Disappointed in my new Surefire E1L and L1 ... UPDATE!

Juicespeare1

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Just bought a couple of new lights.

Already had an older model Surefire E1L with Luxeon LED (KL1 head) and an older L1 with Luxeon head. Both of these older lights had decent tint and good brightness.

Bought two more E1L's with the new CREE head yesterday. One of them is fine with a nice bright white LED, the other is very dim and very green. In fact, the bad Surefire CREE E1L is quite a bit dimmer and much greener than even the older E1L with Luxeon head. I'll be sending it back to Surefire Monday after I get an RMA. It appears to be defective as it's very dim. Even moved the KX1 head between the E1L bodies and the bad head is the same regardless of the body it's on.

Also, the new CREE L1 I just bought yesterday has a very green tint as well. It's much greener than the old L1 I have. So this one will go back as well.

So far with these new Surefire purchases I've got one good light and two bad ones.

UPDATE!
Got both lights back today, very pleased. The new E1L CREE is perfect, nice bright light with very slight green tint, nothing objectionable.

The L1 is perfect too. The beam is centered and very white in both high and low modes. This L1 has just replaced my Fenix T1 for EDC.

I'm very pleased with both lights now.
 
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LedZep

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Re: Disappointed in my new Surefire E1L and L1 ...

Juicespeare1 - I guess this is not your day to buy a lottery ticket! Seriously, at least you know Surefire will replace the defective lights, just too bad you have the hassle in the first place. I hope these green leds are not a trend, some people have mentioned this recently. I'm debating getting one also, still deciding.
 

Snow

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Re: Disappointed in my new Surefire E1L and L1 ...

Well that sucks. My L1 is somewhat warmer on low, but very white on high. I only really notice it when I'm white-wall hunting, though.
 

Valpo Hawkeye

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Re: Disappointed in my new Surefire E1L and L1 ...

Hhm, in my experience, Crees have been more reliable in tint predictability than Seouls. When they're bad, my Crees are usually green and my Seouls are usually purple.
 

WadeF

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Re: Disappointed in my new Surefire E1L and L1 ...

Sorry for the bum light, but welcome to Cree. Cree puts us back to the lottery days of the Lux-I.

No, companies like Surefire, and others, that don't tell the buyer what tint bin Cree they are using in their lights puts the buyer have into the lotto. If Surefire only sold WC tints we'd know what to expect, since the WC tint bin doesn't have a lot of variation. They could also use WF, WG, WD, etc, and specify which is being used.

Surefire probably bought a bunch of different tint bins, and some of the tint bins have more variation in them than others. Maybe Surefire just bought whatever they could get their hands on, while other companies maybe more selective about which tints they buy. SF sells a lot of lights so they may not have the luxury of only buying a certain tint bin if there aren't enough of that tint bin available for the amount of Cree's they need.

Check the Cree color chart in this topic:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/156772

You can see WG's can have a green tint, as well as some of the others. WG's seem to be fairly common and SF may have bought a bunch of WG's and some of them could be on the extreme green end of the tint range.
 
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Crenshaw

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Re: Disappointed in my new Surefire E1L and L1 ...

Seeing a really green E1L really pushed me to my Fenix...:devil:

anyway, Surefire seems to be having more then a few issues these days huh...clickies, and green crees..

Crenshaw
 

this_is_nascar

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Re: Disappointed in my new Surefire E1L and L1 ...

No, companies like Surefire, and others, that don't tell the buyer what tint bin Cree they are using in their lights puts the buyer have into the lotto. If Surefire only sold WC tints we'd know what to expect, since the WC tint bin doesn't have a lot of variation. They could also use WF, WG, WD, etc, and specify which is being used.

Surefire probably bought a bunch of different tint bins, and some of the tint bins have more variation in them than others. Maybe Surefire just bought whatever they could get their hands on, while other companies maybe more selective about which tints they buy. SF sells a lot of lights so they may not have the luxury of only buying a certain tint bin if there aren't enough of that tint bin available for the amount of Cree's they need.

