Caerus Posted March 17, 2014 Share Hi, I'm hoping someone can't point me in the right direction. I'm needing to find a place that sells silicon seals/gaskets in Cape Town? The reason being, is that I was told by Magic-Shine that the lights battery I purchased from them was dead after only being used less then a handful of times and that I needed to get a new battery. Not one to just accept this, I took apart the light to find that one wire that required some soldering. So soldering done and the light is working 100% again. This is where the fun starts, the silicon gasket that is in the top & bottom caps of the housing seem to be a bit stretched and I cannot get them to fit, I've tried everything but to no avail. Short of putting in a bead of silicon in with a glue gun, is it not possible to buy a generic silicon seal/ gasket from somewhere in Cape Town? I am now of the opinion that you will find that a lot of these lights stop working due too just a faulty wire, and that because the units are sealed, we get told to just replace, which to me seems pretty excessive for a loose wire and all that is needed is a new gasket. Nothing fancy going on inside of these housings. Many Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
droo Posted March 17, 2014 Share Try putting it in the freezer for half an hour, it may just shrink it far enough to get it back in. Otherwise a normal o-ring of the same cross section might work, but that depends on how it's meant to fit in - I can't see from the photo. You have more chance of finding rocking horse poo than tracking down that exact gasket. Skylark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caerus Posted March 17, 2014 Share Try putting it in the freezer for half an hour, it may just shrink it far enough to get it back in. Otherwise a normal o-ring of the same cross section might work, but that depends on how it's meant to fit in - I can't see from the photo. You have more chance of finding rocking horse poo than tracking down that exact gasket. Was hoping to be able to get a round one and force it in. It needs to fit into a small groove in the plastic part. Was hoping to find a one stop gasket/ o-ring shop in Paarden Eiland? Edited March 17, 2014 by Caerus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skylark Posted March 17, 2014 Share Why would the seal just not fit right after dis-assembly?I reckon there's something you not seeing, maybe leave it for a few hours and then come back at it.I have stripped so many things and when this kind of situation comes up its 99% of the time user error, no reason the seal should not fit right after it was fitting correctly or if there is a reason then find out why its not fitting, highly doubt its the seal persihing or stretching. Trust me I learnt the lesson again for the umpteenth time a while back with my fork cartridge, rule is never be impatient or assume things! But failing it coming right I reckon gluing it all back together with silicon is a good solution, this is not something you need to open often if ever anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g4mb1t Posted March 17, 2014 Share Had some silicone gaskets made to size at Wright Seals and PlasticsTel: 021 511 1337. Caerus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caerus Posted March 17, 2014 Share Had some silicone gaskets made to size at Wright Seals and PlasticsTel: 021 511 1337.Awesome, I think they are around the corner from me. As to why they not fitting, I'm not sure, they just seem to have stretched, and when trying to fit the o-ring back into the groove they came out of I seem to have an excess amount of gasket that sticks out, no amount of fiddling about will help get it in. I've even had two other people try it out, and they have the same problem. Not sure if silicon o-rings are prone to stretch either. I'll try stick them into the freezer for a bit and see if that helps. Otherwise not sure how else to get them to fit nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caerus Posted March 17, 2014 Share If you look at the attached pic, you can kind of make out a small groove where the o-ring kind of squashes into, but as you squash/clip it into that groove you get to a put where there is just an excessive amount of o-ring to still push into the groove, which seems near damn impossible. I've laid both 0-rings on top of each other, and they both appear to be the same size. Maybe I am missing something here, maybe I'm missing having child labour with small fingers to get it into place Edited March 17, 2014 by Caerus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
droo Posted March 17, 2014 Share Was hoping to be able to get a round one and force it in. It needs to fit into a small groove in the plastic part. Was hoping to find a one stop gasket/ o-ring shop in Paarden Eiland? Maitland close enough? Coastal Seals, 285 Voortrekker rd, in the complex with Mr Bolt and Nut on the corner. Caerus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skylark Posted March 17, 2014 Share If you look at the attached pic, you can kind of make out a small groove where the o-ring kind of squashes into, but as you squash/clip it into that groove you get to a put where there is just an excessive amount of o-ring to still push into the groove, which seems near damn impossible. I've laid both 0-rings on top of each other, and they both appear to be the same size. Maybe I am missing something here, maybe I'm missing having child labour with