Last night I compared the glow powder in the TCR-1 tail to the plastic glow ring in the tail of my RRT-01.
Bear in mind, without precharging, I cannot see them glow during the day, nor in the evening when the house lights are on.
After being in bed, when I wake up in the dark, I can see the uncharged glows.
The powder was slightly brighter, but the plastic glow ring, for my purpose, which is to see the light on my nightstand, is equally visible.
the powder does glow longer after being charged…
A reason to use powder, imo, is if a different color is desired:
I think a lot of modern glow powders are individually coated particles so you can use them in just about any medium, they usually say whether they are coated or not I’m sure I read.
My stuff is never really exposed to the elements so I can’t really answer that but the UV glue is quite tough when hardened, sort of like a slightly flexible fairly tough plastic, waterproof and I would presume ok in sunlight.
The glow powder lasts years apparently and the tape is polyvinyl coated or something but these will fade or break down in direct sunlight after a time of exposure like most things I think.
Backstory
On my Titanium TCR-1, the dial was stiff, gritty, and hard to move when I first received the light. Apparently, the original grease, now 7 years old, on a shelf queen, had become stiffer with age.
…
I started, without disassembly, by working in a drop of Nano Oil, twisting the dial back and forth, hundreds of times, while watching netflix…
it helped.
The dial feel improved and became easier, smoother and more pleasant to turn. Most of the gritty spots got smoothed out.
But, there were still some spots that would catch, where the grease felt stiffer, or the dial felt gritty. And the resistance was still more than I would like… I wanted a feel like warm butter, this was more like cold butter… lol
.
Nirvana Lube:
I decided to buy some special lube for Titanium.
Today I received some Monky Spunk grease from DarkSucks and I Love the stuff. It works better than anything else I have tried on Titanium.
I put spunk on the Oring and the threads of the body and head, that were noisy and grabby before the Spunk. After twisting the threads back and forth briefly, the body and head threads became buttery smooth and silent, with very little effort.
I then worked a bit of Spunk into the side edges of the Titanium control ring (no disassembly), and all traces of grittyness have disappeared. The entire feel of the rotating ring is now warm buttery smooth. That Spunk stuff is Magic!
So, for those with gritty Ti Threads or control rings… I give an enthusiastic endorsement of the Monky Spunk. Im not affiliated, just a fan.
I have read that Nyogel 767a is a good choice when repacking the disassembled ring. I have not had a chance to try that myself.
I still have concerns about trit safety. I read something about x-rays occasionally being emitted, when the radiation particles hit the inside of the glass vial.
I have 3 small trits I purchased, but haven’t yet installed them in any light due to such concerns. Instead, I mostly make do with aux LEDs.