Surefire U2 tint is terrible. Help!!

I just received my Surefire U2. First off let me say that after reading many, many posts on CPF regarding the donut hole and the greenish tint that the U2 has i might have initially been biased by expecting the worst.

Even though the U2 comes with a set of Surefire batteries i went ahead an put in a fresh set. Turned the light on and cycled it several times through all of its brightness levels. I immediately thought to myself "Self, this thing looks like it has a horrible green tint and a significant donut hole".

So like a good flashaholic i gathered my Streamlight Tasklight 2L, Fenix L1P, and my CPF LE 16 for some comparison tint and beamshots. WOW!!!

All three of these lights have significantly WHITER tint. Since i have no other U2 to compare mine too i don't know if i should go through the hassle of contacting Surefire or not. I'm definantly disappointed especially for a flashlight at this price point.

As i would cycle from the lowest settings up to the highest settings i found myself saying "Is that all ya got?". I thought the brightest level was pretty dim too. Maybe its the greenish tint fooling me into thinking the light level is less bright than otherwise would be with a whiter Luxeon.

Should i run the light through a set of batteries first or is this as good as it gets with this LED?

:thumbsdow

I had an UGLY :green: tint to my L4. I sent it back to SureFire on Friday. Hopefully I'll have it back for Christmas!

Call this number 1-800-828-8809 and speak to someone in warranty repairs. Tell them that your eyes have a problem adjusting to the green tint and you are unsatisfied. They will issue you an RMA number so you can send it in.

Be sure and say you are unsatisfied and you want a whiter led because you have many surefires that are whiter and this one is just unacceptable.

Oh yeah, I put a letter in the box I mailed it back in saying that I'm a active member of CPF. I dont know if that will help or not.

I have heard mostly good things about SF customer service, so we shall see.

-PSM

If you're not happy with the tint have it replaced - its worth the effort.
A bright white U2 with little to no donut hole is an awesome flashlight.

Although the donut hole on mine in not insignificant, I can live with it and don't usually notice it. The tint is very white and the light is quite bright. Sounds like you should go the customer service route.

+1 on calling customer service and sending it back.
Mine has a slight green tint but acceptable to me.

If i compare the tint on my U2 against my Surefire L2 there is a huge difference. The L2 is nice and white where the U2 looks sickly green.

Putting in a call to Surefire Customer Service now....

I had a very green U2 which they 'repaired' by sending it back with a new head. The new one was very white, and although dimmer by lux reading, it was brighter to my eye.

keep in mind - i've been waiting almost 3 months for surefire to send my u2 back. they appear to be out of replacement led modules with no idea of when they might get more.

residue said:

keep in mind - i've been waiting almost 3 months for surefire to send my u2 back. they appear to be out of replacement led modules with no idea of when they might get more.

Click to expand...

:sweat:

The last time I got an RMA # for a U2 was on October 10th, I then promptly shipped the U2 to Surefire. They received it 7 working days later. I received a replacement U2 on November 22nd. It took a while but not three months - I'd call them and find out whats happening.

iNDiGLo said:

...this thing looks like it has a horrible green tint and a significant donut hole......I thought the brightest level was pretty dim too... Should i run the light through a set of batteries first or is this as good as it gets with this LED...

Click to expand...

Send it back for repair. Surefire says on their web site the U2 beam should be perfect with no dark spots. That means no donuts. You shouldn't have to jump through hoops to get a new one. Generally Surefire service is great, but sometimes it can take a while to get a replacement.

My first U2 had a donut pattern so severe it looked like a smoke ring at all brightness levels and distances. It also had a flickering problem, probably a bad tail switch. Don't remember the beam color; I think it was white. Output was pretty good, but something was wrong as output would start dropping immediately even on new batteries.

I returned it and Surefire sent me a replacement after about four weeks.

My new U2 has only a faint donut pattern, tint is white and output is tremendous. If my HDS EDC U60 is really 60 lumens, lux meter comparisons of reflected light indicates my U2 is putting out well over 100 lumens. I actually get the same ceiling/wall reflection lux number as my Streamlight TL-3, which is pretty amazing.

Sorry to hear about your problem. The U2 is a great light, and Surefire always takes care of you, service wise. However the percentage of people having problems is troubling. I rarely hear this about HDS lights.

Much as I like the U2, maybe I should recommend more the HDS EDC U85 for lights in that price category.

If Surefire's customer service is as good as I've been hearing, then a few defective U2s is no reason not to buy one... I know if I had the cash I would. But if timeliness is an issue, maybe the U2 not such a great idea.

Send it back if you prefer, but I would recommend not discussing CPF with them. It doesn't help them, or help us. Nobody likes being put under pressure. In my dealings with them I have not said a word about where I hang out on the Internet, but they have been very helpful in resolving my lamp problems (even though lamps are technically not covered).

Hope they too help you solve your tint/brightness problems!

interesting... my U2 is the whitest LED I have... but only at full power... its more white than my U60GT...

I had one U2 and liked it so much, and the price was so good, that I bought another one. Both were NIB but not the latest. Anyway, got the second one, and compared to the first, it was green and had a very noticable dark spot in the center. Called SF, got a RMA number and sent it back. Today, I got the light back after a 2-3 week wait. Its very white, very bright and just the slightest hint of a donut hole. Now the other one, which looked so good, has a tan-ish tint to it compared to the one I got back from SF. So they did make good on their warranty and I'm very happy about it. I'd encourage you to send it back if the tint is that bad.

One thing I noticed that someone may be able to comment on. The light I got back has a white dot on the bezel. Some kind of sticker to identify something, but not sure what.

My U2 has a slight donut hole, only noticable for white wall hunting. Tint is a little bit violet/pink when compared to other U2's. I like it.

Send it back to SF, they should/will replace it. There was a donut hole and bad tint (green) to my brother's L2. Sent it in to SF and got back a donut free and VERY slight blue (like HID) head.

fasteddie, the sticker dot on the bezel are color of the LED indicator.

My recommendation is send it in. I wish I had during my initial 30 days. I did call and got the runaround twice about lousy (cyan) tint and a donut hole center so I gave up on it not wanting to be without a light for several weeks. I regret my decision now because the tint is the only thing that bothers me about it, otherwise its great beam pattern (super flood) and plenty bright. Now after the 30 days I think my options for replacement are pretty much out the window.

I just received my L2 back from SureFire.

SureFire received it (from me) on 11/17/05
I received it back (from SureFire) 12/16/05

Was it worth it ?

DEFINITELY ! ! ! Mine had a terrible green tint before I sent it in. Now, it's brighter and much, much whiter.

Overall, I am very pleased with my experience with SureFire.

Lunarmodule said:

...Now after the 30 days I think my options for replacement are pretty much out the window...(

Click to expand...

Not sure about that. I thought Surefires have a lifetime warranty, and whether they repair or replace depends on what's easiest for Surefire.

I doubt they'd hold your light while the bezel was disassembled and put a new emitter in it. More likely they'd replace the bezel or just replace the whole light, and do that regardless of whether you had it two weeks or two years.

I wish Surefire wouldn't thread-weld their lights. That way, people who are dissatisfied with the beam and/or tint of their LED lights can send them to someone who can mod them by replacing the LED with a known bin and/or refocusing the beam. There would be no need to play the Luxeon lottery. You could also find a modder with a quick turnaround time. Happy Luxeon light owners all around.