Update: All resolved: about Surefire E series heads

Problem resolved, thank you

edit: Problem not resolved, see post #9

Edit..., again: Finally resolved, see post #17

I recently bought a KX2 head, but it took so long to arrive I thought it was lost so I bought another.

Then it finally turned up.

So, I sold the original one on the Marketplace.

I took it out of the packet, tested it, checked it out, and all seemed fine. In fact it was so identical to the one I already had (the replacement) that I had to be careful when putting them down and picking up as I couldn't tell them apart. Even the beams seemed exactly the same.

The problem is, the buyer has received it and is asking if it is normal for the lens to be "foggy".

Before I posted it, the lens and beam seemed just the same as the other examples I have, the second KX2 and a E1L. Looking at them now, with the light off the glass looks clear, but with the light on it does look different. The nearest I can get to describing my other E heads is that it reminds me a little of the LDF that was (is?) sometimes on G2L lenses. I'm not saying there is something actually on the glass, it's more a case of the slightly diffused effect you get with LDF.

So, can anyone jump in here? Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

Re: Advice needed about Surefire E series heads

Nico, im going with a hunch here, but the optics give this "milky" look when looking at the bezel with the light on.

on the L1 this is accentuated by the frosty film, its preferable to see a picture, but i think its effect of the optics, and probably you can see it yourself in your KX2. i have tried it without the frosty film, and theres still a "milky" effect.

i think this is what your buyer is talking about, but it would be better to see a picture.

Re: Advice needed about Surefire E series heads

If you are talking about what looks like a *VERY* slight frost appearance on the window (lens) then yes its "normal". I have 2 KX2 heads 1 HA and 1 HA-BK and both have the slight frost to them, to see it you have to view the window at a slight angle in good light.

There was some discussion on this when they first came out as well as with the updated L1. Tell your buyer to look at this thread and do a CPF only search for >>>>>> frosted lens KX2


https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/169306

see post #38 in thread below, Milky took apart an L1 head and I'm pretty sure this can apply to the KX2 heads too

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/186771&page=2


Bill

Re: Advice needed about Surefire E series heads

Hey Niconical...

i believe the TIR versions of the E-series heads actually have a light diffuser film on the inside of the pyrex lens...

i think i remember reading that somewhere.. it's to help smooth out the beam...

KraZy

Re: Advice needed about Surefire E series heads

Braddah_Bill said:

If you are talking about what looks like a *VERY* slight frost appearance on the window (lens) then yes its "normal". Bill

Click to expand...

manoloco said:

Nico, im going with a hunch here, but the optics give this "milky" look when looking at the bezel with the light on.

Click to expand...

I'd say that pretty much sums things up, thank you.

Unfortunately though in terms of the sale, the buyer is now saying that the head has been broken open and his "dual stage KX2 is a lot brighter".

Of course the KX2 dual stage is brighter, the single is the older 45 lumen version.

As far as I am concerned, I sent an as new and perfect KX2 single.
Output and beam exactly as it should be.

With that said, I don't want to get involved in one of those Marketplace hassles, so I think I'll offer a refund, and from now on add something to my sales thread small print along the lines of check the description, check the picture, and know what you're buying.

Thank you for the advice

Re: Advice needed about Surefire E series heads

Krazy89, thank you also for your info, I didn't include it above though as we were typing at the same time

Re: Advice needed about Surefire E series heads

Update: I've never had a problem before, so I've offered the buyer a full refund.
I don't want to get drawn into anything, and I can always use a KX2 head

I'll edit the title now.

Re: Advice needed about Surefire E series heads

just direct your buyer here and i will post pictures, however i dont have any iteration of the KX2, i am assuming your buyer would want to see his specific item.

i have a couple of L1s that i can use to show the effect.

Re: Advice needed about Surefire E series heads

manoloco said:

just direct your buyer here and i will post pictures, however i dont have any iteration of the KX2, i am assuming your buyer would want to see his specific item.

i have a couple of L1s that i can use to show the effect.

Click to expand...

Thanks for that, but I'll consider it closed as I've offered a refund.

One thing that does concern me though is that they buyer claims the "seal has been broken and the head opened".

How would he know?

I've never opened any LED myself so don't know the procedure, but would I be right in saying that the only way to tell if the head has previously been opened is to open it yourself and see if it's easier to do than expected?

I'm not saying the buyer has opened it, just asking how he could tell.

As mentioned in post #1, from the outside it looked so identical to my other KX2 I had to be careful which was which.

Re: Resolved: Advice needed about Surefire E series heads

This was also mentioned in post #38 from the second link, see below for cut and paste of post #38:

Quote:
Originally Posted by MSaxatilus
Interesting.... My KX2 did the same thing. Completely unscrewed when trying to take it off a body. This is the first time I can remember that I have been able to disassemble a SF head without tools.


My experience has been mixed: a couple heads have opened easily, while most required a bit more, er, coaxing. It's almost as if ease of opening depends on which SureFire employee put the head together in the first place, and how Loktite-happy they were feeling on that day!

People have mentioned that some heads just unscrew by hand....maybe your buyer got one without any, or very little Loktite.




Bill

Re: Update: More advice needed about Surefire E series heads

hmm... the only way to tell that it's been opened up... is to... drum roll....... open it up

other than that... i don't know how you can tell by looking at it?

KraZy

Re: Update: More advice needed about Surefire E series heads

Update: The buyer says he turned the head on the body and the upper part just came off.

I must admit, I'm not 100% happy now that I know for a fact it has been opened, albeit apparently accidently, but I offered a refund so I'll stick to it. I don't do any modding or even change a emitter myself, so I'm not really going to have much use for it. Assuming it was coming back to me I thought I'd just buy another body/tailcap to go with it, but if the head apparently opens up that easily, I'll just leave it as unused.

Re: Update: More advice needed about Surefire E series heads

hmm.... sorry to hear that your sale didn't go that well...

but... i'm sure there's gonna be a few takers for an pre-opened KX2 head... especially since it's mint...

seems u've had a lil string of bad luck with the shipping thing (at least this one sorted itself out...) and now this...

KraZy

Re: Update: More advice needed about Surefire E series heads

You could always send it to Milky and let him do some of his Milky Magic to it. Too many options to list, but he does awesome work.





Bill

Re: Update: More advice needed about Surefire E series heads

the only problem i see there is that the buyer is a little uninformed. theres no much loss in what happened and more important, your selling reputation remains.

be wary, you now have to check if the head was opened and altered after it left your hands, i have had videocards that have been overclocked after i sold them and then claimed to be faulty, by luck the buyers left evidence of the tampering by them.

i dont think someone would try that on a surefire head (i guess if they want to swap the led, or probably the driver board, but that will be so easy to catch that is highly unlikely, what could happen, and im not saying the buyer did this, is that the buyer opens the head planning to mod and something goes wrong (smudge the led, the optics, scratched something opening the head, tries to do something and its very hard to do, a long list of etc.) and then doesnt want the head anymore.

good luck!

Re: Update: More advice needed about Surefire E series heads

I think I'll do what Krazy89 suggests, sell it on again, specifically described as pre-opened.

Just to finally have some fun with it, maybe I'll do something mad and put it up supercheap. $30 sound good?

I did offer the refund right at the start, but I haven't heard back from the buyer yet so he might actually want to keep it, we'll see.

Thank you all for your help

Re: Update: More advice needed about Surefire E series heads

The buyer has decided to keep it and send it to Milky.

If I'd known it was so easy to open I might have done that myself instead of selling it!

Issue closed, thank you all for your help