I am annoyed by Nitecore's clip

hubbytuby

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I abosutly love the clip on my D10, when it stays on. Two times it had losened up and it was lost. On the third time, I decided to use lock tight but still it fell off and now its gone forever somewhere in the park. I blame part of my problem on nitecore cause the allen wrench they gave barely fits the screw and will strip if tighten too much. Do you have this problem?
 

Lee1978

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Re: Im pissed at Nitecores clip

Had the same problem with my extreme R2, after doing up the screws so many times the threads in the body eventually stripped.... so no more clip :mad:
 

Viper715

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Re: I am slightly irritated by Nitecore's clip

Red loctite works for me and haven't had a problem in nearly a year. It came out twice when I got it and then I put the loctite to it and have not had it even loosen up since then.
 

adnj

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Re: I am slightly irritated by Nitecore's clip

Clear nail polish wroks well if you don't plan on removing it. We used it on test equipment and scope mounts for years. Zero problems or regrets.
 

batmanacw

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Re: I am slightly irritated by Nitecore's clip

I have had two that the threads stripped out before the hex key let go of the head. That was way before they were sufficiently snug. I just did a thread a few days ago about how I modified mine to make them work.

Now the backing plate on my EX10 broke, but its still holding.

They make a very strong clip with the cheapest screws and poor quality threading.


I updated my thread on this same issue with my final fix.
 
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EngrPaul

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Re: I am slightly irritated by Nitecore's clip

This happens to people who bend their clip before installing them. :sssh:

The radius of the clip should be greater than the radius of the flashlight body, otherwise there is no preload on the screws when the clip is installed. The preload keeps the screws from backing out!

The common assumption is that the clip manufacturer must have made a mistake and not formed the clip enough. Unfortunately, the mistake is not theirs. :whistle:
 

Lee1978

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Re: I am slightly irritated by Nitecore's clip

Decided against using either blue or red loctite as a couple of times I managed to snag the clip getting in the car, not quite sure how, but the clip ended up getting bent outwards from the body, so have had to remove it each time to bend back into shape.
 

louie

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Re: I am slightly irritated by Nitecore's clip

This happens to people who bend their clip before installing them. :sssh:

The radius of the clip should be greater than the radius of the flashlight body, otherwise there is no preload on the screws when the clip is installed. The preload keeps the screws from backing out! (snip):

My feeling is that the greater radius of the clip prevented me from tightening the screws enough - I couldn't get enough grip in the hex heads to tighten the clip enough. I reduced the clip radius a bit with a vise, and now I can actually tighten the screws and the clip feels very secure. If it loosens, then I'll go to some mild Loctite.
 

hubbytuby

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Re: I am slightly irritated by Nitecore's clip

I didnt bend my clip before I put it on. Yes your right the preload should keep it tight but it didnt. Or if it was bent it was front the first time it came off.

This happens to people who bend their clip before installing them. :sssh:

The radius of the clip should be greater than the radius of the flashlight body, otherwise there is no preload on the screws when the clip is installed. The preload keeps the screws from backing out!

The common assumption is that the clip manufacturer must have made a mistake and not formed the clip enough. Unfortunately, the mistake is not theirs. :whistle:
 

hubbytuby

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Re: I am slightly irritated by Nitecore's clip

Well im glad to see Im not the only person having trouble haha :faint:
 

EngrPaul

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Re: I am slightly irritated by Nitecore's clip

I agree that the tool supplied does not provide enough torque to tighten the screw adequately, and that the clip may be difficult to install without damaging the threads.

However, a good install was possible for all the half dozen I experienced.

For the first few, I started with the provided wrench. Then I moved to a needle nose pliers on the outside of the head. Then the rough spots left behind on the screw head were filed smooth.

Later, I found a particular Torx wrench fit nicely inside the hex and allowed me to tighten fully.

At no time did I find the problems with the thread quality or strength of the components.
 