Check the Cree color chart in this topic:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/156772

You can see WG's can have a green tint, as well as some of the others. WG's seem to be fairly common and SF may have bought a bunch of WG's and some of them could be on the extreme green end of the tint range.

What are you talking about? Although this thread is about a problem with a bum SureFire light, I never mentioned SureFire in my response. I made a global statement concerning Cree, in general. In every Cree model light that I've owned, there is good ones and bad ones as it relates to tint. This hold true for Fenix, SureFire, LRI, etc. I had units of all of them which lost in the lottery, with a puke green tint.
 

this_is_nascar

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Re: Disappointed in my new Surefire E1L and L1 ...

Seeing a really green E1L really pushed me to my Fenix...:devil:

anyway, Surefire seems to be having more then a few issues these days huh...clickies, and green crees..

Crenshaw

... and all that means is that you got lucky in the lottery with that particular Fenix unit. I'm sure you're not naive enough to think that every Fenix Cree based light is pure white, with a pleasing tint.
 

Crenshaw

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Re: Disappointed in my new Surefire E1L and L1 ...

... and all that means is that you got lucky in the lottery with that particular Fenix unit. I'm sure you're not naive enough to think that every Fenix Cree based light is pure white, with a pleasing tint.

I guess its luck, but ive been lucky so far...:D
my T1 is only slightly warmer then my P1D-ce

but still, with surefire's QC track record, you would think that they would catch the green ones...

Crenshaw

DISLCAIMER, its not directed at you nascar, please dont take it as such, its just a general warning: i will FLAME the cpfer that uses my above statement to turn this into a fenix vs surefire thread, i LIKE BOTH, and just musing that surefire's QC is reputable, and wondering therefore why miss green E1Ls and L1s :devil:
 
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Billman730

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Re: Disappointed in my new Surefire E1L and L1 ...

Last night I put the E1's I own thru a rigorous mission. A rail snapped just coming off a bridge at the point the land takes the support of the track and it was a mild 15deg night. I found the rail at 7:30 but there was no available help as everyone was watching a football game. So I stood near the break and watched many trains pass at walking speed over it. Using my old E1 with the fish eye lens clipped on my hat brim as a main light I could see the wheels jump from one side of the break to the other. I had my trusty SF Digital [the one with the 6 light settings] around my neck so I could see where my feet were going and any heavy use as needed. I took out the newest E1 I bought with the flat lens and the new diode and head style. A noticeable improvement can be seen quickly over the old trusty E1! A larger diameter spot just as brite white as any light I have could be seen. I will pick 2 more E1's up this week or the new head at least. I use E1's every time I work at night and carry 2 with me all the time. Finally at 4am the track gang showed up! As work began it was obvious they needed my light support. I don't work in the track dept so I could sit in my truck as they work but having so many good lights I was compelled to get out and assist. LOL So I gave light support and after the new rail was cut in and bolted up for now it had moved to 7 am. I had used 17 batteries from a new box stored in the glove box.

A side note: batteries taken from my inside shirt pocket where they were "warm" lasted a LOT longer than cold glove box batteries! I may go to a battery holder inside my shirt when working cold nights. A box of batteries is small change when 16 hours OT pay is involved so I don't include it in my evaluation of the nights work. I am sure the Surefire lights assisted greatly in the job going safe and smooth and was thanked profusely by the Guys. Knowing the mighty Titan was inside my shirt ready to go made me laff a bit after it was over. With my one spare battery I try not to use it when other gear is available.
Later..
 

Blindasabat

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Re: Disappointed in my new Surefire E1L and L1 ...

...I made a global statement concerning Cree, in general. In every Cree model light that I've owned, there is good ones and bad ones as it relates to tint. This hold true for Fenix, SureFire, LRI, etc. I had units of all of them which lost in the lottery, with a puke green tint.
This is very true of all lights. I had to buy three of one Fenix model before I got one with an acceptable tint.
 

WildChild

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Re: Disappointed in my new Surefire E1L and L1 ...

