Surefire A2 Aviator Fan checking in

[Duster1671]

Short of waiting for a re-release of a drop-in LED ring, are there any good options for swapping the LEDs on an A2? I'd like to replace my original white (very blue tint) LEDs with something high CRI that's close to the CCT of the incandescent bulb. Or at least a warmer temperature than stock.

Are there any good 5mm LEDs out there with the same forward voltage as the stock LEDs? Are the LEDs just thru-hole mounted and accessible once the head is disassembled?

 

[bykfixer]

Fixer,

You always amaze me with with the lights you have, and the history.

This is really interesting.

You have knowledge like no one else.

Thanks!

Best,

RL

Red, I have had the good fortune of communicating with a few renouned flashlight historians and even some of those who created the items we now call historic.
As a lad I had the honor of holding the flashlight for my dad a number of times and as an adult decided to research lights of my youth. It led to learning a lot about the origins. And through CPF archives and other places I was able to stitch together a lot of the loose threads scattered about the internet. So I do what I can to give back to the community when I can.
The man himself told me a few stories of one of his proudest achievements at SureFire, the A2 Aviator.

"Regulated light bulb!!" he hollered out one evening. "Nobody had done a regulated light bulb before so I decided to".
-PK

 

[ma tumba]

Calipso programmable rings is on my top-3 list of flashlight upgrades. Although, realistically, I use them on their max setting.

Koala, in our private communications about two years ago, hinted about a new version, so I hope it would be released sooner or later

 

[Duster1671]

Koala, in our private communications about two years ago, hinted about a new version, so I hope it would be released sooner or later

A ring with the Yuji 3200K 95+CRI 5mm LEDs might be nice!

 

[RedLED]

Fixer,

That is amazing, thanks for being here, and passing down all this info!

Best,

RL

 

[bykfixer]

The real credit should go to author of the book "Flashlights" Bill Uteley (pronounced Yoot-lee) for opening my eyes to all things vintage. And collector extrordinaire Steve Gitterman for teaching me how to restore them. Also David White from gotalight.com for a link to olivedrab.com where early military lights were discussed.

I took it from there. Then one fateful afternoon old member Lightlover introduced me to PK himself. And member Liftd4R introduced me to Don Keller.
So they were the ones who fed the ocd voices in my head just enough bread crumbs to find the ginger bread house. He does not know it, but Scout24 also played a role with a 2c number made by Bright Star near his birthplace.

 

[kaichu dento]

Calipsoii programmable rings is on my top-3 list of flashlight upgrades. Although, realistically, I use them on their max setting.

I bought a handfull of Calipsoii rings and one of the greatest pleasures was having the LEDs in the ring match the tint of the incandescent center bulb. I also used it at the ultra-low levels a lot as an aurora guide, where we needed to keep extraneous light out of peoples pictures.
Calipsoii made the penultimate A2 rings and I just sold my last one, a very hard light to part with.

 

[ampdude]

I bought a handfull of Calipsoii rings and one of the greatest pleasures was having the LEDs in the ring match the tint of the incandescent center bulb. I also used it at the ultra-low levels a lot as an aurora guide, where we needed to keep extraneous light out of peoples pictures.
Calipsoii made the penultimate A2 rings and I just sold my last one, a very hard light to part with.

I have Yujis in an old Onion Ring from Koala. It's awesome. They are both adjustable and I can change out the LED's. Why would that one be better?

 

[archimedes]

I have Yujis in an old Onion Ring from Koala. It's awesome. They are both adjustable and I can change out the LED's. Why would that one be better?

They are different not better. Koala lets you swap emitters easily. Calipsoii lets you change output on the fly.

The Calipsoii MM version also gives you the option of three separate color outputs, if selected (low/color1, med/color2, high/incand/lamp)

 

[kaichu dento]

I have Yujis in an old Onion Ring from Koala. It's awesome. They are both adjustable and I can change out the LED's. Why would that one be better?

I've only had Calipsoii rings and the things I loved about them were the easy output adjustability and incan-like output color of the emitters I'd chosen for it. I know the Koala's have always been highly rated too but for my purposes, I'd chosen the Calipsoii rings.

I see Archimedes already replied and I'd like to add that he's the one who answered all my questions regarding both the Calipsoii rings and everything related to the A2 years back when I first got interested in them.

 

[archimedes]

.... I see Archimedes already replied and I'd like to add that he's the one who answered all my questions regarding both the Calipsoii rings and everything related to the A2 years back when I first got interested in them.

Thanks buddy, still one of my all-time favorites.

 

[kaichu dento]

Thanks buddy, still one of my all-time favorites.

