Customizing My U2 -- Just Received Back [Update 10/19/2006]

laur

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[Update 10/19/2006]
I just received my Customized Surefire U2 back from Greg -- A fellow CPFer with the handle of grnamin. Here is a list of the things that he changed/modified:

1) Burnished the belt clip. Makes it subdued and non-glare vs stand out and shiny.
2) Took apart the tailcap switch and rebuilt it to work smoother and more reliably.
3) Added a lanyard ring to the body/tailcap junction with a 550 paracord lanyard.
4) Replaced the existing LED with an upgraded WWOS bin LED. I and a friend of mine compared two Surefire U2's side by side for light output in a darkened garage. Independently, we both guesstimated a 30% increase in in total light output from my other factory stock Surefire U2. The WWOS also has a very neutral tint . My stock U2 has a slightly blueish tint when they are compared together.
5) Shimmed the bezel to remove the dreaded Surefire U2 "donut" hole. I mean there is NO "donut" hole whatsoever in the beam.

Grnamin is "Da Man" when it comes to customizing a U2. What can I say about his work besides "Wow, Wowie Wow Wow Wow" to paraphrase Christopher Walken on Saturday Night Live.

Greg should apply to Surefire for a job as Director of Quality Control. If he worked for surefire the U2 would reach its' full potential and become the flashlight it was designed to be!!

Color me Happy!!

laur



[Old Post]
I am having my Surefire U2 upgraded by a fellow CPFer (grnamin). He is changing out the original LED with a 5 watt WWOS bin LED. Can someone please explain to me what this means?? Is this really the "Cadillac" of LED's??

W -- What is the lumen range?
WO -- What is the color rendition?
S -- What is the vf rating?

Thanks for any input into this LED naming system.
 
Last edited:

BayMoe

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Re: Upgraded U2 -- Questions on Changing the LED

Sounds awesome! I also inquired for his expertise, but I could not get the darn selector ring and bezel off before sending to Greg :rant:
 

glockboy

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Re: Upgraded U2 -- Questions on Changing the LED

I got the WWOS U2.
The U2 got the step up converter, so the "S" vf is lower than the "T" so your run time is longer.
Well, one thing for sure is that you got the much brighter, whiter than the original U2, and you'll love it.
 

laur

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Re: Upgraded U2 -- Questions on Changing the LED

Thanks for all your help. This is why the CPF Forum is so great. The members are very knowledgeable and are willing share their expertize with you on any lighting subject.

I'm glad to know that my upgraded Surefire U2 will put more light out the front end. Grnamin is "da man" when it comes to the U2 light and is very easy to work with.

I will post again when I receive the light with my first impressions about the WWOS LED upgrade.
 

wasBlinded

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Re: Upgraded U2 -- Questions on Changing the LED

I don't know why you decided to "upgrade" your U2, I presume there was something about the tint/beam/brightness that you thought was sub-par. Just putting a WWOS in any randomly selected U2 will not necessarily be an improvement. It is felt by a number of CPFers that some U2s come with X bin LEDs. I'm pretty sure that the two I have are at least W flux bin and on the pink side of the W0 tint bin.


Good luck on your upgrade, it really is a nice light!
 

TheSteve

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Re: Upgraded U2 -- Questions on Changing the LED

Based on the U2s I've seen I think they likely do come with a minimum of WxxS. Any I've measured the Vf of were in the S bin Vf range. Tint is the only real reason to change the LED unless you have an X bin or a really low Vf led which will help getting full output when running on a single rechargable cell on the highest setting.

Atleast changing the LED is easy, if you can get past the tough part which is unscrewing the bezel!
 

NoFair

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Re: Upgraded U2 -- Questions on Changing the LED

My U2 is slightly brighter than a WX0S led when they are run at the same power (Watts). It is probably a W0 or V0 tint. Since the span of the W flux bin is about 50 lumen they can very well be the same bin, or my U2 is an X-bin:D
So IMHO unless you have a bad tint/dim luxeon in your U2 or a nice colour X-bin lying around I don't see any good reason to swap leds..

Also: opening the light will void the warranty which you might need later...

Sverre
 

blahblahblah

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Re: Upgraded U2 -- Questions on Changing the LED

NoFair said:
Also: opening the light will void the warranty which you might need later...

Sverre

Don't worry too much about voiding warranties... there's always some sort of mod you can do.

img-m180-porcupine-profile.jpg

For the record, this voided the warranty. Please contact Milkyspit if you wish to void your warranty as well. :naughty:
 
Last edited:

MarNav1

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Re: Upgraded U2 -- Questions on Changing the LED

laur said:
[Update 10/19/2006]

I just received my Customized Surefire U2 back from Greg -- A fellow CPFer with the handle of grnamin. Here is a list of the things that he changed/modified:

1) Burnished the belt clip. Makes it subdued and non-glare vs stand out and shiny.
2) Took apart the tailcap switch and rebuilt it to work smoother and more reliably.
3) Added a lanyard ring to the body/tailcap junction with a 550 paracord lanyard.
4) Replaced the existing LED with an upgraded WWOS bin LED. I and a friend of mine compared two Surefire U2's side by side for light output in a darkened garage. Independently, we both guesstimated a 30% increase in in total light output from my other factory stock Surefire U2. The WWOS also has a very neutral tint . My stock U2 has a slightly blueish tint when they are compared together.
5) Shimmed the bezel to remove the dreaded Surefire U2 "donut" hole. I mean there is NO "donut" hole whatsoever in the beam.

Grnamin is "Da Man" when it comes to customizing a U2. What can I say about his work besides "Wow, Wowie Wow Wow Wow" to paraphrase Christopher Walken on Saturday Night Live.

Greg should apply to Surefire for a job as Director of Quality Control. If he worked for surefire the U2 would reach its' full potential and become the flashlight it was designed to be!!

Color me Happy!!

laur



[Old Post]

I am having my Surefire U2 upgraded by a fellow CPFer (grnamin). He is changing out the original LED with a 5 watt WWOS bin LED. Can someone please explain to me what this means?? Is this really the "Cadillac" of LED's??

W -- What is the lumen range?
WO -- What is the color rendition?
S -- What is the vf rating?

Thanks for any input into this LED naming system.
Don't want to ruin
the post but Greg did a great job with my KL1 also!!!
 

laur

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Joined
Jul 9, 2005
Messages
85
Location
The Great Northwest
Sorry everyone, I cannot take any pics (No camera). However, I can tell you that my interior walls are painted French White. When I shine the customized U2 upgraded with the new WWOS bin LED on a wall it is the same color rendition as the wall color.

Also, the perceived brightness is about 30% higher with my eyes AND the eyes of a friend.

Sorry I can't do any pics or beam shots. I know how this help us CPFers better view the results. Seeing beam shots is what convinced me to purchase the original Surefire U2.
 
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