Preon 1 Ti question

Does the titanium Preon 1 come with the click switch tailcap or do I have to purchase it seperately? I'm saving for one.

The Preon I in Ti does *not* come with the clicky switch. You would have to purchase that separately.

Thanks for the heads up lol. Much appreciated.

You can buy the two cell body seperate as well.

As you mentioned you are saving for a preon, I thought I would briefly share my perspective on this light. It is reasonably bright for the power source and easy to carry in one's pocket but the titanium does scratch easily (I followed other's lead and rubbed mine down with a green Scotchbrite pad to give it a brushed look). Also the threads are very rough and have thus far defied smoothing out. Also, if you add lubricant to the o-ring, due to the fact that this is a "twisty", some will migrate up to the contact point on the top of the body tube and interfere with positive electrical contact.

As you are a newcomer to CPF (welcome BTW!!!), if this is one of your first higher end flashlights then you might want to consider applying your savings to a less "special purpose" lights.

Just a thought.

Dude, the Preons are awesome. Especially in titanium. You will love it!

Heh. I was worried about the rough threads thing, but i still have plenty of time to consider between a Preon and a MiNi AA lol. I am indeed new to the whole high end flashlight thing; all I have at the moment is an E01, a RRT-0 and my dad's 20+ year old Mini Mag (which is now useless as leaking batteries sealed the light)

Thanks for the advice!

I have a Ti Preon I (#47), and andrewnewman's comments are on the mark. I liken it to a high performance race car. At its best it works very well but it is not without its quirks. I've not been able to smooth the threads/twist action on mine considerably either, but not for lack of trying. The clicky I received recently did make it more useful, but it binds sometimes also, so is not flawless.

I have both the Preon I and II in titanium and the same two in aluminum. The titanium versions' threads tend to be gritty and the clicky switch tends to bind and occasionally stick. On the other hand the aluminum Preons are very slick and without any grittiness or binding. IMHO the aluminum Preons are far nicer lights than the titanium ones. In fact the aluminum Preons are among the nicest lights I've ever ever bought and I've bought a ton of lights!

Mark

I'm trying to smooth the twisty action on my Ti Preon I. I'm going to order some Nano Oil, and give that a try. In tandem with the new lube I want to replace the o-ring on the head end side of the light. I don't know what type came OEM, but I've read Buna-N (Nitrile) O-Rings are good to use. Does anyone know the dimensions of the O-ring, and where I could get it from? I don't have access to accurate measuring tools. Otherwise I'll send an email into 4Sevens CS, and wait.

I can start a new thread, but thought I'd tag along on this related thread then start another for this quick question.

[edit]
I ended up emailing 4Sevens CS, and they responded really quick. The following is a summary of their response. They do not carry spare o rings for the Preon, and won't tell me the size of the o ring because it is proprietary information.

I think that the Nano oil is snake oil. I recommend instead a bit of Nyogel or Krytox. Use a dab of toothpaste to smooth out the threads, then clean it off completely (might be difficult), and then you can lube it up with Nyogel or Krytox. The thicker grease will work much better than light oil.

carrot said:

I think that the Nano oil is snake oil. I recommend instead a bit of Nyogel or Krytox. Use a dab of toothpaste to smooth out the threads, then clean it off completely (might be difficult), and then you can lube it up with Nyogel or Krytox. The thicker grease will work much better than light oil.

Click to expand...

I've tried both Nyogel, and Krytox. I don't have any experience with the Nano oil, but the reviews looked good. I ordered the light, and heavy weight oils, and am thinking heavier might work better in this instance also. I have not tried using toothpaste. I may try it. I have tried buffing the threads with a Dremel using their paste. It was minimal improvement.

I also have a Preon 1 Ti on order. I "found" some money in an old, forgotten paypay account and urgently needed to spend it on something titatnium.

I plan on trying (carefully) protected 10440 batteries as I hate the idea of disgarding batteries after one use. I will not be the first to use 10440s in a preon, and have not had any issues using rechargeables in my mini123, so I'll see how it goes and post my results.

