Why not more E-series 18650 or 18500 bodies?

I just received Rothandir 18650 body thinking it should do considering that market doesn't offer any similar option as we speak (except for Moddoo's Ti series which is way above my league, and that's limited as well)...

So the body with adapter is rather nice idea... if executed properly... I found this body to be VERY soft... grab threads with pliers and they deform... it's obviously made from pure Aluminum... the anodization therefore is rather easy to damage, IMHO... not saying that this body is BAD, the price maybe too much considering the quality... BUT... that's the only one I could get to hold 18650 battery and I HAVE to be happy with it...

I added three pieces of shrink-tube and set it up with heat-gun on the body to get needed grip with it... Surefire E1B tailcap got McClicky to withstand more amperage and E-series incan head will receive Triple XPE driven at 3A with KD V2 driver... I like the way it turned out... (don't have ability to attach pics to CPF now but will have in 18 or so days)... but...

Why someone doesn't make this setup more available, I'm sure there is a lot of interest for these at CPF... Made from stronger alloy with true black HA, who thinks these wouldn't sell in hundreds for each setup (18650 or 18500)?

The 18650 achieve the compatibility by sacrifying the slim body diameter, which is the main characteristic of the E-Series.

You ve missed fivemega's stainless steel body


the P60 insert size seems to simply finde more interest ...
:thinking:

Tell me about it i've been wanting one for quite a while,i'm wanting a Ti one to go with my Haiku i'm thinking about getting the Ti 2x123 i got with the light modded to a design i prefer as the one i have is really for a bigger light.Trying to buy one this size has been the hardest thing i've had to do in the flashlight world.

You are missing something very nice in the BST section. Ti split bodies in these sizes are going fast. Look for Mr. Moodoo!

These parts are not trivial to make and rely on a split body design to accommodate the larger battery diameter.

TranquilityBase's famous split body is the grail of these pieces...of which I have one. Steve Ku made an 18650 body (Ti) for his Gavina series. Those are THIN at the head end threads...but very nice. You won't likely get one of those 2nd hand without a thorough hunt. And then Moodoo's latest offering of his take on the split body for the E's. They look great, and I will also soon have one of those as well.

18650 E series is almost the best of everything when done right...runtime combined with high lumens and super compact size!!

obi

Its easy enough to make these in aluminum, but I would like to understand them better. Converting from larger body/cell, down to E compatible threads, back to a P60 socket seems like a lot of effort for less payoff. And tailcaps are harder to find and can't be used to load cells. Yet special heads aside, these seem mostly wanted for P60 setups?

Not sure I got you...but the split bodies to which I refer use an E series head. It is the head that requires a split body piece to allow the bigger battery in behind it.

This is not refering to an E to C conversion, but rather the use of 18mm cells in combo with E tails and head.

obi

Obi- "18650 E series is almost the best of everything when done right...runtime combined with high lumens and super compact size!!"

Obi, I agree almost 100% but humbly submit that the 18500 is more pocketable if damn hard to find. Ti is cool and all. It I can't justify all that expense.

For the love of Tesla, PLEASE, somebody make some in aluminum.

TadpolePilot said:

See; SolarForce they have that market, plus the new P-1.
Owner of L-2-P Limited Edition has a tail standing butt, but no lanyard or belt/pocket clip.

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Which is totally unrelated to the Surefire E series.

Norm

Norm said:

Which is totally unrelated to the Surefire E series.

Norm

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I think he was suggesting this is the closest you can readily get due to the dyrth of this size of light on a budget. L2M not the same but as close as you can get for @ $35

There were also the fivemega E1/E2/E3/E4 series tubes, and the Balrog 1/1.5/2/3/4 series ... both discontinued, unfortunately. However, I think the Balrog tubes were only 17mm diameter.

Yes, I agree, the interest in these would be primarily for E-series heads & bezels ... wouldn't seem to make much sense to generally use these with an adapter, since there are many easier, simpler, and readily available P/C-series (P60) solutions for larger cells.

ElectronGuru said:

Its easy enough to make these in aluminum, but I would like to understand them better. Converting from larger body/cell, down to E compatible threads, back to a P60 socket seems like a lot of effort for less payoff. And tailcaps are harder to find and can't be used to load cells. Yet special heads aside, these seem mostly wanted for P60 setups?

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No need for turning these over to P60 setup at all... The market is seeing some cool E-series bezel/head mods and considering that this body is 100% custom only for flashlight-lovers (who use LiIon 18xxx batteries) it's a perfect match... The Rothandir body I bought that will not withstand trial of time because of material used, is about 10mm shorter and LOT slimmer than my P60 hosts... Even in this shape, I find the body VERY interesting for use...

