turbodog
Flashaholic
About 2 weeks ago while 4 wheeler riding I got stuck in a clay pit. The fine particles made their way under my u2's ring while we were digging out with a shovel in the dark.
I washed the light under the faucet when I got back, but the ring was harder to turn. And it kept getting harder as time went on.
I washed it again under running water, while turning the ring. It didn't take long before the ring became almost impossible to turn. I figure whatever lube was under there had gotten washed out.
I took the light and a needle oiler that was filled with 10w-30 mobil1 synthetic and tried my luck. I unscrewed the head and stood it face down on the bench. Then I applied a THIN bead of oil around the closest edge of the ring. I then worked the ring back and forth for about 2-3 minutes. The oil disappeared into the crack, and the light was maybe 10% better.
I put the head back on the light. As I rolled the light in a circle, I ran another bead of oil into the frontmost crack of the ring. Then I turned the ring back and forth many times as I gradually rotated the light around (to keep the oil from pooling to one side and dripping).
Presto! Smoooooooth ring. And I mean smooth. I can now turn it easily with 2 fingers while holding the light with the same hand. I can even turn it with 1 finger if I want to (and with a little luck).
Whatever friction point that's under there is apparently toward the front.
Also, to clean up the extra oil I first tried a cotton rag. That didn't work well as it was not absorbent enough and tended to smear the oil. I finally settled on a q-tip. It vacuumed up the oil so cleanly it left no oily residue.
Anyway, that's it for what it's worth.
I washed the light under the faucet when I got back, but the ring was harder to turn. And it kept getting harder as time went on.
I washed it again under running water, while turning the ring. It didn't take long before the ring became almost impossible to turn. I figure whatever lube was under there had gotten washed out.
I took the light and a needle oiler that was filled with 10w-30 mobil1 synthetic and tried my luck. I unscrewed the head and stood it face down on the bench. Then I applied a THIN bead of oil around the closest edge of the ring. I then worked the ring back and forth for about 2-3 minutes. The oil disappeared into the crack, and the light was maybe 10% better.
I put the head back on the light. As I rolled the light in a circle, I ran another bead of oil into the frontmost crack of the ring. Then I turned the ring back and forth many times as I gradually rotated the light around (to keep the oil from pooling to one side and dripping).
Presto! Smoooooooth ring. And I mean smooth. I can now turn it easily with 2 fingers while holding the light with the same hand. I can even turn it with 1 finger if I want to (and with a little luck).
Whatever friction point that's under there is apparently toward the front.
Also, to clean up the extra oil I first tried a cotton rag. That didn't work well as it was not absorbent enough and tended to smear the oil. I finally settled on a q-tip. It vacuumed up the oil so cleanly it left no oily residue.
Anyway, that's it for what it's worth.