SUREFIRE EDCL-2T

[ch4ins4w]

Thanks for the advice. Do IMR batteries provide a longer run time over all, or just a longer draw on high before they step down? I don't quite understand what makes an IMR battery better. And, do you use two 16340s or an IMR 16650?

For long range spotting, I use an Olight M22 Warrior that I put an XPL Hi V3 led in. It has a narrow spot that reaches as far as my eyes can identify something. This weekend, I will get out and compare the EDCL-2T and see how it works at this range, which, for me, is about 250 yards.

 

[blacksmith]

Myself and others were hoping to build a lego with the new Scout M600DF.

The word on the street is that the head of the 600DF will not work with other lights; it has larger threads for 18650s.

The tail caps will swap however.

 

[Vox Clamatis in Deserto]

Thanks for the advice. Do IMR batteries provide a longer run time over all, or just a longer draw on high before they step down? I don't quite understand what makes an IMR battery better. And, do you use two 16340s or an IMR 16650?

The IMR's can handle the high current draw and don't shut down after a couple of minutes like the 'regular' RCR123A's. The run time on the IMR's is less than with a primary CR123A, the ones I have claim 600 or 550 mAh depending on the brand. I use two 16340's in the EDCL-2T.

The PTC protection in the conventional RCR123A's shuts the light down totally after less than two minutes and the battery voltage will still be almost 4 volts in the charger, indicating plenty of juice left. Other recent lights like the SureFire EB1-MV and the 4Sevens Turbo Mini MkII also work much better with high current IMR's than conventional RCR123A's in my experience.

Some IMR's are protected, e.g. Olight and 4Sevens, others like Exell and AW are not it seems.

Usual caveats about using rechargeables in a SureFire, not authorized, might explode or fry the LED, you may go blind etc. But my experience has been good over the past few months.

 

[ch4ins4w]

Thanks Vox. That helps me understand what was happening with my EDCL-2T with 16340s. I will order some IMR 16340s and see how that functions for me. I do love this light.

 

[zubrato]

I'm really interested in this light after seeing a few people run it in several low light pistol/rifle classes, as well as shoothouses, mainly for it's power and candela.

I've always been a streamlight (cost) guy, but I am willing to go where the reliable performance is, and 1200 lumens for 159 is a steal. Sorry for being so new, I've only lurked a little here and there, and I promise to spend more time learning, but before I begin this deep dive I wanted to know if you guys knew of any rumors or whispers of a new light from streamlight coming out to compete with the EDCL-2T or exceed, as I know surefire just released their M600 WML with 1500lumens.
With the lumen war in full swing, I dont want to be caught forking over cash when the next big thing is around the corner, though I feel comfortable with Surefire being so dead nuts reliable, and my current Streamlight 2L-X 500 lumens being "good enough" so far.

One more question: I know you surefire guys play lego, something I've never done but I'm willing to do in order to make the EDCL-2t what I want it to be, is there a compatible tailcap that has a shielded button (gas pedal or not, preferably no clicky) without a twist on/off constant feature? Looking for high only, or Low/high gas pedal with those features.

Thank you for your time and knowledge. I've always been a flashlight guy, but I'm just a mainstream flashlight normie beginning to dip his toes into this world.

 

[bykfixer]

Good questions zubrato. And welcome aboard.

With the lumens wars there are numbers being thrown around based on peak performance that due to physics becomes throttled back. Sometimes greatly. But if it drops as much as say 30% in output you won't really notice the change.....

But the good news is you can stick with a lesser output from a light that can hold the peak amount without dropping down and be just as well equipped.

The EDCL2-T uses a lens that acts not unlike a magnifier, which is why they look so shockingly much brighter than those other lights. It is called TIR for total internal reflection (or something like that).

So if you take a 1000 lumen LED and stick it in the SF head it too will look amazingly bright.

They say it takes 4x the output to be 2x as bright. So 1.5x the output of a 1000 lumen light is hardly noticeable.
The optic is where the magic is.

Hope that helps.

 

[Skaaphaas]

So it would appear that there is a possibility of this light in my future. I got to fondle one at an IDPA night-shoot yesterday, and I was suitably impressed.

That gas-pedal switch is great!

Has anyone figured out a way of attaching a finger O-ring to it, a-la the Raven Concealment pocket clips?

I find them an invaluable addition to any light that may be used in conjunction with my handgun.

My first thought was a small hole in the top of the bend of the pocket clip, plus a small keychain split ring, and then an O-ring.

 

[bykfixer]

Welcome to the site zubrato.

Ok to start with this EDCL-2T does not sustain the 1200 lumens for more than a minute or so. It steps down to about 700 due to heat that would cook the LED if it did not. You may notice some of Streamlight products have cooling fins that the SureFire does not. So when Streamlights says a light is 1000 lumens like their HL-X it stays at full output as long as the LED can. Physics causes LED's to dim as they get hot.

Next, the EDCL-2T uses what is called TIR. Total internal reflection. In laymans terms it's like a magnifier. So the beam appears really massive out front. Streamlight uses mirrors and ultra clear glass to disperse light more evenly.

So you decide to you want a bunch of light for a city block but not a lot of side spread, or if you'd rather light an entire soccer field.

Last, a light needs to be 4x as bright by numbers to appear 2x as bright to your eyes.

SureFire makes ones called EB1 or EB2 that have a tailcap which will work on the EDCL lights. But it's a clicky. Used on that EDCL it is high only. But the EDCL tail cap used on an EB can do the gas pedal thing.

