3 123 light other then surefire?

What is out there for a 3 cell 123 halogen/xenon light besides surefire. I'm looking for a small, bright light that I won't have to take out a second morgage for.

You could get a UBH. Then you won't have a SureFire, you'll just have some surefire parts... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Mark

That is an interesting requirement. May I ask why 3 123s?

I've got a 2 cell 123 and although it's bright enough for whatever I'll need it for, I just wanted to get something redicously bright to have some fun. It doesn't have to stop at 3 cells more would be ok too, but I want something that is compact and easy to carry so I figgured that 3 cells is the way to go.

DHCrocks,

It sounds to me like you are want a TurboHead model. Three SF123A powering a TurboHead are impressive.

Al

3 cells would provide a reasonably bright (100 lumens) light for a reasonably long (1 hour) run time. It's also "reasonably" long. So I guess tat's why.

Might want to talk to Mr. Bulk about a 5 watt Brinkmann LX 3-123 mod...He made a couple and is working on my 5 watt cyan. I thought some folks were putting 123s in some modded Mags?

maybe I will just have to bite the bullet and get a surefire c3. I got a question about the turbo head, on their website it says that has 110 lumins where as if you use the p91 bulb you get 200. So what is actually brighter and will throw farther, the turbo head or brighter bulb? The turbo head is expensive too almost as much as the light, is it really worth it? I'm not concerned about run time, since it's only gonna be used for the occasional light up the side of the mountain laugh.

sigman...can a 5W luxeon really compete with a xenon? I don't need runtime just flat out set the brush on fire light.

btw...I prefer 123 cells since the light will hardly be used and when I do I don't want to have to worry about how long ago I charged the batteries.

put a p61 lamp in your brinkmann legend LX and you'll get 120 lumens of light, I have one of my LX's with this "mod"

Streamlight is coming out with a 3 123 light, I believe. People discussed this around the Shot Show time. Anybody know when these new Streamlight lights are coming to fruition?

Turbo heads are used to throw the light far away. If you're going to light up a part of the mountain, turbo head is the way to go, after 50 meters, the P91 (which emits 200 lumens) is not very useful already. If you want maximum light with maximum throw, you should look at getting a Surefire 4 cell light, which means either the M4 or the 12PM/12ZM with the old style turbo head or the Steve Ryan turbo head. Add a N62 500 lumens lamp for extreme brightness. But you're limited to 3 mins run time.

DHCrocks,
The KT2 for three SF123A models has the N2 Lamp. It is rated at 105Lu/60min. The MN16 225Lu/20min "High Output Lamp Assembly" (HOLA) will also work in the KT2 TurboHead.

A gentleman who goes by the tag "new-arguy" on various forums posts these two photos to help show what TurboHeads do to the beam:

MN11 225Lu/20min "HOLA" for M3 Bezel:


MN16 225Lu/20min "HOLA" for M3T TurboHead Bezel:


The larger diameter reflector of the TurboHead concentrates the same amount of light into a tighter, more intense beam giving you the ability to illuminate targets at longer ranges then a standard bezel can.

I have a few TurboHead models and think they are well worth it.

Nerd,
The N62 gives you 12 minutes of runtime on a set of SF123As.
However, the batteries are over-driven so hard that they heat up. If you are using the N62 constant-on (This is not what the N62 is intended for), then the batteries will over-heat and shutdown after about 3 minutes. "Thermal Shutdown" is temporary and the batteries will work again once they have cooled.

Another photo of the differences between a standard and TurboHead beam.
On this page of Sean's flashlight site

I know what the N2 will do on a 3-cell SF at 105 lumens. I can't imagine what the N62 at 500-lumens would look like. It must throw really far for those 3-minute intervals.

Pila makes a 9v light that uses either 3 123's or the Li-Ion rechargeables. It pumps 130 lumens for 50 minutes. tailcap has led's

I have one on order, let you guys know how it works out

Hmmm, where would one get the N62? It's not even listed on the SureFire website.

If you are interested, I can dig up some info on an easy mod to apply to a 2C mag that will pump out 285 lumens for 30-40 minutes powered by 4 123s.

Respectfully,
Dale

Any SureFire Dealer can get any SureFire part either by name or number.
The N62's beam is similar to the M6's MN21 but it is only as intense and brilliant for a few minutes. The N62 is about as demanding on batteries as is possible.

Al

revolvergeek has a C3 HA for sale in the B/S/T area...

Here is Lemlux's recipe for 4x123 into 2C

Brightnorm
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lemlux Flashaholic Member # 1485 posted 10-10-2002 11:23 PM

I have posted how I bored out an 11/16 hole in a section of 1" dowell to place 3 @ CR123's into a Mag 2c to overdrive a Carley 6.0 V 1.7 A Krypton Star at somewhere between 180 design voltage Lumens and 220 Lumen.I tonight discovered that if I remove the spring and scratch off the anodizing on the bottom of the endcap that I can fit 4 @ CR123's into a Mag 2C with a little tin foil wad on the bottom.This is the battery perfect battery combination for my special-ordered ceramic PR base-potted #808 Carley 9.6 V 1.2 A 285 Lumen 20-hour life T-2 1/2 Xenon bulb that cost me $8.64. I figure the bulb has somewhere between 9.4V and 9.6 V delivered to it. This light draws between 11 and 11.5 volts which is as hard as I want to drive Mag's 320 degree F Polycarbonate reflector.I think I am somewhere between design voltage and 97% of design voltage with a close to 280 L light that will run for about an hour. This is a brighter, cheaper poor man's M4 in a very attractive and comfortable package.I'm able to put my DB lights with lots of CR123's away as very bright emergency lights. This light feels so nice that I'm afraid I'll burn up lots of batteries in it. This is really fun!

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