Ra Clicky Waterproof question

I currently EDC my Custom Ra Clicky that I had purchased from Henry, and absolutely love it. I was not happy with the stock clip it came with and had purchased a SS clip from Moddoo which I am more than happy with! The clip resides under the bezel requiring no screws unlike the previous clip. Using this clip now leaves me with two holes where the screws once were.

With these two holes left open... I would assume the light is no longer water proof correct? Correct me if I'm wrong please. The solution I thought of was to screw the screws back in to fill the holes right? Well my dilema is... one screw goes in fine, but the other screw only goes half way in and gets stuck. If I try to screw it in more, I will destroy the philip screwdriver shape on the head of the screw, leaving me "screwed" when I decide to try to take it out or screw it it more in the future. Process of elimination tells me that the screw is not the problem, as I tried screwing each screw in both holes. Leaving the screw sticking out like this is very inconvenient and becomes an annoyance when clipping and taking the light out of my front pocket. I'm afraid in the future I might drop the light because of the screw sticking out and when taking it out of the front pocket, it will shoot out of my hand from trying to yank it, only to see my $160 light fall to the floor and get dinged up. Yes it is supposedly tough and durable, but I do not want to scratch this expensive light if I can help it. Any suggestions?

CaNo said:

I currently EDC my Custom Ra Clicky that I had purchased from Henry, and absolutely love it. I was not happy with the stock clip it came with and had purchased a SS clip from Moddoo which I am more than happy with! The clip resides under the bezel requiring no screws unlike the previous clip. Using this clip now leaves me with two holes where the screws once were.

With these two holes left open... I would assume the light is no longer water proof correct? Correct me if I'm wrong please. The solution I thought of was to screw the screws back in to fill the holes right? Well my dilema is... one screw goes in fine, but the other screw only goes half way in and gets stuck. If I try to screw it in more, I will destroy the philip screwdriver shape on the head of the screw, leaving me "screwed" when I decide to try to take it out or screw it it more in the future. Process of elimination tells me that the screw is not the problem, as I tried screwing each screw in both holes. Leaving the screw sticking out like this is very inconvenient and becomes an annoyance when clipping and taking the light out of my front pocket. I'm afraid in the future I might drop the light because of the screw sticking out and when taking it out of the front pocket, it will shoot out of my hand from trying to yank it, only to see my $160 light fall to the floor and get dinged up. Yes it is supposedly tough and durable, but I do not want to scratch this expensive light if I can help it. Any suggestions?

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I believe this has been mentioned before.
You can get some short set screws and use them to fill the holes.
I would use some black oxide set screws and some black RTV if it were my light.
They should be very stealthy.
Sorry, I am unsure of the correct size to use. A search will help you.

Moddoo said:

I believe this has been mentioned before.
You can get some short set screws and use them to fill the holes.
I would use some black oxide set screws and some black RTV if it were my light.
They should be very stealthy.
Sorry, I am unsure of the correct size to use. A search will help you.

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hmm... let me know if you are able to find those screws you are referring to Moddoo. What do you mean RTV? I am still quite new to the acronyms used for flashlight parts and here on CPF.

Would you or anyone know off hand if leaving the holes open will damage the light if water entered them?

Those holes are blind so no need to worry water cannot enter through them

Mike

mikes1 said:

Those holes are blind so no need to worry water cannot enter through them

Mike

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That's right, but dirt enters.

I would also like to fill mine with set screws, but as I don't do any handcraft works, I have no idea where to find such screws. Once I would stand before whole sets of different screws, I wouldn't find the right ones.

It would be nice if you could purchase the screws as an option, I would even pay the price you normally pay for a whole bag of them to get only 4 of them, as I need only 4 (plus 2 spares perhaps)...

So, if anybody has some, I'll pay the shipping to Europe and for the rest we still can discuss! :wave:

CaNo said:

.....What do you mean RTV?....

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He means silicone sealer, and RTV means Room Temperature Vulcanizing - as in artificial rubber that sets up at room temperature.

louie said:

He means silicone sealer, and RTV means Room Temperature Vulcanizing - as in artificial rubber that sets up at room temperature.

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Interesting... I wonder what that would look like with the finished result...

Henk_Lu said:

That's right, but dirt enters.

I would also like to fill mine with set screws, but as I don't do any handcraft works, I have no idea where to find such screws. Once I would stand before whole sets of different screws, I wouldn't find the right ones.