I'm not trying to talk you into or out of anything. Streamlight typically introduces their flagship stuff in January with availability in March or April. Sometimes they have upgrades to existing models in the fall, but typically what you see in January is the main lineup.

SureFire on the other hand tends to release items one or two at a time, sometimes in summer, sometimes in January.

If you feel comfortable with Streamlight, stick with them in my view. I like the ProTac series, especially the ten tap option for lo/hi or hi only.

Hope to see you around the board.


And skaaphass, I drilled a hole where you cite and used a split ring to add a lanyard so it will work. 3/64ths or 5 I forget.

 

[Skaaphaas]

Thanks Bykfixer.

I have my EDCL2-T in hand

I'll explore a few options on O-rings.

 

[Skaaphaas]

Seems like the tint lottery applies. I've read a number of comments saying their's is pure white, while mine has a noticeable hint of green.

 

[CelticCross74]

Had my EDCL-2T a couple months now. I actually REALLY like the gas pedal switch. I experimented with a new Orbtronic 16650 and it turned out to actually be too HOT for the EDCL-2T. The only mode that will work with that 16650 in it is max output mode. Lose the low mode completely with a 16650 in it. Very interesting. Did not expect that at all. The tint is just fine out of mine. "Pure white"? My copy is on the paler side but is not pure white. Either is fine with me in this very neat light!

 

[Skaaphaas]

Yeah I wasn't sure how else to explain it. "Just white"? Ie no noticeable other hues, like green or blue.

I'm not overly concerned about the tint, while I really don't like green, for the purpose that I bought this light for it really doesn't matter. The "gas pedal" switch and mega brightness are the main things I wanted.

 

[HitFactor]

My 2T (white) makes my 1T look green. I'm not really concerned about tint either.

 

[Nimitz68]

My 2T (white) makes my 1T look green. I'm not really concerned about tint either.

I see the exact same thing with my 2-T and my 1-T. The 2-T is very white while the 1-T is quite green.

 

[Vox Clamatis in Deserto]

I made a similar -1T tint observation on another thread:

Just got the EDCL-1T delivered by FedEx, some early observations. The tint is a little greenish (or golden yellow) compared to an EDCL-2T and a E1B-MV but white compared to older SureFire's. As usual, the green tint seems more pronounced on low mode.

 

[CelticCross74]

I just got the 1T as well! I really dig the gas pedal switch! I guess I am the odd flashaholic out both my 1T and 2T have almost the exact same off pure white but still not NW tint.

 

[Mark2]

Mine is yellow green. Almost 20 years later, and still playing the 'Luxeon' lottery.

 

[zubrato]

Bykfixer thank for your amazing response and patience, and I apologize my delayed response. I can really only access the forum thru my phone as having less than 3 posts everything is quite difficult to navigate through filters and lack of notifications.

I broke down and purchased the edcl2-t...after purchasing the Scout600DF and I realize what I had been missing before. The design of the light with regard to battery compartment, tailcap switch at the very least is head and shoulders above streamlight.
My concerns for the tailcap gas pedal were activating on my belt were unwarranted, it moves out of the way entirely, unlike my streamlight which sat deeper in the pocket and required the protected tailcap due to its position.

My one holdup is the temperature of the light, surefire is decidedly more yellow than the streamlight blue/purple which I have become accustomed to. There are times I've felt the blue/purple tint were advantageous in being so irritating to the eye for information control purposes, and also detrimental in gathering information due to making everything the same color. Sort of how a yellower tint is more natural for tracking purposes and provides more information. Time will tell.

My question is as follows, can I use something like purple loctite to secure the tailcap from twisting on/out of position? I'm hesitant to clean off surefire protective grease in order to use a little dab and I don't want to use anything too strong that would weld the flashlight to the point where I need tools/heat and mar the finish, but the twist feature is something I find more a liability than feature.

Thank you guys!
Also you suck, this is expensive.

 

[zubrato]

Quick update, thought about it and decided to use a few wraps of Teflon tape instead, works great and nothing permanent!

Thank you again to everyone, never thought I'd become a surefire fanboy.

Ah! One thing I wish this light did is take 18650's and ramp it up to 1500 like the m600Df on my rifle. My only real gripe at this point.

 

[id30209]

Oh lord have mercy....
As a huge fan(atic) of old E,L,A flashlights and especially dual-stage switches, i've never looked for any of them younger than AZ2 (as the last one in my garage) knowing none of them has this legobility in this size and as it's called now gas pedal switch.
And now years after, i've stumbled upon this thread by accident and for past hour i'm just drooling over the laptop reading about your impressions.
To long i've spend in my cave...

The only thing that comes to my mind after reading all these pages is that everyone has an issue using 1 liion cell in 2T. Low mode precisely and using 2x16340's doesn't give runtime as would 16650. The driver seems to me can handle single or dual liion setup and as i read it does pretty well, only battery capacity is an issue (16340)

So far as per my experience, solution for LOW output using 1 x 16650 is to change the resistor in the tailcap which is the only reason why it's so low or none.
The same issue i had with AZ2 and LX2. So basically you can solder resistor depending how much output you'd like to have on low but generally is between 30ohm up to almost 200ohm (there are some threads how to calculate).
But once tailcap is opened we could see which resistor SF is using (hopefully) and it's easier to determine which to use depending on li ion setup.

And once again.. how did i miss this one???
Now i want one EDCL2-T!!!

UPDATE: @£$* it! There were WTS threads