Sticking Plastic Light Heads

Every one of my pastic lights (Pelican & StreamLight) have twist heads that stick when first used. I've tried silicone dielectric, and Radio Shack teflon greases with the same results. The threads are clean, grease is on all contacting surfaces and o-rings are not swollen.

These lights, sometimes, tend to sit for weeks or months between uses. Once used, the heads become easier to rotate for a while. Still, some of the lights remain stiff to operate. Is this just the nature of the beasts?

ThanX for any ideas.

I tried removing some of the grease just in case there was too much. That didn't help because after sitting for some time the head would still, initially, bind when first turning the light on.

I'm wondering if the pressure from the strong springs in the light are causing the plastic threads to conform with each other. It seems as though the plastic, temporarily, welds itself to the mating part.

why not try some abbrasive grit like jewlers rouge. i have not used it but ive seen it mentined here

I have this problem also.... It only happens to my lights that have large O-Rings. They can sit overnight...and when I go to turn them on they stick and I have to turn harder. After I turn them on once...then they are easy to turn on until they sit for a day again.

Reptilezs, do you suggest using the rouge to hone down the threads? That may be part of the problem because the tolerance and fit is quite close. Maybe removing some of the plastic or irregularities, if any, will help.

Saaay...you bein' a wize guy? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinser2.gif Meebe I should just dump the rouge into the head and let it grind away. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hahaha.gif

Kidding aside, what I should have done was remove the O-ring to eliminate that as a possible problem. If that doesn't work I'll try some fine grinding coumpound that I have. Thanks for making me think about this a little more. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif

I'm pretty sure it's the o-rings. I'm not sure why they cause the heads to stick, but everyone of my lights with o-rings stick. Especially after I put the silicone on them.