the point is the price. i was hunting for a solution from DX, DD, KD or MF because it's shipping free and i got DD credits. and my attitude was: hey, any lube should do the trick, better than bone-dry!, so lemme buy the cheapest accepted solution.
now i learned it in person. no more silicone stuff (grease, oil, whatever). I dont know about oil, but it's out of stock (DX), and i doubt that it works on the Quarks.
i am thinking now of buying superlube off ebay. no more experimenting. i heard that superlube is not the best, but it's among the best.
The precision lube at Radio Shack works great, thin enough and lasts. Pretty sure I read where it was similar to one of the fancy names. I put some on a friends Ti Q-mini and he was amazed how much smoother it became.
Bottom line, it works great, easy to apply, doesn't appear to deteriorate o-rings, and only costs $4. It is located near the soldering stuff.
instead of ordering superlube (50$ shipping costs amazon acehardware) i will consider visiting the local hardware store and ask for advice (especially for bare aluminum on bare aluminum, and o-ring compatibility). if they have stuff which is cheaper than superlube, then i'll buy it.
basically i regret having applied silicone grease on my lights. on the Xeno, fine, who cares. there is no twisting UI. but on the Romisen (twisting zoom action) it's squeaking now. and on the Quark it was a total catastrophe (and where was MixoMaxo to hold me in the arms. baby me crying haha).
Silicone grease is good for sealing a cap (which you never want to twist again).
Silicone grease is not good on o-rings for twisting action/UI's.
Silicone grease is not good on non-anodized threads.
Silicone grease is not good on anodized threads.
These are 4 simple statements, and they are not exaggerated. And they all originate from the high friction causing stickiness of the silicone stuff as opposed to the slipperiness of soap water or oil films or frozen ice.
I, like others advised you about nextorch grease, now the only thing that come in my mind to make you stop crying about stupid lubes is give you a better new reason like crush your squirrel's nuts xD
it is still out of stock. for months actually. ive just talked to james on the DX chat. and for people interested in the silicone oil, better ask James if it is IN STOCK before you place the order.
it is a little diffcult to get a partial refund on unshipped items (=canceled items). try to avoid asking for partial refunds, if you can avoid it.
Me too. Had it for years and use it on everything. Doesn’t eat any O-rings that I know of. Easy to find. I got mine at a gunshop but prob find at hardware store.
I seem to be the only one who thinks the "stickiness" or "thickness" is actually a pro and not a con. The light scuba silicone grease I use will stay were it belongs..... on the threads. I used various lighter mineral lubes and nyogel before and hated it. They went everywhere... battery, tailcap and my clothes... they were too thin... so I actually prefer thicker lubes because it makes fiddling around with not so well cut threads so much easier. Also silicone lube is non-toxic. I use it on everything twisties, clickies, anodized, non-anodized ... no problem at all. The slightly higher resistance is a non-issue for me. Although, I noticed that my light scuba grease is not as solid as the nextorch stuff, it moves at very slow speeds when I move the jar.