Can the New Surefire Cree E2L take 9 volts? ... Looks Like It Can!

[Gointothelight]

The old Surefire E2L could take 9v and with a Vital Gear 3xCR123 body the runtime was unbelievable... made for a great emergency kit light. I still have the Vital Gear body and would love to mate it to the new Surefire Cree E2L; does anyone know if it can handle the voltage like the old model... Surefire isn't talking?

 

[enLIGHTenment]

Re: Can the New Surefire Cree E2L take 9 volts?

Surefire isn't talking and no one has volunteered to risk their $130 light to get an answer.

I strongly suspect the KX2 head will refuse to operate if fed much more than 6v. Terminal damage to the head is possible but, if the KX1's reaction to 6v is anything to go by, not completely certain.

I don't we'll get a definitive answer until someone decides to install a a 3rd party driver in their KX2 and doesn't mind risking blowing up the stock driver to determine its tolerances. The way people around here mod things, give it a few months.

 

[Gointothelight]

Re: Can the New Surefire Cree E2L take 9 volts?

Can't contain my curiosity... if no one has the answer I may just have to sacrafice the E2L to see. I'm guessing that if it can go through a set of 3 batteries without burning out, it's ok for 9v... I'll give it one more day to see if some one knows, then try, then post the results.

 

[enLIGHTenment]

Re: Can the New Surefire Cree E2L take 9 volts?

Try it with 2x li-ion (8.4v) first. A lot more people will be interested in that finding than if it works on 3x 123A.

 

[Gointothelight]

Re: Can the New Surefire Cree E2L take 9 volts?

OK, couldn't wait any longer to test the E2L and since I haven't done anything really stupid in days, I decided to go ahead and run the Cree E2L on 9volts. Well, I don't have any measuring equipment of any kind to verify anything but I can say that the E2L has been running on the Vital Gear 3 cell body for 4 hours now. It hasn't burned out and the beam appears to be as clear, bright and steady as when I started. I can also say that the head is not the least bit hot and is certainly no warmer than my other Cree E2L running on 2 cells.

Obviously, I can't state anything definatively yet. I'll let it run all night and see what happens. If it doesn't burn out and if the beam stays clear (doesn't turn yellow or brownish) then I'll be satisfied that 9v is ok for it, at least for me. I can't guaranty, of course, if you'll have the same results. My guess is if it made it 4 hours it's going to be OK, but that's a guess at best.

 

[Chao]

Re: Can the New Surefire Cree E2L take 9 volts? ... I've been testing it.

Good news! thanks for doing this:goodjob: let us know the runtime, if you finish the test.

 

[woodrow]

Re: Can the New Surefire Cree E2L take 9 volts?

OK, couldn't wait any longer to test the E2L and since I haven't done anything really stupid in days,.

If you were here I would buy you a drink... Bold move with your new E2L!

 

[Sinjz]

Re: Can the New Surefire Cree E2L take 9 volts?

No multimeter to test the current to the LED? I'm trying to find out how hard the LEDs in the new E1L and E2Ls are being driven.

 

[270winchester]

Re: Can the New Surefire Cree E2L take 9 volts?

the circuit inthe E2L has to be a buck one, looks like it does tolerate up to 9volts, thanks gointothelight for the potential sacrifice.

 

[nein166]

Re: Can the New Surefire Cree E2L take 9 volts? ... I've been testing it.

Today we'd like to salute a REAL AMERICAN HERO, "Mr.- 9-volts-in-a-Cree-E2L-guy"!:buddies:

When other flashaholics said its not work the risk you said "I haven't done anything really stupid in days"

As we all waited in darkness you said "I'll let it run all night and see what happens":shrug:

This one goes out to you in hopes you didn't burn down the house in your sleep.

 

[enLIGHTenment]

Re: Can the New Surefire Cree E2L take 9 volts? ... I've been testing it.

Any other brave souls willing to repeat the experiment before I put this in the FAQ/compilation as 'believed true?'

I don't have an E2L to perform my own tests.

 

[Gointothelight]

Re: Can the New Surefire Cree E2L take 9 volts? ... I've been testing it.

OK, here are the results. First of all, sorry that I had no rechargeables to test BUT if it could take 9v it should be fine with the rechargeables.

OK, had to get up last night and so I checked on the light... it had been on for 9 hours and the LED was still going very strong. I turned on my other Cree E2L and the beams were the same.