It would be nice if you could purchase the screws as an option, I would even pay the price you normally pay for a whole bag of them to get only 4 of them, as I need only 4 (plus 2 spares perhaps)...

So, if anybody has some, I'll pay the shipping to Europe and for the rest we still can discuss! :wave:

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Very true I would prob have to jump on that as well. It just sucks that you pay this much for a light and you have little cosmetic problems like these... Thank god the problems do not lie in the performance of the light!

I'm wondering now if I should use my Dremmel and cut the screw in half... would this work better in my situation? It just sucks I don't have a spare to use in case I screw up...oo:

CaNo, pm me your shipping address, I have a spare set of screws I could send you.

fairway1 said:

CaNo, pm me your shipping address, I have a spare set of screws I could send you.

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PM sent Fairway1 :thanks:

CaNo said:

Interesting... I wonder what that would look like with the finished result...

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You would just use a little bit on the threads to seal and lock the screw into the hole.

Just gotta make sure that I would never ever use the holes to screw in a new clip then correct? :shakehead That is a big decision.... yikes! :duh2:

Just using the silicone would be fine -will
be easy to get out if you need to in the future with a dental pick or similar.

Smooth it out with a wet thumb,wait till it dries and then rub off any excess around the hole.

Cheers
Dom

Why are the screws sticking out so far on your pict? Mine fit flush. They are the stock screws. Look at the screw in the photo below the clip:

dagored said:

Why are the screws sticking out so far on your pict? Mine fit flush. They are the stock screws.

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The right screw went in with ease, so easy I had no problem just using my fingers to tighten and loosen the screw itself, but the problem is with the left side. As you saw in my picture, no matter which screw I placed in that hole (only screws I used were the ones straight from Henry), it would not go more than half way! So when I was using the normal clip before I purchased Moddoo's, it would get stuck in my front pocket when I try to pull it out or put it back in. Fairway1 is kind enough to ship me some spare screws he has, so just in case my Dremmel fails me in cutting the bottom half of the screw, I have back up. Only solution I can think of at the moment... :thinking:

From your photo you can see that the screw is tilted. Either the threads on the screw are stripped or the threads in the hole are stripped-cross threaded(probable cause). Or, there is a piece of metal, not bored out during the tapping process, in the thread of the screw hole.

Leaving the screw holes open has no effect on waterproofness. However, that after market clip may have interfered with a propper seal at the lens. Thicker orings at the lens may or may not help.

The size setscrew is: #4-40, the really short ones. I bought some at my local True Value hardware store.
You may need to use a tap to clean out some anodize for a setscrew to fit. I found Stainless setscrews to fit better than the black ones. I also found if you buy several some fit better than others.

In the very first picture of this thread it looks like the screw is cross threaded. Aka The hard stainless of the screw tried to cut its own threads at a new angle. Basically its fouled up. You may need a tap to recover.

cave dave said:

Leaving the screw holes open has no effect on waterproofness. However, that after market clip may have interfered with a propper seal at the lens. Thicker orings at the lens may or may not help.

The size setscrew is: #4-40, the really short ones. I bought some at my local True Value hardware store.
You may need to use a tap to clean out some anodize for a setscrew to fit. I found Stainless setscrews to fit better than the black ones. I also found if you buy several some fit better than others.

Click to expand...

Jeez... for such an expensive light, you would think you don't have to worry about anything... but I find that I am constantly stressing over little things that should have been corrected upon shipping...

I used the dremmel and shortened the screw. So the screw situation is fixed... until I decide to put a clip on... which I think would not be such a bad idea now since you brought up the point of the lens. When the flashlight is shaken... you hear something loose. And I believe it is the lens problem you are referring to. I have an O-ring in front of the lens and behind it. Also to get the bezel to face the position I want, I placed an extra O-ring between the bezel and the body where the clip resides. These little fixes are a nightmare! I kind of almost regret getting this light truthfully. I fix one problem, now I have another one. Now I have to worry about the lens situation... All the O-rings it came with are currently in use too to add on to the troubles...:sigh:

Also now on top of the purchased clip, I have to purchase another one so the water doesn't get in through the lens and I can finally have a piece of mind that the bezel is not constantly scratched when it is in my front pocket by getting that titanium clip that gives you the option of clipping bezel down... add that to the tab and already this light is costing well over $200+...

Cavedave, Thank you for pointing that out to me about the lens. I restored everything back to normal without any clips atm. Why is it so hard to find a bezel down clip that actually looks good and does not prove to be disadvantageous to the light itself?