Got my L1 CREE. Possible issue, pics inside (RESOLVED)

Got my first light (Surefire L1 Cree - purchased from OPTICS HQ - Great People to deal with!) came in the mail today. The thing seems awesome. After looking at some of the other threads I had high expectations for the SureFire and I have a question if this is normal.



Its hard to tell in this picture (L1 Low) but the beam's spill seems to be more pronounced - around the 3-oclock to 6oclock area in the above picture. Look at the distance from the hotspot to the edge of the spill at 11 o'clock, and then at 4 o'clock.

The picture sorta captures it, its vague in the pic but a tat more pronounced to the naked eye. At a distance its hard to notice, but anything within 10 feet you can see it. I am not holding the flashlight off center either. Each time I try rotating it and slightly changing the angle its still there. Not very noticeable but its there.

1) Are my eyes playing tricks on me? Is there any picture I can take to get a better shot of the issue (tweak ISO, take pic at a certain distance?)

2) Would you (read: Should I) do anything or just let it go? Does Surefire even do warranty stuff on this type of thing or only major issues like flickering?

3) Are there any other tests or things I should check on my L1? I have nothing to compare it to (only light) so are there any unscientific tests to see if I am getting the rated lumens?

Anyways ... this thing is built like a tank and I can tell I am going to love it. And yes, I am anal

Thanks,

Fooboy (Charlotte, NC)

Re: Got my L1 CREE. Possible issue, pics inside

I would not be worried. That L1 head is well sealed up so if you want to self fix you are in for a fight. You can boil it in a baggie and go to work on it with 2 leather padded vicegrips and then try to hand align the emitter and optic. This would void your warranty though. If it sucks badly I would call SF and send it back to them. The bigger question is tint, if you like the tint I would accept the less than perfect spot and keep the light as it's replacement might be a tint that you wouldn't like. SF is less likley to replace a light if the tint is off and nothing else is wrong with it. It is a tough call for me. If you don't care for the tint either then surely sent it back in!

Re: Got my L1 CREE. Possible issue, pics inside

I would say the tint looks fine, I certainly don't have a problem with it.

I would definitely not open this thing up myself. Do you think it looks waaay off center from the pic above?

I suppose I could always call surefire and just ask to see what they'd do...

Re: Got my L1 CREE. Possible issue, pics inside

Can you give me one more pic or 2? I'd like to see the head or bezel of the light in the shot near the bottom as a reference point just to be sure.

Re: Got my L1 CREE. Possible issue, pics inside

I just bought my L1 Cree from Gander Mountain tonight, and saw your post. I didn't really see any major misalignments in your pics, but went ahead and took a couple of wallshots with my new L1. In my opinion it looks about the same as yours, and I didn't see it as a problem. It seems about as centered as all my other lights. I have seen some pics of very off-centered hot-spots from some lights on this forum (even high-end ones), and this doesn't even compare.

Here's what my L1's beam looks like - one about two feet and one about a meter away:

Re: Got my L1 CREE. Possible issue, pics inside

Thanks for the posts. Let me clarify!

What I meant to say was NOT that the beam/hotspot is off center, but that the spill seems more pronounced on one side. In the above picture, it seems to spill more on the 3 o'clock to 6 o'clock area, giving a slight egg shape to the overall output.

Look at the distance from the hotspot to the edge of the spill at 11 o'clock, and then at 4 o'clock.

Make sense?

RP Shank, can you take a few beamshots a little farther back, like around 2 yards?

Re: Got my L1 CREE. Possible issue, pics inside

That makes more sense to me. I looked at mine again, and as you can see in my bottom beamshot, mine is also slightly thinner at 11:00 than at 4:00-5:00. In actual use, I don't notice this at all. Your's seems maybe just a hair more out of balance, but it looks very minor to my eye. The spill on this light is also not as bright as some others, so it tends to dissipate at even medium distances, so I'm kind of surprised you even notice it in normal use.

Here are a couple more beamshots at two yards in low mode:

Re: Got my L1 CREE. Possible issue, pics inside

Ok I got you, the KX2 head I got makes almost the exact same beam! I found it a bit different but overall still nice and usefull. Hey I still say call them if you find it distastefull. Me I'm just fine, I got the KX2 for the runtime/output combo and toughness not beam characteristics.