small fingers to get it into place I don't see any reason for them both to not fit, also silicon is not prone to stretching if at all, you will be surprised it may all pull together when you tighten up the screws, it may have some kind of compression design to squeeze the seals to improve water resistance. Can't you phone magicshine and ask them/their workshop? They must have opened these things countless times, they'll know either how to put it back or that the seal is not reuseable. Or google it! Edited March 17, 2014 by Skylark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caerus Posted March 17, 2014 Share I don't see any reason for them both to not fit, also silicon is not prone to stretching if at all, you will be surprised it may all pull together when you tighten up the screws, it may have some kind of compression design to squeeze the seals to improve water resistance. Can't you phone magicshine and ask them/their workshop? They must have opened these things countless times, they'll know either how to put it back or that the seal is not reuseable. Or google it! I tried the Magic Shine route, and they were as helpful as a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. According to the agents here, they never open the units up to look in side apparently to do with the units being sealed from the factory and they do no after service back-up. They pretty much just tell you sorry it's broken and to buy a new one. That is why I opened it up to begin with, I wanted to see for myself if it could be fixed, as long as I can sort the o-ring out, it will be as good as new. Seems a bit of a money making racket to me, and an environmental disaster as well, just tossing aside batteries like this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
droo Posted March 17, 2014 Share I tried the Magic Shine route, and they were as helpful as a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. According to the agents here, they never open the units up to look in side apparently to do with the units being sealed from the factory and they do no after service back-up. They pretty much just tell you sorry it's broken and to buy a new one. That is why I opened it up to begin with, I wanted to see for myself if it could be fixed, as long as I can sort the o-ring out, it will be as good as new. Seems a bit of a money making racket to me, and an environmental disaster as well, just tossing aside batteries like this Yup. That's pretty much why I do what I do - fixing stuff that can be fixed instead of just tossing it in the bin and buying a new one. Much the same as why I'd rather spend 4k on a Hope light than a grand on a POS from China. But while I know I'm in the minority here, it's good to know I'm not alone... Caerus and Skylark 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilipV Posted March 17, 2014 Share Mail Hannes at Extreme-Lights. Explain the situation, maybe he can help you in the right directon.Sounds like Magicshine are one of the fly by night operators who have no technical clue, but saw a gap in the market and pumped some capital into it and made some sales. They couldn't be arsed with backup as they already made the sale and want to push more. This is where someone with technical knowledge come in handy. My mate is an electronic engineer and between him and some of the techies at my old work my light has been fixed twice. First it was the soldering in the battery that came loose (lasted nearly three years, after some resoldering going again) and secondly it was a wire in the lamp itself that needed attention. My light was brought way back in 2008 (from deal extreme) and in the meantime I've gotten a second battery pack from Extreme Lights. Hannes has a wealth of knowledge on these lights. (himself an Engineer) okay, shameless ExtremeLight punt over, hope you get sorted with the seals. There has to be a way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caerus Posted March 17, 2014 Share Mail Hannes at Extreme-Lights. Explain the situation, maybe he can help you in the right directon.Sounds like Magicshine are one of the fly by night operators who have no technical clue, but saw a gap in the market and pumped some capital into it and made some sales. They couldn't be arsed with backup as they already made the sale and want to push more.This is where someone with technical knowledge come in handy. My mate is an electronic engineer and between him and some of the techies at my old work my light has been fixed twice. First it was the soldering in the battery that came loose (lasted nearly three years, after some resoldering going again) and secondly it was a wire in the lamp itself that needed attention. My light was brought way back in 2008 (from deal extreme) and in the meantime I've gotten a second battery pack from Extreme Lights. Hannes has a wealth of knowledge on these lights. (himself an Engineer) okay, shameless ExtremeLight punt over, hope you get sorted with the seals. There has to be a way. I've only had good dealings with Hannes, and have made a couple purchases from him. I'll give him a call in the morning I just can't get over the, just buy a new battery attitude I will say this though, I did recently buy a carbon bar from the same people and that went fine, and went out of there way to help me, just seems after sales service doesn't apply with the lighting part of things Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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