Surefire L4 new&old differences?

rollee

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Thanks to the avid L4 people here, I am now aiming for the L4.

Is there any major differences between the old and new design?
Specifically if the KL4 Luxeon V exactly the same?
Waterproofness to 33ft the same?

To my knowledge the newest L4 has the Z54 clickie tailcap, includes lanyard and has a shorter pocket clip, right?
what is the 'round' or 'flat' design?
anything else? thanks!
 

Alin10123

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No major differences. Only one is different body style. The older style has 3 flat sides to it while the new is pretty much completely round.
 

cy

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besides minor styling changes. 5watt luxeons in premium bins are way more available. reports trickling in are most favorable.

so less likely to get stuck by luxeon lottery..
 

rollee

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Z57 , i gotta get my lingo straight.:naughty:

Better luck with the lottery, me like what i hear. cheers!
 

JasonC

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Has anyone got any pics of the new type L4? as the 3 smooth parts of the body on my L4 are not flat but slightly curved and smooth, is this a new type or not? I may have to buy a new one if its the old type, is the new one brighter?

Many thanks
JasonC
 

shadowbuds

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Hm... My L4 has 3 "rounded" sides as well. I purchased mine off tacticalsupply so i'm not sure if it's new or not...

S# A235015
 

faucon

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JasonC said:
Has anyone got any pics of the new type L4? as the 3 smooth parts of the body on my L4 are not flat but slightly curved and smooth, is this a new type or not? I may have to buy a new one if its the old type, is the new one brighter?

Many thanks
JasonC
Don't have any pics, but my L4 is like yours, rounded and smooth where it isn't rounded and knurled. The old L4 had *really* completely flat sides; you could put a straightedge on a side and see that it was perfectly flat. That's not the case with the newer more rounded L4s, which yours seems to be.
 

rcashel11

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JasonC said:
Has anyone got any pics of the new type L4? as the 3 smooth parts of the body on my L4 are not flat but slightly curved and smooth, is this a new type or not? I may have to buy a new one if its the old type, is the new one brighter?

Many thanks
JasonC

May I direct you to this site for pictures of the round-bodied L4?

http://lights.lightrefineries.org/?page_id=137
 

Trashman

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I got one that has two "flat", smooth sides. Actually, two sides that are less rounded than the knurled part of the body. I didn't even know there was a body with 3 complete flat sides. I've also got a 3 "flat", smooth sided body, but they're not completely flat, they're like what others have describe (just less round than the knurled portions of the body.)
 

Trashman

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rcashel11 said:
May I direct you to this site for pictures of the round-bodied L4?

http://lights.lightrefineries.org/?page_id=137


I guess I should have clicked on your link before I posted. That "round" bodied L4 is the same as my two flat sided L4. It's not completely round, and the smooth sides appear to be just as "not round" as the 3 smooth sides on the 3 sided body that I have.
 

marxs

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also, with regards to rechargeable setups, the old L4 body accepts AW's 17670 easily (some dont, rare cases) but the new round L4 body wont. Some members had to sand the battery down light to get it to fit.

mark
 

Weskix

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My L4 excepts 17670 cells just fine with no sanding. They are snug but come out with a little shake. Also if I'm not mistaken, the new l4 body has two U.S. Patent numbers on the body while the older model only had one U.S. Patent number.
 

Trashman

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Both of my L4 bodies will accept rechargeables. I haven't tried them with AW's new 17670s (the ones that actually say "AW" on them), but his older blue cells fit. I think a Pila 168s should fit in any L4 body, too--they're really easy fits in both of my bodies (both 2 and 3 smoothies).
 

JasonC

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Weskix said:
http://members.aol.com/qn9513/myhomepage/flashlightl4.html

That link has the new model and old model L4 pictures from what it says. My l4 is rounded with 3 smooth parts and the stamping on the body is different than both of those lights so I don't Know how many variations there are.

Now that mini review has confused me! mine is exactly like the top one but has 3 slightly curved sides, not 2. Mine has the same numbers on the body but the writing is the opposite way round and the Surefire writing is on a separate side. The bottom one is definately not mine, you can see that the sides are dead flat on that one.
I guess mine is the new version but with other differences as well :huh:
 

Heck

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I'm gonna have a go at it, I could be wrong in some places though.

The first L4s had 3 flat sides, when looking at it, the head pointed right and clip on the up side, you would be able to read 1st line:L4 Digital Lumamax 2nd line: Patents.

Note: I remember seeing it opposite also (head pointing to left) but I'm not sure where this one goes, just sure it was before the next one.

Note: Along the way, the FCC, CE and Caution Hot logos were added, in which sequence I dont' remember.

The next one had 2 slightly rounded/flat sides (if I recall properly was so that can be attached to something easier). When the head was pointed to the right, the clip couldn't be really seen cuz it was "underneath" and you would be able to read 1st line: Surefire 2nd line: L4 Digital Lumamax 3rd line: Patents.

The next one has 3 rounded sides so the body is essentially round and if you look from the back (switch) it looks like the sides forms a smooth triangle. The first batch of these bodies, with the head pointed to the left, the clip would be at the bottom side, you would be able to read 1st line: L4 Digital Lumamax 2nd line: Patents. This one didn't last too long.

The next one also had the same 3 rounded sides, but etchings changed. When the light head is pointing left, and clip up, you read 1st line: L4 2nd line: DIGITAL LUMAMAX 3rd line: patents. This I believe is the most current one.

To further this, the even newer ones, if you look directly on the KL4 head, the newest ones have KL4 written in italics, and the serial numbers smaller and non-italic. Before this, all of them had KL4 written in italics and serial numbers bigger and in italics also.

I've owned a few throughout and I believe output/tint have improved since the beginning.
 
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JasonC

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Good post:goodjob:

Mine seems to be the latter one with the KL4 on the head in italics and the serial number smaller and none italics. The SN btw is 21913. I was actually hoping there was a newer one than mine that was brighter, although I can't complain really as it is already really bright with a great tint and beam.
 

Weskix

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Thanks 'HECK' that post was very helpful to me, because after reading this thread i wasn't sure just which one i had since it didn't match anything i had seen. My serial number is A23480 so im guessing its new enough.



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