How best to "clean" my flashlight?

Embarrassingly enough, I recently spilled a very sugary drink (sweet lemonade) all over my desk. And, to make matters worse, I didn't realize for a couple days that it had gotten "into" one of my flashlights, which happened to be lying on its side at the edge of my desk.

Luckily, the light was only a low cost Sipik, but the dried sugar has gummed up the "zoom" function, making it very tight and difficult to operate.

I have considered soaking it in warm water, but I am not sure that would be such a good idea... (I doubt such a cheap light is truly waterproof.)

My next idea was to spray it down with a generous amount of WD-40. (We don't have WD-40 here in Japan, but they do sell something called "KURE 5-56" which appears to be the same kind of stuff.) And, I also have some good silicon spray lubricant that I could use.

But, I figured I might as well ask this forum before I make a decision. I suspect that warm water would do the best job of dissolving the dried sugar, but I am hoping that either one of the spray lubricants would also dissolve it (at least eventually?).

What do you guys think?

Once again, as it happens this is not an important light. But, the decision of what to spray on a flashlight would become much more serous, if it were a very expensive light. So, I decided I might as well try to learn something, and ask the forum, just in case I do something stupid like this again in the future.

Please help.

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softrally said:

Try to take the flashlight apart as much as you can, then wipe off the sticky stuff with a wet cloth, or just wash it off. Just try not to get too much water into the LED assembly.

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Thanks for the suggestion, but if you have ever played with a Sipik SK68, I think you will find that it is not all that easy to dismantle the "zoom action ring". In essence, it allows you to move the front lens, forward and backward, so that you can refocus the "hot spot" as you desire. But, it is not something that appears to want to come off all that easily.

I am not saying it is impossible, but it is likely beyond my current ability.

I would need some kind of "split ring pliers" or something else to remove the LED assembly from the front of the light, and I do not have any such tool handy. Also, even then, I am not certain that the zoom action ring would ever come completely off. But, it seems plausible that there is some kind of retaining device, "underneath" or down inside the flashlight, beyond the LED assembly. So, if I were to remove the LED assembly, I might be able to see inside just how the thing is constructed, and then get the ring off.

(Actually, I would kind of like to know how to do that, so perhaps another idea might be for me to acquire the necessary "two-pronged" tool for unscrewing the LED assembly. Anyone have any suggestions as to the right tool for that job? If I were to purchase such a tool, I would prefer one that was adjustable to fit a variety of flashlight diameters.)

Anyway, that was why I was hoping to simply spray something up into and under the "zoom action ring"... (Since I cannot easily take it apart.)

Rosoku Chikara said:

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Anyway, that was why I was hoping to simply spray something up into and under the "zoom action ring"... (Since I cannot easily take it apart.)

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I don't have one of these lights, but my guess is whatever you spray up in there, you're going to have to find a way to get all the gunk to drain back out if you can't disassemble it to wipe it off. My guess is possibly putting a lot of isopropyl alcohol up there to dilute the lemonade and let it run out, then wipe it off as best you can and repeat until most of the lemonade it out. Then if the zoom action needs lubrication you'll likely need to re-lubricate it.

Dismantle it as much as you can. Clean it with a damp rag. Plastic with a tight rubber band over the electronics. You'll have to use something to get into the zoom action ring to clean it out. The problem will be getting it dry and then relubricating it. Take it slow and good luck. Gombate.

yoyoman said:

...Gombate... (excerpted)

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Thanks for the good advice.

By the way, yoyoman, I think this is the second time that you have used excellent Japanese ("Gambatte") in your posts. Do you speak Japanese?

Watashi-no tsuma-wa Nihonjin desu. (My transliteration skills are not too good. I lived in Tokyo for 5 years - 4 years as a bachelor.)

Edit: Third time - in the thread on budget lights: neggi toro teh maki.

