New U2 with a hole in the center

Hi,

What a bummer. My new U2 has a donut. It's seriously got me down on the light, it is really noticable.

What have others done? How has SF responded? Does it take a year?

What good is this thing if you can't stand the light? Now I hate it at six levels.

Blue

Was it like that out of the box?

I don't have a U2, so I never had said problem... so I can't say from firsthand experience, but...
Others have called SF customer service and said that the donut/tint was unacceptable. SF has replaced/fixed said U2s in all the cases I remember seeing. It shouldn't take too long, although apparently (from what I've gathered) around xmastime Surefire customer service is a mixed bag. If you can hold off until clear after the holiday season (which I would if I were in your situation), you should.

if it's bad you can call surefire and they'll probably let you send it back. chances are you'll see improvement but there will still be a slight donut. turnaround time varies.

Outside of the donut, how is the tint and power?

Seriously a donut is only an issue if you are looking at a white wall. My U2 has a donut, but unlike most seem to think, it doesn't have a void in the center but rather a darker appearing tint (cyan/blue) compared to the whiter outside beam.

Speaking of white, my U2 is a lower color temp than my gladius or L2. At first one might be disappointed but performance is not a beauty contest. Take the lights outside and it is awesome. So much better than my L2 or Gladius. The bluer/whiter beams just wear you out because they basically create a foggy cloud. My U2 performs much better even though it isn't a beauty queen. Just think the blue part in the center and the spill doesn't reflect back and blind you, nice combo!

What is the point? Don't get rid of a good light because you think the donut is bad. They will all have one and it doesn't hurt performance. Anyone that doesnt notice the donut is just luckier in the tint being more consistant across the die but that doesn't mean diddly in terms of performance.

Luna said:

The bluer/whiter beams just wear you out because they basically create a foggy cloud.

Click to expand...

Me, not seeing hoards of other people mentioning the foggy cloud of the bluer/whiter beams, was starting to make me think I was the only one noticing this! I thought it might be something with my eyes...or something... It makes me think I'm seeing static in the air. I'll take a nice creamy beam, thank you!

You don't hear much about it because I think most people around here just light up white walls j/k

Seriously though, that is more of a reason to me as to why I prefer incand lights to led when throw it the objetive. The greenies may not be pretty but they will probably post the greater output and throw better.

Well, that's a good thing I got to see more than a couple of these SureFire U2s being fired right up with their respective lighting levels and me wisely opting out of purchasing one. When using it in an outdoor environment, it pretty much doesn't make a difference since you more than likely will not notice it. But as already been stated, it can be a "bummer" if you're mainly "hunting" white walls. . .I have a SureFire L2 and there isn't even a smidgin' of what may even hint at being a "hole" within its illuminated beam! Just a white bright light. Then again, each particular torcher has their personality. . .

Is it possible to adjust the reflector/emitter to bring it closer/farther away to the reflector.

It just boggles my mind that SF and their "perfect" reflectors keep having this issue. Maybe shimming up the reflector, or moving it down some??

According to Surefire, the U2 is supposed to have a "flawless beam, no dark spots or rings". Wouldn't that mean no donut? Whether the donut bothers the owner or not, there shouldn't be one, especially when paying that much for a light. If only Surefire didn't put thread-lock in the bezel, one could loosen it and shim the reflector in relation to the LED, as IsaacHayes mentioned.

I bought a used KL4 with a really green tint and a slightly noticeable donut hole.
But thanks to grnamin's post (link below) I replaced the original Lux V with a WWOS lux V from Photonfanatic. Now the light is noticeably brighter and really white with a slight HID ish tinge and best of all the donut is gone!! If you don't wanna wait for surefire and know how to use a soldering iron, you can replace the emmiter yourself. Many others have done it here. I used grnamin's method with the rubber bands. I boiled the KL4 in a baggie imersed in hot water for about 2 minutes to losen that lock tight. I didn't even need tools, the rubber bands gave me enough grip. Try it, nothing is more satisfying than fixing something yourself. Thanks again gnarmin!!

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=99295&highlight=open+kl4

Re: New U2 with donut hole & flaky switch

I have a serious with my new SF U2 santa not only it has a donut hole, but the switch is (well, was, read on) not working properly... Right off the box, I turn it on, the light flickers, then goes off!

It was the weirdest thing. I would tilt the light up -it'd go off- tilt it down -it'd go on again-... Turn it off... back on...flicker... tap the head... nothing... tap the tailcap... monentary on/off/flicker... press on the button... on again, then off... I had to turn the tailcap tight, and then some more, to get continuous operation.

Then it hit me! Those little tabs on the inside of the tailcap weren't raised high enough to make a good contact against the body of the light. A little "creative" tooling, and now my U2 works fine. I actually have about 1/8 of a turn or so before I can not turn the tail cap any more. I'm sort of happy again.

