Q5 in L1?

[Turt]

Has anyone tried swapping out the Cree (whatever bin surefire uses) from a new L1 and replaced it with a Q5? I'm wondering if it makes a significant difference...

 

[gswitter]

Has anyone tried swapping out the Cree (whatever bin surefire uses) from a new L1 and replaced it with a Q5? I'm wondering if it makes a significant difference...

I wouldn't bother. Chances are the L1 already has a Q4 or Q5.

I have an A19 head with no converter and a Q4. I've compared that head on a previous generation L1 body with an L1 Cree. The beam profiles are completely different, but neither is considerably brighter than the other. I even swapped heads (L1 Cree head on older body, A19/Q4 head on L1 Cree body) to see if one body was driving the heads considerably higher than the other, but the outputs were still similar.

 

[c0t0d0s0]

Current L1s seem to have P4 emitters. Expect ~20% more output from swap to Q5. Personally I wouldn't bother with the swap unless you're unhappy with the tint.

 

[Crenshaw]

i just want to get the damn thing open to change the driver....the L1 could be the perfect light if it had more spill and was more powerful.

Crenshaw

 

[c0t0d0s0]

I wouldn't bother. Chances are the L1 already has a Q4 or Q5.

I have an A19 head with no converter and a Q4. I've compared that head on a previous generation L1 body with an L1 Cree. The beam profiles are completely different, but neither is considerably brighter than the other. I even swapped heads (L1 Cree head on older body, A19/Q4 head on L1 Cree body) to see if one body was driving the heads considerably higher than the other, but the outputs were still similar.

I actually measured a 20% gain in output when driving a Q5 behind Cree optic using L1 body. Not too noticeable with naked eye though.