Surefire Titan T1A

[Vox Clamatis in Deserto]

Re: Surefire Titan T1A - latest news?

Still enjoying my T1A, it's a great light for walking the dog on a dark country road. Dim enough to see where we're going while still looking at the stars, bright enough to alert an occasional passing car to our presence.

Last night my light went into 'gritty' mode while twisting it. I never owned an orginal Titan but I seem to recall earlier reports of this switch problem. When adjusting the brightness, it felt like there was sand in the switch. I have had the light on the beach in Japan and Florida in recent weeks but have not dropped it in the sand AFAIK. A friend had a similar feel to the zoom lens on his DSLR after his wife used it to photograph the volcanic ash falling in Alaska.

I pondered disassembly, cleaning and lubrication but after a few cycles the switch is now silky smooth as before. Was a single grain of sand perhaps trapped in the tight build of the switch? I have several lights with some twisty functionality like Ra's, Inova's and Nitecores but some Surefires (e.g. T1A, U2, Kroma) seem to be the only ones where the twist mechanism can't easily be accessed for cleaning.

Anyone else seen this 'gritty' switch issue in the T1A?

 

[wmirag]

Praise For The SureFire T1A

I've had mine for a few nights (CPF'ers count the Nights, not the Days!). And I must say it's a nice light. Here's why.

1. It's pretty small, especially width-wise, for a CR123 lite: .8" dia x 3.1" long. By comparison, a typical 1.1" dia. CR123 lite feels huge in the pocket.

2. The beam quality is a very nice flood, perfect for a keychain light. Mine has essentially no artifacts, just a warm spot and tons of flood. There is a doughnut only until 6" from the lens; then it's smooth.

3. My color is a little bit blue, not at all angry blue. It's white for practical purposes, even for white-wall hunting.

4. The twist action is a useful innovation. I love dialing in just the right amount of light. Only last w/e I had to struggle to cover the low on my Ion, for reading a program in a dark theater.

5. The key ring boss is very stout. I couldn't get my caliper in there, but it's easily 1/32". I had no trouble getting the ring on and I didn't scratch anything; thanks for the warning!

6. There is NO buzzing at all on any brightness level.

7. The fit, finish, and action are great.

I've got mine ringed to my SAK MiniChamp for EDC, replacing my Titanium Ion. So far, so good.

W.

 

[DM51]

Re: Praise For The SureFire T1A

wmirag, I'm merging this with the main T1A thread.

 

[wmirag]

Re: Praise For The SureFire T1A

wmirag, I'm merging this with the main T1A thread.

Sorry. I thought that thread was mostly about speculating on delivery dates. No problem.

W.

 

[dchao]

I also got mine just now.

A few quick observations:

1) Mine emitter has a cool white tint, not some angry blues. There is no way T1A has angry blues. Nichia LED's have angry blues, but not T1A's. It's going to be great for short range tasks as cool tint can enhance contrast on the objects. :thumbsup:

2) No one have mentioned this yet; when I was turning the bezel, I noticed there was some resistance in the bezel before you hit the off position. So there is a touch feedback to indicate the light is off without looking at the emitter. :thumbsup:

3) T1A will work with 3.7V rechargeable cells, the output level is definitely brighter than from the 3.0V primaries. However, the buttons on both AW and LiMN cells are too short to make contact to the (+) terminal inside the tube. BatteryStation RCR123 has a taller button but the battery tube is too fat. It's actually quite safe to use the little magnet button with T1A, as the (+) contact is well recessed and will hold the magnet in place so it can't move around inside. The only problem here is the tailcap, you won't be able to completely tighten the tailcap as the extra magnet is making the battery longer by 1mm, so water proofing will be compromised. 🙁

4) T1A has a floody hot spot, mine has a donut hole in the center. Only visible up to 20cm, and will disappear after that. It can be distracting when you're working at very close distance. This is the only thing I don't like about the beam pattern.

Overall, I like the light, and it's a keeper.

 

[Palestofwhite]

Hello,

I'm sorry but what are the kinds of magnets you guys are talking about? Are they spacers? I have AW RCRs and I will sure want to know more about getting them to work with my T1A. Any pictures to demonstrate?

Thank you.

 

[dchao]

Yes, these are magnetic spacers.

You can get them from lighthound.com

They have the same diameter as the recess in the (+) terminal inside the T1A tube.

 

[Bullzeyebill]

Want magnets? http://www.kjmagnetics.com/categories.asp You will be overwhelmed.

Bill

 

[dchao]

Bill,

Thanks for the heads up.

I am going to try this one:

1/4" x 1/32"

It could be perfect for T1A with LiMN batteries.

 

[Palestofwhite]

Hi, it will be nice if you can try it out to see if the tail cap can be screwed back entirely with this magnet. If it works out I'll so going to buy a few of these. Thanks!

 

[dchao]

I couldn't wait for the magnetic spacer to arrive. I decided to disassemble the head instead.

The head is held by two tiny screws with some tread glue. If you want to open it, be gentle with these tiny screws and don't damage the treads. I used a precision PH0 screw driver.



After opening the head, I found the (+) terminal is connected to the head assembly by a pin. So I went to my tool box and found a 1/4" washer (shown in the above pic). The washer I is 0.5mm in thickness. Put the washer into the pin and then insert the pin back into the tube. Now the (+) contact is taller by 0.5mm. Finally, assembled the light, put the LiMN in the T1A, and now the battery made a good and solid contact to the (+) pin.

About the tailcap... since rechargeable is almost always longer than the CR123 by 0.5mm, so the tailcap still won't screw down completely. However, the tailcap is now touching the O-ring and should be splash-proof now.

 

[Kilovolt]

Nice clean job Dchao. :thumbsup:

Did you have to use much force to loosen the two screws?

 

[Palestofwhite]

Sounds like a good idea, but I'm not sure if I want to open it up. I think I'll wait for your Spacer's review to come. I want it to work badly.

 

[Kilovolt]

Sounds like a good idea, but I'm not sure if I want to open it up. I think I'll wait for your Spacer's review to come. I want it to work badly.

In the meantime you can make a provisional spacer using a piece of kitchen aluminium foil shaped as a tiny ball. 😎

 

[dchao]

Did you have to use much force to loosen the two screws?

A little bit. :naughty:

 

[Palestofwhite]

Those magnets used, it doesn't matter which polarity (N/S) you use the magnets with the batteries? It should work like any conductor right?

 

[dchao]

Those magnets used, it doesn't matter which polarity (N/S) you use the magnets with the batteries? It should work like any conductor right?

That's correct!

 

[Palestofwhite]

Alright, saw these on dealextreme.com and the free shipping and price sure is attractive. I ordered right away.

 

[Kiessling]

You magnet-guys are aware of the risks of shorts and nasty things happening I suppose?

 

[dchao]

You magnet-guys are aware of the risks of shorts and nasty things happening I suppose?

The (+) terminal in the T1A is recessed. The recess has a width slightly larger than 1/4", and depth just short of 1/32". In another word, the recess fits the button-top on the CR123 perfectly. If you get a magnet spacer 1/4" x 1/32", the magnet will fit into the recess perfectly, and can never move around.

However, the AW's RCR123 already has a 1mm tall button-top. If you add the magnet spacer as well, it's going to push the battery out of the tube by 1.5mm. :sigh:

In order to produce the most compact 1x123 LED flashlight, SF have designed a light with some very tight tolerances, and almost every inch of space inside the body is utilized. Even the center hole of the toroidal ferrite core (inductor) is used. That's why there is no room for even a RCR123 (slightly longer). It's quite an engineering achievement.