I use these in my mini123
http://goinggear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=28&products_id=168

and will try these in my preon
http://goinggear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=28&products_id=786

damn_hammer said:

[edit]
I ended up emailing 4Sevens CS, and they responded really quick. The following is a summary of their response. They do not carry spare o rings for the Preon, and won't tell me the size of the o ring because it is proprietary information.

Click to expand...

You might want to try 4Sevens again. A bit ago I asked the same question and while they didn't know the dimensions, they made no claim of proprietary information. They agreed to mail me a few gratis.

When I get home tonight I'll try to carefully measure the CS and ID of the spare o-rings. I'm pretty sure that they are standard 70 Durometer Nitrile (Buna-N) rings in a standard metric dimension.

Note that in the US it is irritatingly hard to find metric o-rings. By contrast most hardware stores seem to carry o-rings compliant with the AS (aerospace standard) 568. These o-rings are designated by "dash numbers" (e.g. -017) where I have found metric o-rings are usually designated by cross section (CS) and inner diameter (ID). (The Internet is full of sites that provide the CS and ID corresponding to the dash number). For small CS o-rings like the Preon I, there is no equivalent AS568 size that is small enough.

andrewnewman said:

... Note that in the US it is irritatingly hard to find metric o-rings. By contrast most hardware stores seem to carry o-rings compliant with the AS (aerospace standard) 568. These o-rings are designated by "dash numbers" (e.g. -017) ...

Click to expand...

You're right, I checked several hardware stores near me, and none of them carried metric o-rings. Look forward to any additional information you can provide. Thanks

I too am interested in the exact size of their "O" rings as I ate one up by incorrectly installing it while trying out different configurations of the body sizes. As I'm in Canada, I'm told I can get most metric sized "O" rings here easily.

I have the Preon II in titanium and its a great light for the money. It looks like a fine handmade pen clipped in your front pocket. I had a Mini AA and did not like it as much and sold it but I did not know whether or not to get a twist or a clicky and after carrying both it was a clicky for me. If the Preon I is finished like my II is then you will find that they are very slippery and I did take some fine grit paper to mine and it feels 100% better. All threads on titanium will want to bind on you that is just how titanium is but my mini was pretty good and I never did anything to it. I would say the Quark lights are a great deal for the money no matter what you buy. I will always carry mine till it quits then I will buy another.

andrewnewman said:

You might want to try 4Sevens again. A bit ago I asked the same question and while they didn't know the dimension ...

Click to expand...

Based on your suggestion here, I did email 4Sevens a second time a couple days ago asking them to have a look at what support they can provide regarding the Preon o-ring. Today I received an email that they found a few that they'll send me.

In the end there CS usually comes through.

This combo has become my favorite edc these days.

I built it up by buying a Preon 2 black two tone and a titanium 1 body.

I can still use the black body when I want the greater output but the titanium clicky is just about always in my pocket these days.


I have noted one issue though, I am wondering if anyone else has got this problem.

I use Duraloops and all is well, so I thought. The high capacity AAA's I have are probably 0.5mm longer and they are being pressed backward to make negative contact on the clicky rim or threaded portion of the body.
This turns the light on.

I tried duraloops again and could activate the light by shaking it vigorously.
The clip is still installed.

I'm using Hybrio cells now as the wrapper folds over the edges of the negative contact and stops this.

I could machine some of the threads away and shorted the clicky too.

I sticked up on duraloops just for this light.

damn_hammer said:

I've tried both Nyogel, and Krytox. I don't have any experience with the Nano oil, but the reviews looked good. I ordered the light, and heavy weight oils, and am thinking heavier might work better in this instance also. I have not tried using toothpaste. I may try it. I have tried buffing the threads with a Dremel using their paste. It was minimal improvement.

Click to expand...

Mine is smooth, but it was gritty in the beginning. Clean the threads, toothpaste will also polish them a bit, and use a good lube meant for titanium parts.

I use Christo lube since I'm a diver and had some around the house.
http://www.divesports.com/Lubrication-Technologies-Christo-Lube-MCG-111-p/lt-sc-0401.htm

No issues with switching or anything. It does scratch, but I prefer mine with a brushed finish so I sanded mine a bit before putting it on my car keys.

Sverre