Bigmac_79 said:

...My guess is possibly putting a lot of isopropyl alcohol up there to dilute the lemonade and let it run out... (excerpted)

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I never thought of trying alcohol. Not a bad idea at all. I will wait for other opinions, but I think I may try alcohol and see what happens.

yoyoman said:

...Watashi-no tsuma-wa Nihonjin desu... (excerpted)

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Now, I understand. Interesting. I am an American citizen, but I was born in Japan, and have spent about half my life over here. Not sure how best to establish direct contact with you, but if you like, look me up the next time you want to enjoy sushi at Tsukiji. You seem like a very good guy, and I have enjoyed all your posts.

We go every spring to visit the cherry blossoms and my wife's family. And I bet that I could show you a few things in Japan...

As long as the battery is not in the light, you should be able to use distilled water liberally without worrying about the electronics. Pure water doesn't conduct electricity (for our purposes here, anyway). After cleaning the light with water, liberally use (highly concentrated) isopropyl alcohol to displace the water. Finally, leave the light in rice or silica-gel for several days to remove the last remaining traces of moisture. As long as everything is dry before replacing the battery and using the light, it should be okay.

Rosoku Chikara said:

... the dried sugar has gummed up the "zoom" function ...

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Do as JCD recommends. Neither alcohol nor hydrocarbon solvents will dissolve sugar. Use water, then displace the water with alcohol or WD-40.

JCD said:

As long as the battery is not in the light, you should be able to use distilled water liberally without worrying about the electronics. Pure water doesn't conduct electricity (for our purposes here, anyway). After cleaning the light with water, liberally use (highly concentrated) isopropyl alcohol to displace the water. Finally, leave the light in rice or silica-gel for several days to remove the last remaining traces of moisture. As long as everything is dry before replacing the battery and using the light, it should be okay.

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^^^^ Best procedure to date, but careful with alcohol: it tends to dry plastics

I used to work in an internet Pub (the only one that ever existed in the world AFAIK) and I had to remove dried beer and coke from keyboards and tables quite a few times. Water definitely works best. It is possible to get something done with alcohol, but it will take much more and you want to avoid alcohol on plastic optics as much as possible. Some contact cleaners also displace water impressively, but you really don't want to use that on any plastics. There is a product called "Safety Clean II" that is made to clean plastics and evaporates faster than most solvents. I just did a test with it and it seems to displace water nicely, but evaporates before the water has moved an inch on a glass test tube. I don't know how good it would be on sugar, but it works great on label glue and oils and is worth a shot if you can find some (I got mine from an electronics surplus store), but test it in a small corner first just in case; I have had one case where it tended to melt the plastic, but we're talking about 1970's plastic though.

Most focusable flashlights can be opened by unscrewing the front bezel (could be a thin, almost invisible line) and then sliding is towards the back of the light. Mine are all very easy to open once I know what to look for.

JCD said:

As long as the battery is not in the light, you should be able to use distilled water liberally without worrying about the electronics. Pure water doesn't conduct electricity (for our purposes here, anyway). After cleaning the light with water, liberally use (highly concentrated) isopropyl alcohol to displace the water. Finally, leave the light in rice or silica-gel for several days to remove the last remaining traces of moisture. As long as everything is dry before replacing the battery and using the light, it should be okay.

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Thanks for the very astute advice. This sounds to me like "the way to go."

I knew that the forum could help. I really appreciate everyone's thoughtful advice.

yoyoman said:

We go every spring to visit the cherry blossoms and my wife's family. And I bet that I could show you a few things in Japan...

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Well, yoyoman, I see now that you are also a "betting man." I like that. And, I believe you must also have brass gonads. (To think that you might "show me a few things in Japan...")

But, in truth you are correct. I am certain that you could "show" me many things. Japan is a rather deep place, and the deeper you dig, the more you find. There are always more things to be learned.

