L1 on steroids - an easy home drop-in set-up

I got a new L1 today and having a spare TLS Cree Q5 Single-Stage LED Conversion Head for E2 on hand, I decided to see what I could cobble together to beef up the L1 a little.

I replaced the L1 head with the TLS Cree Q5 head, popped an AW protected RCR123 (16340) cell into the L1's body, put it all together and voila... L1 on steroids. To give me a measured manner of comparing the output to a stock L1, I metered the center of each beam at a distance of 8' with a Minolta AutoMeter using ISO 100 and 1/60th sec. in EV mode... to give me a relative EV number. Here's the result with reading from some other stock lights as a basis for comparison.

L1 on "HIGH":
L1/ stock head / Surefire CR123 cell = EV 7.0
L1 / TLS head / AW protected RCR123 = EV 8.1

a jump from EV 7 to EV 8.1 is significant and quite noticible.

for comparison:

Romisen RC-N3 Q5, 1-AW16340 = EV 7.4
E1B /stock head w/Surefire CR123 cell = EV 7.6
Jet III-M stock w/18650 / EV at 8' 1/60th sec. = EV 8.5
(factory stated 225 lumens)

Here's how the L1 metered on LOW setting:

L1/ stock head / Surefire CR123 cell = EV 4.9
L1 / TLS head / AW protected RCR123 = EV 5.9

E1B /stock head w/Surefire CR123 cell = EV 4.8

SO... the L1/TLS might be a great option for someone who likes the UI of the L1, but wants more output on HI and on LOW. No idea of runtimes as I didn't test that. Note that I used the TLS head for 2-cells, simply because that's the one I have on hand. This TLS head is rated for 3 to 10 volts and has a stated output of 220 lumens.

This is fun stuff to tinker with.

DHart said:

...popped an AW protected RCR123 (16340) cell into the L1's body...

Click to expand...

Is that a 3.0v RCR123s or a standard 3.7v? If it's the latter, can the L1 driver even handle that?

You do know the L1 driver is in the body, right?

Yes, I know the driver is in the body. Having read that others have used RCR123's in their otherwise stock L1's I decided to check it out. Of course I don't want to damage the driver or emitter, but if I do, it's really not a big deal... that's just a good excuse to send it off to Milky for a supermod!

Whether the driver can be damaged by using a 4v rechargeable, I don't know... perhaps someone here who knows a lot more than I do can answer that question.... anyone know?

For the record.... I do like the L1 in its stock form, but I also like to tinker... and these mods add some nice utility to the form factor and UI of the L1!

no pictures?

Pictures, please!

Sorry... I have no pics to show. I restored the L1 to stock right after this little experiment because my new grey Fivemega 1*16340 E-series body arrived... and my TLS head was just waiting to mate with the little E-series tube. I promise I will make some images of my FiveMega/TLS pocket blaster - it's really cool!

DHart said:

Whether the driver can be damaged by using a 4v rechargeable, I don't know... perhaps someone here who knows a lot more than I do can answer that question.... anyone know?

Click to expand...

I've been using a AW RCR123 in mine for about seven months now and i'm guessing about 50-60 cycles with no problems with the light whatsoever,it's brighter than my E1B too.

DHART & 1996 ALNL
Forgive my ignorance, but can you safely use a 3.0 v RCR 123 in the stock L1 Cree? Also, where did you find the TLS head and how mucho $? What voltage is the AW RCR 123 you've been using?
Thanks :shrug:

Spence said:

DHART & 1996 ALNL
Forgive my ignorance, but can you safely use a 3.0 v RCR 123 in the stock L1 Cree? Also, where did you find the TLS head and how mucho $? What voltage is the AW RCR 123 you've been using?
Thanks :shrug:

Click to expand...

opticshq.com sells them for $80

1996alnl said:

I've been using a AW RCR123 in mine for about seven months now and i'm guessing about 50-60 cycles with no problems with the light whatsoever,it's brighter than my E1B too.

Click to expand...

Hey 1996alnl... that's good to hear. I know a number of people use rechargeables in their Surefires with no problems at all... I think Surefire's lack of endorsement of them (they make good money selling their primaries!) creates a bit of trepidation among users, but really, if a flashlight emitter goes belly up, it ain't the end of the world either... they're replaceable and they don't cost that much.

I have the same experience as yours, just using an RCR123 in my L1 bumps the brightness up nicely and, as with yours, it's even a bit brighter than my E1B... which is a pretty bright light on its own!

Spence said:

DHART & 1996 ALNL
Forgive my ignorance, but can you safely use a 3.0 v RCR 123 in the stock L1 Cree?

