Fenix lights only waterproof in turbo mode?

piojo · Apr 22, 2009

Hi. I unscrewed my LD10's bezel 1/4 or 1/3 turn to put the flashlight in "normal" mode, then let it sit in a cup of water for a minute. There was no damage, but when I took it out, I found a few drops of water in the threads between the head and body. This light is supposed to be waterproof to the IPX-8 standard (to be submerged for arbitrary amounts of time, I believe).

Has anybody else experienced this? I'm going to re-grease the threads and o-rings. If the light fails this test again after re-greasing, is it defective? Is this normal?

Thanks for any advice.

deusexaethera · Apr 22, 2009

Just don't go swimming with it and you'll be fine.

Gunner12 · Apr 22, 2009

As long as the O ring is covered it should be water resistant(nothing is waterproof, place it under enough pressure and water will go in).

If you haven't lubed or cleaned the light in a while, that could also be the reason.

greenLED · Apr 22, 2009

piojo said:
...I found a few drops of water in the threads between the head and body. ...

Has anybody else experienced this? I'm going to re-grease the threads and o-rings. If the light fails this test again after re-greasing, is it defective? Is this normal?

The key question is: was the water past the o-ring or before it? In other words, did the water get past the o-ring seal or not?

As long as the o-ring is clean and properly lubed, almost ANY light talked about on CPF is waterproof (not necessarily watertight, but good enough for government work, as they say).

piojo · Apr 22, 2009

greenLED said:
The key question is: was the water past the o-ring or before it? In other words, did the water get past the o-ring seal or not?

I'm not positive. I think it got past the o-ring. The o-ring doesn't even look waterproof--if I tighten the head 100%, the o-ring is still only 50% covered. If I unscrew it some for non-turbo mode, the o-ring looks about 25% covered. But it's hard to be sure. I don't think the light would be damaged by a more harsh test (it would need a lot more water inside to cause damage)--after I re-grease it, I will let it soak for a little longer, then I'll be able to tell for sure.

Henk_Lu · Apr 22, 2009

How is it possible, that the o-ring is only half covered? My Fenix lights, and I have lots of them, have all 100% covered o-rings, I think I must loosen it probably a whole turn until the o-ring comes out.

I suppose there's something wrong with your light, something doesn't fit as it should.

Can you post some pics?

Meanwhile, don't dunk it anymore, it will survive a few raindrops, have no fear!

piojo · Apr 22, 2009

Henk_Lu said:
How is it possible, that the o-ring is only half covered? My Fenix lights, and I have lots of them, have all 100% covered o-rings

You are completely right, I was mistaken. There was a recessed line that looks kind of like the o-ring, and I mistook it while the flashlight was closed. The o-ring is covered. In this case, I probably just need to grease it better.

richardcpf · Apr 22, 2009

The water drops you see is from the pre-oring part and they went up when unscrewing.

I've done several underwater runtime test with my fenix lights and all of them were waterproof.

greenLED · Apr 22, 2009

piojo said:
You are completely right, I was mistaken. There was a recessed line that looks kind of like the o-ring, and I mistook it while the flashlight was closed. The o-ring is covered. In this case, I probably just need to grease it better.

richardcpf said:
The water drops you see is from the pre-oring part and they went up when unscrewing.

I've done several underwater runtime test with my fenix lights and all of them were waterproof.

Piojo, even when well lubed, there will be tiny bits of water seeping in before the o-ring. That's normal and doesn't compromise the water seal.

BTW, my bro's nickname is piojito. De dónde eres?

piojo · Apr 22, 2009

greenLED said:
BTW, my bro's nickname is piojito. De dónde eres?

I just live in US, but some mexican friends nicknamed me Piojo a while back. Apparently I look like Piojo Lopez...

bhuber · Apr 22, 2009

piojo said:
Hi. I unscrewed my LD10's bezel 1/4 or 1/3 turn to put the flashlight in "normal" mode, then let it sit in a cup of water for a minute. There was no damage, but when I took it out, I found a few drops of water in the threads between the head and body. This light is supposed to be waterproof to the IPX-8 standard (to be submerged for arbitrary amounts of time, I believe).

Has anybody else experienced this? I'm going to re-grease the threads and o-rings. If the light fails this test again after re-greasing, is it defective? Is this normal?

Thanks for any advice.

None of my 3 Fenix lights require the head to be turned 1/4 or 1/3 to move to normal mode. Very little movement is required to switch between modes.

On another note, I wish I would have known about this site when i was in school. I thought about entering the psychology field, but didn't. Lots of severe OCD here

. I could have traded my services for lights!!!

greenLED · Apr 22, 2009

piojo said:
I just live in US, but some mexican friends nicknamed me Piojo a while back. Apparently I look like Piojo Lopez...

I had to go look up who that guy is.

Marduke · Apr 22, 2009

You don't need 1/4-1/3 turn to shift into general mode, but it helps prevent accidental mode changes with thread play.

This practice is more important in lights like the NDI.

piojo · Apr 23, 2009

Marduke said:
You don't need 1/4-1/3 turn to shift into general mode, but it helps prevent accidental mode changes with thread play.

I've also found that physical pressure on the light (when I put on a diffuser with a tight fit) will temporarily change the mode to turbo, if the head is not unscrewed enough.

Fenix lights only waterproof in turbo mode?

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