Acebeam Rider RX titanium poor finish?

I just received an Acebeam Rider RX titanium from Amazon.

Looking at the surface, the titanium finish does not appear uniform. This is my first titanium light and I was wondering if this is normal or should I return it as having a defective finish?




yes, that is their normal “stonewashed” finish.

If you look closely at the photos of the ad where you bought the light, you will see the same irregular finish. It is not a defect. But if you dont like it, return it.

Another light that offers stonewashed Titanium, is the Reylight Pineapple (on right). If you zoom in on the photo you can see it is also irregular:

The light on the left is also Titanium, but not stonewashed.

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I’ve made several lights from Titanium bar stock. Finish on the pieces cut from the same bar is always consistent, usually difficult to even see there are multiple pieces.

The difference in color suggests a different grade of material, of course I have no idea what they use but it’s suggestive… could merely be that parts are finished independently of each other and randomly assembled as compared to mine being finished as one and literally from the same bar.

OCD is a PITA when it comes to these subtle differences, I know! Gives an unsettled feeling instead of delight. But, chances are any replacement would have the same issue. Always a gamble with mass produced products.

Use it, allow it to get some usage character, it will probably blend given some time. :wink:

Or return it and try someone else’s product.

Thanks very much both for the input.

I also bought a rainbow colored stainless steel version.

I really like both for their unique looks and will probably keep them since they were a very good deal.

I’ve been trying to open up the head but it looks pretty well sealed, likely pressed fit so no chance of dedoming or emitter swap.

Probably just glued. Usually they’ll break loose with some heat like from a hair dryer or hot air station.

:wink:

I don’t think it’s that.

The Rider RX only has a single piece of Titanium. It does not have 2 parts screwed together. That line closer to the head is just a groove machined into the titanium sleeve. It’s not a join of 2 parts.

That said, I also have a Rider RX Titanium. It looks exactly the same as the one in your picture, and yes the different colors in the texture is normal. That’s just how stonewashed titanium looks. I have other stonewashed titanium lights from other manufacturers and they all look like that.

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That’s good to hear. I’m not totally sold on the higher cost and I actually prefer the rainbow stainless steel version.

Too bad about emitter not being easily accessible. I tried to unscrew again last night with some strap wrenches but to no avail. I have the Acebeam Poklit which I dedomed. The tint became much warmer with less green.

I have better luck with glued bezels, by warming up the light so the glue gets soft…

there are many ways to do that:
dipping the bezel in a cup of boiled water for a few seconds
run a high output until the bezel feels warm
put the light in the sunshine for an hour…
stand the bezel on a hotplate set to 100C…

If, indeed, it’s a unibody construction then there will surely be a light engine threaded in from the tail, or a threaded bezel, or both.

I’ve taken apart a LOT of lights! There’s a way…

The Rider RX is a bit unusual in its construction.

The Titanium portion consists of an outer sleeve. The sleeve is designed to shift sideways then slide in and out. The base of the clip mount slides in a track on the sleeve to keep everything in place.

Underneath the sleeve is the actual aluminum light. Think of a Rider RX as an Acebeam Pokelit AA flashlight with an exterior sliding sleeve added. Plus a few other minor differences to keep everything in place.

I haven’t tried disassembling mine, but the bezel appears to be screwed onto the pill and there does appear to be threadlocker.

Acebeam doesn’t always use threadlocker, but with this design I’m not surprised. Without the threadlocker there’s a chance the bezel would unscrew rather than the head coming off during an attempted battery change.

Interesting.