does your U2?

Hi,
if you take your U2 and hold it about 2-4 inches away from the palm of your hand on it's highest setting have a dark spot in the center of the beam while looking at your hand? if so or not does this signify our donut holes we see when shined upon a wall at variable distances?

also too, as of right now after recently getting my new u2 unfortunetly i do not have enough space to determan it's throwing distance I went into the back yard 200 feet and aimed it back at the house and lit it up with no problem had my wife stand outside and check it out said it looked like i had a spot light back there :wow: :lolsign:

thanks again guys

that'd be a donut hole...

my wife says I look like a motorcycle when I get home on my bike at night (I use the U2 on my handlebars)

Did you try washing your hands ?

luigi said:

Did you try washing your hands ?

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Ya , like after eating a donut .

Kenny

ah thanks luigi a lil dawn dish soap cleared that right up lol j/k

ok thanks greenled.

just called up surefire also to see about this donut hole thing and they said it's normal with led lights?
and i asked him about what the website said about Flawless beam, no dark spots or rings and he said compared to other inferior led lights that have a practicly pitch black spot in the center. oh well I'm not to sure i would wan't to take a chance at getting a dimmer led anyway.

I can barely see that donut on my hand!

lightmeup81 said:

just called up surefire also to see about this donut hole thing and they said it's normal with led lights?
and i asked him about what the website said about Flawless beam, no dark spots or rings and he said compared to other inferior led lights that have a practicly pitch black spot in the center. oh well I'm not to sure i would wan't to take a chance at getting a dimmer led anyway.

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I'm sorry but that SF rep has no clue... It's "normal" for LED lights to have a "practicly pitch black spot in the center"?? HEEEllloooo? :huh2: That is simply not true.


Unless you've seen other LuxV lights, it's hard to tell whether your donut hole is bad or not. The donut hole on my U2 is very slight, and much less visible than other U2's I've seen. That's why I kept the light. IF the donut hole bothers you, you always have the option of sending it back. The only thing I can recommend is to look for beamshots of other LuxV and compare them against what you see in your light.

Is the donut hole visible at distance (does it get bigger). Do you notice it only while "wall hunting" and not outside in real use?

lets see here starting at about 8 feet from a white wall is where it's noticable. i believe it gets bigger the further back you get. it looks like it's shaded a smidge in the center of the beam. as of for outside i don't notice it because i imagine that objects and other things like trees bushes fences ect ect diffuse it making it unoticible. unfortunetly i don't know of a way to compare how bad mine is to others to see if i got a decent one. other than that i'm very happy with my U2

forgot to mention thats with it on its highest setting.

When shined onto my palm at 4 inches I can barely see what appears to be a cross shape. I really have to look for it, no matter what setting it is on. No donut hole at all on white wall from any distance.

thanks cbxer55 also although i notice it at 2-4 inches it stands out a lot more when i get it right up to my hand leaving just enough space to see inbetween the light and my hand "less than an inch is when it stands out the most..

I just auditioned the CPF U2 passaround and thought it was terrific. You can notice a very light donut hole only against a white wall but it's not at all noticeable and has no effect on any practical use of the light. What you have sounds much darker and I've read here that some people have been unsatisfied with too much of a donut hole on their U2s. You can receive a replacement for Surefire, that's certain. What what I've learned, this can be a characteristic of the Luxeon V emitter.

I had a terrible donut on my light. Sent it back and received replacement 1 month later that was worse. Called them and they apologized and said was a mix up in shipping and that I received the wrong light! Replacement took two more months(out of stock, per Surefire), and the light while better than the second one is the same as the first. Also , the tint is greenish in nature especially at low levels. I'm not happy at all with the U2 :-(! They have way too many quality control problems with the U2, especially at its price point. BTW, only the head was replaced the secoond time and its color anodization doesn't match now. The only plus is that I have the old body without the plastic sleeve. I've given up at this point. IMHO, think seriously before sending yours back or be prepared for a possible disappointment and/or long delay. Good luck!

thanks dds i'll be holding onto mine. not sure why it takes them so long to send things out. I ordered my flashlight and had it next buisness day. 3 weeks to recieve a tail cap and your experiance 1-2 months to get something that doesn't work for you. i can understand being busy but i work in a warehouse and we can run circles in this place getting things done same day.

I sent back my U2 for RMA because of the donut and a bad tailswitch. As others have noted, the RMA process takes a very long time. On a side note, the smoothness and durability of the selector ring seems top rate, but I'll add that the replacement has this funny property of "blinking" as you switch the levels. This apparently is common in many U2 lights.

The donut is, unfortunately, common as well. Anywhere from about three inches to zero inches away, you will probably see some kind of artifact. Many people have described it as a cross shaped pattern, or like four buttons arranged in a square. I believe this is normal. It's easier to see on low only because the light on high is blinding when reflected from a white surface only three inches away. In my opinion, this type of artifact does not warrant an RMA.

Between about 8 inches and 24 inches, I think that most U2 lights will form a nearly perfect hotspot, evenly falling off to a bright spill. My original U2 (which had a moderately severe donut issue) looked perfect at this distance. The replacement U2 they sent looks equally good at this range as well.

From about three feet away from a white wall, to distances further, you may see your U2 begin to develop the true "donut". This is generally described as a slightly dimmer section in the middle of the central hotspot. In particularly bad cases, it may appear almost like a ring, with a true dark void in the middle. Due to the nature of the Lux V emitter, and the way it focuses, I suspect that all U2 lights will show this behavior to some degree. At this point, it's up to you to decide how badly it bothers you, and whether it's worth it to wait a month and a half or more to get a replacement. Also consider the risk of getting a replacement with a bad tint, or low output, or a donut just as bad as the first.

It seems that most of the people who have sent theirs in for RMA have found that Surefire sends them a better one. But, you can read in this thread that is not the case 100% of the time. In my case, the RMA'd light is brighter and has significantly less donut. On the down side, the donut is not 100% gone, the tint isn't as much to my liking, and the selector ring blinks between levels. I'm not going to send mine back again. If I had to buy it over again, I probably would. If someone asked me if I would recommend they buy a U2, I'd have to start with "It depends..."

No dark area at close range.

greenLED said:

I'm sorry but that SF rep has no clue... It's "normal" for LED lights to have a "practicly pitch black spot in the center"?? HEEEllloooo? :huh2: That is simply not true.

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In this case it is. ...THIS IS NOT A DONUT HOLE IN THE SENSE THAT WE USE THE TERM... The distance quoted, the beam has not developed yet. Even incand lights will do the same at this distance. You will fin very little of the light comes from the centerline of the bulb, but instead is shaped and formed by the reflector.

If anyone is in doubt, just put a small round sticker no greater than around a 1/5 or so of the aperature size and take not of how little difference is noted in a beamshot at a distance.

No donut on mine at 4 inches, thanks goodness :sweat:

flashgreenie said:

No donut on mine at 4 inches, thanks goodness :sweat:

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Turn the power down and cast it on a lesser reflective surface, you will see this. (or shine it on a piece of paper and look from the backside)