Surefire P60 style LED drop-in for 2x18650?

[flip]

Does anyone make or modify an LED drop-in for Surefire "P" series lights that is designed to take advantage of 2 x 18650 batteries? By that I mean pulling more amps for more Lumens than 123 batteries can handle.

 

[flip]

No suggestions from anybody? Not even a "use the search" response? :thinking:

 

[txgp17]

Grasshopper, the answer lies here.

 

[LukeA]

If it pulls more current than 2x123s can provide then you will burn the LED up.

 

[kramer5150]

If it pulls more current than 2x123s can provide then you will burn the LED up.

x2... you wouldn't want to run any emitter with that kind of current. But I haven;t seen any module that jumps out as being more optimal for 18650 cells. The brightest P60 module is the M60 and it only draws ~.65A, perfectly OK for 16340 sized cells. IMHO the P60 design has thermal limitations that prevent really high currents for extended run times. You'll cook the emitter with anything longer than 5-6 minute runs, drawing & delivering really high currents.

 

[flip]

Thanks guys. So it looks like the 18650s advantage is just longer run time. I was hoping I could find something brighter than the M60.

 

[Yoda4561]

Maybe with an incandescent or custom P7/MCE module. No one has a production version yet though, and heatsinking is an issue

 

[kramer5150]

Thanks guys. So it looks like the 18650s advantage is just longer run time. I was hoping I could find something brighter than the M60.

thats about right (AFAIK)... if youre looking to run a Cree at ~1A the emitter-light engine assembly should be direct mounted to the body of the light, with sufficient heat sinking up near the bezel/body junction.

Its pointless to run a an LED at high current without sufficient thermal cooling. You'd be better off running it at a lower current.

 

[qwertyydude]

The only way to run high currents I've learned is to wrap the reflector tightly in aluminum foil so that it's bezel acts as a heatsink and therefore the heat can go into the body. With newly revised readings from my multimeter my direct drive P4 module pulls 1.9 amps but the light will get uncomfortably hot after 10 minutes. And I even had an R2 direct drive pill which corrected would mean a current draw of 2.4+ amps and even with excellent heatsinking the led cooked itself.

 

[kramer5150]

Yeah.. .I do the foil wrap trick on my DX modules and I think it does help draw heat away from the light pill.

I speculate Surefire is wrestling with this on the P61L (thats supposedly in development)... theres no way to dissipate heat from a ~200L Cree with the current tooled P60L design. Even the stock 70Lumen P60L has thermal issues, and cuts current when emitter temps get beyond a certain point.

 

[Sgt. LED]

M60 is all I can come up with that is reliable. Then again I have not tried every one made yet so there might be something out there..........

 

[flip]

Thanks guys. I have seen mention of some P7 lights that are supposed to put out a lot of light and I was hoping something like that might be available.

 

[txgp17]

Milkyspit does custom P7 mods. Here is a thread where he put a SSC P7 in a Surefire E2E. I'm sure he could fit one into a C-series head. Using two 18650's would require a driver. The E2E in this example was direct drive from a single 17670.

But his services are not cheap, but most things worth having are not.

 

[flip]

I emailed Malkoff to ask if he could set up a drop-in specifically for 2x1865s but I never got a reply.

I have tried a couple of Lumens Factory led drop-ins but they didn't seem quite as bright as my DX R2 drop-ins. It could have just been the greenish tint of the LFs.

I broke down and ordered a Malkoff M60. I'll see how that works out.

I'm considering getting a couple of 1x18650 bodies to see what can be done with them. The quest continues...