain a penetrating solvent, that will attack the o-ring on the C-LE (I tried Boeshield T-9). It did eliminate friction in the threads well, but the o-ring compatibility issues make it unsuitable for use on the C-LE.

Loctite Krytox RFE PFPE High Performance Lubricant
This stuff costs more than 40 dollars for a 2 ounce tube, and it chewed the threads of C-LE to bits, leaving metal particles everywhere after only a few hours use. Not recommended under ANY conditions. Loctites technical support is also unbelievably poor. When I wrote a VERY detailed complaint, indicating that there were issues with Krytox as a lubricant with soft aluminum alloys, here is a direct quote from the response I received from Loctite technical support: "It sounds like the customer cross threaded this because that is the only way the threads would have been galled. Loctites only purpose is to lock threads in plave [SIC] so it will not back, back out of whatever they are doing. It is not possible for the compound to disolve [SIC] or corrode material". UNBELIEVABLE! This is Loctite Krytox LUBRICANT NOT Loctite THREADLOCKER, and I made that VERY clear in my complaint. In any case, Loctite Krytox is overpriced GARBAGE (the generic PTFE Teflon lube worked MUCH better and cost about a tenth as much).


Conclusions -


Mobil 1 grease worked best by a small margin, but overall, I like Nyogel 760G, it's very close in performance to the Mobil 1 but is odorless and colorless. Right now a large 2 ounce tube (basically a lifetime supply) of Nyogel 760G is on sale at Battery Junction for less that 6 bucks (Less than 10 bucks SHIPPED if you use USPS shipping). This has to be the best deal in town.

Nyogel 760G at Battery Junction


On the other hand, if you have some reasonably good quality Lithium Grease on hand, and want to save some money, you can go ahead and give it a try.

To see if your grease is working well, put a small amount of outward pressure on the threads (a pound or so) and then turn them to see if there is any scratchiness. A good lubricant like Nyogel 760G or Mobil 1 will still turn smooth even under moderate pressure.

Another symptom of a poorly performing lubricant is that you will feel a scratchy stutter as the head cinches down (just before the light turns on).

If your lubricant does not show this scratchy stutter when you turn the light on, turns smoothly under pressure, and doesn't show significant metal buildup in the threads due to wear, then it's doing a good job.

Good info i was just using this cheap super lube with Teflon. It wasn't bed, but i will have to try this Nyogel 760G. Thanks

+1 for the Good Info!

Bit off topic, but is Nyogel just as good to use on a polymer body?

I have always used Superlube (teflon grease) on all my lights and love it on the C-LE.

gunga said:

I have always used Superlube (teflon grease) on all my lights and love it on the C-LE.

Click to expand...

I found that some Teflon greases were better than others, but all seemed at least mildly abrasive on the C-LE's aluminum threads over time.

Try this test -

Clean the threads of all lubricant so they are perfectly clean, then apply a nice even layer of your grease. Now reassemble the light and put a little pressure on the threads and turn them about 20 times. Was there any hint of scratchiness? More importantly, is the grease already starting to turn gray or black?

I haven't found any Teflon grease yet that would pass both these tests.

None of the Teflon greases were as low on wear as even simple low cost lithium grease. There is a tiny bit of wear even with Nyogel or Mobil 1, but it takes quite a long time for the grease to turn grey, in comparison to the Teflon lubes that I tried.

Perhaps 'Superlube' is one of those greases that use very LITTLE Teflon, (some use only a tiny bit so they can put it on the label), if so, that might actually be a good thing when it comes to the C-LE, and it might work quite well.

If I can get a sample of Superlube, I'll give it a try, and add it to the list, at the appropriate place (Good, Ok in a Pinch, or Not So Good).

I use 100% Teflon grease and have found it to be outstanding.
I think the trick is how much Teflon is in some of these lubes and greases.



http://www.sandsmachine.com/ac_greas.htm

i mentioned this in another similar thread (seems like it was VERY recently)....I've had good results with fishing reel grease. Non petroleum, so it doesn't degrade O-rings, a bit of Teflon, and importantly IMO, easy to find....any sporting goods store carries it (I bought it at Sports Authority). It is inexpensive, and obviously if it's designed to protect reels used in salt water environments, it probably does a good job in both lubricating and in protecting the threads and may help to "waterproof" (maybe?). Anyway, I originally got it to lube the rails on my stainless 1911....I was nervous about galling on such an expensive piece. It has performed great as a lube...anyone who knows about 1911s, knows they need to be well lubricated and while I have a boxful of specialized super-duper and obscenely expensive gun lubes, none seem to hold up as well as this stuff (South Bend products).

