JetBeam C-LE question from new owner

[Luminescent]

Just got a brand new JetBeam C-LE from Emilions, after reading the review comments here on the CPF.

Emilions was great to deal with (the C-LE light arrived in about a week flat!), and the light itself is INCREDIBLE, but I do have one minor question...

The reviews here on the CPF show a that a the C-LE includes a belt holster, but the package I recieved did not come with one.

Did they drop the Holster from the JetBeam C-LE accessories early on?

Not sure if they are trying to shave the cost now that the price of the C-LE has dropped, or if my light was just not packed correctly.

It's not too hard to believe that the light was not packed up with the correct items, considering that my C-LE came packed with the owners manual for a JET-1 MK2.

If they need to save a few cents, they could eliminate this printed manual (The JET-1 MK2 has a different mode sequence so this manual is USLESS)

The manual thing is minor, because the correct C-LE 'operators manual' (mode sequence) is also printed [this time correctly] on the back of the package.

Again just so I don't leave a negative impression, JetBeam C-LE flashlight itself is GREAT!

If you can deal with the C-LE's 'Twisty' switch instead of the rear 'Clicky' switch found on some other lights, I would definitely recommend the JetBeam (even over such high end rivals as Fenix), because it has great workmanship and performance, in just about the smallest package you will find for a single AA light.

The 'Twisty' design does make for a smaller light, and the images here in the forum only begin to show how sweet and compact this little light is.

I don't know about past JetBeam performance, but the new C-LE design seems to have very competitive light output and runtimes, compared to other high-end CREE lights.

P.S.
One quick suggestion if you do buy one of these lights ...

Based on my experience, you will HATE the Jet C-LE light if you don't grease the threads.

You have to use something like a good quality Teflon fluorocarbon based grease on the threads, otherwise the slight extra friction makes it a pain to get the light to turn on without getting a quick glitch and changing to the next mode.

I put the grease on with the edge of an index card, and the amount I used can hardly even be seen, but it has really made a huge huge huge difference.

I can now switch thorough the modes perfectly with one hand, by just gripping the light in my palm with my back fingers and twiddling the front bezel with my forefinger and thumb.

Greasing the threads also eliminates issues with metal particles being shed from the threads with heavy use.

 

[Derek Dean]

Howdy Luminescent, and welcome to CPF,
Yep, I got my C-LE from Emilion's shop when it first came out, and it's been in my pocket ever since, attached to a small Swiss Army knife, and even after being in my pocket all day, for several months, with coins and the knife, it still looks new. Really a hard finish on that little puppy.

Yes the threads needed lubing. I wonder why they can't get that small detail dialed in better, but hey, I like everything else, so.... no complaints from me.

Mine didn't come with a holster, only a small lanyard, 2 pressure pads to keep the battery from rattling, and some O rings. I think I remember it being an optional item that you could add for a couple of dollars. I just checked Emilion's site and didn't see any mention of an included holster.

It's possible that the lights you saw reviewed were bought from another site, or maybe part of a group buy that included that item.

You should be able to pick up an inexpensive one on the B/S/T forum if you really want it.... but you might just try carrying it in your pocket for a while first. It only took me about a day to get used to it.... and now I wouldn't leave home without it.

 

[Kilovolt]

Hi Luminescent, welcome to CPF.

My CL-E came about one week ago from JETBeam. The packing (which was sealed) contained in addition to the light itself a lanyard, two black sponge pads and two spare o-rings. The instructions are printed on the back of the cardboard sheet inside the plastic blister.

 

[Casual Flashlight User]

Yep, no holster packeged with the JETBeam CL-E...just the accessories that others have listed.

If you want a suitable holster I suggest "Civictor V1" holster...

https://www.fenix-store.com/product...d=114&osCsid=d031215a98b4a8d42790526c9eaa54f5

Fit's like a glove.


CFU

 

[Luminescent]

Thanks for the fast responses.

I think the reviews were very early units, which were probably a little differently equipped.