I went back to bed and woke up 3 hours later. The light was still on but the batteries were clearly fading and the light was probably only half as bright, if that, as it was on fresh primaries. I can't say at what point the light started to diminish but I can say it ran at full power for 9 hours on 3 primaries (9v) just fine.

Just to make sure it was the batteries running down and not damage to the LED, I put in fresh primaries and compared it to my other Cree E2L... the beams were the same... no damage whatsever to the LED.

OK, this may be only anecdotal evidence but I'm comfortable, for myself, that 9 volts is no problem with the Cree E2L. It ran 9 hours at full power and the beam did not burn out, change color or over-heat. You'll all have to make your own call but based on this experiment I'd say it is safe for rechrgeables.

I got what I wanted... with the Vital Gear 3 cell body I now have an emergency light I know I can count on for at least 9 hours at full power and it can stand on the tailcap... I can't ask for more than that.

 

[enLIGHTenment]

Re: Can the New Surefire Cree E2L take 9 volts? ... I've been testing it.

I can't say at what point the light started to diminish but I can say it ran at full power for 9 hours on 3 primaries (9v) just fine.

Interesting thing here is that Chao's runtime tests show the E2L running for nearly 10 hours in regulation on two cells anyway.

Using three cells doesn't seem to buy any extra runtime.

 

[Chao]

Re: Can the New Surefire Cree E2L take 9 volts? ... I've been testing it.

it had been on for 9 hours and the LED was still going very strong. I turned on my other Cree E2L and the beams were the same.

I went back to bed and woke up 3 hours later. The light was still on but the batteries were clearly fading and the light was probably only half as bright, if that, as it was on fresh primaries. I can't say at what point the light started to diminish but I can say it ran at full power for 9 hours on 3 primaries (9v) just fine.
.

According to the runtime curve I did with 2 cells, I think if you saw the light only half bright after 12 hour, it should be regulated for 11.5 hours already, not bad.

 

[Gointothelight]

Re: Can the New Surefire Cree E2L take 9 volts? ... I've been testing it.

Interesting thing here is that Chao's runtime tests show the E2L running for nearly 10 hours in regulation on two cells anyway.

Using three cells doesn't seem to buy any extra runtime.

Assuming that's true, I'd like to see if there is a lumen difference between the 2 and 3 cell... I just eye-balled the beams on a white wall and they looked the same... but so do the mizer and non-mizer McGizmos to me indoors and I know they're different... you can definately tell outdoors. That power from that extra cell has to go somewhere, if not to lumens than to runtime or visa versa. There is also a very slight chance that one of the 3 batteries wasn't at full strength... they were new and I assumed they were all fine but, in retrospect, should have tested them in a battery meter before use. I might just have to do the test one more time, although I may have to wait a bit because my wife is convinced I'm losing my mind leaving a flashlight on all night.

 

[Katdaddy]

Re: Can the New Surefire Cree E2L take 9 volts? ... I've been testing it.

Today we'd like to salute a REAL AMERICAN HERO, "Mr.- 9-volts-in-a-Cree-E2L-guy"!:buddies:

When other flashaholics said its not work the risk you said "I haven't done anything really stupid in days"

As we all waited in darkness you said "I'll let it run all night and see what happens":shrug:

This one goes out to you in hopes you didn't burn down the house in your sleep.

 

[Gointothelight]

Re: Can the New Surefire Cree E2L take 9 volts? ... I've been testing it.

According to the runtime curve I did with 2 cells, I think if you saw the light only half bright after 12 hour, it should be regulated for 11.5 hours already, not bad.

That would be great and better than I could have hoped for. Thank you for doing a "real" test as opposed to my "fly by the seat of my pants" test.

 

[Sgt. LED]

I just found this after coming up with the same thread yesterday!!!!!!!!! 1 more confirmation post here and I'm doing it too, FB3 body. But heck why didn't it go longer in reg. I want same brightness but more runtime!!!! I'm greedy for more runtime but around 40 lumens!! What to do, What to do?:shrug:

 

[KeyGrip]

I'm greedy for more runtime but around 40 lumens!! What to do, What to do?:shrug:

Run rechargables. Then runtime shouldn't matter, right?

 

[KentuckyMike]

Run rechargables. Then runtime shouldn't matter, right?

Unless he wants the extra runtime for emergency situations. Unless you stock a lot of topped-off rechargeables, you'll need good primary runtime to make your stash of primaries last as long as possible.