Surefire E1L / KX1 with 100 Lumen, CR123 or RCR123

A simple mod (without a lathe).
Works with other drivers too.

Surefire E1 L with KX1 Head (1 stage)
Stock optic and led
GD 500 Driver (500 mA to the Led, 1-5,6 V)
approx. 100 lm out of the front (sightly brighter than the Nitecore Defender on high)
Runtime 145 min (CR123) and 75 min (RCR123 750 mAh)

Surefire E1L / KX1

Head disassembled

Light-engine








The parts, incl. driver adapter made of brass


New driverpill assembled



Control-shot (distance 10 yards)


Surefire E1L / KX1 stock driver
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Surefire E1L /KX1 with GD 500 driver
-

Beamshots / Animation

Nice work. How did you make the brass adapter?

You know you can make the KX1 brighter using the stock driver just by the addition/replacement of a resistor A lot less work and a lot cheaper than by swapping the entire driver.

I´ve made the adapter wih my lathe.
But you can use two pieces of 0,5 mm brass and a fret saw.

CM said:

You know you can make the KX1 brighter using the stock driver just by the addition/replacement of a resistor A lot less work and a lot cheaper than by swapping the entire driver.

Click to expand...

I like to use CR123 and RCR123.

i swap my optic to Mcr19xre in my KX1 head and the out is much brighter vs my Amilite Cuty XRE Q5.
My KX1 still using the same emitter Cree P4.

nanotech17 said:

i swap my optic to Mcr19xre in my KX1 head and the out is much brighter vs my Amilite Cuty XRE Q5.
My KX1 still using the same emitter Cree P4.

Click to expand...

I´ve tried that too.
He are the results:

E1L / KX1 with stock optic:


E1L / KX1 with reflector McR-19XR:


Beamshots / Animation

Can you guys describe how you got the optic out of the KX1? I managed to open it up to expose the cct and such, but the board seems to be held in by 4 little pins and 2 stiff wires. I'm afraid to take the board all the way out for fear of wreacking it, but I also don't see how to remove the optic from the front part of the head.

Any suggestions are welcome.

ALso, which is the best reflector for the KX1 cree head (2 stage)?

EDIT; I see that the 2 halves of the head are attached to a heatsink in the middle, it's kinda weird, but by heat sink is sitill attached to the optic, but not the base, unlike a few of the the disassembled heads I see. Is heat needed to separate the 2?

Anyone try to clean off an optic? Are they really fragile, like a reflector?

You may have a look at this thread: L1-mod
(The same optic in KX1 and L1 Cree)
There are a couple of beamshots with different
emitters/optic/reflector/driver.

Thanks. HOw hard is it to get the top bezel off the heatsink when the bottom is loose?

If you use a heat gun or a hair-dryer it´s quite easy.
Put the heatsink in a vice, with the thread between
two pieces of wood.
5-10 min. heating (quite long, but not too hot).
Unscrew the bezel part with a strap wrench.

Pics of the disassembled head by CPF-member Az-Tibor

Very nice clean work....!

Thanks for sharing....:thumbsup:

Any chance you'd like to make a few more of these adapters?

(RyanA: PM replied)

Recently I made a 1000 mA Version (GD1000).
It´s a really pocket rocket. Throw is approx. 50 yards.
It beats some of my lights easily
(SF L1 Cree, Wolf Eyes Defender, Jet 1 PRO, NiteCore Defender) .

The pics are some steps underexposed.
Distance to to white wall 3 yards.

1.) E1L with KL1, stock driver (630 mA to the led), reflector McR20S, Seoul P4


2.) Stock E1L / KX1, (230 mA to the led)


3.) E1L / KX1, driver GD500 (500 mA to the led)


4.) E1L / KX1, driver GD1000 (1.000 mA to the led)


Two animations for a direct comparison:
1. Stock KX1 - KX1 with GD500 - KX1 with GD1000
2. KL1 with McR20S and Seoul P4 - KX1 with GD500

My personal favourite is version 1 (KL1 - McR20S - Seoul P4).
The stock driver can take RCR123 and the mod is quite easy
(only changing the led/reflector).

But if you like throw, the KX1 is hard to beat.
This Surefire optic is a really good thing.

Duplicate!

CM said:

Nice work. How did you make the brass adapter?

You know you can make the KX1 brighter using the stock driver just by the addition/replacement of a resistor A lot less work and a lot cheaper than by swapping the entire driver.

Click to expand...

Which resistor?

Thanks,
Kevin