Surefire 6P LED Upgrade-Newb w/???

I have an older Surefire 6P I'd like to upgrade to an LED. Frankly, I'm mechanically inclined but electronically retarded. I tried making sense of all this talk of watts and voltages, but I just don't get it and need a simple answer to the following requirements/expectations. I want to improve runtime on this light while maintaining/equal or better light brightness and distance (throw??). Will the Surefire P60L lamp accomplish this, or is there a better option from one of the many aftermarket makers? I want to continue using regular cr123 batteries. Additionally, the replacement lamp should be very shock resistant, and the flashlight is being mounted on a firearm. If this works well, I may also swap out the lamp in my Surefire dedicated shotgun foreend.

Yeah, I saw that thread and it is vasty too technical.

robotoid said:

Will the Surefire P60L lamp accomplish this, or is there a better option from one of the many aftermarket makers?

Click to expand...

Yes, the modular designs of the Surefire line makes swapping lamps a 30 seconds operation.

Recently, I replaced my P60L with an Malkoff drop-in and really enjoy the extra punch. Depending on your needs, but either the M60 or the M60L (low) seems very popular. I have both the SF P60L and the Malkoff M60 lamps. When doing a side-by-side on the ceiling, the M60 is appreciably brighter but with a slightly warmer tint. However, to my untrained eyes, I think they still look LED and so you may or may not like that.

No "battle-test" on the M60 yet, so I cannot comment on the shock resistance factor of the M60.

:welcome:

With Aloha,

Clarence

robotoid said:

Yeah, I saw that thread and it is vasty too technical.

Click to expand...

Welcome to CPF, robotoid.

Which terms do you find too technical? I will take a guess that it is the references to "input voltage".

All this means is the range of battery voltages you can use to make the drop-in work. 3.7-9.0 volts is common for many of these drop-ins, and that will cover any battery combination you choose to put in your 6P. For example, you could run it off 2x CR123A primary (non-rechargeable) cells, which is the stock 6 volt set-up for your light, or you could use a single 17670-size Li-Ion rechargeable, which is 3.7 volts and takes up the same space as the 2x CR123As.

If you find something too technical, please feel free to ask.

Yes, volts, watts, milli-amps, all that stuff....I just don't get it. Electronics was the only high school shop class I felt total lost in and almost failed.

The Welcome Mat explains a lot of this - it is well worth a read.

robotoid said:

...dedicated shotgun foreend.

Click to expand...

Pardon if I might have overlooked the obvious, do you have a different weapon light that has some shock proof design? I first learned it from genEric808 earlier (and then confirmed by scanning through CPF threads) this week that, for instance, the SF M series models are designed to take more knocks than the 6P you mentioned. If you go to the Malkoff webpages, you will see that mounting an M60 lamp onto a Surefire M light would require an extra ring to retain that shock protection. Hope it helps.

DM51 said:

...a single 17670-size Li-Ion rechargeable, which is 3.7 volts and takes up the same space as the 2x CR123As.

Click to expand...

Doesn't the lower voltage diminish the max light output? However, in practical uses, is it something distinguishable visually? In addition, let's say if robotoid installs a drop-in that works with either one 17670 or two RCR123A's, what are some of the advantages and disadvantages of using either type of batteries? Perhaps the 17670 driven 6P would run longer while the two RCR123A's would run brighter?

With Aloha,

Clarence

cl0123 said:

Pardon if I might have overlooked the obvious, do you have a different weapon light that has some shock proof design? I first learned it from genEric808 earlier (and then confirmed by scanning through CPF threads) this week that, for instance, the SF M series models are designed to take more knocks than the 6P you mentioned. If you go to the Malkoff webpages, you will see that mounting an M60 lamp onto a Surefire M light would require an extra ring to retain that shock protection. Hope it helps...

Click to expand...

LED's do not require shock isolation. The M series offers shock isolation by mechanically damping the lamp assembly from the body. This is bad for LED modules because it inhibits heat from flowing away from the module. Shock isolation bezels serve no useful purpose with LED's. It offers the worst of both worlds--increases head size and traps heat.

The spring that the M2 head needs is to insure good electrical contact with the Malkoff drop installed. It is not to insure shock protection.

Bill

For starters, the stock P60-Incan in the SF-6P spits out about 65 Lumens for around 30 minutes with SF primaries. Any of the 3.6-18 Volt DX modules (11836, 6090, for example) will more than double its Lumen-output and nearly double its run time using cheap Ultrafire rechargeable cells. At around $12 each I consider these to be the entry level for P60 modules. A good first step IMHO. I have dropped my 6P several times on the hard floor at work and the DX-11836 has proven to be just as reliable and durable as its host.

They have only recently started to release multi-mode modules, that run off two RCR123 cells. I will do a detailed review on # 14442 when it gets here this week.

:welcome:

The P60L is a big improvement over the P60, in my opinion. The runtime of my 6P LED Defender is pretty good.

Something to keep in mind is that SureFire has the 200 lumen P61L in the works. Yeah, I'm getting it!