what are your procedure of "setting up" a light after buying and receiving it?

what are your procedure of "setting up" a light after buying and receiving it?

Most of my light purchases have been new lights. But I have bought a few used lights on eBay and CPF Mktplace as well.

I have the following procedures I go by when setting up a new or used light:

1. clean / lube thread & o-rings.
2. use clorox type anti-bacterial of wet-nap to clean the external body and clickie (who know if the previous owner has used his/her mouth to hold that AA / AAA flashlight. To be safe I wipe it down so if I should need to use my mouth to hold the light I can minimize contacting other people's germs).
3. Print out mini thermal tape labels with my name / contact info and stick it onto the lights. This way if it should get lost an honest citizen might return it to me.
4. For EDC lights use tape to cover the side of the emitter head so as to minimize dings and bangs.
5. Apply mini-split rings and lanyard. I bought some nice neck / wrist lanyards from Lighthound.com that I use.

These are my 5 simple prepatory steps I use to place a light in service.

What are your steps?

Re: what are your procedure of "setting up" a light after buying and receiving it?

I do a full lookover of the light assembled first. Then it gets a full dissasembly and clean up any thread flashing/rough areas, check for good contact and clean off anodizing where needed (had to do this on an inova X1). All electrical contacts then get cleaned and treated with deoxit or deoxit gold. I use a clean microfiber towel and a bulb-type blower to get rid of any dust inside and outside the bezel window, a light lubing of the threads and o-rings and it's good to go

I might have to start doing your #3 though, maybe if my cell number was on the light someone might have been nice enough to tell me they found my lost L4 .

Re: what are your procedure of "setting up" a light after buying and receiving it?

I do the two first steps. Then I carry the light around for some day, then it always seems to end up in a box in my gadget cupboard...

Re: what are your procedure of "setting up" a light after buying and receiving it?

I wash the exterior with soap and water. Remove the lube and clean the inside. I carefully check all new lights's O-Rings for defective or cut O-Rings. I de-ox and pro-gold the contacts and springs. I apply a light layer of magnalube on the threads and o-rings. I check for dust and blow it out of possible and or necessary.
I check for function If the light is programable I figure out how to do it, then I do it, and then I forget how do do it, because I will never program the light again. The first button push on a programable light is if possible set the the highest output possible.

I clean and lube lights which I EDC on a weekly basis. This includes washing the light's exterior completly removing any grease and finger prints as well as any general gunk on the outside. I use HOT water to rinse. I remove the lube which often after a week or two has turned grey and relube. I also check the O-rings carefully. I relube and reassemble as well as re-battery as necessary.
I am pretty obsessive about the lights I EDC. I need them to function perfectly 100% of the time I insure this by clean and lubing often.
Yaesumofo

Re: what are your procedure of "setting up" a light after buying and receiving it?

put a battery in it.

Re: what are your procedure of "setting up" a light after buying and receiving it?

I give it a once over, cosmetic & function check then put it into EDC rotation.

Re: what are your procedure of "setting up" a light after buying and receiving it?

I only perform maintenance on it if it looks like it needs it.
If it works right out of the box I don't do anything.

Re: what are your procedure of "setting up" a light after buying and receiving it?

Amazing. I never knew someone could geek off so wildly over a flashlight! I might have to try lubing the threads now...

Re: what are your procedure of "setting up" a light after buying and receiving it?

I usually give it a thorough inspection, making certain all the parts are there and things go together alright. Check all the threads and switch too. Click it a few times. If the threads are really dirty I'll wipe them down with a plastic-safe electronics part cleaner and re-lube with silicone grease. I re-tighten the retaining hardware in the switchcap and bezel, and lighty lube any O-rings I find in those assemblies.

If the lens is dirty inside I will take the bezel apart and clean the glass with a Q-tip and isopropyl alcohol. If the reflector is dusty I will unravel a Q-tip and carefullyuse it to remove the dust, with a LIGHT sweeping motion. You do not want to scrub as you can easily scratch the reflective surface.