MS3

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Re: I am slightly irritated by Nitecore's clip

I installed my clip as is ( no bending or loctite ) by alternating a half turn or so on each screw so that they both pulled the clip to the flashlight body evenly. I don't know if that is exactly what helped, but I've edc'd the light for over a year using the clip with no adjustment to the initial installation.
 

skyfire

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Re: I am slightly irritated by Nitecore's clip

my clip was bad the moment i unwrapped it. one side was ok, but the other wouldnt thread in, when i tried screwing them in, it would just fall out.

i used some pliers to compress the hole on the backing plate, making it so the screw cant even thread in. making new threads as i torqued it down. then compressed the holes on the clip itself, i also tweaked the clip so it may fit better around my d10.

i torqued down both screws alternately, used red loctite, and even a tiny bit of krazy glue afterwards, and its been very secure since.

i do agree that its a good clip, horrible backing plate and screws.

i was even thikning about riveting the clip on, it would look much nicer, and near impossible to come off. but i didnt want to drive out 20 miles to my friends shop, since he has the tools.
 

batmanacw

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Re: I am slightly irritated by Nitecore's clip

This happens to people who bend their clip before installing them. :sssh:

The radius of the clip should be greater than the radius of the flashlight body, otherwise there is no preload on the screws when the clip is installed. The preload keeps the screws from backing out!

The common assumption is that the clip manufacturer must have made a mistake and not formed the clip enough. Unfortunately, the mistake is not theirs. :whistle:

You are assuming way too much. I did not bend any of my clips and I seriously doubt most people who have issues did.

Nitecore uses the exact same clip on both the D10 and EX10. You just have to bend it further on the D10. The backing plate is the only thing different.

Preload on the screws can do nothing at all to make the threaded hole smaller so it will actually grip the threads of the screw. That was the issue I had on two out of 3 backing plates.

You can accuse the installers of being the real problem all you want. How do you accuse me, a machinist, of not knowing what I am talking about?
 

EngrPaul

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Re: I am slightly irritated by Nitecore's clip

I didn't accuse you of anything, who is making assumptions? I just proposed that it's one possibility based on other threads on the topic. I shared my experiences, but I never made accusations of anybody.

You are assuming way too much. I did not bend any of my clips and I seriously doubt most people who have issues did.

Nitecore uses the exact same clip on both the D10 and EX10. You just have to bend it further on the D10. The backing plate is the only thing different.

Preload on the screws can do nothing at all to make the threaded hole smaller so it will actually grip the threads of the screw. That was the issue I had on two out of 3 backing plates.

You can accuse the installers of being the real problem all you want. How do you accuse me, a machinist, of not knowing what I am talking about?
 

batmanacw

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Re: I am slightly irritated by Nitecore's clip

I didn't accuse you of anything, who is making assumptions? I just proposed that it's one possibility based on other threads on the topic. I shared my experiences, but I never made accusations of anybody.

Your assumption is that the issues are operator error and that if you had installed the clip that the result would have been different.

Many of us are saying that just because you (EngrPaul) installed the clip does not mean that the threaded holes would magically, suddenly be the correct size.

You can not make poor tolerances correct with superior screw installing technique. If the screws pull through the holes, the holes are too big. That is the source of the issues in this and my thread. Not just folk who can't turn a screw.

The hex key not fitting is a totally separate issue and one that should also be addressed. It leaves the screws less than tight. Tight screws will not back out due to lack of spring tension on the clip. If you could grip the screws the sloppy hole tolerances would still cause less than desirable thread engagement. Bending the clip to match the body dia. is completely irrelevant. Blaming people who tried this mod. is not solving the real problem.
 
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Brasso

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I'll add a somewhat positive comment.

I installed mine in about 5 minutes with only the supplied wrench. I did find that the screw head stripped out before I got it to what I thought was tight enough, but it has remained secure for the last few months with daily pocket carry using the clip.
 

EngrPaul

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If the screws pull through the holes, the holes are too big. That is the source of the issues in this and my thread. Not just folk who can't turn a screw.

I won't argue that others may have components with bad threading, I can only say that I never had this experience with the D10 / EX10 clips I've used.

If there is a problem with the workmanship of the clip received, it should be sent back for replacement.

The screws have to be long enough to engage the threads on the backer and short enough not to hit the button. A hard target to hit. Combined with the less curved clip, this makes them difficult to start and probably subject to stripping or damage. I assume this is why they provide extra screws.

I prefer the low profile smooth button head screws over a big SHCS head anyday. For me, no "fix" is required.
 

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