Wait before sending the L1! The first I got that went to repair was green and the replacement was green. With mine, there was something loose in the body that was rattling. SF doesn't advertise any LED tint! As you may find, browsing this forum, many people got greenish L1. Personnally, I like warmer tint for outside and if you don't shine it at a white wall but you use it normally, after a few seconds you won't notice the tint anymore. The L1 is a great light. But it's sad that the E1L is bad. :(
 

scottaw

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Re: Disappointed in my new Surefire E1L and L1 ...

I must be a lottery winner, my P2D cree and Cree L1 are as white as can be. Or maybe i don't notice colors b/c i use them outside...either way they both rock.
 

WadeF

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Re: Disappointed in my new Surefire E1L and L1 ...

What are you talking about? Although this thread is about a problem with a bum SureFire light, I never mentioned SureFire in my response. I made a global statement concerning Cree, in general. In every Cree model light that I've owned, there is good ones and bad ones as it relates to tint. This hold true for Fenix, SureFire, LRI, etc. I had units of all of them which lost in the lottery, with a puke green tint.

Your statement about Cree isn't totally correct. SF, Fenix, and other companies, use a variety of tint bins and don't tell the customer what they are getting, so it's a lotto because of SF, Fenix, etc. Cree has tint bins and some manufacturers tell you what tint you are getting, and/or select the best tints. Examples, Gene Malkoff always states which tint bin you are getting, Dereelight states the tint, EdgeTac, Tiablo, etc. The list goes on. If the company states "Q5 WC" or "Q5 WG" or "Q5 WD" you know what to expect, and the Cree is going to fall into that tint bin, so it's not going to be way out of line, at least I've yet to get a light where the Cree's tint bin was listed and it didn't meet what I expected for that tint bin.

That's what I'm talking about. It's not fair to make a statement about Cree like that when it isn't Cree's fault companies like SF and Fenix aren't telling you what tint bin they are using. They could be using 10 different tint bins. Yeah, it's a lotto, but it's the Fenix lotto, or the SF lotto, etc.
 

Juicespeare1

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Re: Disappointed in my new Surefire E1L and L1 ...

I've been fairly lucky in the tint lottery thus far.

I have a couple of Lux lights (Surefire, Nuwai and others like Sportsman's Warehouse brand which I think are Nuwai also) and they are all fairly white in tint.

My old Lux Surefires are quite nice fairly white tint, one of my Nuwai's is quite blue and the Nuwai Sportsman's Warehouse model is slightly green but still nice. The greenish tint on the Sportsman's Warehouse model is not objectionable at all. Nice and warm.

My Sears headlamp which appears to made by Dorcy is a Luxeon and has good tint also.

I also have a couple Fenix lights, an original P2D CE P4 which is nice, slightly blue. A P2D Q2 which is slightly green, but nice warm tint.

The good new CREE E1L is very nice white tint, maybe slightly blue, but nice like my original Luxeon E1L.

The bad new CREE E1L is very green and not very bright either. My original Lux Surefire E1L is much brighter.

The new CREE L1 isn't quite as green as the new CREE E1L but appears very greenish on the lower mode (10 lumens) than on the higher mode (65 lumens). Still, compared to the original E1L it appears quite greenish on both high and low modes.

I definitely have to send the new CREE E1L back because it's very green and so dim.

Anyhow, the reason for this post is to show all manufacturers have slight problems with QC when it comes to tint.

As others have mentioned this isn't limited to just one flashlight manufacturer, but all I believe.

I don't know what type of testing is performed by the flashlight manufacturers regarding tint, but I suspect not much as we've all seen variations from the same manufacturer for the same model of light.

Anyhow, a call to Surefire tomorrow is in order. I may wait on the L1 as suggested if they can't guarantee better tint.
 
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Greta

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Re: Disappointed in my new Surefire E1L and L1 ...

Take it down a notch... or two... guys. Let's be a little bit NICER with our OPINIONS... ok?

Thank you in advance... :)
 

EV_007

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Re: Disappointed in my new Surefire E1L and L1 ...

I too have seen more variation in the beam quality and tint from "other" manufacturers than from SureFire.

Unless white wall hunting, in outdoor real world situations, you won't notice much of a difference unless compared side by side, but even then very little.
 
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