Ox Gard does I think two things, seals the connection, prevents CU Al issues.
http://www.amazon.com/Gardner-Bender-OX-800-Anti-Oxidant-Compound/dp/B000BOCBCA
The perfect safeguard for aluminum-to-aluminum, aluminum-to-copper wire connections and aluminum conduit joints.
Prevent oxidation
For all aluminum wire leads
Anti-oxidant compound
Guards against oxidation
Improves conductivity; penetrates aluminum oxide to maintain inter-strand and inter-conductor current paths
Produces a cooler connection
Prevents corrosion of aluminum conduit joints
White, pure, nontoxic, non-reactive, non-flammable, long-lasting, fluorinated synthetic greases
Safe for chemical and oxygen service; provides radiation resistance
Maintaining lubrication in extreme heat, under heavy load and in harsh chemicals
Non-reactive to harsh chemicals, acids, steam or moisture
Non-reactive to all typical elastomers, plastics, most metals and process chemicals
Available with anti-rust protection
NSF H1-certified for incidental food contact grease grades are available
Operate in high temperature and under extreme pressure
Water-resistant oils for food machinery applications also available
Long-lasting lubrication for “filled-for-life” applications
I’m not sure Camco makes much of anything, just repackages for the RV market, look close and that tube is GB Ox Gard OX-100 with a different label and higher price.
No doubt, I prefer Copper Based, Thomas & Betts “Kopr-Kote” for electrical contacts, the price is steep as the container is large… Industrial members may find it in the tool room.
That’s why I linked the Camco stuff.
Agreed, I suggest only using clear Silicone Grease for non-Silicone O-rings {Black}.
it is also marketed at Dielectric Grease.
In my industry, Silicone O-Rings were usually Purple or Green.
Black o-rings were typicall Buna-N material.
I found Kopr-Shield in 8oz on ebay for about $21 shipped, but can’t remember now why I delayed buying some. I think its primarily designed for a copper/copper connection, where Ox Gard is made for Copper / Aluminum connections.
Dow 111 or I think its Dupont Krytox is the best for orings, but a cheap alternative is pool valve lube from any pool service place.
BTW Kopr-shield is petroleum based, not silicone grease.
Not sure how popular these lights are, but finally got to modding 2 more of these. On both, I did the sanding down of the slider to increase the width of full flood, and increase lumens output in that mode. Also used 24 gauge wires.
On one, I tried resistor modding (added piggyback'd resistors) but didn't really help much, but added an XM-L2 U2 1D on Noctigon, and it gets 343 lumens OTF now at 1.33A on a SANYO 14500, but only 3.5 kcd with it's much bigger square LED image.
On the other, I noticed there's a resistor the - LED wire is connected to. I wired the - LED wire to the other side of the resistor, effectively removing it from the circuit. On this light I used an XP-G2 R5 2B on a filed down Noctigon. So I got 2.05A now, 323 lumens OTF and 8.75 kcd (75 lumens on an Eneloop). The elimination of the resistor resulted in a 1.2A to 2.05A bump.
Conclusions
sanding down the slider is a definite, easy mod to do on this light to make it a really nice flooder
if you want increased brightness in flood, use a big dye emitter like a XM-L2
to resistor mod for more power, simplest I've even come across: just move the - wire to the other side of the resistor it's soldered to
the resistor mods I did on the XM-L2 version looks like it caused it to be a "next mode memory" light. Not sure if it behaved that way before, but the other 2 lights don't behave this way at all - they revert back to high mode. It's so annoying, I think I'll have to tear it apart, back out the changes.
Still haven't seen any switch problems, though these are not getting much use. I do use Nyogel on the tailcap threads though. Certainly the tailcap looks like a cheap sealed in type, just like a SK68, so impossible or very involved to fix. I've been thinking to get in to a switch like that, just need to drill a hole to the plastic to get a tool in to pop it out - maybe it's that easy. If you need to replace plastic parts, wonder if the new 3D printers would be make it a whole lot easier now.
