A Perfect Dedome?

Well, if you don’t own a vehicle like quite some people living in cities do these days, getting gasoline isn’t that easy and cheap. Depending on local regulations you may need to buy a proper container (=canister) to get it at the gas station.
They also may have a minimum quantity to buy (here often 2 liters). It may also be illegal to store that gas in your apartment - or at least against one’s rental agreement.
I kind of get your point, but please don’t assume that a solution is the best for all only because it works best for you.
Someone might be happy to know that he can use a bottle of acetone from the dollar store instead, even if a nice bath in ROZ95 would be (way) more effective. :wink:

Just checked on mine at the 1hr.50min. mark and the dome was barely dangling, I flung it off onto the floor with one little fling! There are still little bits of stuff on there, so I put it back in the gas ’til I decide what to do next. What to do next? I don’t have a sprayer bottle for the alcohol, maybe swish it around a bit in an alcohol bath? Do I need high pressure? Thanks again!

So someone living in your area would be familiar with all those issues, right? Are there any auto garages, motorcycle shops, small engine repair places around? Go there, explain what you're doing, ask if they can add some gasoline to the little bottle you bring in and keep it for you overnight. Don't act like this is a planet where gasoline doesn't exist.

Spray bottle just helps knock off any looser bits, it's not necessary as long as you can dilute away all the leftover gasoline. Cleaning off every last bit of the silicone isn't necessary either, as long as the bits aren't loose enough to fall off later.

I use a cheapo squeeze bottle with ispropyl, bought the bottle from FT of course! This one: http://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10003544/1261001-booster-flux-bottle-with-funnel-and-needle. It's not a sprayer, but I squeeze it out forcibly directly on the emitter and star for de-dome cleanups.

dave_ - all's good to find alternate methods - I understand gas is not convienent for everyone, so maybe there is something as good out there that can be purchased and stored easier.

Bad news…the 3 tiny wires are all broken…I never touched the thing either! Gas soak, then swished in alcohol, then blown on by me mouth. Discuss…{8^(

Never had that happen before after I switched to using gas... I've broken them using other methods, and even by pressing on/bumping the dome without trying to de-dome. But, I leave them in the gas until the dome has fully lifted off on its own, don't know if that's the root cause there or not. Those wires are embedded firmly in the silicone, and they are awfully fragile.

Yes, they look like hairs…only thinner. I can’t imagine what part of the procedure broke them though, maybe I flung the dome off too vigorously!

Wow - never happened to me before either, flick'n or swish'n maybe...

M-m-maybe I blow, fling, swish harder than I thought…?! :open_mouth:

What’s the brightest stock C8 you know of, Tom? Saw a XM-L2 U3 @ Aliexpress… Page Not Found - Aliexpress.com

[quote=tallboybass]
M-m-maybe I blow, fling, swish harder than I thought…?! :open_mouth: What’s the brightest stock C8 you know of, Tom? Saw a XM-L2 U3 @ Aliexpress… http://www.aliexpress.com/item/NEWEST-ARRIVALS-1800Lumens-UltraFire-C8-CREE-XM-L2-U3-Type-Pure-White-Light-7000K-CCT-LED/932570585.html
[/quote
]

Boy, that's a tuff one. Maybe the LightMalls C8's with the U3 or XXM-L2 U2, I believe (thread on those, but don't think any real lumens measurements). For stock, you'd have to go with a direct drive model - I know LightMalls C8's used to be. The XinTD C8 is great, but amp restricted to 3 amps.

Wouldn’t the XM-L2 U3 be ‘theoretically’ brighter than the XM-L2 U2 or the XM-L U3?

Yes - in theory, but you asked about stock C8's, so, an under-driven XM-L2 U2 will not be as bright as a well drive XML U2. Please check the LightMalls XM-L2 C8 thread - best info there. I'm thinking I read the XML U3 was a dud, and the XM-L2 U2 looked pretty good. The eBay advertised XM-L2 U3 may not be real, not sure. Problem is if no measurements or comparitive beamshots, can't tell.

Well everyone seems quite happy with their lightmalls.com C8’s, that’s for sure!

I feel bad that my first modding of a flashlight went south, but it must be a sign…gonna try not to do that anymore (actually, now that I think about it, my first flashlight modding was grinding the keychain nub off an ITP A3 so it’ll tailstand! :wink: ).

It's like racing - if you never crash, you're not trying hard enough. :D

Well, I really don’t.
And I also don’t act like one solvent is holy, above all others, and anyone who even tries a different one is a bloody heretic.
That position would be surprisingly familiar to you, hm? :stuck_out_tongue:

You said that you did not understand why other people would want to experiment with other solvents.
I tried to show you how gasoline may be a quite inconvenient substance to buy and handle for some people, while other as good solvents might be easy and cheaply available to them.
This concept is really not hard to understand, and if you still don’t, I cannot help you. Sorry.

I think quite a lot people in my area are familiar with those issues. I’m not one of them, I’m in the lucky position to have a properly vented cellar, enabling me to store up to 5 liters of fuel.(yes, this is actually firmly regulated with byelaw)
It might surprise you, but it’s not about me.
I’m thinking of people in a similar situation. After reading posts like that from tolight, they just might find a bottle of Limonene for 3 bucks in the art shop they walk by every day to work and be happy.
If it was for you, that post would not exist because the perfect solvent is already found. You would rather send them on a some km bus drive to the next auto garage.
I’m sorry, but I am really unable to understand the issue.

Please don’t misunderstand me, I’m thankful for this thread and the gasoline methode. Before that I de-domed with heat and/or less potent solvents. Also a straight forward process, but it takes quite some time. It also takes some minute motor skills and a lot of patience to free the die surface but leave the bond wires within it’s silicone bed.
Compared to that, a gasoline bath really is the perfect methode. I just thought it would be in the spirit of this thread to enable others to get comparable results with solvents easy to access.

is it possible to tell whether the wire insulators are made from silicone by looking at them? or are there other tests to find out?

I tried the gasoline method for the first time on 3 emitters. It worked great and all three came out perfectly clean after the alcohol rinse off. Thanks Tom E and the other contributors for this great tip.

One thing though, Its probably not related to the gasoline. The tint of all 3 emitters did not seem to warm up and seemed greenish. Maybe the emitters were that way before. I had not used them in a long time. Is anyone else out here using this method having a similar experience?

Well I've always seen them turn more neutral. Don't know what your tint was to begin with, but I try to use 1A's to 1C's, preferably 1A, better still is a 0D. I haven't seen greenish colors though, but I did accidentally dedome a XM-L2 T6 3C, and wow did it look warm, but I'd call it a rich yellow. Most of my de-domes were XM-L2's though - did a couple of XP-G2's and believe I've seen the same pattern.

I am saddened….apparently I’m the only one who has screwed up the gas dedoming process. Makes me want to try again, but…not, you know? There’s no way I physically touched the emitter, had to be from the flinging or blowing to get remnants off after alcohol swish. Oh well… :frowning: