Rothrandir
Flashaholic
when i first came to cpf, i really didn't know what it took to take care of a flashlight. i figured you fed it and bathed it if it got too dirty, but i wasn't aware of the subtle tlc that a flashaholic should express towards his flashlights.
as flashaholics, we have invested large sums of money to purchase lights, and should be careful in maintaning them.
most of what i've written below is obvious, but hopefully it will help people who are new to flashlightland to get an idea of what's involved.
there are 3 main keys to flashlight maintence. clc. cleaning, lubing, caressing
<font color="red">cleaning</font>
cleaning is probably the single most important thing you can do to keep your flashlights healthy and happy. dirt on the outside will affect their apperance, but it can also get into the cavaties, and into the oring seals and mess up water resistance. the best way to clean your light, is to go over it throughougly with a paper towel, to get all the "dry" stuff off. it may be dirt, clay, food spatter, blood, whatever. (luckily most lights aren't likely to have a whole bunch of dry gunk)
once all the big chunks are taken away, you can use a moist paper towel to clean the dirt/food/babyvomit out of the knurling/ribs/texture. usually, this step isn't that necessary either, as most flashlights don't see these sort of things normall, but after camping, or caving, or skydiving, they might be a little dirty on the outside, and it's good to clean them with the rest of the stuff.
after the outside of the light is clean, you can remove the tailcap (if applicable), head (if applicable), bezel ring if app....you get the idea). [[[do <font color="blue">not</font> take things apart if you're not sure you can get them back together! also, you dont' need to completely dissasemble the light. sf, arc, streamlight, and many other flashlights werent made to be completely dissasembled, and doing so can damage the unit, and even void your warantee]]] usually this isn't an issue with any commercial flashlights, and i don't really think it would be too much of an issue with most mods either. i trust that most of you aren't planning on dissecting every aspect /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
first, clean the threads with paper towels (this is especially necessary if they have been previosly lubed, as there will be a lot of gunk) once everything is about as clean as you can get it, remove the orings (if using a sharp object like a knife, take care not to damage it in any way. this is especially difficult on lights with tigher orings). clean the oring with papertowels, and set it aside while you clean out the oring groove. after the main gunk is out of that, use q-tips to go inside the groove and the threads. sometimes q-tips will loose lint, but this isn't that big of a problem, and most of it can be cleaned away with a towel.
after the threads and orings are cleaned, you'll likely notice that the lens is full of dust, fingerprints, all sorts of things. i most applications, it should be possible to remove the lens and clean it, but this isn't possible (or even a good idea) to do in some lights. if it's loctited or requres tools to open or unscrew something, leave it in place. if the lens is easily removable, you can take it to the sink and gently clean it with dish soap. i've found this works well for removing fingerprints and such. if it's not a glas lens, be careful not to scratch it. even paper towels can be rough enough to scratch some lenses, so use soft dishtowels or similar. if it's a glass lens, just try not to drop it.
generally speaking, it isn't a good idea to clean a reflector with anything but canned air. optics can be cleaned with dishsoap as well.
if you take the bulb out, clean the glass carefully, to remove finger oils.
now that everything is cleaned and taken apart, you can contine you to phase two...
<font color="red">lubing</font>
lubing is an important part of flashlight maintenance. it ensures that there is a good water seal, it helps make things smoother, and it keeps the orings from drying up. using special lubes like nye lube 759g, which is made to work on threads conducing electricity will help keep your light running opimally. it works by suspending the oxidation, which produces extra resistance. i'm not sure if other companies have similar lubes or not. nye lube also has a "dampening" lube, which works better for orings and non-electrical threads. it will provide smoother turning, but won't help with electricity.
really, any kind of lube is better than no lube, but be careful to not use petrolium based lubricants (such as vasiline), as it may damage some forms of orings. not all orings will be affected by this, but it's a good idea to use the better stuff anyway. silicone based lubricants are a good thing to use also.
while everything is still apart, use a toothpick or similar item (i've used q-tips in the past, but when using them to lube, they get hair everywhere...) to apply a smal amount into the oring channel. place the oring back in the channel, and lube on top of it, then lube the threads.
you don't really need to use a lot of lube. as long as you have enough to help cusion between the threads, and help the cover the oring nicely, you're ok.
after everything is lubed, you can put a little bit of the 759g type stuff on the battery contacts to help with the oxidation problem. i'm not really sure how well this works, but i dont suppose it would hurt /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
after all that, you can put your light back together, and proceed to phase three...
