Did I ruin my Solarforce L2?

Well, I received my Solarforce L2 in the mail yesterday. I dropped in my DX P60 drop-in and fired it up. Very bright, loved it. It throws better than my Nitecore Extreme. However, I noticed that the bulb shook a bit. So I stuck the larger spring that came with the DX drop-in in the the bezel and tightened it up. That fixed the problem.

So after playing with it a bit more, I thought I'd better take out the drop-in and wrap it in foil to prevent over heating. But uh oh - the big spring was wedged up inside the bezel. It wouldn't come out, nor would the drop-in. They are in there pretty good. I think I'd need to destroy the drop-in to get everything out.

Do you think the large spring itself, wedged up in there, will be enough of a heatsink to preven my drop-in from frying? Thanks guys.

The dropin should be around 10 bucks... Run it till it frys (will be a while if it is making contact.) then get a malkoff. :devil:. If you are really cheap then a big dollap of aa should help heatsink it well.

Thanks. What is aa? I am a bit new to all of this.

aa is Arctic Alumina, a heat transferring paste

With your L2 have you tried taking the battery out and pushing the dropin out from the tail end ?

I'm trying to imagine how the spring could be stuck, can't quite picture it.
I would just grab the large spring (not the smaller spring that contacts the positive nipple on the battery) with a pair of pliers and yank in out, the spring will more than likely be very stretched, new springs are very common I have about a dozen spares and would send you one but it isn't worth the post from Australia. There are some very generous people her on CPF I'm sure a U.S. member will be happy to send you a new spring.
I'd like to see a picture of the stuck module.
Good luck with it Norm

PS I always use the large spring with my Solarforce L2's

If you mess up the spring PM me and I will send you a new one, no cost.

Dave

another thought remove the bezel ring. Try to get it out the front of the light.

pmoore said:

another thought remove the bezel ring. Try to get it out the front of the light.

Click to expand...

It won't come out the front, the drop in sits up against a ridge not against the lens.
Norm

Could you mean the spring is stuck in the flashlight body.?

can you post some pics?... we need to see exactly whats jammed in there.:thumbsup:

I will try to take some pics tomorrow and post them. Crazy night tonight, so no time. It is stuck in the bezel - jammed way up in there, so much so that I can barely see it. It is certainly too far in to reach with a needle nose. I may end up just leaving it like that and hoping that the spring is a sufficient heat sink - it is definately touching both the bezel interior wall and the drop-in. Thanks for all your help guys!

Just to make sure were all on the same page here is a of pictures of the back of an SS L2 bezel, I can't understand how the spring could be jammed. Or are we talking about a different item?
Norm

I think he is saying, he put the spring in front of the reflector. to lessen the rattle. Now it is stuck in the head and around the reflector.

Not sure if I'm reading this right, but it sounds like there is a spring on each end of the drop-in.

If it's stuck the way I think it is (and you have a crenelated bezel) you can unscrew the bezel ring, remove the o-ring and glass and probably get the spring out that way.

Just unscrew the head off ...


This should allow you to gently push the P60 pill out .... From behind , with something soft , maybe some rolled up paper , leave a hole for the positive spring .

Do you need pictures ?

Well, thank you everyone. I am an idiot. The head was stuck on. I finally got that off and got the spring unstuck. My apologies. Unrelated - do they sell tactical clicky switches for these L2s?

You might try a Surefire Z-59 or z-41 tailcap. Howener i think they cost about $40.00. Thats what I'm planning.

http://www.opticsplanet.net/surefire-miscellaneous-z41.html