I'm on the lookout for FM Aluminum-Anodized E-series 18650 or 18500 in black and that will probably never happen for me... that's why I opted for the only thing on market right now (aluminum, not interested in stainless steel and titanium)... But to turn TranquilityBase's into something with nice knurling for good grip, made from aluminum alloy instead of pure aluminum and hard anodized would definitely be a EDC for me... E-incan heads are compatible for E-series veleno XPG towers but last night I saw mod with XML as well... Triples are also possible in this setup, easy to do with access to lathe... I know I will have one in about three months once I leave desert... the sad thing is I will have to stick to Rothandir and not something tougher...

The whole idea is that market with awesome E-series heads/bezels+pills exists and people run them in Executive series on 17670 (with some sanding inside the new tubes) but to have few mm's longer and two mm's wider body with similar toughness but with DOUBLE the mAh is... well... nice...

Tana said:

E-incan heads are compatible for E-series veleno XPG towers but last night I saw mod with XML as well...

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but the original reflector is short and at the same time wide, will not focus much of the light emitted.
what is available - solarforce XP-G led head for 3-series - is nothing I am satsified with


(thats why I got an old head for e-series where a McR 19 mm will fit in - thats imho the deepest and thus best reflector in that size class)
((if only I finally find some time to finish the mod ...)

Well,

FM is not planning to make any more E-series bodies that can accept 18xxx cells... He noted that they are not durable, probably because of single part body making threads for head too thin... I'm guessing he's not interested in making two-part body with adapter... EG is not fond of the concept... Moddoo is only concentrated on "bling" stuff... no luck for us lovers of powerful and long running but compact size in hard anodized aluminum...

Idea that I have in head, except for 18650 setup, is 18500 running a Triple XPG but with boost driver (like Solarforce 0.8-4.2V 3-mode) that will run each LED 500mA with LiIon cell but in case of emergency, a simple AA Alkaline battery could get the setup running, maximum mode I think pulls 2.2A so it's too high current killing the AA runtime but it would be very usable on low and medium modes...

Tana said:

Well,

Moddoo is only concentrated on "bling" stuff... no luck for us lovers of powerful and long running but compact size in hard anodized aluminum...

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Hello Tana, I hope that desert isn't too hard on you man. Come home soon.




I did make a small custom run of a few lights that are shiny "bling" based on my customers requests.

We just added the Slim Cell Tubes to the "powerful and long running but compact size in hard anodized aluminum" parts lineup.
Body diameter is same as Surefire E-series, Flared tail tail area that is preferred by most, 18mm cell compatible, 4 sizes including 14500 that no one else offers, Mil-spec Hard anodized 6061 aluminum.
These are not e-series, but have a lot of the qualities that people want in the E-series mods.

Your special triple with that driver sounds interesting. I hope that you get it done.

We also have a few classic E-series with mods on the bench. Hoping to offer them sometime soon.

Hate this desert, it's killing my grey cells... and nerves...

I was thinking about getting your 18500 Slim Cell with corresponding diamond knurling tailcap and P60 adapter but... it's still P60 factor from both ends... it would certainly look more elegant than TL65 and TL35 tubes (initial knurling) that I have but it's still P60 factor... you can't cut the length there, only few mm's from the body...

FM is obviously not interested in making any... any chance that we "the people" might change your mind and you might consider at least a limited run of 18500 and 18650 E-series bodies in black HA with either integrated McClicky in the body or just threads to use E-series tailcaps... E-series head of course, with help of some kind of slim adapter to accommodate big cell and remain ruggedness... ??? Pretty please ???

Tana said:

... any chance that we "the people" might change your mind and you might consider at least a limited run of 18500 and 18650 E-series bodies in black HA with either integrated McClicky in the body or just threads to use E-series tailcaps... E-series head of course, with help of some kind of slim adapter to accommodate big cell and remain ruggedness... ??? Pretty please ???

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+1 theres still nothing like this and it would be great

Whoa... almost a year old thread... and MINE to be precise... I always thought I'm the perfect example of "Do you feel like a thread killer" thread...

Anyway... I was lucky enough to snatch FM E-18650 about a year ago... I just LOVE it in combination with TripLED XPG2 @ 3A... VERY bright and very compact torch... but they are hard to impossible to find... I wouldn't trade mine for anything...

Thats awesome! Are the threads stronger or thicker on these? Im worried about how thin the threads on the body are when bored for 18 sized cells.