One of my friends at work lost my A2 and when he was paying me for it, he had me find another one, with the Calipsoii ring of course, so that he'd have one of his own. Great light and I wish someone would develop a modern take on it, with the throw and flood options both being independently controllable.

 

[DayofReckoning]

The factory A2 LED's get a bad rep, rightfully so compared to what's available nowadays. It's worth nothing though that it seems that later ranks of the A2's Nichia LED's are a lot better than some of the early lights, 4 flat models.

My round body (sn8XXXX) A2's LED's are at least twice as bright as my old four flats (sn 3XXX), and the tint is much less "angry" than the older Nichia's. Maybe I won the led lottery on mine, but I've also seen people report their newer model A2's LED's as being brighter.

I hope to acquire an aftermarket ring at some point, but the LED's on my round body A2 are good enough that they sufficed for the close to 10 years I've owned the light.

I do get a kind of "Retro" type feeling using the old A2's "angry" purple/blue Nichias though.

 

[bykfixer]

I avoided the A2 for a while based on all the tomatoes being tossed by the crowd but one day I bought a beater round side one with white LED and frankly didn't mind it at all. My initial LED lights had really really bad tint so to me it wasn't so bad.

It's a nostalgic thing to me, so the blumens are simply a reminder of the times back then before LED tints had gotten a lot better. Kinda like driving a stock 63 Ford and marveling at how zippy it must've been to the owner at the time. Eventually I installed a Tads adapter and bulb for inexpensive bulb replacement someday versus a $35 (if you can find one) bulb module.

Later I acquired red, green, four flats etc but my favorite is that original beater light so well used most of the logo is missing (yet ano remains).

 

[ampdude]

I'm obviously not a big fan of the factory LED rings. And I think the angry blue nichia white rings gave the impression to most people that the incan bulb is in fact whiter than it really is, because it is regulated. I've disproved this many times through my own observations against different SF lamp assemblies and various stages of battery discharge.

I have a spare white factory LED ring that won't get used again unless necessary.

 

[DayofReckoning]

I'm obviously not a big fan of the factory LED rings. And I think the angry blue nichia white rings gave the impression to most people that the incan bulb is in fact whiter than it really is, because it is regulated. I've disproved this many times through my own observations against different SF lamp assemblies and various stages of battery discharge.

I have a spare white factory LED ring that won't get used again unless necessary.

Sure, because blue and purple tinted LED's really help to enhance that 3350K A2 beam's CCT whiteness :thinking:

Is this the part where you repeat the same demonstrably false claim that I've seen you post over and over again, year after year in reading old threads? About how the A2's beam is "too orange" and how it's "not as white as other SF lights".

Last time we had this conversation, you said you were going to "post some beamshots to prove your point". Perhaps you feel these aren't needed anymore, as you have already "disproven" this many times through your own observations?

Personally, I've compared the A2 against more Surefire Incandescent lights, bulbs and combos than I care to even think about, and the CCT and whiteness of the A2 never fails to impress.

There are a few beamshots in JS's original A2 review here. If you compare them with the E2E and MN03, for example, one can clearly the superiority of the A2's CCT.

I would love to hear exactly what combination of bulb and battery you use to determine that the A2's beam is "too orange", "not driven hard enough" or whatever conclusion you came up with.

 

[ma tumba]

I found 5600K Yuji LEDs to be the best choice for the secondary. They are much floodier than the stock LEDs but when driven by 2x 3.7V cells they provide that optimal brightness without being overdriven to the point of tint change.

 

[Kestrel]

One common guideline with regards to online forums is; attack the post & not the poster.

One of my personal takes on that, is that a post can be problematic if it includes a substantial number of "you"s.

I know that might sound a bit simplistic, but it really is a good rule of thumb - it is much easier to have a discussion if it has not been excessively personalized in such a fashion ?
It may feel accurate while composing of the post, but it can feel /very/ personal to be on the reading end. While there really isn't a hard&fast rule on this topic, I do find this perspective to be beneficial.

Best regards,

 

[Lumen83]

I'm obviously not a big fan of the factory LED rings. And I think the angry blue nichia white rings gave the impression to most people that the incan bulb is in fact whiter than it really is.

I agree. The "white" LEDs ruin my white/white A2 for me. The A2 I have with Green LEDs is fine. But I can't stand the horrible tint of the white LEDs and I don't use that light because of it. Im looking to trade it for red or upgrade it with an LED ring when one becomes available.

 

[DayofReckoning]

I agree. The "white" LEDs ruin my white/white A2 for me. The A2 I have with Green LEDs is fine. But I can't stand the horrible tint of the white LEDs and I don't use that light because of it. Im looking to trade it for red or upgrade it with an LED ring when one becomes available.

The light will function without the LED ring. You can remove it if it bothers you too much. Might even gain a little tiny piece of runtime too.