My JETBEAM C-LE came equipped exactly as you have described, so it's nice to know everything was there.

The new version is supposed to have a bit better performance anyway, so I am not complaining.

The JETBEAM C-LE has to be one of the best values out there right now, and if the new low price holds, I'll probably order another one as a spare to keep in the car.

Things I like about the JETBEAM C-LE :

• One of the most compact multi-mode AA lights, a bit fatter than a AAA light, but not really much longer (with better run times and output)

• True CREE brightness without requiring exotic batteries (you can use Alkaline, NiMH, or 1.5 volt Lithium)

• Beautifully uniform spot and spill beam, with a good balance between throw and coverage (textured reflector is standard and works VERY well)

• Nicely selected, very useful brightness levels:

+ MEDIUM, about six hours run time with enough light to very comfortably pick out a path and walk a trail at night.
​

+ LOW, a full day of run time, but still more than enough light to get around your tent, or to find things at the bottom of a backpack at night. Hanging from a tent loop about three feet up, very pleasant not-too-bright/not-too-dark light level for very comfortably reading a paperback book with no strain at all.
​

+ MAXIMUM, solid 80 lumen (or close) performance with no silly 'Turbo' concerns about overheating or overloading anything. I have run my light till the batteries run down (an hour or two) several times at MAXIMUM and the light just barley gets warm. This light IS competitive with the Fenix CREE lights, and will BLOW AWAY any 1 Watt Luxon light.
​

• Extra modes like Strobe and SOS are there when you need them, without being overly complicated, just remember the sequence MEDIUM, LOW, BRIGHT, STROBE, SOS (which wraps around and then cycles back to MEDIUM). This seems complicated, but after ten minutes you will have it down pat, and wonder how you ever got along without variable output.

• [FONT=&quot]Mode memory; this really takes the pain out of this being a multi-mode light. The light remembers your last mode so you don't have to keep cycling to find it every time you turn it on. You just turn the front bezel to turn on the light and bang, you're right back in the same mode you left the light in. This means no matter whether your favorite mode is MEDIUM, BRIGHT, or LOW, once you set it ONCE, you can treat the light like a simple single mode light until you need to change something.[/FONT]

 

[Tritium]

The thing I don't like is the tail holes are not concentric, ie one is closer to the tail than the other by about 2mm.

Thurmond

 

[MarNav1]

Welcome Luminescent! I have 6 C-LE's and none of them came with a holster. As far as the threads go, clean them well and I used Nanolube on mine (found on Ebay). The other thing I did was I put the foam washer on the head and inbetween the foam and the battery top I used a plastic washer from the bottom of a Surefire battery. There is a washer under the plastic wrapper. This cut down the friction between the foam and the battery and it also saves the foam. Some people have put the foam under the battery, this didn't work well for me. Enjoy your light!

 

[Dodge]

My C-LE from DX came with a holster (couple of months ago).

 

[Luminescent]

[FONT=&quot]

The other thing I did was I put the foam washer on the head and in between the foam and the battery top I used a plastic washer from the bottom of a Surefire battery.

Thanks for the suggestion about the front washer.

I have been using the light with only the bottom washer installed, and it works fairly well (once the threads were lubed).

I have been delaying installing the top washer because of the issue you mentioned about it having to rotate against the battery.

Your comment gave me an idea.

I took a sheet of the hard clear 'blister pack' plastic, and stuck two layers of scotch high strength double sided foam tape to one side. (Obviously I removed the protective film from between the layers, but I left the top layer protected).

This gave me a three layer sandwich first clear tough plastic, then two layers of foam tape. I used two layers to get about 1/8 inch or 3mm total, and left the top layer of foam tape still protected with the wax paper film.

I then shoved the three-layer sandwiched material into the slot in a paper hole punch (the type used for punching paper for 3 ring binders)

This left me with a square of sandwiched material with a nice perfect hole slightly under 1/4 inch in diameter.

I then used some good scisors to cut a perfect dohnut ring around that center hole.

The result was a nice duplicate of the factory washer, but with touch clear plastic bonded onto one side.