And I just picked up a light and checked the threads....no discoloration....seems perfectly clean and VERY smooth (and this is on a rather inexpensive Chinese light - Ultrafire C3 (one of my favorite carry lights 'cause I don't worry about dropping or scratching it, etc.)..

A half ounce tube has lubed all my semi-autos, and now all the threads on all my lights. A little dab will do 'ya!

Peace,
D.

What about Nyogel 779ZC? Which is better compared with 760G?

afahmic said:

What about Nyogel 779ZC? Which is better compared with 760G?

Click to expand...

Nyogel 779 has higher viscosity, and although I think 779 would probably be outstanding at preventing thread wear, I think that for the C-LE most would find that it makes the head a little bit too stiff and difficult to turn (though it would turn smoothly).

Even with Nyogel 760G, although you can turn the head pretty smoothly, you can feel a bit of resistance. In the C-LE, just a little resistance is ok, because it keeps the light from getting turned on by accident in your pocket.

If you like your twisty light a bit on the stiff side the 779 would be ok, but I think most would prefer the lighter feel of Nyogel 760G in the C-LE.

I can understand why this could be confusing, because Ny describes 760G as a 'medium viscosity' grease and 779 as a 'light viscosity' grease, but real world reports indicate 779 is a much thicker grease. Lighthound also describes it correctly on thier web site as being thicker than Nyogel 760G (and the older Nyogel 759).

If you check the data sheets, you will see that the viscosity of the base oil for Nyogel 779 is 2000 at 40C and for Nyogel 760G it is only 390, which clearly supports 779 being the thicker grease (so this is just another case of a big company with confusing product data).

If you want to give 779 a try, I don't think Battery Junction has it, but you can get it at Lighthound.

http://www.lighthound.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1366

Unfortunately, unlike Battery Junction, the folks at Lighthounds do not have a sale going, and a 2 oz tube of 779 will cost you about twice as much as the current sale price on Nyogel 760G at Battery Junction (Lighthound is currently also twice as high on Nyogel 760G).

Anglepoise said:

I use 100% Teflon grease and have found it to be outstanding.
I think the trick is how much Teflon is in some of these lubes and greases.



http://www.sandsmachine.com/ac_greas.htm

Click to expand...

This 'Teflon bearing Lube' stuff is no longer availible from anyone but these guys (what a wonder that they say it's great stuff).

Also this is EXACTALLY the web site who's high rating of 'Loctite Krytox' caused me to try this OVERPRICED GARGAGE. Krytox and "Teflon bearing Lube" may be HOT-S#%T for 'Bicycle Torque Couplings' (whatever the hell those are) but they STINK for the C-LE.

A few minutes testing with 'Krytox' damn near destroyed my C-LE.

Are you making this comment based on direct experence with the C-LE, or another flashlight with anodized threads?

I have aluminum flashlights with anodized threads that turn very smoothly with Teflon based lubes, but that is NOT the case with the C-LE.

Luminescent said:

Are you making this comment based on direct experence with the C-LE, or another flashlight with anodized threads?

Click to expand...

Yes.....I have found it to work well on bare aluminum, Ti and anodized.
Any place where the threads have to twist to activate the light.
Also I have found no 'sticktion' of the 'o'rings that one always gets with silicone.

I have some Nyogel myself, and read somewhere that somewhere preferred Nanolube over it. Haven't tried Nanolube yet, but just wanted to toss another possibility out there for the curious.

Delij said:

i mentioned this in another similar thread (seems like it was VERY recently) ...

And I just picked up a light and checked the threads....no discoloration....seems perfectly clean and VERY smooth (and this is on a rather inexpensive Chinese light - Ultrafire C3 (one of my favorite carry lights 'cause I don't worry about dropping or scratching it, etc.)..

A half ounce tube has lubed all my semi-autos, and now all the threads on all my lights. A little dab will do 'ya!

Peace,
D.

Click to expand...

Please folks, thanks for the ideas, but for the One Thousand and first time, an Ultrafire C3 is NOT a C-LE, so I wish folks would stop making recomendations unless they have good long term experence with an actual C-LE.

Almost ALL other lights are different because:

A) They are NOT 'twisty' designs, so if they do have bare aluminum threads, it's only on the tail-cap (where we don't care as much about wear, because the thing isn't getting twisted every time you turn the light on).

