FINALLY...The perfect multi-level Surefire + how-to(many pics)

I like E1L's...always have...but I'm a city flash-o-holic and need a lot of output to be impressed. This is where the E1L is a bit disappointing. I know the designers at Surefire made the light so it has great runtime...but I don't care much about that. Max output is what gets me going :devil:

Then comes the Surefire L1 cree. Great light...2 modes, great output. But that little devil voice in my head said "You can make the light brighter...DO IT!" So I went ahead and shoved a RCR123 and was pleased with the results. But after a few weeks went by I was bored.

So here I am with the newest mod to the light. I decided to give the L1 head some circuitry with a FluPIC. I would run the light with a E1L body/clicky. I went this route instead of just modding a KX1 because I think it makes the light a bit less top-heavy and more balanced.



Here is how the head looks once you unscrew the bottom part. Fitting a FluPIC was easy as the surface was concave with an outer diameter that matched the OD of the FluPIC (.55")



Just slide on the FluPIC (or any .55" converter, for that matter) and you're ready.



I trimmed the wires, soldered on the board, then soldered on the grounding ring. Because the stock head has a raised (+) contact, I made a somewhat large solder blob. Also, I raised the battery so it was flush with the threads on the body via magnets.



Here's a shot of the finished head, all screwed back together




Here's a shot comparing my surefire lego to the KX1


Here's a comparison of some surefire heads.

KX1, KL1, L1

And finally some beamshots. I think the only stock light I have is the Fenix P1D Q5 w/ SMO reflector...

-0EV


-2EV


comparison of the low settings of both lights: EDIT: Didn't have the FluPIC set on the lowest setting. The corrected picture is found below.

And a shot of the L1 vs. My McGizmo S27-PD running at 833mA (NOT STOCK!) -2EV


The lux@1 meter reads 6500 :devil: Not bad for such a small light, so I'm satisfied...for now

Nice work!

awesome mod, now I need an L1 head

Excellent! Thanks for the great photos & tutorial.

WHOOPS...I forgot to reconfigure the FluPIC so it wasn't on the lowest setting. Here's the correct picture:



L1 on left, P1D on right. Both on lowest settings.

I know you guys who LOVE your low low will love this

nice,i wonder if piglet board can fit into E2L cree

KX1? Is that what they are calling the new Cree'ed KL1?

I was assuming they'd just call it the KL1 as always and we'd designate it (unofficially) as 5th gen.

That looks like an awesome mod!

KevinL said:

KX1? Is that what they are calling the new Cree'ed KL1?

I was assuming they'd just call it the KL1 as always and we'd designate it (unofficially) as 5th gen.

That looks like an awesome mod!

Click to expand...

There is now the KX1 (E1L) and KX2 (E2L). No more buck/boost circuit.

WildChild said:

There is now the KX1 (E1L) and KX2 (E2L). No more buck/boost circuit.

Click to expand...

That explains everything I've been hearing about R123 issues with the KX1. As a boost driver it would not work so great with 3.7-4.2V..

Nice work, great pictures!

As much as i wish to do something like that, the treadlock mess is what holds me back...