Please recommend a flashlight grease for dummies (ie me)

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.

This

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/high-purity-silicone-oil-lubrication-for-flashlight-torch-10ml-2-pack-53289?r=43033281

works great for me (anodized and unanodized threads).

On the other hand, this

http://www.manafont.com/product_info.php/nextorch-silicone-grease-for-flashlights-p-5355

was gritty and produced black oxide gunk on unanodized threads quite fast.

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.

it's out of stock! i want to buy it, and if it's bad/good, report it in order to reconfirm/verify your statement ;)

I had nextorch grease but ditched it a long time ago. I use machine oil in the mean time and it seems to work well.

From what I see, it's promised to ship in 4-7 days, as many other items on DX.

And yes, that is the one that has worked best for me. Scuba light silicone grease was good too, but this oil is easier to obtain (for me) and apply.

Anyway, these are all very cheap. No problem to try and see what works for anyone. I threw away the NexTorch grease without the slightest remorse. Smile

Yeah, I had some silicone jelly for other stuff I used to use....found it too thick for anything twisty.

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

yep, I would be a bad daddy >)

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.

kreisler,

When the weather clears, come around for a good home-made espresso and a few drops of that fabulous silicone oil on your flashlight threads. Smile

weather has cleared :steve: , i am coming to Sloveniaaaahhh!!

( sorry, but i took your words as invitation. hehe )

Espresso machine turned on.

I hope you'll understand that, given the current oil shortage, only brand name flashlights qualify... Laughing

i am looking into it, good idea ;)

Fenix is brand name :

Looking now for some good oily stuff..

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.

Please recommend a flashlight grease for dummies (ie me)

BTW, I'm pretty sure the lubricants recommended above were for the flashlight, not for the dummy. Just an FYI...

Ouch! Supposed to feed squirrels nuts, not crush 'em. Laughing

http://www.youtube.com/embed/TamMqvk4Bb8

In applications where it's OK to use a petroleum-based lubricant, I really like Rem Oil :

It's ostensibly for Remington firearms, but works great in appropriate flashlight applications.

Do not use with rubber O-rings or other rubber components, as with any other dino oil.

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.

thanks for sharing Vectrex!

if we all lived in the States we would probably use exclusively the Superlube stuff. 3$ for a litttle tube (1/2 oz), 5$ for a large tube (3 oz) and available from many vendors (incl free conus). the generic term for super lube is either < teflon grease > or < teflon oil >. Those lubricants are popular among cyclists (where are our cyclists@BLF when we need'em in the discussion?) and gun hobbyists, and any gun shop and bicycle shop would offer teflon-based lubes (also < teflon spray >).

Superlube seems special in many ways: The entire company is specialized on selling it (Synco Lube), the stuff is patented, and more sophisticated than the generic teflon lubes. And last but not least, it's cheaper than the competition.

Ebay asks 8-10$ for global shipping of a mini tube of 3$ Superlube (no thx!), so i am checking now a few other sensible sources..

Vectrex your stuff seems to be much better than the stiff sticky Nextorch ***p. Am just thinking that any teflon based lube must be way superior on the threads (if one wants soft and easy twisting action).