Any TW4 fans anymore?

[smokinbasser]

I still have my TW4 and play lego lights once in a while. The folks at the late tactical wearhouse made sure each L4 head would work with just one 123 cell before shipping them out to flashaholics. I really hope the extra goodies he sent out wasn't the straw that broke the camels back. Even though there are many more lights with much higher lumens. I wear the surefire Tee shirts quite a bit and the tactical (winkwink) pens are in my franklin planner and one on my dopp kit for my many stays in the local VA hospital.

 

[fyrstormer]

It looks like a nice light. I've seen the KL4 heads for sale various places, and considered getting one, because the idea of a small Surefire LED light that *doesn't* use a TIR optic is kind of a novelty to me...I didn't realize they're ten years old now. That's quite a bit older than I would've guessed. Are they regulated or do they rely on the flat voltage curve of CR123 primaries to maintain constant output?

 

[BenChiew]

Is there a way to tell if the KL4 is a TW4 by just looking at it?

 

[Illum]

yep, if the serial has an A prefix and uses a Luxeon V LED, its a TW4 compatible KL4

 

[BenChiew]

yep, if the serial has an A prefix and uses a Luxeon V LED, its a TW4 compatible KL4

Thanks. It seems that all the LuxV heads I have seen thus far are A prefix.
Is the TW4 KL4 a minority?

 

[Illum]

It may be eventually. Though the new SSC L4s haven't won high marks here, for one thing they broke the 17670 compatibility and for another the output/runtime is behind several other lights that costs less then the price of the L4.

 

[BenChiew]

Do you mean that the last SSC P4 L4 can't be powered with a single 17670?
I sold the SSCP4 without testing if it will take a single rechargeable.
I am glad I still have the LuxV. That I know will power on. But hate the fact that it ran really hot.

 

[angelofwar]

Do you mean that the last SSC P4 L4 can't be powered with a single 17670?
I sold the SSCP4 without testing if it will take a single rechargeable.
I am glad I still have the LuxV. That I know will power on. But hate the fact that it ran really hot.

If you think the Lux-V KL4 was hot on one cell, you should see how hot it got on two...I left it on for awhile when we had a power outage in Iraq...nearly burnt my hand when I when to grab it to turn it off.

 

[BenChiew]

If you think the Lux-V KL4 was hot on one cell, you should see how hot it got on two...I left it on for awhile when we had a power outage in Iraq...nearly burnt my hand when I when to grab it to turn it off.

AoW.
Thanks for the heads up. This is one light that can't be handed over to a newbie.

 

[easilyled]

I think one of the best upgrades to a KL4 can be seen here performed by darkzero.

The MC-E can be wired 2S2P like the original luxeon Vs.
In conjunction with the Boom reflector, the beam is faithful to the original lux-V L4 except 4-5 times brighter.

 

[Beamhead]

Just to be clear the original "TW4" was a kl4 that would run cool and extremely long on a single primary, then RCR123 came along and were capable of powering most if not all kl4 heads with shorter run times, higher heat and output, becoming the new TW4.

Here is a thread with examples of the run times of some original.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?84460-KL4-amp-E1E&p=987076&viewfull=1#post987076

 

[Illum]

Do you mean that the last SSC P4 L4 can't be powered with a single 17670?
I sold the SSCP4 without testing if it will take a single rechargeable.

Chao did a runtime test on it, it will operate on an 17670 but at 80% brightness, diminishing thereafter with a typical linear curve, very little regulation. The fact that an SSC P4 was used would mean surefire went from a boost to a buck, and 4.2V was just under the dropout threshold so it essentially operates direct drive.
Link: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?228070-Surefire-L4-120-lumens-improved-version
Runtime: http://i48.tinypic.com/sq400h.jpg

I have actually operated a SSC L4 on 17670s, output was noticeably dimmer than on cr123as, don't know about 20% reduction, but it didn't seem very appealing.

Cartman, I'd say the original TW4s worked well as a "hurricane light" as it could be used on E1es to conserve battery, it wasn't long before people wanted brighter outputs in the same small package.

 

[Justin Case]

Are you sure that some of the original LuxV KL4s used a buck-boost driver? I thought they were all boost. The small sample of SureFire SSC P4 lights I've tested all used LEDs with a fairly high Vf. If you swap out the Seoul LED for something like an XM-L2, I bet you'd be able to run in full regulation for a decent portion of a 1x17670's run time.

 

[Illum]

Are you sure that some of the original LuxV KL4s used a buck-boost driver? I thought they were all boost. The small sample of SureFire SSC P4 lights I've tested all used LEDs with a fairly high Vf. If you swap out the Seoul LED for something like an XM-L2, I bet you'd be able to run in full regulation for a decent portion of a 1x17670's run time.

Edited, whoops, no its boost only. The original KL4s uses the LT1618 CC/CV step-up chip.
Good catch, :thanks: