First Surefire/need help with Legend LX

Stumbled onto this FABULOUS site through Brock's Flashlight pages. I was thrilled to learn that I'm not alone!!! The world is obviously full of "us"....Got my first Surefire in the mail the other day: E1GM. I was amazed by it's brightness. My wife's getting me an E2GM for my birthday...but that's not til July, and I don't think (I KNOW!!!) I won't be able to wait that long! On to my Legend LX problem...I'm impressed with this "poor man's Surefire"...I got it to pacify myself until I get my E2. However, the brightest light immediately surrounding the hotspot is oval; almost oblong. After looking at the perfectly round throw of my E1, this REALLY bugs me! Anything I can do to correct this? I'm a novice to flashlight collecting, and any help would be appreciated.

Rotating the reflector around the lamp, to find where it gives the best beam is a possibility. Also, carefully pulling the lamp out a half millimeter or so may (or may not) improve the beam. If you touch the lamp, do so with a piece of cloth, or gloves;
the oils from yo fingers can cause the lamp to fail And, it gets *very* hot!)

My Legend LX gives a beam that's actually better than some of the lamps I've used in my 6P's.

I like the 'hot spot' in the middle, which is sometimes missing from 6P lamps. As far as I can tell, testing 4 lamps in two E2's, the hot spot is always missing from the beam from the E2.

Thanx Gandalf...you've obviously been doing this a lot longer than me!!! I'll give it a try. While I've got you on the line' can you tell me anything about Carly lamps?

If you don't mind spending $17 you can put in a Surefire p60 lamp. One of our members (KT) did this and liked it.

RE: p60 lamp: Aragorn and I have tried the same and it works well. You can also put in a p61 to make it even brighter. You can get them at www.lpstactical.com for $17 and $20 (shipped!) respectively. If you go the p60/61 route, here's the trick:

Pull out the batteries and look up into the barrel of the light. You'll see a black clip holding the ceramic bulb holder in place. Remove it and the bulb holder.

Remove the lens from the bezel and remove the refletor. Put the p60/61 lamp in place. screw the lens on the bezel and loosen the bezel a bit. Add batteries and tailcap and tighten the bezel until snug resistance is met. That's it! The mod is completely reversable and you don't need to re-clip the bulb holder in place if you go back to the stock bulb/reflector - the batteries will hold it in place.

The p61 lamp doesn't seem to melt the lens, either, but we never left it on longer than 5-10 min.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by phred:
If you don't mind spending $17 you can put in a Surefire p60 lamp. One of our members (KT) did this and liked it.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I put a $18 6P lamp in my $20 Legend LX, and there simply wasn't that much improvement in the beam; perhaps I have a better than average beam from my Legend LX. I went back to the OE lamp.

Carly makes many of the high performance xenon lamps being used in flashlights today. Unfortunately, they have a $50 minimum purchase, so it's not realy prctical to order from them, unless you need a big load of lamps, or get a 'group buy' organized.

Just to add, my stock Legend LX has a rounder beam than my M3 with MN10 125 lumen LA & the M3 is barely brighter. For the money you can't go wrong with a Legend LX.
I agree that putting a P60 in an LX probably won't do much good but it's a nice idea though.

And this is from a person who has:
M3
M3T
E2
C2

Problem discovered and solved...two-fold problem: 1) the reflector was off center quite a bit. I removed the bezel to attempt to center it better, put a towel over my finger to ensure I wouldn't touch the bulb, and discovered problem #2...I noticed that the bulb felt a little "spongy" in it's socket. I took off the head and discovered that the bulb foundation was cracked in about 4 places, and wouldn't hold the bulb in straight. My hat's off to Academy Sports in Pensacola...they let me swap it out even though I no longer had the receipt, and they even let me keep the batteries! When I got home I realized that I should've tried to talk 'em out of the old bulb too!...oh well, probably a good thing I didn't try to push 'em too hard since I didn't have my receipt. Anyway, centered the reflector on the new unit and now have the nice-round hot spot and surrounding light I was after! I'm really impressed with the LX...I think it's the best $20.00 light on the market!
Thanx to all for the responses...My first day as a member of CPF, and I'm hooked for life. I've already had three questions/problems solved. Knew I could count on y'all!!!

Thanx Again...

PJD

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Sean:
Just to add, my stock Legend LX has a rounder beam than my M3 with MN10 125 lumen LA & the M3 is barely brighter. For the money you can't go wrong with a Legend LX.

I agree that putting a P60 in an LX probably won't do much good but it's a nice idea though.

And this is from a person who has:
M3
M3T
E2
C2<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Sean, Just to let you know you're not alone, I have a: E2, E2e, (2)G2's, T-head for G2, M2, M3 + T-head, 12PM, Triad, Scorpion, UltraStinger & a bunch more & I still think the LX I have was a good buy for $20. I guess I'm just not "flashasnob".
TX
PS: I don't intend to say the LX is anywhere near the quality of these other lights, especially SF. Just commenting on it as a very bright, affordable, useable, flashlight.

Welcome aboard, PJD.

And now, for a typical CPF controversy ......

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Sean:
... my stock Legend LX has a rounder beam than my M3 with MN10 125 lumen LA & the M3 is barely brighter ...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sean I can accept that your LX is rounder than the M3 beam, but it's about a maximum 70 Lu.
The M3 has got to be brighter, at 125 Lu. As I understand it, you need to double the output to have a startling observable difference, but it should show.
Do you mean that the LX spotted down has a longer throw/tighter hotspot maybe, because the M3 gives a strong surround beam ?

Please elucidate !!

lightlover

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by *something ridiculous ?:
Welcome aboard, PJD.

And now, for a typical CPF controversy ......

Sean I can accept that your LX is rounder than the M3 beam, but it's about a maximum 70 Lu.
The M3 has got to be brighter, at 125 Lu. As I understand it, you need to double the output to have a startling observable difference, but it should show.
Do you mean that the LX spotted down has a longer throw/tighter hotspot maybe, because the M3 gives a strong surround beam ?

Please elucidate !!

lightlover

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


I know it sounds crazy but at tight focus the LX has a brighter center (the very center can be seen inside the MN10's center beam) hotspot than the MN10, and the LX hotspot tapers off slowly, unlike the typical surefire beam that goes abruptly from center hotspot to surround beam. I'll do some side by side comparisons today and try to be more descriptive.

Look at this pic below I got from another thread, The E2 is no match and the 9Z with P90 is very close to the LX!

PJD, congrats on your first Surefire! If I am not mistaken, the beam profile is more a function of the filament design than the actual reflector. If you would like to read up on this go to the surefire discussion board at www.surefire.com . I suggest that you think about getting the E2e instead of the regular E2 because it features a Type III Hard Anodized finish, a pyrex lens (instead of lexan), a lockout tailcap, and a pocket clip with lanyard attachment all for $85 shipped. Which ever one you choose, you won't be disappointed.

Eric