Greetings, wise members of BLF. Does anyone happen to know how to re-pack the grease on the control ring of a Sunwayman V11R? It was my favorite light for a long time, but now there is no resistance whatsoever on the control ring, and it spins freely. It’s not even really usable like this, and I saw a couple people mention this problem on that other forum. Before I go there, I figured with all the DIY and modder folks here, someone will have run into this problem and have fixed it. Thanks in advance!
I had the same problem when I modded my Sunwayman V10R Ti modded with the Nichia 219 now. This is what a lot of people over at the other forum recommends. http://dx.com/p/excellent-performance-damping-grease-50g-112202?utm_source=GoogleShoppingUS&utm_medium=CPC&utm_content=112202&utm_campaign=424&gclid=COH67MrSprkCFYik4AodRykAYQ
I have not tried it yet, don’t spend my money at DX anymore.
I went with this stuff.
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This stuff will make it very hard to turn. What I did was add a little silicone grease to the Atomic friction grease that I had already added inside the ring until I found about what I considered the right amount of resistance. This way you can either have it semi-low resistance or a lot of resistance, the choice is yours by adding a little or lot of lower viscosity grease (silicone grease for flashlight oring’s).
There also lots of different viscosity grease for the RC community if you might want to try something different. Tamiya also makes friction grease in soft med hard. This was my next option if the Atomic grease didn’t work out, but it works fine and can be customized to my liking.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?\_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR12.TRC2.A0.Xfriction+grease&\_nkw=friction+grease&\_sacat=0&\_from=R40
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One more thing might be worth mentioning, there is a thin spacer washer that keeps the head from screwing on too tight that allows a little space for the control ring to have free play. I always read “make sure and remember to put the spacer back in don’t lose it or the head will screw on too tight and you want be able to turn it”. Well me be the curious type for improvements in fit, I took mine out and tried the fit. The gap between ring and head was a lot less and did not keep it from spinning freely. There is much better fit and a lot less chance of anything getting in the gap especially with all that extra water repelling grease in there now. May work with yours or my not. Just thought you might like to try it since it’s already disassembled. Made a nice improvement with fit on the V10R and turns freely.
Thanks for the info, 007. The grease you linked is sold out. I’m not a huge fan of DX either but I’ll probably go with your first link. I definitely don’t order anything from them I’d have huge regrets over not getting or getting wrong.
Now, how to get the head off? Is there loc-tight on it? I thought I saw a picture of someone wrapping both sides in duct tape to separate the head from the ring. Is there an easier way, or some video to watch?
Thanks again for your help. Even if the SRT3 I ordered retires my V11R, I still want it to work!
Oh crap I thought you already had it disassembled. Mine was a absolute nightmare to get off. I tried everything from heating to duct tape to clamping in plastic collars to huge rubber bands even stuck one end in the end mill collet with a delrin collar but couldn’t find anything to hold the other end to turn it lose.
I finally had to spend a day making 2 clamps out of aluminum to hold both pieces of the head. I used 1/2 inch thick aluminum plate and made the holes exactly the same size as the head pieces. Cut a slit from outside all the way into the hole. Then I taped a 6-32 hole at a 90 with the slit, so that a 6-32 screw could be used to tighten the slit up, tighten the hole. No delrin sleeve just plain 6061 aluminum. I knew if it did try to spin the titanium was way harder than the aluminum, so no damage would be done to the light. Well the homemade clamps tighten down so tight it never slipped once. I was amazed at the torque this thing took to get off. They had used the high strength red Loctite. I really had to work to get this thing apart, I had given up twice. But once I had slept on it again, I decide I wasn’t going to allow it to beat me. There has never been a light I couldn’t take apart before and this one wasn’t going to stop me even if it ended up in pieces.
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Maybe yours will not as hard as mine to get off. I would definitely try the other methods first, taking care not to injury the light. I have seen other post where sunwayman has used blue Loctite, this would not be as difficult as the red. Hopefully yours contains blue. There are several different methods used to get off the ring. Try searching for the V10R since its been around a little longer and has been modded many times. You should find several different methods. One guy was lucky enough to tape it up with duct tape and turn it buy hand, lucky guy. 
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If the other methods don’t work for ya, and you are determined to get it apart at all cost. Maybe you can send me the light or I could send you the clamps if the have the same head dimensions.
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Here is what I used in stock or so it says.
PM sent, thanks. It doesn’t sound like I have the mojo to do this myself. It’s not that I’m scared of damaging it, just that I think it’s likely I’ll damage it 
But hey, lemons to lemonade by getting to interact more with some of the community and maybe even getting some mods done. Once it’s opened for the first time, I’ll be able to do it myself next time, right? Sounds like I’m good for the long haul once that loc-tite is off.
