Sunwayman V10A / V10R control ring anatomy

DavidMB

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Recently I bought the Sunwayman V10A. Right out of the box I found that the control ring was acting strange. When rotating from low to high it was smooth with just the right amount of resistance, then it seemed to slip and rotate without resistance towards the high end. Figured I would investigate this and found this link on how to take it apart.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?310269-Sunwayman-V10R-TI-Neutral-XP-G-Mod

I didn't want to make a jig to disassemble it and I also didn't want to heat or torch my light. I found a slightly different way to disassemble that I wanted to share, as well as talk about some of the inner mechanical workings of this light.

Control ring mechanism:

The head of the light presses up against the control ring which rotates to adjust brightness. The ring is not "connected" to anything. There are magnets embedded into the ring which act upon an internal solid state compass. The compass determines at what position the ring is in to adjust the brightness. Very clever.. So,, what was going on here. Since the ring isn't physically connected to anything a thick grease is used to create the friction or resistance you feel when rotating this ring. Again this is very clever.. On mine the head is slightly crooked when screwed on, so at some points during the rotation it became loose.

The head of the light should press against the control ring just enough to keep it pressed against the body, where the layer of the thick, sticky grease that controls the resistance of the movement of the ring.

To take mine apart I used Gorilla tape http://www.gorillaglue.com/tapes.aspx and two adjustable pliers. I ripped around 1/2" strips and wrapped(in the direction that I was going to apply force) them as tightly around the light as possible. I used around 16" of tape, it was just enough to keep the pliers from biting into the body. I performed this with the light completely together and recommend it because it provides support from crushing the parts. Below is the photo where I wrapped the tape. Gorilla tape is like duck tape on steroids, it's much thicker and much stickier.

172.jpg


Above you can see that I've got it loose at this point and have it almost completely unscrewed. You can see the marks the pliers left as they bit into the tape. Red loctite is used to hold these pieces together so it does take a bit of force to loosen it.

Below is it apart, the red material in side the threads on the left is the loctite. This should be cleaned up and completely removed. If anyone knows what can be used on threads that's reusable, let me know; I know the screws on my macbook there's some blue stuff that seems to keep them in, and it can be reused. The red locktite should not be reused.

171.jpg


Below is another angle, you can see the layers of tape wrapped around the head and the red loctite.

173.jpg


Here is the photo of the base with the tape wrapped around it. The silver rectangular piece is the magnet. There is one on the other side too.

174.jpg


I created a little shim out of some very thin plastic and sanded even thinner to create more pressure between the head and control ring.

175.jpg


Side photo

176.jpg


I placed this shim between the control ring and the head to provide more friction. I added a little blue loctite and re-assembled. Now I can adjust the tension on the control ring by how tight I screw the head onto the base

On a side note; there is a metal ring inside the head that is supposed to create the perfect spacing for this, but on mine, this ring is too thick.
 
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roadkill1109

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wow! great work on your light! while others would just accept the faulty light or return it to the vendor, you fixed it! :)
 

iron potato

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Aug 1, 2011
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My V10A ring works as it should be, smooth without any problem.

Well I must say good job, u solved your V10A ring problem :thumbsup:
 

kkeyser

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May 14, 2010
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Outstanding post!

I hope it is all just academic for me, and that I never have to use the knowledge here personally. But it is certainly nice to know what to expect, or how to fix it, if I do.

Great pictures, great explanations, just perfect. Thank you.
 

lightseeker2009

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Jul 29, 2009
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I thought expensive lights like these are inspected before its distributed to dealers. Faults like this should easily be picked up by quality control staff. Still, its good to know it can be fixed as mine is in the post.
 

nanucq

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Sep 18, 2011
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Nice work, good to know how to disassemble these greats Sunwayman.:thumbsup:
I hope it is all just academic for me too :ironic:
 

candle lamp

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Wow! Very well done and thanks a lot for your effort and sharing the information.
You did it by yourself! :thumbsup:
 

goldenlight

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There is a VERY good grease to use on flashlights with magnetic ring control. It's a silicone grease that ISN'T a lubricant.

It's called Dow Corning High Vacuum Grease. It is made to make a vacuum seal on a scientific instrument called a lyophilizer. A lyophilizer is basically a small scale freeze drier. It depends on a high vacuum to remove the water.