B) If they have a 'twisty' design, unlike the C-LE, they use an alternate design which lets them anodize the theads (My ultrafire B3, Fenix L0D, and other twisty light are ALL in this catagory and have HARD ANODIZED threads).

Because of these issues the lubricants for most flashlights are not one tenth as critical as they are is on the C-LE.

EDIT: I thought that some of the above comments were important enough to edit into the original post, sorry for thier repetition here.

In the C-LE

The threads are soft BARE ALUMINUM (not hard anodized aluminum).

The threads in the C-LE are a LOAD BEARING SURFACE (the head has to be cinched down fairly TIGHT to turn the light on and this stress happens over and over and over again).

The threads NEED TO CONDUCT ELECTRICITY.

And Lastly . . .

On the C-LE, using an improper lubricant can wear the threads out, and if you do, THE LIGHT BECOMES USELESS.

nice info.

nyogel does seem more like a 'premium' lubricant, i like it. i use white lithium grease for awhile now with no problems. it does tend to dry over time(only con so far) but its cheap so i can relube anytime.

Anglepoise said:

Yes.....I have found it to work well on bare aluminum, Ti and anodized.
Any place where the threads have to twist to activate the light.
Also I have found no 'sticktion' of the 'o'rings that one always gets with silicone.

Click to expand...

The Krytox lubricant I tried is supposed to be the purest of true PFPE/PTFE lubricants, but this expensive stuff was definitely NOT for bare aluminum threads, if you care about wear. As an anti-seize on something that almost never gets turned, it might work, but it sure as hell isn't a lubricant. In fact it's more like an abrasive.

This is not just based on my problems with Krytox on the C-LE. As a second experiment, I put some on the bare aluminum tail-cap threads of a simple Maglight, then put a little load on the threads by pulling them slightly while twisting and turning them through about a dozen cycles.

The well cut fine pitch threads on the Mag did appear to turn fairly smoothly during this (only a little scratchiness), but after literally only a dozen twisting cycles under light load the Krytox grease was absolutely BLACK with abraded aluminum particles. I cleaned out the goop and tried again, just to make sure that this wasn't just 'rough' aluminum particles being knocked loose, but every time I tried Nyogel, things are smooth and clean, and every time I tried Krytox the result was black goopy grease full of abraded aluminum particles.

I have also noted 'sticktion' on older plastic bodied lights using Dow111 molycoat silicone grease.

I hope that the Nyogel will work a little better, but if not, I suppose I can try the Krytox on the plastic bodied lights (might as well get some use out of that expensive crap), but I won't be using it anywhere near the C-LE.

Is it OK to use Nyogel 760G to lube o-rings as well?

afahmic said:

Is it OK to use Nyogel 760G to lube o-rings as well?

Click to expand...

Yep, on my C-LE I use the Nyogel 760G on both the threads and o-ring and it works very nicely.

Nyogel doesn't attack the o-ring in any way and things turns very smoothly.

Cool! Time to order 760G then. Thanks for the info, Luminescent.

I've been using 100% pure silicone grease on the o-ring and Nyogel on the threads. Anybody know if the two are compatible? Am I wasting my time using both when Nyogel would be just as good for both?

Luminescent said:

I found that some Teflon greases were better than others, but all seemed at least mildly abrasive on the C-LE's aluminum threads over time.

Try this test -

Clean the threads of all lubricant so they are perfectly clean, then apply a nice even layer of your grease. Now reassemble the light and put a little pressure on the threads and turn them about 20 times. Was there any hint of scratchiness? More importantly, is the grease already starting to turn gray or black?

I haven't found any Teflon grease yet that would pass both these tests.

None of the Teflon greases were as low on wear as even simple low cost lithium grease. There is a tiny bit of wear even with Nyogel or Mobil 1, but it takes quite a long time for the grease to turn grey, in comparison to the Teflon lubes that I tried.

Perhaps 'Superlube' is one of those greases that use very LITTLE Teflon, (some use only a tiny bit so they can put it on the label), if so, that might actually be a good thing when it comes to the C-LE, and it might work quite well.

If I can get a sample of Superlube, I'll give it a try, and add it to the list, at the appropriate place (Good, Ok in a Pinch, or Not So Good).

Click to expand...

Hmm, I did not look that closely at the characteristics and I have since sold all my C-LE twisties so can't confirm.

I can confirm that there was a black metal build up after a little while, so perhaps this is not the best choice for the C=LE twisty. It runs smooth, but perhaps causes faster wear.

Seems to work well on all other lights tho.