ITP A03 Titanium, rough/coarse threads, is this normal?

So I have had a 3 mode Aluminum ITP A03 for a few months and love it, a lot of light from a AAA and the UI is great IMO. So I saw a Titanium one on sale that was has a 105 lumen high instead of the 96 lumen high that my aluminum one has, and my wife wanted one,s o I thought I'd buy the ti model and then my wife could use my aluminum one.

The ti one has a nice finish and does spit out a bit more light, but the threads feel terrible, you absolutely have to use two hands to turn it on or change modes. I cleaned the male threads and put a drop of tri-flow on them and there was no change.

Is this normal for the ti version? Is there any way I can make this better? Has anyone ever used automotive valve lapping compound to smooth out rough threads? Or should I contact the retailer and get a replacement?

I also have an Itp A3 titanium and threads are really rough, same with my MiNi AA titanium.

Threads on my ti illuminati are quite bad as well.
However, the suggestions I found in my research were that they'll smooth out through use.
You can expedite that with mild abrasives like putting some toothpaste in the threads then screwing/unscrewing (alot).

However, I found in my case it was mostly the spring putting a lot of pressure on the battery causing an undue amount of friction on the threads.
How well does yours twist without the battery installed?
Possible solution is to clip off a bit of the length of spring

Ok, I'll try a bit of brasso or toothpaste on the threads and spin the head on and off obsessively for an hour so this evening and see what happens

The spring for the battery does seem to put quite a bit of pressure on the threads too, I'll try the toothpaste/brasso combo and see how it goes, if that doesn't get it as smooth as I'd like then I'll try shortening the spring a bit.

A trick I tried which worked on my first Ti light which was the Quark AA was pressing the light together while screwing and unscrewing, and then pulling on both halves while screwing and unscrewing. Seems to have made it less abrasive but still not like aluminum threads.

Interesting thread and good info. I am passing on a Ti light for this reason and the lower specific heat. Aluminum is slick and rigid, when Ti is thin it gets gummy and sticky, which is why you don't see solid Ti knives.

I got 2 of the A03 Ti lights - my first Ti and probably my last. Yes they are a few grams lighter, but the threads really do su#$:thumbsdow I tried cleaning and lubing, but no improvement. Maybe the weight savings of Ti is more important in bigger lights, but I would never get another Ti twisty.

By the way, I love the SS and alum versions.

i got my A03 Ti light yesterday and did a review, i.e. collection of initial thoughts and measurements, of it on some other forum. on all flashlight forums kreisler is known for being ostentatious critical with respect to product quality but this Titanium version definitely gets my thumbs up. (the weight is: Alu < Ti < SS)
i got no rough/coarse threads. No grating. Not gritty. Not scratchy. Mine are smooth. (but tight. i use 2 hands to operate the modes).
the tight fit ensures the head cant wobble and that you cant lose the head (in your pocket or elsewhere) by accident.

The titanium version has official support for 10440's, just read the manual:



For 30$ on ebay it was a perfect auction win!

I bought my first twisty earlier this year, a Quark MiniX, and the threads were smooth, but a little loose. I thought that was just something with twistys until I got my Maratac AA in Stainless Steel. Tight and smooth! A little Super Lube and those threads were smooth as silk to twist. My very new iTP A1 EOS SS is also a joy to use with its smooth tight threads and is currently my new favorite EDC.

Hmmmm.....I had been on the fence about getting a Titanium twisty, the pictures of the quarks posted were Beautiful! but methinks I will hold off buying a Titanium model for a bit.

Ti lights often have "less smooth" thread operation (even after polishing with a mild abarasive) it seems to be a property of the Ti metal. On my lights I find the Alu or SS twisties are much nicer than the Ti ones. If a light is a clicky then the rough/sticky operation of twisting the threads is much less critical as you only do it when changing the battery, unlike a twisty where you twist the thread at least twice every time you use the light (and more times if going past the first mode).

...and we still have our two hands lol.

if i was one-armed (or one-handed for that matter), it would be a matter of concern. since we're not, two-handed operation is acceptable for the benefit of not being worried about eventually losing de head.

i found out that the Aluminum Lumintop Worm head, and the Stainless Steel Lumintop Worm head fit on the Titanium A3 body. Nice finding, kreisler!

Smooth, coarse, or? well yeah, smooth. Smoother than with the original Titanium head. (Perceivable) brightness, throw, tint and usable light output, and runtimes is (much) better with the Aluminum Lumintop Worm, so in future i might well use that head on the A3.