Solarforce L2m and Surefire drop in

[swsccassidy]

Hey guys,
I finally used my Bass Pro gift card from X-Mas and bought a Surefire G2. I didn't need anything else, so naturally I bought the G2...Anyway, I'm pleased with it and I'm just waiting on my R2 drop ins (one is a 3 mode) to play with. In the mean time, I also ordered an L2m from Lighthound (amazing service, answered all my emails promptly and it got to SoCal in 2 days!). I've got the extender on there running 2 CR123's and I tried my G2 drop in for fit...but it doesn't work.:thinking: I've read about having to remove the outer spring in order for some P60 style drop ins to work with Solarforces, is that the case here? If I take the L2 head and tailcap and put it on the G2, its a no go. If I put the G2 tailcap back on, its ok. If I place the G2 drop in into the L2 with its head and tailcap...nada. Same thing here, I put the G2 tailcap on and it works fine. But I know the clicky works, I've held the drop in against the batteries and the clicky (no body) and it turns on and off. I'm thinking its some sort of contact issue, can anyone chime in here? Would placing a couple of small earth magnets in there cause a short? Thanks!

 

[jp2515]

For many of the drop ins available today, they usually have a larger outer spring that fits around the diameter of the drop in itself. Most of the time the larger spring needs to be removed to fit a Surefire light or the spring is needed to ensure proper contact.

I'm sure that L2m drop in looks similar to this one:

http://www.lighthound.com/Solarforce-LC-1-Drop-In-with-Cree-R2-LED--Single-Mode_p_1633.html

That large spring needs to come off before the dropin can fit the G2

 

[swsccassidy]

My problem is actually the opposite. The original bulb from the G2 isn't working with the L2. But what you mentioned is good to know, I should be receiving my other drop ins for the G2 soon and I'm sure it would have caused me a headache sooner or later!

 

[kosPap]

well i have no SF dropin but what I noticed from the SF and Chinese Xenon bulbs is that the Sf will not work in the L2 and other chinese lights heads too!

the reason is that the SF has a barrower outer spring....so in effect it floats in the larger chinses flashlight socket...
this must be the case with teh Sf led module too...

how to fix it i do not know...maybe a copper sleve inside the L2 socket?????

all the best, kostas

 

[swsccassidy]

That makes sense Kostas. It's not a big deal, I'll worry about getting a good fit when the LED's come. I was just curious as to why it wasn't making contact. I'll leave the G2 bulb the way it is, maybe later today I'll try and rig up a sleeve of some sort. Would aluminum foil work the same as copper? If I can make a sleeve that works, I'd be fine replicating that in copper later. But I tend to mess these sort of things up the first couple times, no sense in wasting a bunch of copper!

 

[USACelt]

The G2 appears to be beast all to itself. I have one and a 6P, the Solarforce clicky tailcap fits the 6P but not the G2. I left my G2 as is and use a Thrunite drop in in the 6P and a Nailbender MC-E drop in in my L2M. The Thrunite is much brighter than the factory bulb from Surefire and with 3 modes, more useful.

 

[It01Firefox]

Hi, I just ran a quick test with my L2p and my L2m and both the P60 and P60L don't work in those lights. The problem is that the tubes are bored for 18650s and that prevents the outer spring on the modules to get contact with the housing. They slip inside the battery tube and and you don't get a complete circuit.

You can fix this issue by putting a washer in the light.
The dimensions should be (at least on my L2m):
outside diameter max 22.4 mm
inside diameter < 19 mm, but also not too small otherwise it will also contact the center spring of the module and short out.

The ones I used were
OD 20.0 mm
ID 13.4 mm
thickness 2mm

With the washer in place the light could power both the P60 and P60L and it was possible to screw down the bezel completely without any visible gap.

The washer should of course be made from a conductive material

Hope this helps.
Markus

 

[swsccassidy]

Markus, that's exactly what I was looking for! I'm headed out to the garage now to tear it apart in hopes of finding a washer that will fit. If not, Home Depot is just down the street :thumbsup: Thanks!