Hey guys, I'm an idiot! Just ruined the head on my L1**UPDATE** Got it open.

NOOOOOO! My baby! My precious! Gone....

Heres' the story. I tried to open the head up to prep it for the new K2 emitter I have coming. The one piece came off fine - the bottom ring that screws onto the body. But the threaded piece inside that screws into the front part is another story. Good grief. Using strap wrenches and heat I could NOT get that part to loosen. I then tried pliers (with rubber straps under them of course). Not only did THAT not work, they slipped positive wire broke, and scratches with destruction of the threads occured. I couldn't believe it. My favorite light. Gone. I liked it even better than my U2. I deserve to be beaten.

Is there a way to get a new L1 head? I would buy a KL1 head and put it on there, but I hear it won't work. Why not? Other than that, I guess I'll just have to see if milkyspit has a stock L1 head lying around. *sigh* Let the flogging begin.

Well I managed to get it open the rest of the way. The only thing now is I forgot how it goes back together. Here are the pics of the destruction:

Re: Hey guys, I'm an idiot! Just ruined the head on my L1...

:huh:

Sorry to hear of your troubles with the L1 KDOG... Somebody should have a replacement...

Re: Hey guys, I'm an idiot! Just ruined the head on my L1...

Send it to Surefire. Just don't tell them you were trying to mod it.

Re: Hey guys, I'm an idiot! Just ruined the head on my L1...

KDOG3 said:

*sigh* Let the flogging begin.

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Hmm, I think we've been here before? We're gonna have to take your tools away! I bet SF replaces it, though.

KDOG3 said:

NOOOOOO! My baby! My precious! Gone....

*sigh* Let the flogging begin.

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First off, let me thank you for the invitation to flog...one of my favorite thing to do.

Greed, yep...the desire to have the brightest rather than love the one we`re with...err...have. You risked it all...and lost. And not even for a Cree but some outdated K-2. Just shamefull!

Ok, thanks again. I really enjoyed that.

I bet we see lots of flashlight destruction when the Cree`s come in. So don`t feel to bad...you`ll have plennnty of company

Ken

I suppose I could get a KL1, remove the driver board so that the electrical paths are direct to the emitter like the stock L1 head...

Amazingly I wrote Surefire about my situation asking if the KL1 head would work on the L1 or if they could sell my a L1 head, they told me to RMA it knowing full well that I had purposely opened it and messed it up! Now thats' some good customer service!

Can I ask a dumb question? (As if I'm not dumb enough) Can someone explain why a KL1 head won't work on the L1? I mean the electronics for the L1 are in the tailcap. The head is at the other end. So how would the electronics in the KL1 even "know" that there is another regulator involved? It should just run on whatever power its getting, correct? I just ordered a new KL1 head from Tactical Supply, but I will *NOT* put it on the L1 unless I have clarification that it will work without any ill effects.

The L1 convertor is located in the coffin just forward of the battery compartment, and behind the head.


That KL1 head might function on the L1, but even if it does you now incur the losses of not one but two convertors. I'd bet efficiency of the light overall would drop below 70% - i.e. less than 70% of the power coming out of the battery cell would be applied to the LED. Runtimes would not be good.

Just dent and scratch the pieces with a hammer and tell SureFire you accidentally backed over it with your tank.

Re: Hey guys, I'm an idiot! Just ruined the head on my L1...

TigerhawkT3 said:

Send it to Surefire. Just don't tell them you were trying to mod it.

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That just doesn't sound right. :shakehead
It's not a good practice as a consumer to do such a thing.

KDOG3,

I think it will be cheaper for you in the longrun to hire a modder to put a K2 in your L1 for you. :laughing: