LED drop-in for SF G2 used for hunting

cernobila

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A friend of a friend has contacted me to help him convert his stock G2 into a rechargeable LED light in a cost effective way, mainly used for hunting in deer country.

Even though I have over forty lights I still don't know much. So, any suggestions would be very welcome......I think he has already settled on a pair of AW 17670's (one spare) and the WF-139 charger with car adaptor. The main question is the LED drop-in.

Points that need to be considered;

To be either 3.7V only.....or 3.7V-6.0V. (He may carry primary cells as back-up)
To be mainly a thrower with good light output.
Single level only. (forgot to put this in originally)
Not too sure of the color of the beam. (I have no experience hunting with lights)
He does not mind if there is an acceptable gap between the head and body, as long as it works.
Then there is the question of heat, are there any differences in heat generation/dissipation between the various LED units?.....is this going to be a problem with all of them in the G2? (The light will be on for about one minute at a time)
The cost of the LED unit should be no more than about US$35.00.

Thank you for any input in advance. :)
 
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FLT MEDIC

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Dec 22, 2008
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My friend uses a DealExtreme sku 11836 single mode 117 to 225 lumens, 3.7 to 18v Cree R2 WC LED drop-in for his Surefire G2.

It's a pure white thrower with a small hotspot and sidespill.

There's no gap between the bezel/head and G2 body as long as you remove the provided large outer spring, remove the G2's batteries, replace the G2 bulb with the DX 11836 Cree R2 drop in, tighten the G2's bezel/head first, load batteries and then tighten the end cap/switch. If you don't remove the outer spring and don't remove the G2's batteries while changing into the Cree R2 LED drop in, there will sometimes be a gap between the G2's bezel/head and body.

He uses protected Tenergy 3.0v 900 maH rechargeable RCR123As and the Tenergy 3.0v charger from Battery Junction.

You can also use protected Trustfire 3.7v RCR123As and their respective chargers available from DX.

Good luck mate! :)
 

cernobila

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This thread on LED drop-ins should get you started:

P60 sized led drop-ins (part 3)

Thanks for that, I have had a look at this a while ago and just now had a closer look. Given the voltage, price and single level considerations, it looks like the choice is very limited. May have to be between a LF R2 or Dereelight Q5 unit. I have a LF unit on the way for myself so I may wait and see what it is like in one of my Leef lights......Still no wiser how these things will go in a nitrolon G2.
 

kyhunter1

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I am a hunter too. One of the reasons for coming on to CPF was to find out more about flashlights that want let you down, especially in the middle of a 1000 acre foggy swamp before daylight on the way to the deer stand. Since he has a G2, there is no better drop in than a Malkoff M60L with primaries. For rechargeables, use 16340's with the M60L. If he used 17670 cells, he should contact Gene Malkoff on the www.malkoffdevices.com website and request he custom make a M30L drop in for you. Most other drop ins are made for lights with metal bodies that can take the heat build up better. The polymer G2 body holds too much heat and can damage some higher output led drop ins. Malkoffs are top quality, and have solid state electronics. They seldom fail, that's why my personal deer hunting flashlight is a Surefire 6P with a M60. I think that Malkoffs are equal to Surefire if not better in quality, that's why I dont trust anything else when my personal safety is on the line.
 

mdocod

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I will second the recommendation to go with an M60L, but will also note that this module should work reasonably well on a single 17670, so there isn't really a *need* to run it on a pair of cells. The single 17670 will have much better runtime, and give some noticeable feedback in the form of dimming towards the end of the discharge, which should help warn him it's time to change the battery. In this situation a little bit of dimming towards the end of the discharge shouldn't be a problem IMO.

For anything that is intended to be run in a G2, it's important you don't go much past ~2W at the LED to keep the heat under control. The 11836 (easily the best $12 you can spend on planet earth IMO) mentioned above will work fine in a G2 provided it is only powered by the 17670, as soon as a pair of CR123s are dropped in, it'll jump up to ~4W and overheat in about 10 minutes without a metal body to dump heat to. I use the 11836 in 2 maxfires, (polymer body flashlights), each has been bored to accept an 18650, they are my "backup" lights with tons of runtime and plenty of output. The M60L has the advantage of being throttled back a bit from the normal "screamer" modules whether it's powered on a single 17670, or a pair of CR123/RCR123 cells, but is still going to seem remarkably bright, especially compared to the stock G2s P60 lamp. I think that's a really great option, also might consider the "warm" tinted version if he has it available in a "L" model.


Eric
 
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