As it happens, I am frequently troubled by those non-Japanese who reflexively react to factual statements about the uniqueness of Japan, or Japanese culture, in a very offhand manner. They immediately say: "Yeah, we have that very same phenomenon in my country, too." And, on the surface, they are indeed correct. However, at the same time, they are also usually very very wrong. The reason they are usually wrong is that they are confusing issues of "kind" with matters of "degree."

I have traveled to many countries, and I have seen firsthand that most countries have the same "kind" of issues, but I have only very rarely, if ever, seen another country where such things are ever taken to anywhere near the same extremities of "degree" as is common in Japan. The Japanese culture, and the very Japanese people themselves, tend to promote this kind of "extremism" (if I may call it that, for the lack of a better word) which, in my experience, is pretty much unique in the world.

On a more personal note, I am no longer a spring chicken, and this is not my first rodeo. I was born in Hokkaido and raised in Kyushu. My background was nothing like the background of a typical child of a diplomat (or whatever) that happens to have been born in Japan. Such children usually spent their days in Japan living in the highly sheltered "Little America" district of Tokyo.

When I was very small, my parents were quite concerned because I refused to speak English at all. I could understand everything they said to me, but I would only reply to them in Japanese. I subsequently went to American schools in Japan, so I was educated entirely in English. Then, after college in Chicago, I went to work for the leading Japanese general trading company, so I ended up speaking Japanese "day and night," even when living in the USA.

Since then, I have grown fat and ugly, and I now earn my living as a freelance consultant, specializing in corporate crisis management. I look forward to meeting you and your wife next spring. (I am especially curious to know just what it is that you are going to "show" me in Japan.)

Anyway, I like your style.

I'm no spring chicken either. (Actually this is exactly what the orthopedic surgeon told me when I tore my ACL a couple of years ago.) I have lived in Tokyo, Japan, Hong Kong, the States and now Switzerland. I spent a lot of time in Latin America, but never lived there. I commuted to Mexico City for a year. As to my comment about showing you a few things, I was mostly bluffing. After we moved back to the States and my mother-in-law was still in good health, when we visited Japan we used to go for long weekends to different places. It was always a new place for them, but I had already been there. I don't want to get off thread for too long, but the similarities between Switzerland and Japan are amazing. The Swiss are in the middle of Europe, but are not part of the EU. They have lots of rules, and everything runs smoothly if you follow them. Everything is expensive and presentation is important - the pastry shops look just like the ones in Ginza. The big difference is the culture of shame vs. confess. When the Swiss do something bad, they confess and think that is enough. I have some stories, but they are not for this forum. The best historical example is the Swiss bought gold from the SS during WWII - no other country (even Japan) would buy the gold because it was dental grade (even more pure than regular gold). They did very little to hide the source of the gold - they didn't add impurities for example. When they got caught, they confessed.

Ha! yoyoman, thanks for your thoughtful reply. And, I agree. Perhaps it is best that we not subject everyone else who wishes to read this thread to our personal thoughts on Japan and other cultures. But, having said that, I truly do admire your "style." (This is similar to my definition of a budget light: I cannot easily explain it, but I certainly know it, when I see it.)

And, I also think that I can contribute at least one useful thought to your reflection about the similarities between Japan and Switzerland:

As you probably know, there exists in Japan something known as a "hostess club."

The very best of such "clubs" are only to be found in Ginza, and if you actually ever visit one of those, you will have already "spent" $500 per person, from the moment you sit down at their table, and before you even order any drinks. (From there on, you must be prepared for another $2-300 per person, per hour; regardless of what you drink, or don't drink.)

But, despite such outrageous prices, it is all truly only "innocent" fun (premium entertainment for businessmen who have too much money to spend). And, interestingly enough, to the best of my knowledge, the only other place on the planet that can "boast" of having such establishments, is Switzerland. (Most Americans would never understand.)

How's your flashlight?

Haven't touched it yet. I must go purchase some good, high purity, isopropyl alcohol first.