I do really like the form factor of this light - much more pocket-able than a SK68, easier to replace batteries, and the flood mode is impressive now. Overall it seems to be cheaper, flimsier than a SK68, but that's part of the deal of being smaller and lighter.
Now with a R330 (0.33 ohm) resistor on the one next to the - LED wire, I'm getting 2.13A measured on the XM-L2 one. Result is 462 lumens OTF on a SANYO 14500.
This is the slider sanded down:
Close up of the driver with a resistor mod a 1 Mohm on the cap:
Just ran the XP-G2 one for like 5 mins and wasn't too bad. The whole body gets warm - of course with the slider, you can't really feel the head directly so could be much hotter... Still, I was surprised because you can feel warmth quickly, in 30 secs, but in 5 minutes, never got really hot.
I'm having trouble picturing that many lumens coming out of such a small light. That has to be a kick, even if it is for a short time. Is that the stock driver (not counting your resister mod) in the above pictures Tom?
Yes, stock board. 15mm drivers are far and few between. Well, 2.1A - XM-L2/copper can certainly do it. I've gotten over 1,100 lumens out of a XM-L2/copper in a Convoy S3 - higher ramps, but for 2.1A in a S5 EDC, think I got over 600 lumens. Of course lumens goes down greatly from full flood to zoom - full flood is high but full zoom is much much lower. That happens with every zoomie I've worked with - probably 8-12 or so different models. I've played with various optics in the S5 EDC hosts and found the bumpy type of TIR does very well, but zoomie in flood mode have a fairly high loss, but the slider mod on this Zoom AA gave it a nice bump by getting the emitter closer to the optic, reducing loss's.
The size really doesn't matter much for short-term lumens - an 18mm reflector does very close to a 55+mm reflector for total lumens - it's all about heat, runtime, throw that differs.
Also, I've gotten 500 lumens out of a BLF mini, which is very small for a 16340 size light.
Yeah, I left out the qualifier aspheric. They do have a good amount of loss, especially with a plastic lens. I got a glass lens that fits this light, but I haven't really played with it yet. I'll try to check it out for focal length and such and report back on it tonight.
Thanks for the info Tom.
EDIT: I can't find the lens I spoke of above. Hopefully, it will turn up soon.
For those seeing/getting the flicker, did you narrow it down to the tailcap switch? Wondering...
What I'm seeing is flickering that starts are 30 secs, then occurs periodically up til about 3 minutes, than happens steady at times, but not harsh flickers - very slight high/low transitions. I'm only testing one light right now - have one other to test, but both are resistor modded.
I'll rig up something to wire the battery at the tail so I can eliminate or isolate the tailcap as a cause.
I bypassed the switch on mine for a minute or so and it didn't flicker. Popped the switch back on and it flickered constantly, or intermittently with violent punches to the tailcap region. Fully stock, barely used.
Oh boy, thanks! Hhmm... Think'n may have to dig into the switch, but I'll test mine out first. Looks like that plastic around the spring can be pried or drilled out, after that, who knows what will be there. That spring is really flimsy, probably just sitting against the switch.
I have 3 and one is having the problem with the switch,the spring is loose,I found
a video and show how remove the switch for the SK68, I am going to try but I am
going to use a 1/4 ” socket, I will hit it hard from the top, I hope it works
The Cap of the Nestle Pure Life water bottle 16.9 FL OZ is perfect, when you look inside the cap you can see a second circle that is the part that fit the head.
You have to cut that circle with heavy scissors or a knife (be careful). once is done
you have to push slowly until is on place it will stay very firm on the head, you can use sandpaper to make it smooth,you will get a very soft light.
I have removed the switch on one of mine. The rubber thing over the button was not seated properly, and I pulled it out. When I couldn’t put it back in, I put something round over the switch (I think it was a bit holder of a screw driver), and just pushed it out. I didn’t take pictures, but it was just 1 plastic part.
