SureFire E1's on Arc LS battery holders?

[lambda]

Re: SureFire E1\'s on Arc LS battery holders?

McGizmo,

Very nice!

There's going to be a line forming for those.

And to think, from the mind of Mr. Bulk comes such inovation.

You certainly have a nice looking adapter there, and very practical too. Makes a nice complimentary merging of the LED and incandecent worlds..

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Re: SureFire E1\'s on Arc LS battery holders?

Don,

Funny what kind of ideas will come to one when staying up all night as I was required to last night.

To get my hands on this new adapter I will make another contribution probably tonight (took-a-nap-now-gotta-go-to-Father's-Day-luncheon/dinner/family-get-together), probably after I get back...

That thing is cool, thanks for making my delusional dream a reality.

 

[yclo]

Re: SureFire E1\'s on Arc LS battery holders?

So that's what's up your sleeve..

 

[McGizmo]

SureFire E1\'s on Arc LS battery holders?

Well turn around is fair play and thanks to Mr. Bulk, there's a new "adapter" to consider:

This adapter is a result of Mr. Bulk cogitating on how to take the double ended 123 holder he bought (Craig's new computer drive)and have it host a SureFire E1 head as well as the Arc LS. Those clever Hawaiians

As it turns out, this adapter can be fashioned from an Arc EDIT [ 1 X AA} holder and adds very little to the overall length of a light. Since the Arc holders have the batteries sticking out, the adapter essentially fills the void while going from male thread to female thread. The SF head is snug and sealed to the adapter while the Arc battery holder acts as a twist on tail switch. See herefor more images and info. As shown at this link, the SF head can be run from the 2 X AA Arc battery holder which in experimentation gives you diminished light due to a lower voltage but it does allow for use of other batteries and the light still hurts your eyes *blink......blink*

The old style 1 X AA battery holders may have a new lease on life

I blame Mr. Bulk for now finding myself another half day behind on stuff that needs to get done.

But since I'm not too upset, I propose to Mr. Bulk that if he makes even another donation to the computer fund; enough to cover the postage at least. I will send him the adapter shown and he can then report on adaptability and usefulness of this light.

Should you consider this another dumb idea, thank you in advance

 

[Blikbok]

Re: SureFire E1\'s on Arc LS battery holders?

Ooh. I'm having visions of a 2xAA E1 dancing in my head. Just the body to connect the existing head to the tailcap. :-D

 

[McGizmo]

Re: SureFire E1\'s on Arc LS battery holders?

Hello Gang,

As I stated in previous threads, I am not in a position currently, due to time constraints as well as equipment, to offer even limited production on the part ideas I am sharing here on the board. If this is a problem and you would rather I keep these ideas to myself, let me know and I can try to restrain my enthusiasim and keep silent. I am happy to share what I have found out and perhaps Doug or someone else can step up to the plate for some sellable parts. With this adapter, of which I have made two now, there are some issues. I fine tuned the one that I sent to Mr Bulk so that it would work in all combos of light heads I had available for testing. The adapter shown in the photo below needs some material removed for the 2 X AA holder to make contact with the SF head. Perhaps you have noticed that the Arc 2 XAA holder has the batteries extending possibly 1/8" less than the 123 holder with battery. This variance needs to be accounted for with the internal thread and counter bore dimensions of the adapter. It is certainly doable but I don't know what the ideal target dimensions as well as acceptable tolerances should be. Any small job shop could make this part and I am confident from seeing Doug's work that he can certainly make these if he has an interest. I started with an Arc 1XAA holder (old style) as most of the HA is still there and little modification is required. (time and laziness factor). This part could be spit out of 1" OD bar stock without any real problem. If Peter's shop were running with idle time, he could certainly punch out these parts as well as sell more of his 2 X AA holders to the SF owners who would like to have a 2XAA E1 option. I suspect that Peter would want nothing to do with this at present and I think this is certainly understandable.

With the cost of 123's compared to using AA's I am kind of surprised that SureFire hasn't offered an alternative but there may be considerations beyond the vast scope of my ignorance. At any rate, for a physical comparison, I offer the photo below:

Perhaps I should fine tune this adapter to accept the 2XAA holder with the E1 head and send it to one of you who can do some illumination analysis comparing it to the SF with 123 power.

I hope my ideas will be accepted on their merit alone and you will forgive me for not following through with production pieces. If this isn't acceptable please let me know.

Regards,
Don

 

[McGizmo]

Re: SureFire E1\'s on Arc LS battery holders?

Incidentally, as Blikbok has suggested,
Yet another body could be made that connects the existing head and tail cap od the SF E1 series and houses 2 AA batteries. I believe the design would require battery loading from the front end as is now the case. The batttery body would be robust in nature if the current OD of the 123 holder were maintained. Perhaps SF could add this accessory to their 2003 catalog

Is AA a bad word in the land of SureFire? I notice they mention bulb yellowing with undervoltage but I assume they are speaking of a factor of 3 volts and not tenths of a volt. I bet somebody here knows these answers.

