SureFire M3LT Review (Pics, Indoor & Outdoor Comparo Beamshots, Runtimes)
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IsaacHayes
Flashlight Enthusiast
Cool review, nice pics and beamshots!
One thing though, this is not SureFire's first foray with high output multi die LEDs... The KL4, KL5, and KL6 used a Luxeon V LED back in the day (contained 4 Luxeon 1 chips in a series-parallel arrangement) 🙂
One thing though, this is not SureFire's first foray with high output multi die LEDs... The KL4, KL5, and KL6 used a Luxeon V LED back in the day (contained 4 Luxeon 1 chips in a series-parallel arrangement) 🙂
auxcoastie
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2009
- Messages
- 57
Does anyone have any pictures of mounting it on a weapon like an AR yet? Or can one of you owners meause te diamater of the main body to figure out what larue or ARMS mount it would fit into?
Hi tueboBB,nice review,good job :thumbsup:.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/member.php?u=37353
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/member.php?u=37353
What happens if you swap the M3LT body with a standard M3 body? Does the two stage tailcap work?
The two stage tailcap won't work on the M3 host because M3LT's tailcap is much longer and the negative contact point sits deeper so there is no contact at all between the body and tailcap. M3LT's head works on M3 host and M3 tailcap but you will only achieve low output instead of high. You are better off buying an entire M3LT.
Thanks for the info. I'm wondering to myself how bright the low really is on the M3LT. I'm also wondering what the run time really is on low.
iso9009
Newly Enlightened
I plan to use two 18500's and bored M3LT body
but I failed. I made a hole in my M3LT body. :mecry:
DM51
Flashaholic
Ouch! 🙁
I'll second that ouch! When I saw the 1st picture I was trying to figure it out. Then I scrolled down. You get an "A" for effort. Sorry about the outcome.
Machete God
Enlightened
Bump, for a well-written review of a beautiful light, with marvellous pictures and beam-shots. And for the holed M3LT a couple of posts above. All the subsequent gasping posts must've been lost in the abyss (the big CPF crash of 2010, November 2010-February 2011).
Thx! Lost in the crash were my updates about the "oil smudge" between the lens (perfectly normal conditon as SF has replied).
As further update, I ended up sending mine back for repair and received it worse than it went in (rubber smudges on bezel, etchings removed, excessive thread lock applied and apparent under the lens, slight dent on lens where original "oil smudge" was and new oil smudges).
To be honest, I was quite disappointed given all I kept hearing about the legendary SF warranty. I explained to them that this was a gift various family members pooled in for and had great sentimental value so was a bit upset about that but they seemed to shrug it off but did issue me another RMA and said that a manager would personally inspect my light but again up to his discretion to repair / replace.
I'm kind of on the fence about sending it back yet again given I have to shell for postage and there being no guarantees it'll be any better.
However, now that I've successfully removed my first SF bezel on a Kroma, I'm really tempted to get this one open for an emitter upgrade...
As the adage goes... "When life throws you lemons, what do you do?" :thumbsup:
As further update, I ended up sending mine back for repair and received it worse than it went in (rubber smudges on bezel, etchings removed, excessive thread lock applied and apparent under the lens, slight dent on lens where original "oil smudge" was and new oil smudges).
To be honest, I was quite disappointed given all I kept hearing about the legendary SF warranty. I explained to them that this was a gift various family members pooled in for and had great sentimental value so was a bit upset about that but they seemed to shrug it off but did issue me another RMA and said that a manager would personally inspect my light but again up to his discretion to repair / replace.
I'm kind of on the fence about sending it back yet again given I have to shell for postage and there being no guarantees it'll be any better.
However, now that I've successfully removed my first SF bezel on a Kroma, I'm really tempted to get this one open for an emitter upgrade...
As the adage goes... "When life throws you lemons, what do you do?" :thumbsup:
Sadly, that's the way it goes with SureFire. Customer service is always fantastic beyond belief, or horrible . . . Beyond belief.
I have yet to encounter a single post here or on EDCF in which someone said the service was "O.K." or "Good" or "Decent."
Fantastic or horrible. Nothing in between.
I'd send it back, and give SureFire one more shot at getting it right. Please keep us updated. I know how much that M3LT means to you.
I have yet to encounter a single post here or on EDCF in which someone said the service was "O.K." or "Good" or "Decent."
Fantastic or horrible. Nothing in between.
I'd send it back, and give SureFire one more shot at getting it right. Please keep us updated. I know how much that M3LT means to you.
Machete God
Enlightened
Yeah, I went through the thread looking for a follow-up to the oily smudge, but didn't see any.
I too vote for sending it back in again - give them a second chance to see if they can make things right, since they promised a "personal inspection".
I too vote for sending it back in again - give them a second chance to see if they can make things right, since they promised a "personal inspection".
tundratrader
Enlightened
Re: SUREFIRE M3LT REVIEW (6/22: Now with initial runtime and more updates)
I just posted in the LED section about mine. What is the deal with the oil slick? Mine has that as well. I have not had to send anything to surefire before. They usually just send parts. Hopefully they get mine sorted out. Has anyone else had tailcap issues. Mine is strobe/flickering when going from low to high. I really hope someone can figure out how to get a Z41 to work on high only. Someone must be up to the task.
I just posted in the LED section about mine. What is the deal with the oil slick? Mine has that as well. I have not had to send anything to surefire before. They usually just send parts. Hopefully they get mine sorted out. Has anyone else had tailcap issues. Mine is strobe/flickering when going from low to high. I really hope someone can figure out how to get a Z41 to work on high only. Someone must be up to the task.