Update: I got the head off with some duct tape and a couple pair of pliers! Thank you moderator007 for your help and encouragement. It had blue loc-tite on the threads. I will be doing a blog post and update this thread once my grease arrives from the slow boat from China
UPDATE: The grease finally arrived from DealExtreme. I re-packed the light and it works as good as new. Moderator007 suggested I tune the thickness of the grease by mixing it with regular lithium grease, but I used it as is and it has almost the exact same feel as it did new. Most people think there is too much resistance on the ring out of the box, so it would be a good opportunity to thin it out if you want.
It’s all documented in this blog post, complete with photos.
Nice job Racer, really like the blog with photos. I’am sure that blog will get visited quite often. Thanks for documenting your experience to help others. Nice DIY.
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The XY-2 grease from DX can also be purchased from Fasttech now. This appeared shortly after this thread started. I had searched everywhere to order some of this grease without having to buy from DX. I never could find a good supplier until a couple of days ago when some how I came across it at Fasttech. So I finally got some on the way.
The other grease I used from the post #1 above is quite thick and creates a lot of resistance, so mix in some lower viscosity grease is quite necessary for me. This XY-2 grease seems to be a perfect viscosity (from what others and you have reported) to match the factory grease. I will soon find out for myself and report back.
Link to the Fasttech XY-2 grease for those that don’t want to order from DX.
http://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10005875/1451311-xy-2-high-performance-damping-grease-50g
Thanks Racer, I’m Also a fan of SWM and I have the V20C which will be used a lot for camping, so no doubt I will have to do similar later on, I also saw damping grease on FT link Here
EDIT: just noticed moderator007 had also posted the link Duh!
These control ring lights are great but they need routine maintenance that not many people talk about, so hopefully we can all advance that knowledge.
I was eyeing the V20C for a long time. I have an older M20C that I like. But there’s other models out there now like the SRT7. I have the SRT3 and it’s a great light. I’m assuming the SRT series will have the same issues with needed to be re-greased.
I was going to get one of the SRT series, but with the NiteCore’s EA4 issues I decided to try out SWM, going camping this weekend so my V20C’s gonna be used for the first time besides testing indoors.
I’m a big fan of SWM. But Nitecore has seemed to up their game recently. I have an EA4 that I’m scared to use, so I bought the D40A. However, the SRT3 seems to be a return to early Nitecore quality. This thing is twice the weight of the V11R and more like the size of an AA light instead of the CR123 light it’s supposed to be. We’ll see how the SRT3 holds up, but so far it looks like a total tank. The build quality and fit & finish appear to be superb. I know the early SRT7’s had some QC issues, so I’m not sure how the SRT3 is going to hold up. But it appears to be every bit as well built as the V11R if not better.
I will be doing a review on the SRT3 soon and comparing it specifically to the V11R. I already have several hundred photos that I’ve started cutting down for the review. And so far it’s much more photogenic than the V11R 
I am very interested in that review and very appreciative of this thread and information. I personally feel that these control ring lights are the perfect edc and I myself utilize them for that purpose. All of them have been modified by Vinh, so I should have no trouble opening them up and changing the grease on them which is good. I have a V11r with a 4,000k XM-L2, a Jetbeam RRT-01 with a 5,000k XM-L2, and literally just got back from checking the mailbox AGAIN, for my V10r Ti with a 4,500k XP-G2 upped to 2.8 amps. Time to go stalk the mailman again.
Look forward to your review, also had my eye on the SRT3 , as I have a few RCR123 in stock.
Another project of mine is to do some photo-shoots with my lights….
I’am a big fan of Sunwayman lights myself. I’am with you guys with the control ring. The control ring makes a perfect EDC in my opinion. There is no modes to have to click through at the back end of the light. The control ring is at your finger tips and can be adjusted while in one hand. I have used the light a lot and love the variable brightness of the control ring. It’s easily adjusted to just the right amount of light you need. The control ring design is just awesome. Just imagine your dream light and then being able to adjust the brightness to just the right amount of light you need for what your doing, right at your finger tips any day you pull it out of your pocket. I already own my dream light. :bigsmile:
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@lintonindy Really interested in how you upped the V10R Ti to 2.8amps. Please, do tell! 
I was going to do the D40A next but I’ll do the SRT3 instead. Hopefully before Monday.
Here’s a few rough draft teaser pics in the meantime:
Hmm , nice looking light I see what you mean the finish looks impressive.
I did finally finish the review for the SRT3 if anyone is interested. But with the V11R now back in service, they are both vying for night stand duty!
Nice review Mark, certainly worth a look when a few specials pop up!
Thanks. It’s a really cool light. A little on the bulky side but very capable.