Sort of happy, you ask? Yes, sort of. I can live with the donut hole, just because the tint is so perfectly white, and the light so annoyingly bright, and the light so perfectly black and all the parts are matched... but a flaky switch, right off the box...

I did not pay more than $200 for a flashlight, only to have to repair it myself the very first I use it!! Oh, yeah, did I mention the fingerprints on the inner tailcap plate (where the problematic tabs are... :shakehead)?

I don't really know what to think, but I can relate better now to the people who've been complaining about flaky U2 and A2 switches. I don't like to complain, but I'll probably shoot SF an e-mail regardless. If anything, just so they know about this issue and can work on fixing it in the future.

[/rant]


Merry Christmas, everyone!

Bluehinder:

I just got my U2 today :santa:

It has a slight doughnut hole, but not bad enough to return it. The tint is super white. I would definitely return it if the hole was bad. Seems like it takes a few weeks, but its probably worth it. Don't keep it if you are that unhappy. They promised a good beam, so hold em to it. If mine were that bad, I'd be on the phone 1st thing in the morning

fieldops

Green:

What the heck is going on? I figured you would be the last one to get a bad U2. Things must really be on the downer at SF. I would let em know about the hole (if its bad), and I would surely let them know on the switch issue. That's just plain awful. Any chance you got a returned one by mistake or something? Best of luck in getting it resolved.

fieldops

I agree with Luna ... on a white wall it might look a bit warm tinted and has a donut ... but outside it performs quite quite well ... and I prefer warmer tints, too. Looks more natural.
I get the impression that we associate "pure white" light with "bright light" and a relatively dim LED light with the color of a bright light bordering HID tint just doesn't look ok on a subjective level, it looks ghostly. Whereas a nice warm beam will not only reflect the colors of nature back better but also looks more "plausible" if you know what I mean.
bernie

Vortex said:

I bought a used KL4 with a really green tint and a slightly noticeable donut hole.
But thanks to grnamin's post (link below) I replaced the original Lux V with a WWOS lux V from Photonfanatic. Now the light is noticeably brighter and really white with a slight HID ish tinge and best of all the donut is gone!! If you don't wanna wait for surefire and know how to use a soldering iron, you can replace the emmiter yourself. Many others have done it here. I used grnamin's method with the rubber bands. I boiled the KL4 in a baggie imersed in hot water for about 2 minutes to losen that lock tight. I didn't even need tools, the rubber bands gave me enough grip. Try it, nothing is more satisfying than fixing something yourself. Thanks again gnarmin!!

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=99295&highlight=open+kl4

Click to expand...

Outstanding, Vortex! And you're very welcome.

Hi!

My new U2 that i received two days ago also have this donut but in my case it is a small one and i don't care about it so much.

The tint is pure white and it is much brighter then my other lights, Inova T3 , Led-Lenser V2TL and some cheap lights from Emil like 3 watt tripple AAA and 3 watt double AAA.( Emils site are down so i don't know the name of the lights)

And the best is that i solved how to remove the inner tube in it so it can handle my 18650 from AW.

There is wide variability in the U2 donut pattern. On some lights it's unnoticeable. On others it's mild. On some it's so severe it looks like a perfect ring at all brightness levels, distances, and against all targets.

My first U2 had a donut pattern so bad it looked like a smoke ring -- not just against a white wall but against anything.

I returned it and Surefire sent me a replacement (in about 4 weeks) that only had a slight donut pattern, excellent white tint, and tremendous output -- well over 100 lumens.

I've never heard of Surefire refusing to replace a U2 because of a donut beam pattern. Their web site clearly says the beam should be perfect with "no dark spots".

The U2 is a great light, but I wish Surefire would alter their manufacturing to achieve more uniformity in the beam pattern.

This is not the fault of SF manufacturing, it's the inconsistencies of the LEDs themselves. BTW, the donut you see is a sign of the LuxV being perfectly centered and achieving max. throw.
bernie

I small/minor donuthole is fine with me on a U2 - but I have had one that was a purple/violet smoke ring. If anyone has anything like that then its worth the wait to have Surefire replace it. I have also cracked the bezel on one of my U2s and you can adjust the donut hole/hotspot size. Based on what I've seen though the smoke ringed U2 still didn't have the throw that a U2 adjusted to just have a very minor donuthole has - it just plain seemed like a defective light to me. I really think Surefire should test the products before packaging, the worst one I had should have never left the factory, especially for 270.00 USD - more so when you consider what every replacement U2 Surefire sends me costs about 50 bucks(return shipping and brokerage fee coming into Canada) Obviously the fee isn't Surefire's fault - but there *is* something they can do about it. If they were to ship USPS then the brokerage fee would be 5 dollars(they have shipped USPS to be before) If they ship UPS the brokerage fee is over 40 dollars. They have also shipped a third courier where there were no fees - wish they would do that all of the time!

Anyway, I think a "perfect" U2 is worth the money anyday, just too bad we can't all get one first try!