Last summer my D1k uv took a quick dip into Lake Superior. Almost instantly water got through the o-ring on the lens/filter and into the head. It was quick and it was dried out before there was any damage. Rock-picking for Lake Superior sodalites involves walking along the shoreline and even with best of intentions, puts the lights at risk of water exposure. I’ve recently built up a far more expensive UV light and would like to better protect both of these lights.
What are some options? Has anybody successfully done this?
First thought is to carefully silicone between switch boot - tailcap and lens - bezel.
Maybe some kind of epoxy instead of silicone?
Just an assumption: greased threads and o-rings are probably good enough for body threads.
Check every o-ring and make sure you feel noticeable resistance when you screw them closed. Sometimes flashlight manufacturers use too-small o-rings in their lights. If you find any o-ring where you feel little or no resistance, replace the o-ring with a thicker o-ring.
Also make sure to lube up every o-ring with Nyogel.
Naw, some guy threatened me on the street last week, and I nailed him right in the melon with a roll of plumbing tape, and he cried like Nancy Kerrigan.
In most cases, O-rings do their job well enough for quick dips, unless someone really f’s it up. I’ve seen glass-against-bezel, and an O-ring between glass and reflector pushing forward on the glass. Like, wut? Even an astute 6yo could figure out that water will seep right through the glass/bezel connection, especially under any pressure at all.
Anyhoo, if you want to go near-hermetic, yeah, you can smoosh some RTV between glass and bezel, and between switch-boot and tailcap, but let them dry and especially outgas for weeks so the acetic-acid vapors don’t do Bad Things to the innards. If the light has a sideswitch, forget it. Disassembly will be a nightmare, reassembly not at all guaranteed, and even then, molded TPE might not even stick to the RTV if it’s got mold-release still on it.
Even the best diving lights just have double- if not triple O-rings at the joint, and nothing on the threads. Thick grease would work, as long as it doesn’t attack said O-rings.
But not much will help if the bugger’s not screwed down tightly enough. If you’re not terribly interested in opening it back up, you can threadlock everything on it except for where you crack it open to change/charge the battery.
When I was a child I had a two AA plastic twisty light, that thing was tough as old boots and very waterproof as it was effectively a plastic bottle with a lamp inside. I wish I still had it.
something was not right with your particular light, cuz quick dip should not have caused water come in that easy. take it apart inspect o rings and surface that they press against, use silicone lube for o rings. make sure it is screwed tight, threads do not need to be watertight, o rings should be doing the waterproofing.
that could be a possibility, in that case you just need thicker o-ring. i use mcmaster carr for o-rings, they sell all sizes imaginable, in different softness grades and materials, but it is up to you to get measurement right.