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Re: SureFire E1\'s on Arc LS battery holders?

Wouldn't a 2 x AA E1 absolutely blow away a stock MiniMag?

 

[Darell]

Re: SureFire E1\'s on Arc LS battery holders?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by McGizmo:
I hope my ideas will be accepted on their merit alone and you will forgive me for not following through with production pieces. If this isn't acceptable please let me know.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>It's acceptable. In fact, I think I'm gonng send you some money just for fun.

In the short time you've been on the board, you have added so many fresh ideas, and even proven them to be "doable" by building and photographing them. Yes, in just a couple of short months you have added more to the CPF than... well... I *ever* will.

No, no. Sitting silent is far worse than the dreaded dangle. So please, with my compliments: Dangle away, Don.

 

[McGizmo]

Re: SureFire E1\'s on Arc LS battery holders?

Darell thanks but after offering me a Love child, I'm not sure you should be counted in this consensus

BTW, if you send it, I will spend it; with fun in mind.. As a fool, so shall I weep...( I think I twisted a saying there)

Back to this adapter, I want to qualify my observations as being based on batteries at hand. I just put a new set of generic AA batteries in the Arc AA holder and the adapter worked fine with the SF head. I suspect that I may have crushed the older set in using them with a myriad of combos and threaded battery crushers, aka non spring loaded battery holders of prototypical nature.

 

[Darell]

Re: SureFire E1\'s on Arc LS battery holders?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by McGizmo:
after offering me a Love child..<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Yeah...uh. That wasn't really meant for public consumption. Gonna make a lot of these guys jealous now...

 

[lemlux]

Re: SureFire E1\'s on Arc LS battery holders?

Well, if anyone runs into production with this idea I'd like to purchase.

I second everyone's statement of appreciation for McGizmo's sharing of ideas.

I asked to be put in the queue because I've been too slow to request limited volume production items from Lambda and Electrolumens on more than one occasion each.

 

[lemlux]

Re: SureFire E1\'s on Arc LS battery holders?

McGizmo:

Will your adapter be available, or is it a one-off creation? Please place me in your order queue.

 

[Darell]

Re: SureFire E1\'s on Arc LS battery holders?

Ha! You had to see that coming Don...

Can't be dangling all this cool stuff in front of us, and not expecting us to bury you in money.

 

[DSpeck]

Re: SureFire E1\'s on Arc LS battery holders?

OK, who wants one of these? If somebody will send me an E1e in HA to play with, take mesurements/fittings from and to keep, I will make up this adapter. (I haven't any Surefires to take measurements from).

I'm not sure of the exact price for this adapter, so I'll also send an aluminum double-ended Arc-LS 123-holder to the first person who takes me up on the offer.

 

[Blikbok]

Re: SureFire E1\'s on Arc LS battery holders?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by McGizmo:
I believe the design would require battery loading from the front end as is now the case. The batttery body would be robust in nature if the current OD of the 123 holder were maintained. Perhaps SF could add this accessory to their 2003 catalog

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I just checked the fit of a AA into the back of an E1. It's too fat, by a hair.

I don't mind front-loading.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>

Is AA a bad word in the land of SureFire? I notice they mention bulb yellowing with undervoltage but I assume they are speaking of a factor of 3 volts and not tenths of a volt. I bet somebody here knows these answers.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

They started with high-power lights which needed lithium chemistry to run. The E1 is less than 1/4 the power of the original 6p, and lithium AA's are available. However, they are now marketing their own SF-marked 123a.
I understand the desire to keep the product line consistent. I understand the superior nature (maybe) of the 123a. But at $2.50 to $14 each, the major objection I hear to SF's is the battery. By not doing anything interesting with their rechargeable line (broadening it, or improving the battery capacity) and not producing an entry-level AA-eating model, I could very easily believe that they are no longer in the business of selling flashlights-- they are selling batteries. I do not want to accuse them of this, but there is little contradictory evidence.

This hypothetical E2xAA would probably be a wonderful introduction to the addictive line of SF products. By removing the "strange battery" barrier (and their pending introduction of LED models) SF would widen their potiential market immensely.

 

[brightnorm]

Re: SureFire E1\'s on Arc LS battery holders?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Blikbok:
...By not doing anything interesting with their rechargeable line (broadening it, or improving the battery capacity) and not producing an entry-level AA-eating model, I could very easily believe that they are no longer in the business of selling flashlights-- they are selling batteries. I do not want to accuse them of this, but there is little contradictory evidence.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Since their primary market is military/LE, the 123's power/wgt ratio, size and form factor is the most appropriate available for their carefully designed task-specific lights. In fact, the lights were probably designed around the batteries.

Brightnorm