Surefire G3 upgrades

[DirtyDaveMO]

My first post and I enjoy reading about flashlights and having them. I have bought parts for a flashlight and put it together and I have also purchased a light that was recommended on this forum. I have a collection of 18650 headlights for mowing at night with a charger that was recommended here.

My question is that I bought a Surefire G3 years ago and ran about 12 batteries through it but quit using it because the batteries were expensive and I always forgot to unscrew the endcap to turn the light off.
Should I replace the endcap with a switch and upgrade the bulb. I have seen references to Malkoff devices but don't know what will work in my light.
I like the body of the G3 because it isn't hard knurled aluminum. I would like to keep it in my pickup door pocket or get a clip for the center console.
Thanks for any suggestions in advance.
Dave

 

[thermal guy]

Great light. You can run Malkoff's in it just fine. The L or LL Ones. If you want to run a standard M61 you will need a metal head. For batteries I use 2x17500 rechargeable cells. Although the new Dropins are so efficient you can use primary cells if you want. And that's would be best if your leaving it in your car a lot. You can get a tailcap from a company called lumens factory that will help out with you leaving it on.

 

[Olumin]

You can use Malkoff M61L or M61LL with 2x 17500 Li-ion. Or replace head with metal 6p one (if its got a pyrex (glas) lens) or this if you want to run higher output M61 or M91 dropins. The reason you have to replace the head with a metal one is that high-output LED drop-ins will damage the plastic and drop-in once it gets too hot, this is not a problem with M61L/LL.

If you dont like the twist tailcap you can use clicky modded Z41 tailcap or this.

 

[AstroTurf]

dont forget about aa or 14500 batteries too

 

[ampdude]

I don't recommend the LED drop-ins in the nitrolon lights, not because of needing an aluminum head, but because when you screw it all the way down it pushes the metal insert out on the inside of the body. My favorite setup for the G3 is two 17500's and a P90. And in wintertime a P90 with three CR123A primaries. Primary cells are not very expensive nowadays.

 

[novice]

dont forget about aa or 14500 batteries too

I would also suggest another option; getting a Malkoff M31L from The Man himself, or an M31LL or M31LLL from Illumn.com. Just make sure that you do not exceed 3 volts with these, and I recommend running them on 2x AA rechargeable NiMH Sanyo brand "Eneloops".

I don't recommend the LED drop-ins in the nitrolon lights, not because of needing an aluminum head, but because when you screw it all the way down it pushes the metal insert out on the inside of the body.

ampdude, thank you for this information, of which I was unaware. And now I need to re-appraise my approach, as my G3 lights all have Malkoff drop-ins...

 

[thermal guy]

I don't recommend the LED drop-ins in the nitrolon lights, not because of needing an aluminum head, but because when you screw it all the way down it pushes the metal insert out on the inside of the body. My favorite setup for the G3 is two 17500's and a P90. And in wintertime a P90 with three CR123A primaries. Primary cells are not very expensive nowadays.

Never had this happen on mine. Do you torque it down in order to get rid of the small gap Between the head and the body?

 

[ampdude]

To be reliable you almost need to do that, otherwise it's just barely making contact with the metal insert. I've seen it bad on some and not so bad on others. Just something to consider for reliably sake and I try to take care not to damage older SF parts that are not as easily replaceable nowadays. I like to switch back and forth between incan lamps and different LED drop-ins in my metal lights, but I only use incan lamps in my nitrolon lights.

 

[thermal guy]

you Are right about the P90. it's one of my favorite incandescents to run. Do you have to double or triple click with the 2X17500's?

 

[ampdude]

I've never had to double click a P90 with any set of 17500's ever. Single click only. With a P91 you might have to double click with some older P17500's like AW IME. The only protected set I've ever had to double click on a P90 was a pair of old yellow lable Lumen Hound 16340's and that was around 15 years ago. I remember when AW brought out his 16340's those were all single click with a P90.