<font color="red">caressing</font>
this is the best step /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
simply rotate the threads a bit to make sure everything is smooth, and to help distribute the lube properly. turn it on and off a couple times for your own enjoyment, and watch the lens to make sure it's nice and clean now. run your fingers lightly over the body, and breath in that clean flashlight smell /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
as flashaholics, we have invested large sums of money to purchase lights, and should be careful in maintaning them.
most of what i've written below is obvious, but hopefully it will help people who are new to flashlightland to get an idea of what's involved.
there are 3 main keys to flashlight maintence. clc. cleaning, lubing, caressing
<font color="red">cleaning</font>
cleaning is probably the single most important thing you can do to keep your flashlights healthy and happy. dirt on the outside will affect their apperance, but it can also get into the cavaties, and into the oring seals and mess up water resistance. the best way to clean your light, is to go over it throughougly with a paper towel, to get all the "dry" stuff off. it may be dirt, clay, food spatter, blood, whatever. (luckily most lights aren't likely to have a whole bunch of dry gunk)
once all the big chunks are taken away, you can use a moist paper towel to clean the dirt/food/babyvomit out of the knurling/ribs/texture. usually, this step isn't that necessary either, as most flashlights don't see these sort of things normall, but after camping, or caving, or skydiving, they might be a little dirty on the outside, and it's good to clean them with the rest of the stuff.
after the outside of the light is clean, you can remove the tailcap (if applicable), head (if applicable), bezel ring if app....you get the idea). [[[do <font color="blue">not</font> take things apart if you're not sure you can get them back together! also, you dont' need to completely dissasemble the light. sf, arc, streamlight, and many other flashlights werent made to be completely dissasembled, and doing so can damage the unit, and even void your warantee]]] usually this isn't an issue with any commercial flashlights, and i don't really think it would be too much of an issue with most mods either. i trust that most of you aren't planning on dissecting every aspect /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
first, clean the threads with paper towels (this is especially necessary if they have been previosly lubed, as there will be a lot of gunk) once everything is about as clean as you can get it, remove the orings (if using a sharp object like a knife, take care not to damage it in any way. this is especially difficult on lights with tigher orings). clean the oring with papertowels, and set it aside while you clean out the oring groove. after the main gunk is out of that, use q-tips to go inside the groove and the threads. sometimes q-tips will loose lint, but this isn't that big of a problem, and most of it can be cleaned away with a towel.
after the threads and orings are cleaned, you'll likely notice that the lens is full of dust, fingerprints, all sorts of things. i most applications, it should be possible to remove the lens and clean it, but this isn't possible (or even a good idea) to do in some lights. if it's loctited or requres tools to open or unscrew something, leave it in place. if the lens is easily removable, you can take it to the sink and gently clean it with dish soap. i've found this works well for removing fingerprints and such. if it's not a glas lens, be careful not to scratch it. even paper towels can be rough enough to scratch some lenses, so use soft dishtowels or similar. if it's a glass lens, just try not to drop it.
generally speaking, it isn't a good idea to clean a reflector with anything but canned air. optics can be cleaned with dishsoap as well.
if you take the bulb out, clean the glass carefully, to remove finger oils.
now that everything is cleaned and taken apart, you can contine you to phase two...
<font color="red">lubing</font>
lubing is an important part of flashlight maintenance. it ensures that there is a good water seal, it helps make things smoother, and it keeps the orings from drying up. using special lubes like nye lube 759g, which is made to work on threads conducing electricity will help keep your light running opimally. it works by suspending the oxidation, which produces extra resistance. i'm not sure if other companies have similar lubes or not. nye lube also has a "dampening" lube, which works better for orings and non-electrical threads. it will provide smoother turning, but won't help with electricity.
really, any kind of lube is better than no lube, but be careful to not use petrolium based lubricants (such as vasiline), as it may damage some forms of orings. not all orings will be affected by this, but it's a good idea to use the better stuff anyway. silicone based lubricants are a good thing to use also.
while everything is still apart, use a toothpick or similar item (i've used q-tips in the past, but when using them to lube, they get hair everywhere...) to apply a smal amount into the oring channel. place the oring back in the channel, and lube on top of it, then lube the threads.
you don't really need to use a lot of lube. as long as you have enough to help cusion between the threads, and help the cover the oring nicely, you're ok.
after everything is lubed, you can put a little bit of the 759g type stuff on the battery contacts to help with the oxidation problem. i'm not really sure how well this works, but i dont suppose it would hurt /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
after all that, you can put your light back together, and proceed to phase three...
<font color="red">caressing</font>
this is the best step /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
simply rotate the threads a bit to make sure everything is smooth, and to help distribute the lube properly. turn it on and off a couple times for your own enjoyment, and watch the lens to make sure it's nice and clean now. run your fingers lightly over the body, and breath in that clean flashlight smell /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