Re: SUREFIRE M3LT REVIEW (6/22: Now with initial runtime and more updates)
@Monocrom/Machete, thx, I guess I'll give it another go. I have a Kroma I need to send back as well due to the selector ring so might as well ship them in together.
@TT, according to SF, it's due to the inner lens rubbing up against the outer lens and is a perfectly normal conditon as it doesn't affect performance of the light. Please let us know how yours turns out, hopefully it'll be better experience than mine. Re: tailcap issues, can't say I've experienced any and given the cap that holds it in place is threadlocked, I'm reluctant to take it apart without the proper tool.
EDIT: I've updated the review to repost my ownership update as well as current draw reading which I'll just post here so you don't need to go back to look it up:
"I measured the draw on H @ 2.1A (w/the 2x17500's slightly depleted to around 3.95V). Interestingly, it looks like the resistance from the meter has triggered the light to go into H mode so I've confirmed the electronics that governs H/L is in the head and not in the LOTC. Will conduct additional testing using an actual resistor when I acquire one."
Cheers,
Tim
@Monocrom/Machete, thx, I guess I'll give it another go. I have a Kroma I need to send back as well due to the selector ring so might as well ship them in together.
Eh? never heard of that phrase before 🙂
@TT, according to SF, it's due to the inner lens rubbing up against the outer lens and is a perfectly normal conditon as it doesn't affect performance of the light. Please let us know how yours turns out, hopefully it'll be better experience than mine. Re: tailcap issues, can't say I've experienced any and given the cap that holds it in place is threadlocked, I'm reluctant to take it apart without the proper tool.
EDIT: I've updated the review to repost my ownership update as well as current draw reading which I'll just post here so you don't need to go back to look it up:
"I measured the draw on H @ 2.1A (w/the 2x17500's slightly depleted to around 3.95V). Interestingly, it looks like the resistance from the meter has triggered the light to go into H mode so I've confirmed the electronics that governs H/L is in the head and not in the LOTC. Will conduct additional testing using an actual resistor when I acquire one."
Cheers,
Tim
Last edited:
Mr Bigglow
Enlightened
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2010
- Messages
- 406
Re: SUREFIRE M3LT REVIEW (6/22: Now with initial runtime and more updates)
TurboBB,
Glad you updated on the oil slick. When it appeared on mine, I started debating on whether or not it was worth sending back to SF. Seems you had a negative return on that. Just curious: did SF say anything pro or con about the slick returning no matter what? Most unlike them to have a design flaw that can't be corrected.
TurboBB,
Glad you updated on the oil slick. When it appeared on mine, I started debating on whether or not it was worth sending back to SF. Seems you had a negative return on that. Just curious: did SF say anything pro or con about the slick returning no matter what? Most unlike them to have a design flaw that can't be corrected.
Re: SUREFIRE M3LT REVIEW (6/22: Now with initial runtime and more updates)
Here's an excerpt of a reply from SF:
"The residue you are seeing on the protective lens of your M3LT Flashlight is a known side effect that occurs during the production stages of the light. This “blotch” is found on all M3LT lights without exception. Furthermore, we have found that it does not have any negative effect on the output or performance of the M3LT (on either the high or low setting), and can only be seen when the light is turned off. We have been issuing Returns to have the blotch minimized, however we have yet to find a solution to remove it entirely."
This was back in late Feb., not sure if they've since found a solution but am eagerly waiting to see how TT's M3LT comes back. In your case I'd probably hold off a bit. In my case, the only reason I'd return it would be for an exchange but since there's no guarantees that will happen, I'm just waiting to collect more info to present back to the service dept.
Obviously, this may seem nit picky to those who actually use their lights and don't care for the condition but in my case, this is a collector's piece with great sentimental value. Putting that aside for a moment, as I've replied to SF, one should have reasonable expectations that when sending an item in for repair, it should be returned with the issues repaired and in the same condition as it went in but that wasn't the case here.
Cheers,
Tim
Here's an excerpt of a reply from SF:
"The residue you are seeing on the protective lens of your M3LT Flashlight is a known side effect that occurs during the production stages of the light. This “blotch” is found on all M3LT lights without exception. Furthermore, we have found that it does not have any negative effect on the output or performance of the M3LT (on either the high or low setting), and can only be seen when the light is turned off. We have been issuing Returns to have the blotch minimized, however we have yet to find a solution to remove it entirely."
This was back in late Feb., not sure if they've since found a solution but am eagerly waiting to see how TT's M3LT comes back. In your case I'd probably hold off a bit. In my case, the only reason I'd return it would be for an exchange but since there's no guarantees that will happen, I'm just waiting to collect more info to present back to the service dept.
Obviously, this may seem nit picky to those who actually use their lights and don't care for the condition but in my case, this is a collector's piece with great sentimental value. Putting that aside for a moment, as I've replied to SF, one should have reasonable expectations that when sending an item in for repair, it should be returned with the issues repaired and in the same condition as it went in but that wasn't the case here.
Cheers,
Tim
tundratrader
Enlightened
Re: SUREFIRE M3LT REVIEW (6/22: Now with initial runtime and more updates)
One thing they did tell me was that they would send a UPS box for me to send it in and they would pay for shipping. They said most people dont want to wait and just send it themselves. I will call Wednesday when and check my status. I will post pics and info when I get it here.
One thing they did tell me was that they would send a UPS box for me to send it in and they would pay for shipping. They said most people dont want to wait and just send it themselves. I will call Wednesday when and check my status. I will post pics and info when I get it here.
