Head or Tailcap? When swapping batts, which do u unscrew most? Bare aluminum issues?

I'm unscrewing the head where the threads are bare non-anodized aluminum. Needless to say the lube has darkened with aluminum residue considerably.

So am I doing something wrong and should switch sides to the anodized body / tailcap end?

Won't the anodizing degrade from constant wear? The threads are thinner on the tailcap end, so my rationalization was to wear down the heftier threaded end.

Any advice?

Be sure to check out the Comprehensive Grease and Lube Thread.

Imon said:

Be sure to check out the Comprehensive Grease and Lube Thread.

Click to expand...

I did, but that thread was inconclusive. Nobody has been able to come to an agreement about how to eliminate aluminum residue.

And this isn't specifically a lube question.

Imon said:

Be sure to check out the Comprehensive Grease and Lube Thread.

Click to expand...

As a corollary - I've learned it's nearly impossible to prevent bare aluminum fretting at close contact with any kind of lubricant. Aluminum is simply too soft, and when it sloughs the particles oxidize forming an even harsher abrasive mixture. The fretting is compounded with each twist and you get your dirtying lube as it slowly deteriorates.

I never heard of anyone say they wore the threads on their lights to the point it became useless and some m@gs have been out there for a looooong time.

Yes, the lube changes color
Yes, if you barely have any lube on the threads, you'll find dark dust in the threads.
Yes, when the threads are dirty it grinds more.
My experience has been the cleaner your threads, the longer it takes before you feel grinding.

I personally always remove the tailcap to change batteries, since I already need to twist the head to access some modes. I call it wearing it out evenly.

For AL-on-AL, I recommend lithium wheel bearing grease (not the same as white lithium grease). You can buy a tub of it on Amazon for less than 10 bucks and it will last the rest of your life. Of all the thread lubes I've tried (and I've pretty much tried them all), wheel bearing grease darkens the slowest.

I prefer flashlights with non-removable tailcaps, because I don't need to replace the switch very often, and I can get lockout functionality by loosening the head too. (when the light is designed that way, anyway.) Non-removable tailcaps allow for bezel-down pocket clips to be attached at the very back edge of the light, so they sit as low as possible in my pocket, and they're also a bit cheaper to make because they have less pair of threads that need cutting; cutting threads is expensive compared to most machining operations. Removable tailcaps are popular largely because Surefire's C-series design requires a separate opening for the user to change the batteries, since the bulb/LED module comes loose when the head is removed, but in most flashlight designs that isn't an issue, and so the removable tailcap is a vestigial design element that isn't very useful.

I ought to take pictures of some old flashlight threads I have that have seen extensive use (And twisting, therefore).