Maglite water test

[black bear]

Because I built MEGALIGHTS out of common Maglites, I have heard concerns about the water resistance of the Maglite. (Not in the THR Forum)
When somebody printed the story that he had to dry the insides of one after a rain, I set to demonstrate what I knew all along.
As a watchmaker for 40 years I know what good seals can take, I am not saying that this is a dive light, but getting the inside wet after a rain is preposterous.




Notice the water level and that the light is on.
This one took a bath for 20 minutes and come out completely dry inside, anybody with enough money to buy a Maglite can do this test.
Respectfully
black bear

 

[DigMe]

Who did you make watches for? Just curious. I bet that takes a lot of patience!

brad cook

 

[Bwana John]

The only thing that ever got the inside of my Maglites "wet" was battery acid from leaking batterys, but I dont take them diving.

Have you tried quantifying how much external pressure it takes to flood one? I would be intrested to see how many atmospheres it can actually take, Im guessing less than 1.1 ATM
What about putting the light in the freezer then putting it in hot water?

When I look at how my dive lights are sealed they are not that different than the Maglights, who knows with a little silicone grease on the O-rings the Maglites might do much better than expected.

If anybody wants to send me their MagLite I would be glad to torture test it SCUBA diving and post my results

 

[birddog]

While wood duck hunting and setting decoys in the pre-dawn darkness, I dropped my maglite into the pond. It was in five-feet of water, but since the light was on, I was able to work it to the bank using the toe of my boot. Took about 5 minutes of inching it along the muck to retrieve it. That light lasted for years, until I lost it.

 

[black bear]

DigMe,

Watchmaker often refers to who repairs watches, but yes I also was set up to make parts using a lathe and wheel and pinions cutting machines and other goodies.
I worked for Jules Jurgensen and Vacheron Constantin and for myself repairing and restoring antique pockets watches.

Bwana John,

Aww, man I wanted to gave you a qualifying answer, but as you can see on the picture my Maglite doesn't fit into my waterproof tester (it is made to test watches).
John, I am not advocating the Maglite as a dive light by any extend, I only set up to prove to the guy in the other Forum that they can be very water resistant to the extent of taking submerged twenty minutes under 3 inches of water, and that his clain that they can't take a rainfall was false.

In my experience Princeton Tech specialty light are very trustworthy underwater, I have not tested the bigger models but the Surge with 115 lumens and the PT-40 with 32 lumens are my favorites.




birddog,

I would have like to be there in that pond and setting decoys, I am a big fan of waterfowl hunting.
best regards
black bear

 

[DigMe]

You could always stick a minimag in that waterproof tester...maybe.

brad cook

 

[GRB]

Maybe they are making them differently now-a-days. They are not (or were not originally) made to be waterproof (nor explosion proof). I have had a few that have gotten wet inside after just a brief dunking. I am especially talking about the mini-mags but have also had one or two larger ones get wet inside. Then again mine did not look like yours - ie: like it just was unwrapped - mine had all taken a beating before getting dunked. I have been through literaly at least a hundred of them in the last 20 to 25 years or so since I first started using them while in the BP; most of them have stayed dry inside. Chances are if soneone's got wet inside during a rain it was because the end cap was not screwed on tightly.

 

[black bear]

Hi Glenn,
We are close, I live near Stony Brook, Port Jefferson area, get one of my flashlights and will open a path in the Long Island Expresway!!

I just wanted to point out that if you unscrew the tailcap just half a turn, you interrup the electrical path and the flashlight will not work.
It is the technique I recommend my customers to use when they are near childrens to put on "safe" the flashlight, as my MEGALIGHTS are so powerful that can temporarily blind.

Best regards
black bear

 

[GRB]

Black Bear,

Pretty close depending on traffic! I'd like to see a light that could open up traffic on the LIE - sounds like a laser.

Do you have a webpage on those lights?

All the best,
Glenn B

 

[black bear]

Glenn,

You could visit my thread here in Buy/Sell/Trade Accessories, here is the link:
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=125447&page=3

My most popular is the MAG951 built on a Maglite 3 "D" it is rechargeable and output 951 lumens
Thank you
Best regards
black bear