While doing all the punching and cutting, I left on the protective film on the double sided foam tape. Once I had finished fabricating the washer, I then removed the protective wax paper film and bonded the sticky surface to the inside of the head of the light.

Had to try two times to get one that really looked nice, but the result meets your criteria of having a tougher plastic surface to ride against the battery, and has the advantage of not being able to accidentally drop out during a battery change (or did you attach yours to the existing top foam washer with contact cement?).

The hardest part was cutting the relatively thick sandwich of foam tape and plastic in a perfect circle around the existing hole made by the thee hole punch. I used the center hole from an old CD ROM as a template for the outer diameter and drew a fine black line with a felt tip pen to act as a guide. Once I figured out threat the center hole in a CD or DVD is the perfect size and got the template properly centered, things went pretty well.

This did make a really noticeable difference in reducing battery rattle and improving the switching reliability.

Also, now there is nice smooth tension on the threads and washers even when the light is off, so the head is less likely to become loose and unscrew itself from careless handling.

Thanks for your comments, as it seems to be a nice simple mod and I am very pleased with the improvements.[/FONT]

 

[knot]

It only needs a foam washer at the top.


Got my "seasonally" priced sle today.

Perhaps this is the "seasonal" sale. It's called a factory "second" in the US and usually heavily discounted:

Small nic down to bare metal
Shallow knurling mark 50% around head above the actual knurling
Lanyard holes misaligned (someone using a hand drill and a friend to hold the flashlight?)
I can feel scraping during switching between modes
Dry threads
Only one spare O-ring (I've read some get two)

Other than that, the modes work properly. Tint is a little blue compared to my DX Cree module. It's a beautiful looking flashlight when I don't have that aluminum colored nic eyesore facing me.

It's dark now and the light isn't as blue as I thought.

 

[swxb12]

Any tips on cleaning the threads using common household items? (ex: cotton swabs, alcohol, goo-gone, soap)

Thanks in advance :thumbsup:

 

[Luminescent]

Any tips on cleaning the threads using common household items? (ex: cotton swabs, alcohol, goo-gone, soap)

Thanks in advance :thumbsup:

The threads are close to the driver PCB (the underside of which is the positive contact. The Light has an O-Ring to keep external water out, so this protected internal PCB side of the head assembly is probably not sealed up too well, so I would be careful about spraying it with solvents or liquids of any kind.

The threads on my C-LE were not really gunked up all that much anyway, they were just dry and had some minor metal particles (some of which I probably created by operating the light with the threads dry, in my rush to play with my new toy).

I just put on a thin layer of grease, assembled and operated the light a few times, and then wiped off the now slightly black grease with a soft cloth then repeat this procedure a couple times, then put on a VERY THIN final layer of grease.

If you squeeze the cloth against the outer and inner surface of the threads, it will pick up 90 percent of the dirty grease in a single pass.

If you are really a fanatic about getting the threads perfectly clean, then you can use the edge of an index card or other thin stiff cardboard to follow along the thread path to get the dirty grease cleaned out of the tight angled recesses you can't quite get at with the cloth. An old tooth brush also works well, and can also clean up inside threads on the body, (but I wouldn't bother with that).

Freshly cut aluminum threads will shed little particles anyway until they lap-in against each other (even when lubricated with a good grease), but if the grease you are using has good film strength and anti-galling performance with aluminum, then eventually you will see less and less metal being shed.

You should be warned though, that too much grease is NOT such a great idea, because the threads need to CONDUCT ELECTRICITY for the light to work at all, and a thick layer of grease makes a great INSULATOR.

That's why I used very little grease on final assembly (too avoid problems with electrical conductivity through the threads).

The grease around the o-ring tends to stay nice and clean, which is good, but I wouldn't worry about keeping the grease around the threads from getting a little black with use, because few micro-particles of metal in the grease may actually help it to be more conductive anyway. Of course, eventually this suspended aluminum could oxidize and form a non-conductive gunk, then the threads should be cleaned and regreased.