Re: Got my L1 CREE. Possible issue, pics inside

:welcome:

One thing I noticed when I first got my Cree L1 was how well it threw for its size across paddocks

I think that when one "white wall hunts" with any beam they are bound to come across anomolies. In my opinion in actual usage, which is what Surefires are designed for, you won't notice it at all

Enjoy your new light, and don't worry its fine :twothumbs

Re: Got my L1 CREE. Possible issue, pics inside

Also the beam of my L1 CREE is not a perfect circle on a white wall. When I got it I was worried for a few days. I just make one small comment: when the flashlight is new all of us spend some time illuminating white walls from 5 feet, then after a while we start using the flashlight in the real world and all the 'defects' simply disappear.

Re: Got my L1 CREE. Possible issue, pics inside

Fooboy,

Lightemup has hit the nail on the head. Surefire is expensive because the products they make are designed for longevity and reliability in situations that a load of cheaper lights couldn't cope with. Surefire also is synonymous with giving a world class warranty service for its customers.

However, Surefire doesn't claim to provide 100% perfect beam profiles or tints in its LED lights. The issue you have raised shows less than 100% perfection against a white wall test but is it a problem in real life usage? Does it make the light unusable? Does it make the light unreliable? Will it fail to provide you with the type of function that you bought the light for?

Without wishing to cause offense aren't you being a little bit over zealous about what most of us would ignore?

If you are too fussed by the beam then send it back to Surefire and I'm sure they'll replace it. However, don't be surprised to find that its replacement is also not 100% perfect.

Doug

Re: Got my L1 CREE. Possible issue, pics inside

Both of your beams are better than the one I had. They both look real good to me, especially for an optic. I think your OK but ultimately it's your call.

Re: Got my L1 CREE. Possible issue, pics inside

All those beamshots look fine - and I'd say this is only a problem when white wall hunting.... In real world applications you will not notice this!

Re: Got my L1 CREE. Possible issue, pics inside

try use the light where you would usually use it other than a white wall. If it's an issue then call them, they will be happy to replace it with you if it is indeed a problem for you.

Re: Got my L1 CREE. Possible issue, pics inside

My L1 should be arriving from OpticsHQ tomorrow. I would bet both of our lights are from the same manufacturing run and were shipped at the same time (we were both on backorder, until OpticsHQ got their latest shipment of L1's - Right?). I will post when I get it.

I did not like the looks of your beam shot either when first seeing it but after seeing rpshank's pix, it would appear that the L1's beam pattern is what it is -it's just not perfect.

Now I will do a search and look at other L1 beamshots that I did not pay close attention to before.

Re: Got my L1 CREE. Possible issue, pics inside

I seem to recall reading somewhere (most likely here) that the emitter needs to be centered absolutely perfect to produce a perfect circle with equal spill "around the clock" so to speak. Probably not an easy thing to do in a mass produced light.
I have two L1's and the "oldest" has quite a bit more spill than the new one, which has a perfect, round beam with equal spill.
I assume the newest one is as it is supposed to be, but in real world use, it really doesn't matter much. If anything, the one which may be a little out of focus, is actually better for many tasks.

Re: Got my L1 CREE. Possible issue, pics inside

Fooboy,

From the beamshot, it looks alright by me. I had an L1 lux before and its kinda like that in your beamshot. at least there aren't any ugly rings and such..and its round rather than squarish.......

Re: Got my L1 CREE. Possible issue, pics inside

Judging by your beamshots, it looks fine. Enjoy your L1 for the great light that it is and don't worry that the beam may be a tiny bit off!!

Re: Got my L1 CREE. Possible issue, pics inside

Same thing here, all of the beamshots looks really fine. Maybe you feel it's more pronounced in real life than on the photos, but even if you are, I would bet that you wouldnt notice anything in actual real use. White wall hunting shows the slightest blemish in any light, and really, how often do we need an absolute immaculate perfect beam? I can understand that people are annoyed at incan magbeams, but this one, looks really nice.
YMMV

Re: Got my L1 CREE. Possible issue, pics inside

Ah the beam is just fine it's your eyes that are crooked!:duh2:
Just kidding, I did immediately see what you are talking about, even before I read your post. I personally don't think it's a "big" deal, it isn't that far off. RPshanks's beamshot isn't perfect either, does anyone have an L1 with a perfect beam? My guess would be probably not, but then again it's just a guess. Personally I would keep it and I can keep it for you if you don't like it AND I will do for free!