Surefire 6P + Malkoff 400 lumen LED drop in outputting like... 11.5 lumens???

shipwreck.

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So I've got an old busted Surefire 6P, which I've posted about here a few times. I've had it since 2005ish and recently decided I wanted a crenelated bezel for it. So I found one online but over the years the head had been beaten so badly it was literally no longer... round? So I had to replace the head just to be able to replace the bezel.

Well jokes on me, it turns out the aftermarket head I got wasn't even made to proper spec so I was barely able to get the lens and bezel in there by foregoing the o ring. But that's beside the point.

The point is that as soon as I got that done*, the lamp went out! And I figured if I was going to replace it might as well switch to LED to extend the battery life and up the output while I'm at it.

That's when the good folk of these forums pointed me toward the Malkoff drop in. Which claims to output something like 400 lumens. Over the surprisingly low 65 lumens of the surefire factory lamp.

Hey that all sounds good to me. Except when I installed it, honestly. I vaguely remember being pretty disappointed.

I mean I remember the stock setup spotlighting a roll-up door from clear across the floor of a pretty big warehouse in pitch black conditions.

But whatever the lumens of the Malkoff is, it doesn't seem to carry very far at all.

Now I'm thinking it just doesn't have the same focus that the surefire makes a selling point of. Which is pretty dumb if it's the case because it's for a surefire light so you'd think it'd go without saying that the exact same general performance is expected plus the extra lumens???

But I don't know. At this point it's dimmer than a household light bulb so obviously the batteries are dead. So I'm hoping I'll replace them and repent my Malkoff blasphemy here because it will be obviously way bright than stock and carry at least as far and be just as focused at range.

But this will be the second set of batteries I've put through it (rarely ever used, but I need it to work when it is!), and I'm pretty sure that's exactly what I said last time and I'm pretty sure nothing changed.

So. Am I doing something wrong here??? Is there any kind of troubleshooting I can do to get the advertised performance out of this thing?

Because I need this light to work y'all.

Every time something's gone wrong I've considered upgrading, and everytime I look there's virtually nothing on the market with a momentary on pressure switch (NO CLICKS!!! 😭😭😭), and nothing that doesn't have a bunch of silly strobe functions that I, frankly, want absolutely nothing to do with.
 

thermal guy

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Incandescents throw pretty good but you should be seeing a huge difference between stock and a M61. the spill should be much greater as well.
 

LEDphile

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A bad (read: high resistance) connection would cause a reduction in output from the Malkoff drop-ins, and could also result in low or no output from the stock lamp. So I'd be a bit suspicious of the aftermarket head.
 

shipwreck.

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A bad (read: high resistance) connection would cause a reduction in output from the Malkoff drop-ins, and could also result in low or no output from the stock lamp. So I'd be a bit suspicious of the aftermarket head.
:/ :/ :/ Alright I guess I'm just going to have to buy a oem head. Might as well to un f the bezel anyway 😭😭
 

shipwreck.

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Incandescents throw pretty good but you should be seeing a huge difference between stock and a M61. the spill should be much greater as well.
Why in the world would they not provide the same focus as the 6P stock when it's for the 6P? Obviously the user would not want a drastic change in the output or they'd just be getting a different light entirely instead of going out of their way to keep the 6P.

Ugh. Anyway. So you're saying I can't expect the same focus/range as the stock lamp? I might just switch back them forget the lumens :/
 

Olumin

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Why in the world would they not provide the same focus as the 6P stock when it's for the 6P? Obviously the user would not want a drastic change in the output or they'd just be getting a different light entirely instead of going out of their way to keep the 6P.

Ugh. Anyway. So you're saying I can't expect the same focus/range as the stock lamp? I might just switch back them forget the lumens :/
A LED can never throw as well as a bulb given similar output since its got a much larger surface area from which the light is emitted. I dont think the M61 is intended to be a equivalent to the P60 in every way as that would be impossible. Regardless you should be seeing a massive difference in brightness with the M61 & I agree something is wrong. Possibly a resistance issue or an issue with the head as previously mentioned.
 
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Coolwhite

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Buy a lumens factory Seraph head,
Excellent quality
Put one on my 6p with a clip, better than oem.
1635794650059.png
 

bykfixer

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Clean all threads first. And the spring on the 6p. Sometimes buildup is unseen but can certainly cause a much higher resistance.
The M61 compared to a P60 module should be a whole lot brighter.
X2 on Lumens Factory products.
 

thermal guy

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Could be just a simple matter of dead or low batteries. If you ran them for a bit with your P60 you could of drained them.
 

Duster1671

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Is your original 6P head round enough that you can assemble it with the M61? I get that you can't replace the bezel on it, but could you use it to figure out if the problem is w/the aftermarket head?
 

thermal guy

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I think what's going on is apples to oranges. That P60 incandescent is pretty damn good at throwing but just not much spill. The M61 is much more floody so you have a lot more lumens but it's not a pencil beam. Got to look at the whole beam. Not just the hotspot.
 

Bicycleflyer

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Before you do anything, contact Malkoff directly. Their customer service is very good.

I have a couple of Malkoff products and while quality is very good, it is not infallible. I know because it happened to me. I contacted Malkoff and Gene had me send him the whole flashlight. Took about a week and a half to get it back. He ended up replacing the P60 module under warranty. Have not had any problems since.
 

shipwreck.

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Hey thanks to all for the replies and advice, I didn't realize the inherent differences between incandescent and LED regarding throw. I do love the focus of the P60 though so I'm going to get one to compare side by side.

And I'll give it a thorough once over... as soon as I can find some batteries :/
 

JasonC8301

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There is definitely something wrong. I have an older M60 and a new M61 N and both out throw and are brighter than the stock 6P with P60 and even a stock C3 with a P90 bulb (I have 4 6Ps set up in different configurations.)

I would suggest there might be a connection issue and try a stock setup with the M61 in a standard light that is not jerry rigged.

Also give Malkoff a call, Gene is always tops.

Jason

(PS this M60 has been traded to me from another CPF member well over 10 years ago, maybe 15+?? and it still sits on my patrol belt albeit in a new ish 6P with a malkoff md tailcap)
 

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