Despite your best efforts, you may still occasionally get a poor contact condition, because the bottom battery contact seems to be a simple milled out raised aluminum plug which can also get oxidized causing dim or flickery output.

The natural reflex when this happens is to tighten the bezel more in an attempt to smash through the oxide layer and get the light to brighten up, but this puts a lot of stress on the front PCB contact, which is probably not such a good idea.

I prefer a lighter twist on the bezel to turn on the light, followed by a slight tap or two sideways at the bottom of the light.

This is only needed rarely, but if the output looks a little dim or fluttery, I just hold the C-LE by the top bezel between my forefinger and thumb, and swing the bottom of the light like a pendulum sideways against my hand with a few light taps, and bingo! the lumen level jumps right up to where it should be!

I find this 'tap treatment' is only needed on the rare occasions when the contacts have had a chance to get a little oxidized (usually only when the light is turned on for the first time after not being used in a while).

Also, if there is fluttering, and you are going to switch modes, by doing the 'tap treatment' first you can switch modes very cleanly with no missed modes or problems.

I try not to think of this as a problem, and remember that the plus side of the ultra-simple switching method used in the C-LE is that there is not a lot that can go wrong (no worries about a clicky switch breaking for example), so the long term reliability should be great as long as you understand how it works.

If fluttery or dim output happens more than very rarely, there is probably some contamination on the threads (or just too much grease) or the top or bottom contacts need cleaning.

 

[bspofford]

This is $1.14 including shipping, and fits just right: https://www.kaidomain.com/WEBUI/ProductDetail.aspx?TranID=2357

 

[knot]

What does anyone think of Tri-Flow? It's all I've got at the moment. Does it have to be grease?

 

[lowatts]

What does anyone think of Tri-Flow? It's all I've got at the moment. Does it have to be grease?

Doesn't have to be a grease, but make sure it has no petroleum byproducts--petroleum is harmful to rubber O rings. Note that a lot of "silicone" sprays actually have a petroleum base.

 

[knot]

Doesn't have to be a grease, but make sure it has no petroleum byproducts--petroleum is harmful to rubber O rings. Note that a lot of "silicone" sprays actually have a petroleum base.

Are these o-rings, in fact, rubber? They appear to be silicon or something.

 

[f22shift]

can anyone post pics of what the foam o-ring should look like?
dx is lying to me to say that my dx x.v. doesn't come with one but it's in the review. my battery rattles.

to be honest i'm not a fan of this type of twisty. i feel like fenix does it better(l0d). i guess it's a you get what you pay for kind of thing.

i wouldn't recommend this to anyone as it dents the negative side of the battery, the battery contact is not confidence inspiring, it skips modes because of the contact.

i think you can grease the threads all you want as it's not part of the circuit. i believe what it does is screw in to contact the positive part of the battery to the head and the negative to the bottom(body). this completes the circuit. it's off when either the top or bottom doesnt touch, hence the battery rattle.
fenix does it differently. they have a spring on the bottom that makes the battery contact always eliminating the battery rattle. what happens is when you screw down the head, the bottom part of th head that is not anodized makes contact to the body which completes the circuit.
i prefer that.
anyway, in conclusion lube away..

i do love the memory mode. i wish every multi-mode has it.

 

[ernsanada]

The Deal Extreme CL-E's came packaged like this.

Left, First Generation Jet Beam CL-E (Deal Extreme). Right, 2nd Generation Jet Beam CL-E (Emilion's Workbench)

 

[knot]

can anyone post pics of what the foam o-ring should look like?

Picture in you mind's eye: high density foam that you can place on top of your battery with a hole cut out the middle the size of the positive contact. Place this padding on the head, sticky side down.

Don;t tighten the head too much, only enough to turn the light on. One can pull the head down with two fingers one hand (or just pinch the light with two fingers) as a momentary or go through modes without twisting.

 

[ernsanada]

The one's from Emilion came packaged like this

This is a picture of the foam pads. I've heard the Dr. Scholls Pads work better.