Help with KL3 head please

Hi all,

I have an old old style Surefire KL3 head, the one with lots of fins and an optic in a rubber holder.

Can anyone give me some advice re getting it apart please?

Looking in the back of the head I can see that the guts screw in with a fitting with 4 indents in the circumference, which looks like it will screw out with the right tool.

I guess the proper tool would look like a deep socket with 4 pegs on the end? :thinking:

What do you experts use ??

London Lad said:

What do you experts use ??

Click to expand...

A very rare tool called the MilkySpit.

LOL

Anyone ?

Well, I can tell you that such a tool will probably be required to get it apart. I attempted to open a KL3 using a pair of needle nose pliers that were just the right size to get down into 2 opposing holes. Even with heating the head to a *very* high temperature using an industrial heat gun in order to weaken the thread lock compound, all I was able to do was bend the pliers before giving up. That head is a real bugger to open. I considered having a machinist make a proper tool but decided that it wasn't worth it to open one head. I wish you luck sir.

I have managed to kill quite a decent pair of long nose pliers too !

I guess I will have to buy a cheap deep socket and grind it.

If I could find out what that type of tool was called I could try to buy one maybe?

Thanks for the info.

i think you can buy sockets with two raise points from Snap-on for use in the motor bike world and race car world i can't remember what the correct name for them is thanks DocD

Thanks!!

I knew I had seen them and now I remember where. In the Snap on van.

Great thanks.

ARe you going to salvage anything from the head or is it a full mod.

I would boil it. Boiling a Surefire head has never failed me yet.

Hi Sgt.

It is a full mod and I have a small drying oven to heat it up, its getting something to reach down into the back of the head and turn the retainer with.

Thanks for the tip anyway and I agree heat / boiling is great for melting the thread lock.

Yes you need to heat it up first. I used a heat gun and a pair of needle nose pliers. Getting the lens and optic out was just as much of a pain.

I got the lens and optic out fine. I have heated the head as much as I dare but it still just bends needle nose pliers!

I'll have to see the snap on man or make a socket out of some pipe or an old deep socket.

Was your one HA NAT or black gloss finish ?

Black one. I didn't think I was going to get it off...then pop. Extremely frustrating.

I was able to get the bezel side open today.

My tool slipped (as always :shakehead) so I just went ahead and chiseled part of the retaining ring off.
It was made of very brittle plastic.

After applying some more nailposlish remover on the threads and using the same tool, the ring came off easily.

This may be easier if you just want to swap the emitter.

Pic of tool. Ignore the tailcap.

Looks like you got it already. I gotta type faster :duh2:

I just opened the front on mine. Simple LED swap (SSC)

I need to get in the back as the driver is dead.

I got the other side open without any heat.

The plan was to remove the plastic part with the springs to make it eaiser to access the holes with a needle nose plyer.

Note that I was willing to destroy the plastic part as I did not need it.

First, the leads were snipped off and the springs removed.


Next, some nail polish remover was applied to the threads with an eye dropper .
While waiting for the fluid to sink into the threads, I started chiseling away at the plastic.

The plastic is very brittle and after about 10 minutes, I got impatient and tried to twist the plastic part out with plyers.. Voila! the whole thing unscrewed easily.

Perhaps my particular KL3 did not have a lot of thread locker, but if you do not mind getting the plastic slightly scratched up, applying nail polish remover and gripping the plastic *might* do the job. This is just a suggestion and no gurantees.



Still have to remove some of the plastic. It's threaded by the way.

Thanks, that's great info and a big help.

I would like to preserve the plastic but your photos show me how deep the metal plug is, I had assumed it was shallower.

I'll remove the springs and then try to dissolve the thread lock.

Thanks again

Glad to be of help

Just a note of caution.
Emboldened by my KL3 experience, I tried the U2 with the same method. No joy.

So I tried the traditional way.
The head was boiled for 5 minutes in a Ziplock bag, the bottom clamped in a vise with wood blocks (to prevent scratches).
After several slips of the belt wrench, with a jerking motion, I managed to break the thread locker at last. The parts still would only move less than 1/2 turn. I then moved the parts back and forth, which gradually led to the pieces to come apart.

Lots of goo!


EDIT:
I justed noticed the o-ring which prevented any of the nail polish remover to sink in.
There are no seals on the KL3 heatsink, so it still might work.


If you do manage to get the parts to budge, you should try moving them both ways. I remember other people mentioning this when opening stubborn lights.

Good luck!