clean your titanium threads

This guy has been on my keychain for only 2 months, but the head has already become harder to twist :green:. I unscrewed it, and discovered the threads caked with dark powder; it kinda looks like graphite, but is surely titanium gunk. I took a dry paper towel and wiped out both sets of threads, and it came out covered with black stuff. Note: it stains fabric really effectively, so be careful where you put the paper towel.
It now twists easily just like new . Just thought you'd like to know.

you cant fix Stupid. (replace "Stupid" with "cheap titanium alloy" or with "bare aluminum threads")
take a magnifying glass and "watch" the threads. they grind down after a (short) while.

you are right. the black/grey matter you see is the ground cheap titanium alloy, here the visual proof:


can you see the asymmetrical shape (profile) of the zigzag's? the triangular-cut threads were symmetrical ("isosceles triangles") when we bought the item new. after a short while of twisting the triangles (zigzag profile line) get skew with the ground sides becoming longer. also check out the very lowest thread, its profile isnt triangular-cut anymore!!

i own the above pictured itp a3 titanium. and i would sell it for 30$ anytime!!

So true, not all titanium alloys are the same. It's not indestructible just because its made of titanium.

This is galling? Lubrication must be the answer.

eh4 said:

This is galling? Lubrication must be the answer.

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ummmm...nope.
you would think so, but not.
the mechanical wear depends on the durability of the alloy in question. I am quickly learning that the metallurgical quality of an alloy often has no relation to its performance in a consumer setting.

I heard something on television that made me pause: They said that while titanium used to be difficult (most comes from Russia), scrap titanium alloy of all sorts is making it's way into the flashlight world. Some is even going to make counterfeit military airplane parts! The trouble seems to be that the scrapyards melt all the titanium together into a new kind of "soup" that might contain several different alloys. They attach a number to it, and nobody checks. The result? Lower quality titanium flashlights with problems you discuss. There are a couple of great threads around here somewhere telling different lubricants that have worked for different CPF members.

All titanium light threads produce the gunk. McGizmo, Delghi, Steve Ku - pretty sure they're all "good" grade 5 Ti6Al4V and not "stupid cheap titanium alloy".

How smooth the threads feel have more to do with the quality of the machining rather than the material.

Even incredibly high quality titanium lights still have rough titanium threads.

Titanium galls. Bad.

Proper lubrication is essential for titanium. The oxide layer is very soft and scratches off easily when the threads rub together. Simple oil is not good enough; a sliding agent like the stuff found in anti-seize compound is necessary for optimum performance. Those of us who've been collecting titanium lights for years have all struggled with it at some point before finding solutions we like.

fyrstormer said:

Proper lubrication is essential for titanium. The oxide layer is very soft and scratches off easily when the threads rub together. Simple oil is not good enough; a sliding agent like the stuff found in anti-seize compound is necessary for optimum performance. Those of us who've been collecting titanium lights for years have all struggled with it at some point before finding solutions we like.

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^ this guy knows what im talking about.

fyrstormer said:

in anti-seize compound is necessary for optimum performance. Those of us who've been collecting titanium lights

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i dont doubt that there are somewhat better and somewhat worse anti-seize compound lubes and that there are harder and softer titanium alloys. the point the OP and shelm make is, on the OP's personal light (the iTP a3 Titanium) nothing helps. put the most expensive lube you know of on its threads, load the mini torch with a battery, then dance the twist. dance hard, for 1 minute. twisting action might feel smoother (but not really. 1-handed operation becomes impossible .. just ask a girl to operate it 1-handed!) but you can already see the grey gunk build up in the threads.

the point is, the iTP A3 Titanium alloy is soft and inferior and considerable abrasion takes place no matter which lube you use.

In the case of this particular torch, you Cant Fix Stupid, as explained earlier. No existing lube works wonders on THIS PARTICULAR torch!! ( i've tried them all, sorry )

For the OP's torch in particular, the alloy may be too soft to be durable, yes. I had a titanium Fenix PD10 (I think that was the number) and it had aluminum-on-titanium threads, and not only are both aluminum and titanium known for galling, but the titanium was really cheap and dented very easily. I was not impressed, and I sold the light.

At a low price point, stainless steel is a much better material than titanium. At least stainless steel self-polishes.

shelm said:

i dont doubt that there are somewhat better and somewhat worse anti-seize compound lubes and that there are harder and softer titanium alloys. the point the OP and shelm make is, on the OP's personal light (the iTP a3 Titanium) nothing helps. put the most expensive lube you know of on its threads, load the mini torch with a battery, then dance the twist. dance hard, for 1 minute. twisting action might feel smoother (but not really. 1-handed operation becomes impossible .. just ask a girl to operate it 1-handed!) but you can already see the grey gunk build up in the threads.

the point is, the iTP A3 Titanium alloy is soft and inferior and considerable abrasion takes place no matter which lube you use.