Once all that is set, I'll charge up the RCR123 cells and do a run time test with a stopwatch. I note the time elapsed when the light changes color and dims. That gives me a bench-mark for run time. I retentively cut the run off ~10 minutes shy of that for each pair of cells to avoid over-discharge.

Re: what are your procedure of "setting up" a light after buying and receiving it?

-Closely inspect threads and body
-Lubricate all o-rings and threads
-Apply Rain-X on the lens
-Disinfect outside of light
-Ready for use



5 Basic Principles

-Aaron

Re: what are your procedure of "setting up" a light after buying and receiving it?

I look at it, check the switch action, check the threads and contacts, check the beam, and then drop it a couple of times from shoulder height.

Re: what are your procedure of "setting up" a light after buying and receiving it?

i just look it over, admire it for a bit, put the battery in and then its in EDC rotation.

Re: what are your procedure of "setting up" a light after buying and receiving it?

1.) TEAR open packaging
2.) Insert the nearest pair of batteries
3.) Turn on and admire the brightness
4.) Take batteries out and clean/lube threads
5.) Attach lanyards, etc.

Re: what are your procedure of "setting up" a light after buying and receiving it?

e2x2e said:

1.) TEAR open packaging
2.) Insert the nearest pair of batteries
3.) Turn on and admire the brightness
4.) Take batteries out and clean/lube threads
5.) Attach lanyards, etc.

Click to expand...

At last someone just like me

Re: what are your procedure of "setting up" a light after buying and receiving it?

lronchef said:

Amazing. I never knew someone could geek off so wildly over a flashlight! I might have to try lubing the threads now...

Click to expand...

+1

Re: what are your procedure of "setting up" a light after buying and receiving it?

cut open the tape carefully, so I don't have to repack it in the event that I have to return it. Save the peanuts...

examine the light, take notes
clean/lube threads
load batteries
open the cistern lid, toss the light in [its got that disinfectant bar in there that makes the water a different color, fetch it out, rinse it.
examine thread sealings
examine inside cavity [I had to flush a light once because it leaked]
Apply split rings if applicable, if its a surefire it goes on the surefire shelf. if its anything else, it goes in a drawer with everything else

Re: what are your procedure of "setting up" a light after buying and receiving it?

lronchef said:

Amazing. I never knew someone could geek off so wildly over a flashlight! I might have to try lubing the threads now...

Click to expand...

I'm willing to bet that at least a few "rough/coarse thread" complaints are from users who don't lube them up out of the box.:shakehead IMHO Silicone grease can't make up for very poor thread cutting, however it HAS made a very significant difference on some of my lights and really transformed the so-so ones into very smooth operators.

Re: what are your procedure of "setting up" a light after buying and receiving it?

kramer5150 said:

I'm willing to bet that at least a few "rough/coarse thread" complaints are from users who don't lube them up out of the box.:shakehead IMHO Silicone grease can't make up for very poor thread cutting, however it HAS made a very significant difference on some of my lights and really transformed the so-so ones into very smooth operators.

Click to expand...

it depends on the light...I find adding lube to fine threads [UNF] to be asking for trouble while UNC is different:candle:
My peak battery holder cross-threads alot but when I wipe off the lube hey its smooth now:thinking:

Re: what are your procedure of "setting up" a light after buying and receiving it?

1. Open packaging,
2. Glance over flashlight while I open the light to make sure it is not trashed.
3. Insert batteries.
4 Turn flashlight on
5. Try all functions of light.
6. Toss packaging in the junk.

Re: what are your procedure of "setting up" a light after buying and receiving it?

1 - Open package quickly!
2 - Check the o-rings.
3 - Put batteries.
4 - Turn it on and shine the light on the nearest white wall.
5 - Thank God for the good creamy/neutral white tint or curse the world for the greenish/purpleish damn tint!!

:twothumbs