My first (and last) Solar Force L2 host

[Max_Power]

I recently decided to get a few Twofish Cyclopblock Flashlight Bicycle Mounts. I tossed in some other items to meet the free postage threshold. One of those items was a Solar Force L2 HA-III host, which now holds a Malkoff 4000k M61W and 18650 cell.

Issue 1) The longitudinal fit is loose, not fully securing the drop-in. Luckily I had a spare shock ring to make the drop-in snug.

Issue 2) The drop-in wasn't making electrical contact with the body. My fix for this was to wrap a thin strip of aluminum foil around the drop-in, which should improve thermal conductivity as well.

So, it worked (eventually) but it doesn't appear to follow Surefire or Malkoff spec. The electrical circuit depends on the outer coiled spring on surefire drop-ins. Malkoff drop-ins work fine in SureFire bodies without this spring or extra shimming.

Other dislikes: The switch is a reverse clicky. I swapped out the tailcap with a spare surefire forward clicky (threads seem to match up nicely, and it functions reliably). The construction feels very light, tubing must be very thin compared to higher-end lights. Knurling is a bit wimpy, almost not worth doing.

So, I have tried a SolarForce body, and was able to make it work, but I am not impressed. This would be a good light to use with an old drop-in and CR-123s, and hand out to the neighbor.

I am testing it for vibration resistance on a bicycle.

 

[RedForest UK]

I understood that solarforce weren't allowed to follow surefire's P60 spec exactly due to legal issues and Malkoff drop-ins, being a high end product, were designed with tight and specific tolerances for surefire and elzetta hosts.

Anyway, I think it's a bit harsh to bash what is a great quality and incredibly good value host on 'issues' relating as much to the drop-in itself, and which aren't a problem for either unless used in this configuration.

I could equally say I'm very disappointed in Malkoff drop-ins for not fitting perfectly in an L2 host when almost all other drop-ins work fine, but again that wouldn't make sense, they have slightly different specifications and weren't designed by the same people or to work specifically in conjunction with each other. Again, the reverse clicky is an option designed for multimode drop-ins, not the Malkoff, but this is again not an issue, just a different design choice.

I'm not trying to have a go at you, but try it with a new P60 drop-in, like a nailbender one or do some research and pick up one of the great value cheap chinese ones like the manafont XM-L. It can handle those no problems (with a little added heatsinking for high output ones) and I'm sure you'll be pleased with it.

 

[srfreddy]

It has been known that L2s are not designed to hold malkoffs.

 

[srfreddy]

And it is the same thickness as a bored 6P, more or less.

 

[Bullzeyebill]

Moving this to Budget Lights, or in this case Budget hosts.

Bill

 

[Max_Power]

Thanks for the comments, I didn't know that there were issues with Malkoff drop-ins in SolarForce bodies until I tried it. And yes, I like the 18650 capability. But I knew going in that there was a chance there would be issues, and there were. Since I am used to SureFire, FiveMega, and Malkoff hosts, I had high expectations!

How does one improve the heatsinking in a solarforce host? I suspect my aluminum foil shim will accomplish that fairly well. The M61W drop-in doesn't get very hot, it's quite efficient. An XM-L would probably stretch the thermal design.

Can the switch be easily replaced with a forward clicky?

--
Max_Power

 

[LV426]

Max, You could get a S6 tailcap witch is a "fwd" or modify the existing with a McCklicky.

Take a look here.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?274014-Solarforce-L2-L2P-forward-clicky

 

[Robocop]

I have had great luck with Solar Force hosts however while I am tough on lights on duty I think your bicycle mount would be much more tough on a light. I am using a P60 XM-L drop in on a single cell host with an 18350 cell for power. It gets hot on long runs however thus far has never failed me yet. I have a SF 6P using a Malkoff drop in and it too has some contact issues. Nothing major but it is picky at times. The drop in is designed as a flood and has such nice tint and beam quality I overlook the small issues....it is a duty bag light only for searching vehicles.

I saw a thread here somewhere (cant find it now) where someone used a thin strip of a coke can inside the host. When wrapped it held its shape and seemed to be very popular and actually worked very well. If I remember correct it was maybe a half inch wide and something like 6 or 7 inches long. It can be cut with plain old scissors and now that I think of it I may do this to my single cell host tonight.....good luck.