In the case of this particular torch, you Cant Fix Stupid, as explained earlier. No existing lube works wonders on THIS PARTICULAR torch!! ( i've tried them all, sorry )

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A) Stop talking about yourself in third person.

B) You really mean to say you've tried ALL lubricants? KY? AstroGlide? Mobil1? OVOO? (Rachel Ray reference FTW)

Who was it here that formulated an effective lubricating material for Ti lights? Called it "TiTiTwister" or some such.

I recal he said it incorporated a rolling compound to reduce galling. Reduce, but unfortunately not eliminate.

To OP, as others have said, galling is a fact of life with titanium [ANY titanium/alloy, as Ti has a very easily removed oxide layer] threads. Aluminum as well, to a slightly lesser extent, but still a problem.

If you don't want to deal with it, or think it shouldn't be a problem... Well, don't buy Ti lights.

John_Galt said:

If you don't want to deal with it, or think it shouldn't be a problem... Well, don't buy Ti lights.

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This cpf thread would be more productive if the thread title was more focused, for example
"Who does NOT experience grey gunk build up in their iTP A3 Titanium? Only owners please!"
then those who claim NOT to experience such a thing can explain how they did it (with photographic proof and documentation; and at least a similar high-resolution close-up picture like mine). Consequently, with such a focused thread title, ONLY OWNERS would be allowed to speak. I am an owner, i've even posted my fresh picture of the current state of the threads which clearly demonstrate how soft THIS titanium alloy is.

i am not going to name all the lubes and substances i've tried on the threads, this is not a lube thread . this would be unproductive and a waste of my time. Productive is, when long-term iTP A3 Ti users speak up and post their close-up photos with an explanation of their method.

No more Ti twisties for me for sure. Am in the market for Ti clickies, though. See?, no more 3rd person used

I own an iTP titanium light and I carry it every day on my keychain. I like the color,
and I like how lightweight it is, and the fact that it is stronger than aluminum.
It is harder to twist than an aluminum or stainless steel AAA light, but I knew that
before I bought it and so that is not a deal-killer for me.

Worn threads prove nothing. Even diamond threads would wear down because a hard
substance can grind down an equally hard substance. Nobody would call diamonds soft!

Compared to other metals, only certain grades of heat-treated steel are harder. There
are no soft or cheap alloys of titanium.

I've seen people (the same ones, I wonder?) on the BudgetLightForum also complain
about iTP titanium. I think it would be better to research a lot more. People have been
attempting to educate you, so check it out yourself before rejecting their knowledge.

bob4apple said:

Even diamond threads would wear down because a hard
substance can grind down an equally hard substance. Nobody would call diamonds soft!

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way offtopic. and its what you are saying (and in this case also believing). i am saying that if you have initially smooth diamond threads (male grinding against female) and there is a simple lube in between (be it hairwax for our example), then nothing will happen. no abrasion. no powder, no grey gunk build up. so its your assertion against mine. dead-end street because diamond flashlight threads in 1xAAA format dont exist so we cant perform an actual physical test or experiment and video document it. saying, asserting, believing is pointless without proof.

bob4apple said:

Compared to other metals, only certain grades of heat-treated steel are harder. There
are no soft or cheap alloys of titanium.

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:thinking:

bob4apple said:

I think it would be better to research a lot more. People have been
attempting to educate you, so check it out yourself before rejecting their knowledge.

Click to expand...

tell us about your threads in detail then (with photographic proof), thanks :thumbsup:

in the end i am right, aint i? the iTP A3 Ti threads are being worn down, no matter what. point made. and that's the whole point of THIS thread.

I have a ti light with threads I can drive a truck through

I use teflon tape to make it a lot better

It's far from a cheapie

Never again

John_Galt said:

Who was it here that formulated an effective lubricating material for Ti lights? Called it "TiTiTwister" or some such.

I recal he said it incorporated a rolling compound to reduce galling. Reduce, but unfortunately not eliminate.

To OP, as others have said, galling is a fact of life with titanium [ANY titanium/alloy, as Ti has a very easily removed oxide layer] threads. Aluminum as well, to a slightly lesser extent, but still a problem.

If you don't want to deal with it, or think it shouldn't be a problem... Well, don't buy Ti lights.

Click to expand...

That was me, actually. I have some ready to sell, I've just been too freaking busy to figure out the unit cost and post a sale thread.

Talk about cleaning of the threads of titanium and aluminum materials. I am using the Bostik blu tack to clean the thread plus the whole body. I found it very handy and useful. To lube the threads, I am using RC hobbies brand XRAY racing silicone oil ( very very sticky) to lube the threads.