SF M6 w/ ( 1111/1185 ) on LiIon Rechargeables

With the SF M6 in the spotlight recently of all its aftermarket upgrades, I think I'll have to jump into the bandwagon to do something with my shelf queen M6 also . I am modding my M6 just to prove it'll work with some popular WA bulbs such as 1111, 1274 as well as the 1185 which will be brighter than the stock HOLA. My criteria is my M6 will run on LiIon cells and I don't want any extension tubes at all. The bi-pin socket is made from bass and ceramic. The battery holder holds 6 X Protected 17500s running 2S3P for the 1111/1274. I 'll need another battery holder running 3S2P for the 1185. The 3.3A draw for the 1111 is a breeze for this setup. Each roll of batteries is running on 1C only and I don't see much brightness drop at all during the 55 minutes runtime. I 'll test the 1185 when the other battery holder is ready. Estimated runtime for the 1185 is about 35-40 minutes ( brighter and runs longer than the MN21 HOLA on 6 X CR123 :rock: ). A cut down tailcup is needed for both setups. Here is some pictures:




The business end with a 1111 perfectly centered




Ceramic / bass bi-pin holder. Note the filament alignment with the MN21 for a perfect beam focus. The tolerance will be 0.5mm for a perfect beam.




Bulb holder in place




The whole setup including the 6 X 17500 ( 2S3P ) holder




Battery holder in place. Still have 1mm space left.




The tailcap can be closed all the way in without showing the O-ring. LOTC mode still functions.



My M6 holster


***Please note I won't be making these for sale. Similar products are already available from AWR, Petrev and Fivemega. They all do a better job than me. I can only supply the protected 17500s

Great job! I look forward to see this in person someday! :naughty:

Great job indeed. Very cool with the WA1111 bulb holder. The configuration you have and the nature of the WA1111 you really won't notice much dimming. That bulb is "that good."

What do you think of the beam and the amount of light with spill compared to the MN21 SF bulb?

Eager to see the 1185 configuration and to see if there is any dimming over its runtime.

Curtis

The MN21 has a bigger hotspot and a wider sidespill. The 1111 has a tighter and more intsense hotspot. It appears to me the MN21 is brighter even though the 1111 has a bulb lumen output of over 800 (7.2V). Here is a beam shot :

Thanks for the beamshot and for your honest observations. Since the 1111 has a brighter hotspot it will probably throw further. The MN21 throws pretty far already if you ask me and I actually would probably prefer the more overall lighting of an area that it sound like the MN21 will give.

Curtis

Any Clickie in the works AW

Lips said:

Any Clickie in the works AW

Click to expand...

Not at this moment. Maybe later when I have a little more time . BTW, there 's plenty of room in between the rubber cap and the tailcup for a clickie switch.

Nice Job! I share your desire to avoid extensions tubes with M6. bi-pin bulb holder looks pretty slick, this opens up a new world of experiementing. be careful of exploding bulbs ruining your M6 turbo head.

How are you charging up 6x 17500 at the same time? been charging li-ion cells, one at at time on Triton. three set of 2x 17500's in dual cradle chargers?

solutions like JS's M6R/NM21 allows quick exchange of stock Surefire 6x 123 carrier for mission critical applictions. sure feel lucky to have one of the few M6R's in the wild

AW said:

My criteria is my M6 will run on LiIon cells and I don't want any extension tubes at all.,,,,,, A cut down tailcup is needed for both setups.

Click to expand...

CY,

Have been charging the pack with the holder using a Maha 777 +2 ( very slow on 400mA ). Connecting the charging probes to the battery holder is by using duct tape :huh: . Have a Triton on order and hopefully it will do a better job.

JS's M6 solution is certainly elegant without any modification to the light itself. My personal preference goes to LiIon cells for it's low self discharge rate.

I have been cleaning every bulb I use with rubbing alcohol. Definitely don't want any exploding bulb. Too expensive to replace the reflector .

AW

Nice work AW - That M6 is a heck of a light - might have to try building up something like that - with LEDs of course.

You mean like this ? :naughty:







I 'll build a Lux V M6 if I can find a X bin for sure

hmmmm.... charging three parallel sets of 2x 17500 li-ion cells in series all at once...

have never tried that before with triton, usually charge li-ion cells. one at a time.

yep, li-ion cells have a much better self discharge rate VS NMH packs. multi-cell NMH packs have the huge advantage of being able to be charged, safely/quickly.

along with M6R, I'll keep a loaded Surefire 6x CR123 stock pack handy for mission critical tasks.

surefire M6 turbo heads are so expensive, would not want to risk destroying with overdriven/exploding bulbs. but hey, that's never stopped us before

Surefire NM21 is hard to improve upon!

AW said:

CY,

Have been charging the pack with the holder using a Maha 777 +2 ( very slow on 400mA ). Connecting the charging probes to the battery holder is by using duct tape :huh: . Have a Triton on order and hopefully it will do a better job.

JS's M6 solution is certainly elegant without any modification to the light itself. My personal preference goes to LiIon cells for it's low self discharge rate.

I have been cleaning every bulb I use with rubbing alcohol. Definitely don't want any exploding bulb. Too expensive to replace the reflector .

AW

Click to expand...

Don't think charging LiIon packs ( serial and parellal ) should have any problem with the Triton or the Maha. I have LiIon packs from Brightstar 24W HID ( 4S2P ) and Microfire K500R ( 3S2P ) all charging fine with their stock chargers.

I agree the MN21 is very hard to beat

cy said:

Surefire NM21 is hard to improve upon!

Click to expand...

This is my thought as well and am VERY interested to see what the 1185 will do with the M6 reflector. I am sure it is "more" light etc but the question is .... is it worth it? There comes a point of deminishing returns I think. The 1185 will get a little hotter, run shorter and will be brighter ... but will it be noticeably brighter in the hotspot AND the spill or will it be hotspot like the WA1111? hmmm.. I look forward to seeing what the output looks like when AW comes up with the other pack to run the WA1185.

Curtis

Great job AW :bow:

Will

The M6 with 1185 is up and running :rock:. Just finished with the 3S2P holder for 6 X 17500s and it just barely fit inside the M6 body. The WA1185 is definitely brighter than the MN21 by quite a margin and the beam is perfect. ( No beamshot yet because I am not good at taking beamshort pictures ). Runtime is estimated to be 30 minutes on 6 X Protected 17500s.

Wow, very nice setup!

Lips said:

Any Clickie in the works AW

Click to expand...

Very nice job on the MN holder & nice beam shot!

"Lips" is on the right track!

I think a clickie would sell like hotcakes.
Paypal locked and loaded.

bump

MSaxatilus said:

Wow, very nice setup!

Click to expand...

+1 :thumbsup: