Forgive me if this has been addressed already. I am lubricating the threads on my flashlight body/endcaps with white grease (lithium) . I've considered silicon grease, but that is in short supply. What do you folks use and what's your feedback on white grease? Thanks. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I recommend the commercial and relatively expensive silicone grease, because whatever else you put, it might damage the o-ring. Somewhere I've heard that Maglite is the only company that recommend putting vaseline on the threads, but I haven't tried it yet. So, whatever you put greasy, will make the threads move better, but the o-ring might get damaged over time.
Well 'expensive' is an odd word for a lubricant you use this little of. I'd really just buy a little bit of decent silicon grease, it will last you a lifetime if only used for flashlight o-rings and threads. If you are concerned about price/gallon and you actually want bucketloads in reserve just get a barrel of tire-mounting grease from any truck hardware supply store. I myself just use whatever i manage to find first in the garage. I've used vaseline, lithium grease, molybdenum paste, bearing grease, magical chain lube, wd40... i honestly all does ok. Copper grease doesn't work too well, but that might have to do with the fact that its a mounting/anti-seize paste with particles and not an actual grease.
When lubricating aluminum I always avoid lithium grease. Lithium grease can absorb salts and water which can cause it to break down and release the lithium. Lithium being corrosive to aluminum its best to avoid it in this application IMO. That being said, its just for a flash light with modern alloys and a low wear situation you're probably ok. However Since I deal with high end and vintage fly reels, I'm always cognizant of lithium corroding aluminum.
Lithium grease works well if one or both of the threads is bare aluminum. Pretty much any lubricant works well if both threads are anodized aluminum. You don't really need to worry about lithium grease corroding anything, because the lithium is bound-up in a chemical compound and is no longer reactive. That being said, *any* kind of grease might not be the best lubricant for something that moves at high-speed like a fly reel. Most O-rings nowadays are silicone or nitrile rubber. Unless you know the O-ring isn't silicone, don't use silicone lube, it will damage silicone O-rings. Silicone is immune to pretty much everything...except more silicone. Since my main hobby nowadays is RC, I've been testing AquaCraft Speed Grease on my aluminum flashlights, because I have multiple jars of the stuff. It's a thin grease, and it's designed to bind-up water so the water can't prevent the grease from providing proper lubrication. It's been working well for me; I think I like the feel of it better than lithium grease.
