The dirty picture thread

We always see beautiful photos of pristine shelf queens here, but I just thought some of you might want to see some really dirty pictures. This was taken after a day of caving in northern Alabama. . . .

If I see things correctly,there's 2 Zebralights,1 Deerelight DBS,and a Princeton Tec Apex in that picture.

(How long do you expect it'll take to clean those lights off?)

Yup, you named all 4 lights. :twothumbs

With an old toothbrush I made them look like new in just a few minutes.

My lights fared a bit better on the same trip. But I think Yucca_Patrol went swimming in a mud hole near the end...

Well that thread title was misleading. I was expecting something a with a little more skin :laughing:

I'm curious, how come all the lights are completely covered except for the lens/optic area? It's spotless in those areas.

tebore said:

I'm curious, how come all the lights are completely covered except for the lens/optic area? It's spotless in those areas.

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You have to periodically wipe lenses clean in use so you can see light coming out of them. Wiping the body clean is not necessary, so they just keep getting nastier and nastier until they get a bath at home. Hence why mine are in the bathtub...

Marduke said:

You have to periodically wipe lenses clean in use so you can see light coming out of them. Wiping the body clean is not necessary, so they just keep getting nastier and nastier until they get a bath at home. Hence why mine are in the bathtub...

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I'm just surprised that it's so very clean. It's like a squeegee job when I give the lens a wipe from the mud it usually leaves foggy/haze.

Yucca Patrol said:

We always see beautiful photos of pristine shelf queens here, but I just thought some of you might want to see some really dirty pictures. This was taken after a day of caving in northern Alabama. . . .

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So, how did they fare under those conditions? Any leaks, failures, blown bulbs? Or do they work gloriously as intended?

More specifically, what type of preparations or maintenance are required to ready the lights for such conditions?

Thanks again for sharing the after-work pictures of your lights. Not that I intended to do the same, but I would not mind to carry the peace of mind that if needs be, my lights will not fail under those circumstances, like caving, as well.

With Aloha,

Clarence

Ahh. Cool pictures. Thanks for sharing them.

cl0123 said:

More specifically, what type of preparations or maintenance are required to ready the lights for such conditions?

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I lubricate all of the o-rings with a silicone based lubricant that is used to seal underwater camera housings for scuba divers.

Yucca Patrol said:

I lubricate all of the o-rings with a silicone based lubricant that is used to seal underwater camera housings for scuba divers.

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Where can you find this stuff?

When the kids and I went swimming in the pool my G2 took on water aswell as some other lights. I didn't realized that well lubed light have less of a chance of this.

Great thread!

Yucca Patrol said:

I lubricate all of the o-rings with a silicone based lubricant that is used to seal underwater camera housings for scuba divers.

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That makes perfect sense. Did you reapply lubricant to all the seals before each outing or just something that you need to do say, every 2-3 months or so? Is it something messy to work with?

With Aloha,

Clarence

Marduke said:

My lights fared a bit better on the same trip. But I think Yucca_Patrol went swimming in a mud hole near the end...

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What a way to break in a new DBS V3 by rinsing it in mud!

cl0123 said:

That makes perfect sense. Did you reapply lubricant to all the seals before each outing or just something that you need to do say, every 2-3 months or so? Is it something messy to work with?

With Aloha,

Clarence

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Lubing o-rings is like maintenance on your car. You should do it regularly. However if you know you have a big trip coming up you should do it again anyway to minimize chances of failure. I check my lights over at least every 6 months. If I have nothing to do I bust them out for a cleaning and re-lubing.

Nitroz said:

Where can you find this stuff?

When the kids and I went swimming in the pool my G2 took on water aswell as some other lights. I didn't realized that well lubed light have less of a chance of this.

Great thread!

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You can find the 100% Silicone lubricant at Diving Shops. It comes in a very small round container, usually in different colors for the container. I have some in a Neon Red/Orange container and also an Aqua Blue container. If you have no dive shops around, go to a hardware store or plumbing supply. They sell the same exact stuff in the same size container, just that the container will be less colorful. I have one from True Value Hardware that is gray-colored. The silicone is very thick, like a thick paste. A little bit usually goes a long way. It is the only stuff I use on my o-rings.

Also, FWIW, the G2 is the least waterproof of any SF light and the most prone to leakage. I would never purposely put my G2's underwater.

Now that's dirty. So how did the Zebralights and DBS perform for you? What emitter are you running in the DBS? I see you have the extension tube on for extra run time.

I'm tempted to order a 3rd DBS to hold a MC-E and extension tube, and leave my DBS V2 set up as thrower.

WadeF said:

What emitter are you running in the DBS?

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It had an MC-E dropin. Put my D20 to shame

socom1970 said:

Also, FWIW, the G2 is the least waterproof of any SF light and the most prone to leakage. I would never purposely put my G2's underwater.

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I found that out the hard way.

Luckily it only has a cheap drop in modded with an R2 Cree. The reflector is a little discolored at the base, other than that it still works fine.

Marduke said:

It had an MC-E dropin. Put my D20 to shame

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Pics please!

Marduke said:

It had an MC-E dropin. Put my D20 to shame

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I assume you two were spelunking together?