Click to expand...

People do! And live to tell about it!

Also, where did you find the TLS head and how mucho $?

Click to expand...

Just as Kramer said, OpticsHQ sells them and they're fantastic.

http://www.opticshq.com/Merchant2/m...-TLS-TX2-1&Category_Code=Surefire-Accessories

I'm incredibly impressed with my TLS head... I've put it on my old E2 (driven by 2 RCR123's), my E1B (driven by 1 RCR123), my L1 (driven by 1 RCR123), and now my Fivemega Grey E1 body (driven by 1 RCR123). The output from the TLS head (3v-10v version) driven by my E2 is very close in brightness to my Jet III-Military (225 stated lumens)! Which is brighter than my Malkoff M60 driven by two AW protected 17650s! And the TLS head on my tiny little Fivemega E1 with one RCR123 beats the M60 on two cells as well. It's a brilliant little pocket rocket with a long throw and a good spill. I've got to make some pictures of it and do a review.

What voltage is the AW RCR 123 you've been using? Thanks

Click to expand...

All of the Li-Ions I use are AW 3.7v (16340, 17500, 17670, and 18650), which typically run around 4.2v right off the charger and settle in around 4v for quite a while. So 1 cell gives a nominal 4v and two gives 8v. The TLS head I have shines like a sun with one RCR123 and even brighter with two. It's a great, versatile head which goes on any Surefire E-series body, whether single or double cell. Very well worth the $80 price of admission... combined with rechargeables, it'll wake your E-bodies up like you won't believe!

Spence said:

DHART & 1996 ALNL
Forgive my ignorance, but can you safely use a 3.0 v RCR 123 in the stock L1 Cree? Also, where did you find the TLS head and how mucho $? What voltage is the AW RCR 123 you've been using?
Thanks :shrug:

Click to expand...

Oh sorry,it's a 3.7V AW RCR123.
4.2V fresh out of the charger. It works great,i'd say its about 25%-33% brighter than using a primary battery.

Run times are about 45 min on high.Didn't test it on low.

DHART,
This head looks like a real winner.I never heard of it before but i think i might pull the trigger on this and purchase one.
Some pics of it mounted on a few bodies would be great...Oh and beamshots

TLS head - heat managment?

Thanks for the original post, DHart. Does anyone know if the TLS head heats up to any appreciable degree with a couple minutes of use?

Appreciate any input.

Re: TLS head - heat managment?

Geode said:

Thanks for the original post, DHart. Does anyone know if the TLS head heats up to any appreciable degree with a couple minutes of use?

Appreciate any input.

Click to expand...

I just ran my TLS-Fivemega E1 for 8 minutes and the head is moderately warm, not H-O-T, not cool.

Re: TLS head - heat managment?

I've been running an AWR123 3.7 in my L1 lately. I like the extra output. Like the other poster said, if it does burn out, it's off to Milky for an upgrade.

I promised some pictures with the TLS head and it's now found it's semi-permanent (for now) home in my just received Fivemega E1*16340 body. I am working on a full review with many photos, but for now, here's a sneak peek. The color difference between the head and body is not very noticible in person, but when photographed in high detail, is more apparent in pictures.

Jet III-M, TLS/Fivemega, LF3XT - to establish relative size, next to two favorites


TLS Cree Q5 Head w/Fivemega E1 body & Clickie


This 3v-10v TLS head driven by an AW 16340 protected cell is a pocket-sized winner! And is very, very close in light output to the Jet III-M. It packs quite a punch for its diminutive size!

My full review and pics should be ready in a couple of days.

Ha, I just tried this on my L1 also, pretty cool mod. I had to use a wire ring to bridge the body to the negative contact in the bezel, though. Mine's a first gen. single-output model.

FYI, the pill on these is thread compatible with the R2 drop-ins on dealextreme. I didn't notice much if any difference compared to the #11836 R2, but as newer bins come out, it's nice to have the option of upgrading. Also, you could put the 5-mode R2 pill in for multimode. Or if yours is already dual-output, you could put the single-mode R2 in if you prefer.

That is a sweet setup DHART
looking forward to your review. I'm getting more and more interested in this product..

Az_Tibor said:

FYI, the pill on these is thread compatible with the R2 drop-ins on dealextreme. I didn't notice much if any difference compared to the #11836 R2, but as newer bins come out, it's nice to have the option of upgrading. Also, you could put the 5-mode R2 pill in for multimode. Or if yours is already dual-output, you could put the single-mode R2 in if you prefer.

Click to expand...

Hey... thanks for the suggestion, that's great to know!