GTifosi
05-27-12, 15:18
After getting a TLR-1s I was sort of annoyed at the way the rocker switch felt compared to the rest of the light.
Sort of loose and wobbly for want of a better description.
After fiddiling about because such things annoy me, I've come up with what I think is a decent solution.
1) Remove the switch lever center screw using a 1/16" allen wrench
2)Take an AR-15/M16 extractor o-ring and put it in the center hole of the rocker switch. The fit is just about as pretty close to perfect as one would desire.
3) Using the backing washer for a 1/8" pop rivet, aluminum will do, put the mounting screw through washer then through the o-ring and reassemble the screw. You'll likely have to hold the washer on center until the screw is tightened enough for the flange of the screw head to keep it in place.
The screw is long enough to have a goodly amount of thread engagement remaining with the washer present.
Use caution when retightening the mounting screw. It is a small diameter metal screw with agressive fine pitch threading going into a thin walled plastic small bore hole. This makes it very easy to strip if you lean on it. Snug with a 1/16" allen head jewelers screwdriver is adiquate.
Useful tip: instead of just running the screw into the hole, you can find the original threads that are there by getting the screw lined up like you are going to tighten, but instead go in the loosen direction with gentle inward pressure being applied.
When the threads of the screw match up with the threads in the hole, there will be a small feeling and/or sound of a 'click' as the 1st thread of each pop into alignment with each other.
Net result of o-ring and washer install will be the switch lever feeling much more substantially mounted as the outer washer gives far more support to the fulcrum and center section of the 'arms' than the factory screw alone can, along with the o-ring supporting the pot nub from rocking as a result of switch lever leverage in any direction. Basically it locks the lever to pot coupling tighter and gaskets it.
I'm fairly certain the o-ring will also help with keeping water out or changing the immersion depth the light is already capable of as its a snug fit, but not so much that the return spring(s) for the lever are effected.
The factory 'seal' is pretty much just a glob of dielectric grease in the hole of the housing where the pot and lever couple and the above helps keep potential gaps around the hole in the switch cover more adiquately sealed by virtue of the lever not flexing and having more direct pressure in the edge area of the hole becuase of how/where the washer presses down as opposed just a small amount of the center with the screw alone.
The lamp bezel and battery cover switch are the only other points at which water can ingress that I'm aware of, and those are both already factory equipped with rubber gaskets.
I'm not going to jump into the deep end of the pool to find out if it actually does effect it, but common sense and a bit of mechanical know how would indicate that it should be an improvement to some degree.
I believe the modification should work with other TLR series lights, but don't have any on hand to actually confirm.
Hope this is of use to someone out there.
Sort of loose and wobbly for want of a better description.
After fiddiling about because such things annoy me, I've come up with what I think is a decent solution.
1) Remove the switch lever center screw using a 1/16" allen wrench
2)Take an AR-15/M16 extractor o-ring and put it in the center hole of the rocker switch. The fit is just about as pretty close to perfect as one would desire.
3) Using the backing washer for a 1/8" pop rivet, aluminum will do, put the mounting screw through washer then through the o-ring and reassemble the screw. You'll likely have to hold the washer on center until the screw is tightened enough for the flange of the screw head to keep it in place.
The screw is long enough to have a goodly amount of thread engagement remaining with the washer present.
Use caution when retightening the mounting screw. It is a small diameter metal screw with agressive fine pitch threading going into a thin walled plastic small bore hole. This makes it very easy to strip if you lean on it. Snug with a 1/16" allen head jewelers screwdriver is adiquate.
Useful tip: instead of just running the screw into the hole, you can find the original threads that are there by getting the screw lined up like you are going to tighten, but instead go in the loosen direction with gentle inward pressure being applied.
When the threads of the screw match up with the threads in the hole, there will be a small feeling and/or sound of a 'click' as the 1st thread of each pop into alignment with each other.
Net result of o-ring and washer install will be the switch lever feeling much more substantially mounted as the outer washer gives far more support to the fulcrum and center section of the 'arms' than the factory screw alone can, along with the o-ring supporting the pot nub from rocking as a result of switch lever leverage in any direction. Basically it locks the lever to pot coupling tighter and gaskets it.
I'm fairly certain the o-ring will also help with keeping water out or changing the immersion depth the light is already capable of as its a snug fit, but not so much that the return spring(s) for the lever are effected.
The factory 'seal' is pretty much just a glob of dielectric grease in the hole of the housing where the pot and lever couple and the above helps keep potential gaps around the hole in the switch cover more adiquately sealed by virtue of the lever not flexing and having more direct pressure in the edge area of the hole becuase of how/where the washer presses down as opposed just a small amount of the center with the screw alone.
The lamp bezel and battery cover switch are the only other points at which water can ingress that I'm aware of, and those are both already factory equipped with rubber gaskets.
I'm not going to jump into the deep end of the pool to find out if it actually does effect it, but common sense and a bit of mechanical know how would indicate that it should be an improvement to some degree.
I believe the modification should work with other TLR series lights, but don't have any on hand to actually confirm.
Hope this is of use to someone out there.