Mineral oil based industrial coolants (semi-synthetics) definitely tend to eat some types of rubber and plastic. Possibly avoid. I’m all about coconut oil though. I rub some on my face after a shower and I look moist and beautiful. Well, moist anyway.
Some O-rings are neoprene (generally black), which is petroleum based. If you use petroleum based lubes it will eat them up.
Silicone is more resistant to in general. An appropriate silicone based lubricant will do fine on either.
Metal? Mostly no big deal unless you have some reason to believe you have dissimilar metal oxidation possibilities (probably rare in lights). Use whatever you want to, but if you already have a decent silicone lube that will be just fine.
So, for me, straight silicone lube. It’s also the most durable thing I’ve found for lubing those crappy little fans we have in some of our chargers (Opus, Accucel-6, etc.). Lasts longer than even a very good oil.
I’ve heard that silicone oil is bad for silicone O-rings. Here’s a site that indicates the same thing:
http://www.efunda.com/designstandards/oring/oring_chemical.cfm?SM=none&SC=Silicone%20Oils#mat
What kind of weird torch ( tail cap battery access ) has ano on the tail cap threads ? Torches where the head is removed for battery access I.E. Courui, there is no ano there either.
Another thing is, surely any kind of lube acts as an insulator, rather than conductor of power. So surely lube, as well as oxidisation / grime, could both hinder performance ?
A big +1 on this. It’s expensive and depending on which type you use you can be getting the same lube they use in Tomahawk cruise missiles. I used some of the gpl206 on my edc eagtac d25c ti. And it made a huge difference. Wont use anything else now. Smoothest threads I’ve ever felt. Sound like a salesman i know but its won me over.
So not many folks using the silicon grease from the flashlight makers then…. interesting.
Dow Corning high temp silicone lube or high vacuum lube, both are long lasting and you only need a tiny bit to lube threads. Both are water resistant and won’t attack O-rings.
is it possible to post links to China shops that sell the good stuff, all I can find is sillicone grease.
Would like to buy super-lube but the term is too generic so my China shop search results are more focussed on lubricants for other pleasures then flashlights 
(though I saw a good deal for lubricated condoms, those would make a torch waterproof and lube it at the same time lol)
Thanks Hoop. Makes sense. I don’t know if I have actually ever used mineral oil on flashlight threads as it is liquid at room temp. I use MO on my knives and like it a lot for that.
The tailcap threads on my Olight S10 and my nitecore p12 both are anodized. It you can lockout the light by loosening the tailcap, it’s becacause the threads are anodized. If the anodizing wears through, you won’t be able to lock them out.
This is true, and I dig the lube on ano for that particular application, in the case of those lights the lube isn’t interfering with current conductivity.
And isn’t that why we clean our threads anyway ?
I’m still a bit miffed as to why any lube is used at all.
As soon as I decided a while back to have no lube on my threads, I’m fairly certain I noticed an increase in output.
Does lube help keep the O-rings from wearing out faster ?
Does it help with waterproofing ?
It does make threads quieter when installing cap or head.
I’ve lost O-rings on lights without lube. That’s why I use it. And I sleep better at night.
Also lubing and cleaning threads give me quality time with me lights.
Oh, and I have never gotten into any trouble or hurt, lubing my lights. So I think it’s safe.
My wife gives me time to myself while I am lubing my lights.
I like it too, well after reading that lirgiim grease is not in the very good range it is on hold awaiting China shop that sells super-lube hint hint
And on the poorly threaded SRKs it is more then needed.
Is it Krytox the lube you are all talking about? “Kryptox” doesn’t get a hit on google, Who sells it at the best price?
http://www.amazon.com/DuPont-Krytox-GPL205-Grease-Additives/dp/B00NRPXDOK
Am I the only one that uses Teflon tape on the threads as a dry lube? I find it works great on twisty lights like my maratac cr123 and the magnetic base on the lumintop tool to prevent accidental battery drain in my pocket, and helps tighten up the thread engagement to the point they can be used as momentary on lights. As an added bonus the threads are butter smooth, and they don’t pick up dust like wet lube does.
That’s not a bad idea at all……I bet it would seal watertight or pretty close anyway. Just ditch the o-rings and tape your thread with teflon tape. Get the really thick stuff meant for gas lines for the really poor threaded SRKs to fill in the sloppy tolerances.
The chances of removing some grease on threads causing a noticeable light output difference is negligible at best. It could however be tested quite easily….if I had a light meter I would but I’m still working on that. Lube just keeps your o-rings from shredding. Like on my s10, I lock it out every time I put it in my pocket, so without lube the o-ring wouldn’t fare so well. If you only unscrew the tailcap once a month lube or not it really won’t matter.
Then why on earth clean threads ? I would pick that oxidization would be less of a hindrance to current flow, than lube. But it seems people are fanatical about deoxidizing the aluminum threads.
Actually, it’s just the opposite. Lube won’t prevent thread to thread contact. Natural oxidation and anodizing do the same thing to aluminum. It makes the surface hard and won’t allow conduction.
Well, no source in China shops for Super-lube, so I am using the biological coconut oil we have in the kitchen. works like a charm and as stated before, a little too much is no problem, I have really soft hands now 