In the SF millenium series lights...

[Till]

Does the lamp assembly "float" inside the bezel due to the shock isolation?

I have a Streamlight TL-3 shock-proof and its shock isolation causes the bulb to sit off center and thus give off a very oval spot and when it's really bad there's a small dark spot in that oval beam.

I'm planning to buy a SF M4. Is the TL-3's problem common with these lights?

 

[DaFABRICATA]

The bulb sits in place well and will not/can not move around due to its design.

The entire reflector/bulb assembly works as one part and the shock isolation comes from a foam surround that allows the assembly to move with the recoil.

 

[Till]

So the bulb remains prefocused with the reflector.

I guess that is the TL-3's problem. Its bulb and reflector are separate pieces.

 

[Solscud007]

Well so are the millennium lights. but the tolerance of the machine work is very precise. there is very little room to move the bulb in the reflector.

In terms of the oval shape beam, you might be dissapointed to hear, that the millennium lights also suffer from this. I was unfortunate in that my first millenium light was a SF-M6. The reason I say that i was unfortunate is that I was spoiled by its MN21 bulb, it was FLAWLESS!!!! perfect beam. It was a nice even circle with no darks spots.

When it burnt out I got a new one, then discovered that the beam was football shaped. I called SF and they said that they are like that. They try to spin it and pass it off as a marketing feature. That you can rotate the light 90 degrees so that you can have a wider beam for better peripheral illumination. or for a narrower beam, rotate another 90 degrees. I was a little annoyed at this answer.

But according to the SF experts here, they told me that the filament in the bulb is focused and NOT the bulb glass itself. So there is really no way of getting a perfect beam except for pure chance and luck.

However this is not to say that I dont like SF and their millennium lights. I love them and I have learned to live with the elliptical beam pattern.

 

[Size15's]

Yep - the oval nature of the Millennium Series Beams (worst offending being the M3 MN10 and M3T MN15 (same bulb BTW), others are better with the best tending to be the M6 MN21 as mentioned) is caused by SureFire's design and production capability to gather light from a non-point-source filament (bar) and focus it into a beam without wasting the light from ends of the filament.
In general the standard output lamps (MN10/MN15/MN60/MN20) tend to have longer, thinner filaments compared to the shorter, fatter filaments of the High Output Lamp Assemblies (MN11/MN16/MN61/MN21) and so the HOLA beams tend to be less oval and more round.

SureFire's Shock Isolation System design does not suffer from the poor design and beam qualities you see in your TL-3.

 

[Paladin]

So the bulb remains prefocused with the reflector.

I guess that is the TL-3's problem. Its bulb and reflector are separate pieces.

I compared the filament height between older TL-3 lamps and the new shockproof version, and they are not the same. The old non-shockproof lamps provided better beams, period. They changed the lamps, and neglected to insure the reflector is compatible.

Paladin

 

[mdocod]

The shock isolation on the M series comes from a combination of a foam insert at the front of the reflector, and the springs behind the lamp assembly. The reflector and lamp assembly remain under tension at all times from the foam and the springs competing, with a solid point of contact between the LA and base of reflector. The bulb can't move independently of the reflector in this design, so the focus is not effected by the shock isolation. It's a pretty good design overall... It has it's flaws, but I won't go into them here...

 

[signal 13]

I have been spoiled by LF's bulbs! Up until recently I had only used the LF bulbs in my M3. I tested out a few backup MN10s I keep in my duty bag and I was more than dissapointed in the football shaped beam :sick2:

Why the heck would a LEO or military operator want to rotate his light around? When my light comes out in a situation I need it to work, and work well. And what if you have a MN10 mounted on the MU weaponlight? Are you supposed to rotate your rifle around? I was pretty dissapointed with SF on this.

Looks like I'll be sticking w/ LFs bulbs and the SF HOLAs if they are supposed to have better beam quality.

 

[Petersen]

Hi,

If you search youtube, then there should be a small video, showing the inside of the Turbohead.
- if you search for SureFire and M6, then it should pop op, can't test it now, as youtube is banned, here from work. (wonder why.......)

 

[Size15's]

Why the heck would a LEO or military operator want to rotate his light around? When my light comes out in a situation I need it to work, and work well. And what if you have a MN10 mounted on the MU weaponlight? Are you supposed to rotate your rifle around? I was pretty dissapointed with SF on this.

It is possible to rotate the Lamp Assembly so that the beam is upright, or flat depending on your preference, if indeed you have one.

SureFire could easily have done what others do and not collect and focus this light into the beam - it's really easy to make a less efficient bulb/reflector combination. The Millennium Series M3 was not designed and created in isolation. SureFire gained feedback and performed extensive user trials for their flagship CombatLight. Some people seem to care a lot about the beam's oval shape, others don't seem to care at all - that's my experience asking people. It's a bit like LED tint I guess.

Al