Fenix l2d head question

I bought my first l2d off of ebay around 1 week ago. Shortly after it arrived to my house, I threw some regular alkaline batteries in there and noticed a fairly audible squealing sound. I left it on and then noticed that the tail-cap was bulging. As it turns out one of the batteries had started to leak. This messed up the anodizing inside the batt tube and the squealing was still there.. even with a new set of NiMH AAs.

So I ordered a replacement from fenix-store (I'll be shipping the other back for a refund) which arrived today. Upon unscrewing the head (??.. actual led portion of the light), I noticed that the contacts are layed out differently between the two flashlights.

Here is a crude diagram:



Is there a way I can use this to date either flashlight? Is one version known to be better than the other?

Thanks,
Jeremy

the left one is the new version with reverse polarity protection the right one is the older one ,both good...the noise you hear is normal

qip said:

the left one is the new version with reverse polarity protection the right one is the older one ,both good...the noise you hear is normal

Click to expand...

So the l2d I bought from fenix-store is and older light? I would have thought that their turnover rate would be higher than an ebay store. Now i don't know what to do. I really don't like the squealing and there is some rust-like layer around the outer edge of the diode on the ebay l2d which made me believe that it had been sitting around on a shelf somewhere. plus a battery leaked inside the tube. I guess I'll end up keeping the new one from fenix-store, but I sure would have liked to have the polarity protection (and a newer flashlight?).

I have both and as long as you are careful about inserting the battery it's really not any different between the 2 heads.

you could always make your own reverse polarity protection , i hear you can use some DR sholls corn or bunion cushions , i made my own plastic ring and glued in on




here is the first time the new circuit came out


as for why you got a old head, fenix store sells heads,bodies,tails seperate so i would assume its just old stock of that

also forgot to mention...you had the tail expanding and battery leak....try a different set and see if it still squeals cuz bad batteries could also be a reason for squealing and tail expanding is the battery gas

Regarding the squealing noise. I've found that some fenix lights have this noise and others do not. Apparently, the L2D does. I know that by old L2T v2 did, but my old L1T v2 did not. My new E20 also does not.

It would appear that the squealing noise is present in the brighter lights that are drawing the most power. This is a very off-the-wall question, but does anyone know off-hand what fenix lights you can expect to squeal and which ones you can expect to not? Thanks.

In other words, I'm wondering if your fenix is a squealer (insert dirty
cliché here). :ironic:

could be just lottery cuz my L2D makes no noise, my only experiences with the high pitch squeal are when i used some 10 year old batteries in my malkoff mag , when i used newer bateries there was no squeal...and my 2 magled modules 2D makes noises but then goes away after a while

qip said:

also forgot to mention...you had the tail expanding and battery leak....try a different set and see if it still squeals cuz bad batteries could also be a reason for squealing and tail expanding is the battery gas

Click to expand...

it does.

There has been already some discusions about this issue. https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/199092

From what I've heard many lights from the first batches with reverse polarity protection made noises. Later batches should be fine, but I don't know if they still have the reverse polarity protection or they just started to use the old circuit again. L2Ds with old circuit didn't make noises.

jirik_cz said:

There has been already some discusions about this issue. https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/199092

From what I've heard many lights from the first batches with reverse polarity protection made noises. Later batches should be fine, but I don't know if they still have the reverse polarity protection or they just started to use the old circuit again. L2Ds with old circuit didn't make noises.

Click to expand...

yeah, i know. i have both versions ATM it is somewhat of a conundrum, though. the newer version has the polarity protection, a warmer tint (which i prefer) and seems to be brighter (most noticeable in the overflow). however, i cannot stand that whining noise at all. so i guess I'll be sending the newer model back for a refund. if i wasn't so impatient, i would probably do the same with the fenix-store light and request a newer version. oh well.

thanks for the help everyone

Modern_Major_General said:

Regarding the squealing noise. I've found that some fenix lights have this noise and others do not. Apparently, the L2D does. I know that by old L2T v2 did, but my old L1T v2 did not. My new E20 also does not.

It would appear that the squealing noise is present in the brighter lights that are drawing the most power. This is a very off-the-wall question, but does anyone know off-hand what fenix lights you can expect to squeal and which ones you can expect to not? Thanks.

In other words, I'm wondering if your fenix is a squealer (insert dirty
cliché here). :ironic:

Click to expand...

since i have two l2ds at the moment: an older version (driver inscribed with "2d") that does not squeal and a newer version that does (driver inscribed with "do1a"), it seems to be the newer driver.. someone in another thread said it was the inductor. I've had other electrical components that hum, buzz, whine, etc.. so this seems plausible. Do the l2t and l2d share the same head? see if your driver is inscribed with "d01a"

My "old" L2D Q5 makes a hiss on turbo but its very quiet. The new ones seem to emit a louder hiss, there was a thread on it not so long ago that seemed to show this.

My "OLD" L2D Q5 is quiet, so is my P2D.

I had a L2T V2.0 with the whining sound sometimes, it also looked dimmer when it whined, it went back to the store, in this case it was the tailcap.

The LOD is also know for buzzing a little, my old LUX3 does it, also the Q4, my P4 is quiet, it must be the PWM, cuz theyre all quiet on high.

I have a different L2D head question.

I read in a review that the L1D and L2D use the same exact head. If this is true I should be able to use the L2D with one real cell and one dummy cell.

It should then work just like the L1D - same run times and light output.

Has anyone tried this? I like the idea of getting two lights for the price of one - a L2D and a L1D stretch.

How would the dummy cell work? It would have to conduct electricity as a real cell, but not reverse charge the real battery...

Might be risky. I think it's cheaper just to get a L1D body...

I have two dummy cells that came with an old CB radio. You could put in 12 NICADs or 10 Alkalines and the two dummy cells. They are plastic with metal ends connected with a wire.

I thought about what you said about getting a L1D body. I went to the FENIX STORE and looked at the FENIX parts.

The spare body and tailcap for the L2D says "ONLY compatible with the L1D CE, L2D CE and P2D heads". The spare body for L1D says the same thing.

I take this to mean that the heads are inter-changeable both physically and electrically.

JWP_EE said:

I have a different L2D head question.

I read in a review that the L1D and L2D use the same exact head. If this is true I should be able to use the L2D with one real cell and one dummy cell.

It should then work just like the L1D - same run times and light output.

Has anyone tried this? I like the idea of getting two lights for the price of one - a L2D and a L1D stretch.

Click to expand...

i don't see how it could hurt anything

Yes the L1D is 100% compatible with the L2D, head, body , and tail, physically and electronically.

Furthermore, the L2D/L1D head is physically and eletrically compatible with the P2D body & P2D tail. Only the head is cross compatible here.