 

[^Gurthang]

Max,

There are a TON of threads addressing heat sink improvements for any P60 host. If you go over to the Custom and HomeBuilt Market Place you'll find several folks that sell copper foil strips for exactly this purpose. Malkoff M series drop-ins are proprietary design, you can make them work in a P60 host but like Robo says they can be picky.

 

[trooplewis]

I've got 4 Solarforce hosts, have never had any issues with any of them. But I buy generic P60 drop-ins off of either Solarforce's site, Lighithound, or Manafont.
I only have had to wrap XM-L drop-ins for heat transfer. XR-E's and XP-G's don't seem to matter much.
So far no concerns, but I'm aware the the SF switch may not like higher amperage as in the newer XM-L drivers. So far so good; in fact I have had good luck with $8 Ultrafire 504B hosts as well, go figure.

 

[Flashlite Foy]

L2 annodizing is similar to the high gloss finish on a 6P. "HA III" is only on the Solarforce L2P and is a much tougher finish.

Also; the Solarforce L2 is second only to the L2P, being regarded as one of the best budget hosts you can buy. A quality drop-in makes an L2 one of the finest flashlights available at anything near it's price. I own several of each (and reviewed them on another forum) and after lots of real world use; the Solarforce L2 is one hell of a nice flashlight.

Foy

 

[mitro]

Everyone has their own tastes, but I've sold all of my malkoff drop-ins and have bought many solarforce hosts since then. I can't say I miss them. I don't have my life on the line when I click that button though. Maybe my opinion would be different then, but I doubt it.

 

[Norm]

I saw a thread here somewhere (cant find it now) where someone used a thin strip of a coke can inside the host. When wrapped it held its shape and seemed to be very popular and actually worked very well. If I remember correct it was maybe a half inch wide and something like 6 or 7 inches long. It can be cut with plain old scissors and now that I think of it I may do this to my single cell host tonight.....good luck.

Improving heat sinking on P60 style drop ins.

Norm

 

[Robocop]

I knew I had read this somewhere and thank you for the link. This actually works very well and gives me a little bit of added insurance on these XM-L hosts.

 

[jacktheclipper]

L2 annodizing is similar to the high gloss finish on a 6P. "HA III" is only on the Solarforce L2P and is a much tougher finish.

Also; the Solarforce L2 is second only to the L2P, being regarded as one of the best budget hosts you can buy. A quality drop-in makes an L2 one of the finest flashlights available at anything near it's price. I own several of each (and reviewed them on another forum) and after lots of real world use; the Solarforce L2 is one hell of a nice flashlight.

Foy

Show 'em some pics , Foy :naughty:

 

[jondotcom]

1 out of 1,000 are bound to not like a perfect product. It's totally normal.

 

[fishx65]

Hard to find a better P60 host for $13.00 shipped!

 

[trooplewis]

Hard to find a better P60 host for $13.00 shipped!

Unless you like the Ultrafire 504B for $8.50 shipped from manafont. I find the 504 and the non-HAIII Solarforces very similar in almost all aspects.
I've had several, no issues so far.

 

[Flashlite Foy]

My L2 duo.

And some close ups . . .

And, these have been as realiable as they are good looking. Switch hasn't missed a beat with 3 amps of Ultra Fire XM-L. They're not IPX rated but I submerged these for about a half hour with no ingress and when the drop-in in wrapped tightly . . . well, it does heat up if left on high for long. Not any worse than other hosts I have.

thanksforlookingFoy

 

[richpalm]

Well, #1: Malkoffs are for the rich... I would never pay that price for what you get and I have no desire for one. Not when I can build 3 of my XP-G triples for the price of one Malkoff and get 1000 lumens or more, and have the satisfaction of building them.

Solarforces? Different story! I love the things and have ~15 L2P's with various triple XP-G and reflectored single XM-L dropins. I like them better than all the other lights I ever had. All of the switches, stock and optional, have held up fine with loads up to 4A and have had no issues. I use Illumination Supply's copper tape to wrap the dropins and snug them in with thermal compound. Host sucks up the heat right away. Pimped out with GITD and lanyards they look great.

I like the matte finish of the L2P. I don't like the shiny finish of the regular L2 though.

Rich