What is the voltage for Surefire E1E?

[bigchelis]

I received my new Surefire E1E. It came with a primary and it worked perfect. The beam was amazing. For 15 lumens the throw was just incredible. The size of the thing is also equally amazing.

The Issue: I put a cr123 3.7v and the bulb went out. Now it will not work.

Lumens Factory has the 90 lumen bulb which I might get, but how is the beam quality?

If I were to get a head/warm LED package custom job: what do you think it would cost?

Any suggestions?

 

[Niconical]

Unfortunately you have blown the bulb

The supplied Surefire bulb is for a single CR123A primary, 3v.

As you'll need a replacement now, you can get something similar from Lumens Factory, for 3v, or one that will work with a RCR123A rechargeable.

I'll leave it to others for recommendations on possible LED heads.

 

[bigchelis]

I like the size of the E1E Head and wanted to know if there is a way to drop-in some type of LED?

Currently; I have a C to E adaptor and running my M30 in it, but the huge C series head makes it heavy.


The lumens Factory bulbs say 3.6v. Does that indicate that my cr123's with 3.7v to 4.2v will blow those too??????????

 

[KeyGrip]

The LumensFactory HO-E1R and EO-E1R are meant to be used with one 3.7v rechargeable cell.

 

[bigchelis]

The LumensFactory HO-E1R and EO-E1R are meant to be used with one 3.7v rechargeable cell.

One rechargeable 3.7v cell I have found rarely is 3.7v fully charged. They usually are 4.1v to 4.2v. for me.

I don't want to spend another $15 bucks and have it burn again.

Thank you all,
bigchelis

 

[mdocod]

Almost all rechargeable chemistry cells have a label voltage that is representative of their typical average voltage into an expected load. A 3.7V Lithium Cobalt cell (that's almost all 3.7V RCR123s) are going to charge to 4.20V open circuit, and discharge to about 3.5V open circuit.

1.2V NIMH cells come off the charger at ~1.45V (depending on the charge rate and other factors).

3.2V LiFePO4 cells come off the charger at ~3.6-3.8V.

The LF bulbs that are specified for use with cells that are labeled 3.7V should work with your cells... but there are other considerations to think about:

Are your RCR123 cells protected? unprotected? Some protection circuits on cheaper RCR123s will not allow much current to flow and you would not be able to use a higher power incandescent alternative from LF with them.

 

[aussiebob]

The LumensFactory HO-E1R and EO-E1R are meant to be used with one 3.7v rechargeable cell.

These are what ive been using with E1E and rcr 3.7, bulb has about 20 cycles on it now. Have had no faults with this set up.

One rechargeable 3.7v cell I have found rarely is 3.7v fully charged. They usually are 4.1v to 4.2v. for me.

I don't want to spend another $15 bucks and have it burn again.

Thats what they are off the charger, but they soon drop, the LF bulbs are designed for rechargable 3.7 123's.

 

[bigchelis]

Thank you all. I have placed an order for the 50 lumen bulb @ lighhound.

I may consider the 90 lumen bulb in the future, but the runtime is discouraging.

 

[mdocod]

Do keep in mind, that LF rates in bulb lumens, while SF rates in average torch lumens, they are very different figures, which can lead to a lot of disappointment for folks who are thinking they are about to triple or quadruple the output of a certain flashlight by switching to an LF bulb. They make darn decent lamps, but since they are a bulb manufacture, not a flashlight manufacture, they rate bulb lumen. You'll notice it being a little brighter than the stock 15 lumen lamp on a CR123 and will probably also be a little whiter (provided your RCR123 cell is of decent quality)..

Eric

 

[bigchelis]

Do keep in mind, that LF rates in bulb lumens, while SF rates in average torch lumens, they are very different figures, which can lead to a lot of disappointment for folks who are thinking they are about to triple or quadruple the output of a certain flashlight by switching to an LF bulb. They make darn decent lamps, but since they are a bulb manufacture, not a flashlight manufacture, they rate bulb lumen. You'll notice it being a little brighter than the stock 15 lumen lamp on a CR123 and will probably also be a little whiter (provided your RCR123 cell is of decent quality)..

Eric

The bulb lumen info was really helpful. I never thought about that before.
What is the typical drop in lamp lumen vs. actual output. I hope no more than 25%.

 

[mdocod]

bulb to torch lumen conversion is usually around 65%... It varies some in various designs, but this is pretty close...

Don't worry... you can't hardly see a 25% difference anyways

50 lumen bulb becomes ~32 lumen when installed in a typical reflector system.

[edit in]
My on paper estimate for that configuration, is 39 torch lumen, diminishing to 23 torch lumen, in 38 minutes. For an average of about 31 lumens through the discharge.

 

[RobertM]

Since SureFires are what I primarily own, my eyes are use to "SureFire lumens" which are different from bulb or torch lumens since SureFire's ratings are an average of torch lumens over the life of the battery. Accordingly, I personally (some may disagree with me here) use the following to convert from bulb (Lumens Factory) to SureFire lumens:

Bulb x 0.50 = SureFire

50% may not be exact, but I feel that it is pretty close and it's really easy for calculating.


For example:
LF HO-M6R
2.1A x 11.1v = 23.3 watts

SF MN21
4.9A x 6.8v = 33.3 watts

SF MN21 = 500 SF Lumens; 500 / 33.3 = 15 SF Lumens p/watt
LF 23.3 watts x 15 SF Lumens = 350 SF Lumens
LF HO-M6R = 700 LF Lumens x 0.50 = 350 SF Lumens

Robert

 

[BSBG]

I like the size of the E1E Head and wanted to know if there is a way to drop-in some type of LED?

I think these are all long sold, but occasionally one turns up for sale used:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/172990

 

[mdocod]

Since SureFires are what I primarily own, my eyes are use to "SureFire lumens" which are different from bulb or torch lumens since SureFire's ratings are an average of torch lumens over the life of the battery. Accordingly, I personally (some may disagree with me here) use the following to convert from bulb (Lumens Factory) to SureFire lumens:

Bulb x 0.50 = SureFire

50% may not be exact, but I feel that it is pretty close and it's really easy for calculating.


For example:
LF HO-M6R
2.1A x 11.1v = 23.3 watts

SF MN21
4.9A x 6.8v = 33.3 watts

SF MN21 = 500 SF Lumens; 500 / 33.3 = 15 SF Lumens p/watt
LF 23.3 watts x 15 SF Lumens = 350 SF Lumens
LF HO-M6R = 700 LF Lumens x 0.50 = 350 SF Lumens

Robert

0.5 for LF to SF is a rough figure that I agree with

there are various other factors, so it's rarely that simple, the 0.5 rule I have found can throw the results way off base on some comparisons, only way to convert some is first calculate actual bulb lumens on the LF bulb based on the cells being used. then average the output through the run, then convert to torch lumen.