L1 head on single r123 - will it work?

markbUK · Dec 5, 2005

I have an old style L1 which i don't use and was thinking of getting a single cell vital gear body and poping the L1 head on, will it work OK (and survive!!) with a 3.7volt R123.

I know the better idea would be to put a KL1 head on the body but as I've got the L1 sitting arround I thought I'd use that

Any comments would be welcome

Mark

AW · Dec 5, 2005

I have been driving the exact same setup for months w/o any problem. Maybe it will shorten the life of the luxeon but I can always swap another Lux III when it's time.

Flash_Gordon · Dec 5, 2005

My answer is maybe. We have a member who posted recently on this forum. He put an L1 on a 2-cell body with primaries. Although it was very bright, it did not survive very long at 6V.

Your L1 head wants to see 3V. Your R123 will come off the charger at over 4V. The regulation in an L1 flashlight is in the body not the head, so you will have no regulation or protection.

Why not run it on the L1 body? It is bigger than the Vital Gear, but you also get the 2 stage output. You are correct in that a KL1/FB1/R123 is a sweet setup.

Mark

markbUK · Dec 5, 2005

thanks for the reasurance, just taken the plunge and tried the head with a fresh R123 and a bit of wire!, it looks the same brightness as the L1 on high, so it can't be that far off.

Mark

L1 head on single r123 - will it work?

markbUK

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AW

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Flash_Gordon

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markbUK

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