Old KL3 Head; Approximate Lumens?

[Pima Pants]

I have one of the first KL3 LED heads on an even older Surefire 6Z. I seem to remember the lumens rating given by Surefire to be something really low, like 35. I just brought it out the other day to compare it with some of my other lights and it sure appears to be a lot brighter than that. To my eye, it looks like it's pushing 100 lumens or more.

Does anyone have a clue as to what the very first KL3 heads were rated at? Thanks in advance for your replies.

 

[archimedes]

I have one of the first KL3 LED heads on an even older Surefire 6Z. I seem to remember the lumens rating given by Surefire to be something really low, like 35. I just brought it out the other day to compare it with some of my other lights and it sure appears to be a lot brighter than that. To my eye, it looks like it's pushing 100 lumens or more.

Does anyone have a clue as to what the very first KL3 heads were rated at? Thanks in advance for your replies.

I think that the original (Lux I) KL3 were rated at 19.5 lumens, though SureFire typically rated very conservatively ... and mine is definitely not putting out anywhere near 100 lumens.

You are running this on primaries???

Any chance yours might have been modded to a newer LED emitter along the way?

 

[tsask]

Yes this is an excellent example of actions speaking much louder than words. My KL3 green LED seems ALOT brighter than 30-40 lumens!!!. The size and optics in the KL3 head make such power possible. Surefire's humble lumen claims are most apparent with the KL3. I am glad I splurged a few years ago and got one!

 

[Pima Pants]

I think that the original (Lux I) KL3 were rated at 19.5 lumens, though SureFire typically rated very conservatively ... and mine is definitely not putting out anywhere near 100 lumens.

You are running this on primaries???

Any chance yours might have been modded to a newer LED emitter along the way?

Just running on 123's. The beam is as strong as my Fenix and 4Sevens lights that are rated at 100-120 lumens. I purchased the KL3 when they first came out.

I'm speaking WAY over my head here but it appears to have an "aspheric" lens inside. It's like half a ball of glass.

 

[archimedes]

Does the bezel have multiple circumferential "fins" (Gen1), or is it round and smooth (Gen2/3)?

 

[angelofwar]

I've owned both...the older TIR model seemed lower than the newer "fresnel" version, but the were both rated at 19 lumens. I don't think SF really bothered to update the actual light out-put...but, as other have stated, it's a good bit brighter than stated. But, also, the narrow beam put's more light on target. I'm guessing them to be around 50'ish. I should have kept both, but I'm just left with the one. These heads make for great runtime emergencies lights with long run times, and, they work real good off half dead pairs of CR123's. Just make sure you keep them paired up and you should be good.

 

[tx101]

I just snagged one on a different forum and all I can say is, the beam is "angry blue"

Mod fodder

 

[archimedes]

Informal "ceiling bounce test" would put my KL3 (Gen1) at maybe 30 lumens ... of "if-its-not-angry-its-mighty-upset" blue light

Luxeon spec sheets suggest that the Lux I (of a typical flux bin) driven at max should put out about 45 bulb lumens (maybe 35 OTF?), which would seem to be in the ballpark of what I see. The Lux III (also typical flux) driven with a typical 700 mA would be roughly 65 bulb lumens (or 50 OTF?), so that seems consistent with AoW's experience.

BTW, why does everyone use the term "angry blue" ? To me, "angry red" and "sad blue" would seem more appropriate, and the tint of some of these old LED's is sad indeed

 

[Pima Pants]

Does the bezel have multiple circumferential "fins" (Gen1), or is it round and smooth (Gen2/3)?

Mine has the "fins". The color is definately not blue. I guess I got a good one.

 

[kelmo]

Greetings all!

As I recall the original finned headed Lux 1 KL3 had the 19 lumen output.

The Lux III fresnal lensed variant had a 22 lumen output. The Lux III ran for 7 hours on a 3 cell tube and was quite a decent thrower for only 22 lumens. If you put on a FM34 diffuser (the one designed for the 1.47" bezel, I may have gotten the number wrong) you got a really useful soft glowing flood light. I balanced the whole thing out with a Z49 tailcap! A buddy of mine needed a light for his home and that is the setup he chose out of my collection.

kelmo

 

[kelmo]

Greetings all!

As I recall the original finned headed Lux I KL3 had the 19 lumen output.

The Lux III fresnal lensed variant had a 22 lumen output. The Lux III ran for 7 hours on a 3 cell tube and was quite a decent thrower for only 22 lumens. If you put a FM34 diffuser (the one designed for the 1.47" bezel, I may have gotten the number wrong) you got a really useful soft glowing flood light. I balanced the whole thing out with a Z49 tailcap! A buddy of mine needed a light for his home and that is the setup he chose out of my collection.

archimedes - "Angry Blue" comes from the old nichia 5mm emitters back when they were pretty much the only game in town and they had that awful blue tint. Another term that has fallen out of favor is "cat urine green." But I digress...

kelmo

 

[archimedes]

....
archimedes - "Angry Blue" comes from the old nichia 5mm emitters back when they were pretty much the only game in town and they had that awful blue tint. Another term that has fallen out of favor is "cat urine green." But I digress...

kelmo

But ... why call them "angry" ? Blue seems sad to me :thinking:

 

[tx101]

Actually now that its dark over here, the tint is more of a "leery lavender"

 

[THE PUNISHER]

got 3 kinda blue,one serial # A00422.