My E1L and Off-Centered Hotspot (with beamshot)

Hi everyone,

I noticed that my E1L 2-stage TIR has a not-so-pretty beam with a 'smeared' hotspot. The best way to describe it is imagine you put a dot of ink on a waxed piece of paper and then you run your finger on top of it in one direction. That's what the hotspot looks like on a wall.

Now I understand that in the overall usage in distance, I probably wouldn't notice it. But I am wondering if this is something that just happens sometimes with a TIR light. Or if this is not normal.

This is my first TIR flashlight.

I posted a picture up but it doesn't look as bad in the pictures as I see it on a wall but just to get an idea. It is way more obvious to see it in person.

Also, can someone tell me if a KL4 head works on a E1L or E1B body?

How far away from the wall was your E1L when you snapped the photo?

That looks somewhat like the misaligned beam on my L1. No it's not normal for optics, but yes it does happen sometimes. I chose to live with it on mine because I love the tint and ended up getting accustomed to it, despite finding it unusable at first. But if it bothers you significantly, definitely contact SF about it; it's a serious defect and they should happily make things right for you.

And the KL4 head should fit fine on any E series body, but I think it will need a li-ion to run at all well.

SaturnNyne said:

That looks somewhat like the misaligned beam on my L1. No it's not normal for optics, but yes it does happen sometimes. I chose to live with it on mine because I love the tint and ended up getting accustomed to it, despite finding it unusable at first. But if it bothers you significantly, definitely contact SF about it; it's a serious defect and they should happily make things right for you.

And the KL4 head should fit fine on any E series body, but I think it will need a li-ion to run at all well.

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I guess I can live with it but it is just little disappointing that you can pay over 100 for a flashlight and it still has flaws.

Centropolis said:

I guess I can live with it but it is just little disappointing that you can pay over 100 for a flashlight and it still has flaws.

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Don't feel bad, other than being off centred the beam looks pretty good. My E2DL is a bit off centred,it's only noticable on whitewall shots which i find useless. At 30ft and beyond i don't even notice it.
But i agree with you a light $100+ shouldn't have these issues.

My KX2 does the same thing.

TIR sort of exaggerates the misalignment by alot due to its projecting nature...inova does this, surefire does this....yeah, I'm not worried considering how often I drop my lights if they are not firmly secured to a lanyard:shakehead:candle:

Illum_the_nation said:

TIR sort of exaggerates the misalignment by alot due to its projecting nature...inova does this, surefire does this....yeah, I'm not worried considering how often I drop my lights if you are not firmly secured to a lanyard:shakehead:candle:

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So are you saying that I am not the only one that has a off centered hotspot Surefire? I mean, I know I am not the only one but more than I think? This is make me feel slightly better. haha

I am thinking of call Surefire but what can they do? I mean I didn't buy it from an authorized dealer. It was NIB item from CPF MP.

1996alnl said:

Don't feel bad, other than being off centred the beam looks pretty good. My E2DL is a bit off centred,it's only noticable on whitewall shots which i find useless. At 30ft and beyond i don't even notice it.
But i agree with you a light $100+ shouldn't have these issues.

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Yeah but since I know it is there, I notice it even at 20 feet on a wall. It's like a faint comet with a short tail.

Centropolis said:

So are you saying that I am not the only one that has a off centered hotspot Surefire? I mean, I know I am not the only one but more than I think? This is make me feel slightly better. haha

I am thinking of call Surefire but what can they do? I mean I didn't buy it from an authorized dealer. It was NIB item from CPF MP.

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My inova XO was way off when viewed about 10" from the wall
My Surefire E2L [KX2] was noticeably off when viewed about 15" from the wall...which from there the rings are not distinctive enough for me to reference where "center" was. :nana:

No I am saying that you are the only one having this sort of issue, what I am implying is that its a common problem among us if we are too in tuned to white-wall hunting
EDIT: Slightly misaligned is an issue, what your light has is a major issue if you could see it at 20' I suggest either getting surefire to replace it or an able-bodied modder to take the bezel apart and realign it. Surefire will still valid its warranty regardless of where you bought the light from, buying from an authorized dealer just gives you a more convenient alternative to replace the light provided you still retained the receipt.

I just picked up an E2DL a few days ago, but my spot was worse.
The halo around the hotspt was way off to one side.

I emailed Surefire and they gave me an RMA and I sent it in for repair.

Centropolis said:

I guess I can live with it but it is just little disappointing that you can pay over 100 for a flashlight and it still has flaws.

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Just to be clear, I want to point out that I am not in any way suggesting that this is acceptable. SureFire uses very hyped up marketing to sell a very expensive product; quality control should not be letting out lights with flagrant flaws that can be spotted by just turning it on for a second and giving a quick glance. That said, it's fine if you decide you want to live with it as I did, but it would not be in any way unreasonable for you to demand they provide you with the excellent quality product you thought you were buying from them. I'd recommend contacting them about it; you'll probably be a lot more satisfied with it in the long run if you get rid of the disappointing flaw, and they really are capable of making a very good light when they pay attention to what they're doing. I love (most of) my SFs, even though I've had more quality problems with them than any other brand.

And as Illum said, they won't care where you bought it from. If their light is defective or broken, they'll be willing to fix it.

My dual-stage E1L also looks very much like that picture. I like the greener tint for outdoors, and when not shining it on a white wall you really don't notice any problem with the beam. But for $99, if it bothers you definitely send it in to SureFire for repair. I'm sure they can fix it easily.

i would send it back to SF. they will make it right and you should'nt settle for anything less than the quality SF stands for.

sappyg said:

i would send it back to SF. they will make it right and you should'nt settle for anything less than the quality SF stands for.

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+1 my E1b was off, and the tint on my E1L was very, very green. i was unhappy with both. long story short, i called Surefire, and they gave me a RMA number for both heads. sent them back, and got perfect heads back. if it bothers you it's worth a call. with Surefire the customer is always right!!!:twothumbs:twothumbs. Surefire's customer service is outstanding!!!

They made me send in the whole light even though I asked if they needed the head only. Can't wait to get it back :thumbsup:

Kid9P said:

They made me send in the whole light even though I asked if they needed the head only. Can't wait to get it back :thumbsup:

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it took about two weeks!!! but i can't compain, the one i got back was brighter too!!!!:twothumbs

I am sorry for you. I have had over a dozen Surefires and have never had an ugly beam. Don't think this is typical of SF.