SF L2 Upgrades

Ferret

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I just received a SF L2 as a gift and I would like to know what, if any, are some good upgrades or mods.
 

Kestrel

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I've been wondering about the same thing myself, as my stock L2 is getting a little long in the tooth compared to my newer / modded SF's.

I would send it to Milky for the Room Sweeper treatment, a 4-die P7 for 650-800 lumens, direct drive. You'll be looking at about $150-$200, but it will blow the doors off of any stock SF of comparable size, and you'll still have a low level with the fantastic L1/L2 UI. Here's the thread:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/209239

The P7 will run direct drive off of a single 17670 rechargeable (it will be full-length for your 2xCR123 cell L2 body). Your body might have to be bored out slightly to take the 1mm larger-diameter single cell, but it's worth it.

There really isn't anything of a lesser degree that will give you comparable bang-for-the-buck, as far as I can tell.

My two cents.
K
 
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vb14

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I thought the "room sweeper" is for the "E" series?
 

Kestrel

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I can't see a reason why Milky couldn't do the same RS treatment to the L2 - he's done some amazingly intricate mods to other SF's around here. I'm guessing that the L2 head has a little more interior room to work with, so all that would mean is that you'd get a slightly larger heatsink.:thumbsup:
 

Gunner12

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A Cree MC-E swap could work too.

You can message a few of the modders here and sww what they can do.
 

Ferret

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Hmmm, the Milky stuff looks awesome, but sadly out of my price range.

Are there any other mods for less than $100?

Thanks for the responses guys.
 

bigchelis

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The cheapest alternative is to get an E to C adaptor from TnC products in fact there is a Surefire E to C adaptor currently in Marketplace for $35 dollars. What this will do is allow you to use any 6P bezel and P60 drop-in in your E-Series Surefire.

If you get the E to C adaptor then you could drop-in a MC-E emiter from Derelight or Malkoff Devices.

They will make around 500 plus lumens. If you want to stick with 2 battery set-up then you have to get a Malkoff at $125. If you are willing to swith to a single battery 17650 then derelight is only $62.

Still for under $100 dollars you would have a powerfull 500 lumen plus LED flashlight.

P.S. If you don't own a 6P bezel then you could get a good replica for $8 to $12 dollars from Lighthound.com. They are U.S. operated and I get my stuff within 2 days. The batteries are available there too.
 

Kestrel

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[...]If you get the E to C adaptor then you could drop-in a MC-E emiter from Derelight or Malkoff Devices.

They will make around 500 plus lumens. If you want to stick with 2 battery set-up then you have to get a Malkoff at $125. If you are willing to swith to a single battery 17650 then derelight is only $62.

Still for under $100 dollars you would have a powerfull 500 lumen plus LED flashlight.

P.S. If you don't own a 6P bezel then you could get a good replica for $8 to $12 dollars from Lighthound.com. They are U.S. operated and I get my stuff within 2 days. The batteries are available there too.
Not a bad route, but you would lose the nice lines of the L2 body/head. Either way, you will really want to make sure your L2 can take a 17670, I've read that there is a possibility that some bodies will only take a 14670 cell, which will have, maybe 1/2 the capacity? A quick search didn't turn that size up for me. Plus anything smaller than a 17670 needs to have an IMR chemistry for the high current draw, limiting your options further. Your body really needs to fit a 17670 or you might be out of luck for the single-cell options, you'd have to go Malkoff MC-E for two 16340 cells, with less capacity and more expense overall.
 
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Ferret

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Do you get a new head with the milky upgrades, or do you have to send in your own?

Of the Milky heads are they all flood lights, or do some of them have some nice spots that through a ways?
 

Gunner12

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You usually send your light to the modder to be modded. You can ask who ever will be modding your light to use what ever reflector or optic they have available to give the beam pattern, output, battery options you want within reasons(don't expect a 300+ yard thrower form a L2 sized light).
 

Kestrel

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Do you get a new head with the milky upgrades, or do you have to send in your own?
He would probably open up the insides of your original L2 head on a lathe for more room. It wouldn't really make sense to retain the old head in stock configuration anyway, especially with the L2 and its very dated Luxeon LED (which isn't a good match for rechargeable cells anyway).
Of the Milky heads are they all flood lights, or do some of them have some nice spots that through a ways?
I gather that he can also make some wonderful throwers, such as the 'Legolas' (SF L1 host) or the 'Creemator' (E2-series host I think, not sure) for example. He would have to use smaller single-die emitters for those mods, as a smaller emitter area is required for good focus.
Legolas:
(very very exotic, I don't know the price, you know the saying, if you have to ask...:whistle:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/204339
General Milky L1 information thread (very long)
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/136976

Page 5 of Part 2 of his info thread will have some of the information that you're looking for:
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=175864&page=5

I'm afraid I don't know very much about these mods comparted to others here, you could PM Crenshaw, he's had Milky do some nice L1 throwers for him and he'd know more about the possibilities there. If you want a decent thrower, you're talking about adding an optic or different reflector, etc.

But they won't be cheap, especially from an L2 host, which has a reflector on the floody side, as you already know.

You probably want to just e-mail Milky with a few questions, as this info I'm sending you is already second-hand. He might be able to recommend a budget mod he could do that would suit your needs.
 
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Kestrel

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I guess that if you want a good thrower, there are a lot of relatively inexpensive routes to take with stock SF's that have the TIR optic. $100 gets you _a lot_ of throw in stock lights these days, even staying in the SF line.

Regarding two-level capability, I basically paid an additional ~$100 to add a low level to my E1 Room Sweeper (which required a different tailcap, parts kit, plus labor). You already have a low level in your L2 tailcap, so the only improvement there would be to change out the resistor to recalibrate the low for a different emitter and input voltage. The two-level L2 is a great host for a throwy mod, IMO.:)
 
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