Surefire made their flashlights to be used but got caught up in the collecting community here in the early 2000s by accident. I remember people here sending their L4 or whatever back five times because they didn't like the tint, or the ano didn't match, or there was a scuff on the body somewhere. I think it's a credit to Surefire's customer service that they had the patience for this instead of cutting off cosmetic warranty claims.
Waiting for two old Surefire
- Thread starter DE73
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The A2 you have there is a later model, I'd put it between 2006 and the end of production, which I *think* was circa 2009 when the A2L was introduced.
The A2 incandescent will not run correctly on a 3.7v 16650-- the main beam will light only dimly fresh off the charger (while it's still at ~4.2v), will blacken the bulb prematurely, and fail to light entirely once the voltage begins to drop. The only rechargeable options for the A2 right now are two 3.7v RCR123s or two 3.2v LFP rechargeables. No bulb change is necessary since it is regulated and the driver will buck the voltage, but if you run RCRs there's a risk of burning out the LEDs since they are current limited by resistor, and they will be overdriven.
The A2 LED, on the other hand, is almost a completely different light with a 16650. Less heat, much much longer runtime (nearly double that of two primaries, and nearly 4x that of two LFP cells) at the expense of a bit less brightness in the main when the cell reaches about 3.8 volts, but it will keep cranking for a LONG time until you get nervous about too deep a discharge, or the LVP in your protected cell cuts you off. For some reason the secondary LEDs gain some PWM once it dips below 3.0v and the primary cuts out. I have no idea why the driver works that way, but it does.
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The color matching isn't the best ;-)
They look brand new.
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The A2 paper work revision is from 2003 so it's newer than that. Your guess about age can be correct.
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I like the lfp cells for it. Get almost 40 mins runtime on the Incan, and secondaries may as well be regulated as well since lfp has such flat discharge curve. Secondaries are a bit brighter, but not as bad as 2 3.7v cells. This is my suggestion if you want to go with rechargeables. Also no worry about over discharge like you will with 3.7v cells
thermal guy
Flashaholic
I never knew the A2 started out with a small head. Kinda like an E2.
I've seen the incan A2's in the red clamshell packages before so I would say they were still making them until at least 2011-12. Could be old stock they were just putting in the new style packaging though.
I've run A2's on two 3.7V RCR123A's since the mid-2000's and never had a problem with the LED's in a factory or Koala ring burning out. And the Koala's rheostat is set to full output. I really don't see it being a problem, other than an anomaly.
Yea, Surefire always tossed old paperwork in there. Basically just the manual they had when that revision originally came out. They didn't update it unless there was a revision change. And then sometimes not then either. In the red box that A2 could easily be more like 2006-2007 production. In fact in 2003 the A2 was still packaged in the gray boxes. And they were still the square body. So they apparently didn't even update the paperwork for the round body, because, why bother I guess.
Great catch. The A2 is my favorite halogen light. The body won't fit 16650's so have to use 2x primaries or SF rechargables. If you're persistent you may fine someone selling some of the old upgrades there at times were main bulb adapters for bi-pin bulbs and custom led rings from Atomic Chicken & Koala
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It's just the character of black type II finish. All black type II finish Surefires are uniform as well.
Puny, inferior type II !
What happens if you're in Da Field and you suddenly discover you have an urgent need to saw a Maglite in half, but you've forgotten your saw??
letschat7
Flashlight Enthusiast
I get that reference. He bought a SF body and ruined it doing that. Should have saved it and sold it now for a small fortune.
I am carrying one of my E2E's today. I have a lumens factory drop-in in it and it is still one of my favorites!!
I have decided to keep the A2 original.
Do you have the drop-in for one or two cells? Are there any other led options for the E2E.
Try this
Sold/Expired - TNT SingLED modules for Surefire incan E-series
TNT SingLED modules for Surefire incan E-series - E1E, E2E, E2D AVAILABLE FOR ORDER !!! Please use email at the bottom of this post for contact... Tana SingLED... SingLED is a replacement module for old and classic Surefire e-series lights (E1E, E2E, E2D, E2O)... latest version has Nichia...
www.candlepowerforums.com
All but one of my natural ha A2's match. I bought that one because it was a non matching unit. SureFire back when had large contracts to fulfill with the military so they'd assemble lights by the thousands and sometimes parts and pieces had non matching coating. They were not meant as display pieces. They were meant for rugged service items.
All of mine are. You made the correct decision IMO. You can also use run of the mill 3.7V RCR123A's or IMR123's as a rechargeable option. I ran mine on IMR's for years and years. Once in awhile I'd drop in primaries when I had to.
