Please, need help with SF Fury head removal.

I presently have one that Wayne was able to remove prior to doing a emitter swap. However I have another which I would like to remove in order to use an 18650 body (purchased to use with both lights).

I tired Google, but can't find a proper strap tool to use around the head. If I'm able to find a proper strap tool for the head, I figure I can place / hold the body in a vice (between two pieces of wood).

What tool/s have you used to remove the head of your Fury? Or would you suggest I send the light to someone?

Thanks,

Pops


PS I did take out my large crescent wrench, but figured, ... nawh, better not! ... LOL

I got two strap wrenches from The Home Depot and went at it. I used one on the head and one on the body. Make sure you wrap the flashlight in tape, I used that blue kind used for painting just incase it scratches.

BIGLOU said:

I got two strap wrenches from The Home Depot and went at it. I used one on the head and one on the body. Make sure you wrap the flashlight in tape, I used that blue kind used for painting just incase it scratches.

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Thanks BIGLOU, I'll check out Home Depot.

Pops

BTW. which one did you buy? .... http://www.homedepot.com/s/strap+wrench?NCNI-5

From what I gathered here, the Fury is kind of iffy. Some opens easily and some totally impossible to open. I think I read about this from PresicionWorks who have done a lot of boring on Fury tubes. Mine opens without much effort at all. It is like there isn't any Loctite on it. Maybe you can try boiling it in a ziplock bag to soften the Loctite a bit before using the strap wrenches. Not sure if boiling would work because SF uses industrial type Loctite which is red in color.

pjandyho said:

From what I gathered here, the Fury is kind of iffy. Some opens easily and some totally impossible to open. I think I read about this from PresicionWorks who have done a lot of boring on Fury tubes. Mine opens without much effort at all. It is like there isn't any Loctite on it. Maybe you can try boiling it in a ziplock bag to soften the Loctite a bit before using the strap wrenches. Not sure if boiling would work because SF uses industrial type Loctite which is red in color.

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Thanks! Yeah the Red is the good stuff alright. I'd use a torch to heat a bolt prior to removing it, which as we know, we can't do to our lights. After seeing what these strap wrenches cost, I started to think about PersicionWorks as well. Depending on the cost of the wrench, it may be easier / cost effective to send it off to PresicionWorks. However, I have to look into what they charge to do this. Anyways, I'll be heading to Home Depot in an hour or so to see what they have that will grip the light, and at what cost to purchase two of them as BIGLOU recommended.

Thanks again,

Pops

Yeah, the two strap wrenches (Smaller diameter) in opposite directions is about it unless you're willing to use a vise too, etc.

If replacing the guts, a torch can help augment the anti-loktite efforts, etc....if not replacing stuff inside (IE: The torch might melt something important), you can try LESS torch, and/or more muscle.

TEEJ said:

Yeah, the two strap wrenches (Smaller diameter) in opposite directions is about it unless you're willing to use a vise too, etc.

If replacing the guts, a torch can help augment the anti-loktite efforts, etc....if not replacing stuff inside (IE: The torch might melt something important), you can try LESS torch, and/or more muscle.

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:laughing: ... If I wasn't worried about, as you say, melting something important. I'd bet by torching the light, it'll give the finish that rugged, well used look! May even look pretty cool! Before I head on out, I'm gonna check out PrecisionWorks web site. I just got off work, and well, I'm feeling kind of lazy. ... :tired: ... It's 06:30 an I think it's already 90 degrees with really high humidity since we got some rain over the weekend.. ... :laughing:


Pops

Harbor freight has a set of two strap wrenches for under $5.00

If you aren't going to use them often, you might look there.

BTW, Homedepot has the Husky wrench for $9.00.

Well, I'm back from Home Depot a few minutes ago, and ... the only strap wrench they had that may work is 23 bucks plus tax. That'll make it around $50 bucks for two strap wrenches on an "IF", so I guess I'll just keep using a AW17670 in this light, and the 18650 in the other light.

Oh, one of the guys who was helping me was kind of a big guy. Anyways, I saw the way he looked at the light (I mean it is pretty small). I asked him if he'd like to give it shot to see if he could remove the head. He gave it his best shot, looked at the light, tried again, then told me, "it ain't coming off!" .... LOL

Thanks again,

Pops

NoNotAgain said:

Harbor freight has a set of two strap wrenches for under $5.00

If you aren't going to use them often, you might look there.

BTW, Homedepot has the Husky wrench for $9.00.

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Thanks, the guys at Home Depot looked in both the tool and plumbing sections. The large rubber strap wrench in the tool section looked like it wouldn't grab the head or the body because the O.D. is too small. The more expensive one in the plumbing dept. was the nylon (?) strap type with a, may be two foot handle on it. Which is the one that may work. However for $50 buck or so, it'll be easier to buy replacement AW17670's once the four I'm rotating nightly starts to reach it's life expectancy (?).

The reason for purchasing the 18650 body is I have x10 18650's which are not being used since I'm carrying (at our present location) the OEM Fury. Which is the hard headed one!

Pops

I have tried the small strap wrenches from Home Depot and wasn't happy with them at all.
Much better IMO are the small strap wrenches at Sears - much better straps and still being small enough for the work we do here.
$10 each IIRC. The handles are either red or blue, I can double check on mine by tomorrow.

I had to take a torch to mine to loosen the red loctite. Ruined the o-ring at the head, but otherwise the light was unscathed.

Kestrel said:

I have tried the small strap wrenches from Home Depot and wasn't happy with them at all.
Much better IMO are the small strap wrenches at Sears - much better straps and still being small enough for the work we do here.
$10 each IIRC. The handles are either red or blue, I can double check on mine by tomorrow.

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Thanks,

Pops

cland72 said:

I had to take a torch to mine to loosen the red loctite. Ruined the o-ring at the head, but otherwise the light was unscathed.

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That's good to know. Did you pick up a new o-ring from SF?

Pops

AZPops said:

That's good to know. Did you pick up a new o-ring from SF?

Pops

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No, I just grabbed one I had in my workbench that was similar and ran with it.

cland72 said:

No, I just grabbed one I had in my workbench that was similar and ran with it.

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That's one of the few things I really miss (having a work bench) living in a motor home. I have to constantly go through stuff I'm not using as we have little storage. However, I'm not complaining since we live in a diesel, we have much more storage space then most, e.g. a gas motor home, and can carry more weight as well. But still, you can't beat living in a stick and brick as we call it in our world.

Pops


BTW, I can't help thinking there's an Exec over at SF who won a case wine. You know, I'd bet you a case wine, if we Red Loctite the head of the Fury, it'll really mess with the members over at CPF. ... LOL

I'm not exactly an old-timer but I have been paying attention to this topic for quite a while now.
My impression from over the years is that SF has been moving towards using more & stronger loctite as the years go by.
I admit that it's only anecdotal, but reading many posts like these has made me arrive at that conclusion.

Edit: I have an older L2 that was quite easy to 'crack', but two newer L1's and a U2 that were all very very difficult.

I know that using heat has been discussed to break lose the Loctite thread sealer, but my experience has shown that cold works equally as well.

Remove the batteries from the light, then place the light in the freezer for 3-4 hours. Remove from freezer and using a rawhide mallet or dead blow hammer, give the threaded area a smart whack, turn 180 degrees and repeat. Then use the strap wrench to remove the head. The O-rings will not be effected and the LED can take the whack (at least my Surefire led head wasn't damaged).

I used cold to remove the head on my Surefire M3LT-S which would not budge using force alone.

Anaerobic cured adhesives don't do well in cold temperatures.

NoNotAgain said:

I know that using heat has been discussed to break lose the Loctite thread sealer, but my experience has shown that cold works equally as well.

Remove the batteries from the light, then place the light in the freezer for 3-4 hours. Remove from freezer and using a rawhide mallet or dead blow hammer, give the threaded area a smart whack, turn 180 degrees and repeat. Then use the strap wrench to remove the head. The O-rings will not be effected and the LED can take the whack (at least my Surefire led head wasn't damaged).

I used cold to remove the head on my Surefire M3LT-S which would not budge using force alone.

Anaerobic cured adhesives don't do well in cold temperatures.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice!

NoNotAgain said:

I know that using heat has been discussed to break lose the Loctite thread sealer, but my experience has shown that cold works equally as well.

Remove the batteries from the light, then place the light in the freezer for 3-4 hours. Remove from freezer and using a rawhide mallet or dead blow hammer, give the threaded area a smart whack, turn 180 degrees and repeat. Then use the strap wrench to remove the head. The O-rings will not be effected and the LED can take the whack (at least my Surefire led head wasn't damaged).

I used cold to remove the head on my Surefire M3LT-S which would not budge using force alone.

Anaerobic cured adhesives don't do well in cold temperatures.

Click to expand...

X2, thanks!

Pops