To maintain the vacuum in the lyophilizer, Dow Corning High Vacuum Grease is used on all the fittings. A thin layer of it will withstand a very high vacuum. it's perfect for these magnetic control rings. It's not soluble in soap and water. If you get it on your clothing, you are SOL. Don't get it on your clothing. It is an electrical insulator. Don't get it on any place where current needs to flow. It's very difficult to remove from electrical contacts.

Hmm. I don't have a part number for the Dow Corning High Vacuum Grease.

Beckman Instruments sells silicone vacuum grease under their own name. Odds are they buy it from Dow, and just repackage it. That's just a guess, though. It's called Beckman Vacuum Grease Silicone. A one ounce container has the catalog number: 335148. There is another number on the one ounce container; I'm not sure what it means, but it may be worth having: 270-456248-A.

Please DO NOT contact me asking where to buy silicone vacuum grease. I cannot help you. I will not help you. You are on your own. I'm NOT going to start a group buy, NOR am I going to send you 'just a little', out of the goodness of my heart. There is no goodness in my heart. I had it removed. Do NOT contact me about this.
 
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egrep

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There is a VERY good grease to use on flashlights with magnetic ring control. It's a silicone grease that ISN'T a lubricant.

Say, do you know where I could buy some silicone vacuum grease? Do you think you could send me just a little dab to try out?

Thanks!
 

piojo2

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Feb 20, 2018
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Very helpful! I can add a few clarifications to save others some trouble:


  • My V10R's ring was good for a few years, but the ring started to move without resistance.
  • It was assembled with a weaker thread-locker, and the best disassembly technique was to tape it for grip, as the OP suggested, then untwist by hand. It was not too hard, and I'm not that strong.
  • The old thread-locker could be pushed out of the threads with a fingernail or needle. I would not use a knife, because the threads could easily be cut.
  • I packed the lower section full of Servisol silicone grease, being careful to keep the threads perfectly clean.
  • I put the ring back in place, twisting it until it was fully seated. I dripped one drop of blue thead-locker onto the threads (Vibra-tite brand), then screwed on the head.

Important notes:


  • A bit of thread-locker must have dripped onto the ring, so I suggest letting the torch stand on its head for the first hour or two of curing. I strongly recommend giving the ring a twist after 4-8 hours, to break the bond before the thread-locker develops full strength.
  • The ring's action is now too stiff, IMO. The perfect movement would have more shear-thinning, so 2x as much effort lets you twist it 10x as fast. An extremely thick petroleum-based grease would work better than silicone grease. If you can't buy a thick (normal) grease, silicone grease is fine.
 
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nfetterly

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Great thread, thanks piojo2 for resurrecting it - and welcome to CPF - thanks for contributing on your 2nd post!! I've got a couple of V10A/Rs that have modded pieces on them (ano'd control rings, bezels with trits, etc) and have an issue with one of them. This will help.
 

piojo2

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Thanks @nfetterly. I actually had an account before, but it seems it was deleted. Database migration some time in the past few years?

Anyway, I emphasize again, I would not use thick silicone grease! I can't twist it faster than 2 seconds from dim to bright. If I turn the ring too fast, it will unscrew the battery compartment. It is seriously viscous! Standard lithium grease should not have this problem, but you'll want to shop around for the right thickness.
 

Fireclaw18

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A year or two ago, I tried a bunch of thick greases that I got at my local automotive supply shop or Amazon.

Unfortunately, I chose poorly. The grease I got was extremely thick out of the dispenser (yay!), but when the light heated up the goop got much thinner (booo!).
 

DavidMB

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I haven't been on this site for what seems like years. I'm shocked and pleased to see a post I made on the front page after all these years. I was also going to reapply locktite, but the problem is it's so close to the control ring a tiny bit too much it can bind the control ring (like piojo2) said. I do have a suggestion for a super thick and sticky grease that works great for creating friction under control rings. Permatex dielectric tune-up grease. I used it in 2012 on this light and it's still working great to this day.
 

peterharvey73

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Apr 12, 2011
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I used to love the Sunwayman V10R.
I bought three of them.
The third one was titanium.

Six years ago, I could NOT split between the Sunwayman V10R and the Jetbeam RRT-1.

However, six years ago, now I find that the Sunwayman V10R's tail end clicky is too stiff.
Furthermore, the V10R's attractive and smooth gentlemanly styling is actually too slippery.
The combination of slipperiness and a stiff tail end clicky makes the V10R worse.

Only now do I realize the benefits of my much more aggressively styled and slightly longer Jetbeam RRT-1 with a much softer tail end clicky, and grippier magnetic control ring.
 
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