 

[RWT1405]

I don't recommend the LED drop-ins in the nitrolon lights, not because of needing an aluminum head, but because when you screw it all the way down it pushes the metal insert out on the inside of the body. My favorite setup for the G3 is two 17500's and a P90. And in wintertime a P90 with three CR123A primaries. Primary cells are not very expensive nowadays.

Have you had this happen often?

First I've ever heard of this.

I've been using Malkoffs in my (multiple) SF G3's, SF G2's, and G2Z's, since 2009 or 2010, and I can tell you I've NEVER had such a problem.

I will admit that I do not "switch" between drop-in's, which for me would make no sense, as the Malkoff drop-in's are far superior to incandescent, in everyway, at least for me and for my job/use.

If I felt I had a need for a G3 incandescent, I would just open one of my spares I have, and use as such (which I have no use/desire to do).

For the OP, I HIGHLY recommend switching your SF G3 to a Malkoff drop-in, as I have been using them for many years and have NEVER had a problem with any of them, and the Malkoff makes them (SF G3's) far superior then the incandescent drop-ins.

 

[Dave D]

Welcome to the group, my first post on here about 8 years ago was almost exactly the same question.

I have a G3 which runs a Malkoff M61LL (100 lumens), it can run on 3 x CR123's or a pair of Li-Ion 17500's.

It's about the most general purpose useful light that I own. 👍

 

[DirtyDaveMO]

Thanks for the information. I hadn't realized the cost of the batteries were more reasonable now. I think the CR123's will work better in my truck if I keep a supply with the light. I think I will try the M61L with the standard 123 batteries. I ordered 12 Tenergy batteries from Amazon but where is the best place to order the M61L? Where do you buy your batteries?

 

[thermal guy]

Go right to Malkoff's site for your drop in. I get my 123's on eBay

 

[Kestrel]

Just make sure you keep track of your G3 - that is a very fine light format, and far less common than the G2's.
G3's are probably very difficult to replace these days.

My G3 has a low-voltage Malkoff M31, fueled with pairs of low-self-discharge Eneloop NiMH AA cells.

 

[scout24]

Stock with a McClicky kit for the win. 👍

 

[DirtyDaveMO]

just ordered the McClicky tailcap. I found another CR123 light in my junk drawer that I put new batteries in and put it in my car with spare batteries.
I find that if I spend a little more money on my tools, I will make more effort that they get put back in their proper storage location. I am getting old so maybe I also need to label them too with their storage location.
Thanks for the help guys.

 

[alangloi]

Rather late post, but Malkoff's 3 volt module works wonders with 2 AA batteries in the Surefire G3 flashlight. AA Battery sleeve can be had from Oveready. I run the lowest 3 volt Malkoff's module with lithium AA batteries (in a battery sleeve), and the battery lasts for a long time with no risk of leaking. Can also run NiMH, they just don't run as long, but they don't leak either. Now, these will not blind anyone, but when the power goes out, this setup comes in handy. (M31L is available; in the past they had even lower modules, and I socked a few away for a rainy day... )

 

[vicv]

Rather late post, but Malkoff's 3 volt module works wonders with 2 AA batteries in the Surefire G3 flashlight. AA Battery sleeve can be had from Oveready. I run the lowest 3 volt Malkoff's module with lithium AA batteries (in a battery sleeve), and the battery lasts for a long time with no risk of leaking. Can also run NiMH, they just don't run as long, but they don't leak either. Now, these will not blind anyone, but when the power goes out, this setup comes in handy. (M31L is available; in the past they had even lower modules, and I socked a few away for a rainy day... )

Cr123a cost about the same as ultimate lithiums. Wouldn't it just make sense to use those instead? I can understand doing a set up like this for an incandescent light because eneloop and ultimate lithium have a much flatter discharge curve than a CR123A. But in this case you were using a regulation circuit. So what is the advantage of going to the smaller cells?

 

[thermal guy]

its A 3 volt max drop in. Can't use more than one with the M31.