Got a 17500 (Pila 300s) in my JetBeam RRT-0

Well, I bought an RRT-0 at the SHOT show last week from JetBeam (after buying my wife one back in December for Christmas). It rocks.

Anyway, I wasn't home for more than 12 hours before I decided to bore out the AA extender to see if a 17500 size battery would fit. I only have a couple Pila 300s batteries here, which I believe are the same size.

Check it out:
My wife's RRT-0 with 14500 background, my RRT-0 with 17500 foreground


14500 w/ original AA extender Left, 17500 (Pila 300s) w/ modified extender right


And another just for fun:


RRT-0 w/ 14500 weight:


RRT-0 w/ 17500 (300s) weight (+0.17oz, I can live with that):


And a little comparo for fun (a SF e2 body I machined right, RRT-0 w/extender center, RRT-0 w/ 123 right):


I hope this isn't old news. I've seen talk about it, but wasn't able to find anyone that has actually done it yet.

Hurray for my first post... :laughing:

Cheers!
Paul

Annnnndddd.... Anybody double-dog-dare me to machine a body for this? Someone said that an 18650 won't fit into the head... o'contraire, it even does with a wire pinched in there:

Judging by that sweet E2 body, it's obvious you've got mad skillz. So, sure, I'll double-dog-dare ya!

Excellent first post! Welcome to CPF, and nice machining. I will ask the question you will be asked many times soon: How much for those modified AA extenders, that E2 body, and the 18650 bodies? I'm not necessarily interested myself (not right now, though I might soon want one of those 17500 extenders) but I KNOW people will want to buy them all.

Sweet! It does work! I'm neither a machinist nor do I own any 17500s, so I've been posting the idea all over the place hoping someone would actually try it. It's awesome that it works. How much for a 17500 extender?

I do own 18650s (unprotected, even), and they most definitely do not fit into the brass ring in the head, even without a wire in the way. Do you have a v1 or v2 of the RRT-0? As far as I know, the only way to tell is to look at the tailcap - 4 elliptical holes means v1, if you have a pair of threaded holes then you have a v2. I can't imagine they would have changed the ID of the brass ring between versions, but my 18650s definitely do not fit in my v1.

What is the OD of your battery?

Thanks fellas. I'm certainly not trying to sell stuff here, but just more of posting the fact that it works, not that I'd be opposed to making some parts

grunscga: I realized just after I posted this last night something interesting and quite surprising. I have a RRT-0 from the first and second "runs" of them and guess what? The second runs (that came out maybe the mid-January), do certainly have a larger ID in the head at the + terminal:

First run (from December):


Second run (bought from JetBeam @ SHOT show Jan 22):


Looks like there is just enough room:


I was going to machine a sleeve so that I could still use a AA battery or a 14500 in it now that the extender is bored out, but found out that it doesn't seem real necessary as it works without such. It doesn't seem to move around in there with the extra space (probably wouldn't be a bad thing to make a sleeve though).

Anyway, I think I'll make a post with the differences of the early and late changes since it seems like some aren't so obvious.

Also, I thought about picking up a few AA extenders to bore out. They don't seem to be for sale separately, though lightjunction.com said that he could get me some, but it sounded like they might not be real interchangeable... hmmm? makes me curious. Well, I just tried to swap the extenders between my two RRT-0s, and yup, the one from the early light doesn't fit my newer one. It looks like machining tolerances because the older one works with either extender.

Cheers!
Paul

Man...I knew I shouldn't have jumped on the RRT-0 so soon. I was pretty sure that I could live with the circuit bugs, etc, but if they've changed it so that it now has the potential to use 18650s, I might have to pick up a new one...

Re: a sleeve - a nylon sleeve? It seems like that would be cheaper, and ... safer...

Re: tolerances - is it actually tolerances, or is the old head just sloppy in the new extender?

So, I guess you're saying that the v1 body will NOT fit on the v2 head? I actually went to the trouble of putting an EX10 clip on my v1, and it looks like that won't work with the v2, so my optimal case would be buying a v2 and using my v1 body (with good clip) on it.

Also, it looks like you can add the AA extender to your cart separately at BugOutGear USA, but you might want to get in touch with him if you're going to order a bunch, because he probably keeps a mostly 1:1 stock of lights:extenders.

I hate to follow my own post with another, but I just discovered something. I have several different brands of 18650s (all unprotected). The batteries from LG and Samsung (which are all I tried before) do NOT fit into the head of the RRT-0 (v1). However, every one of the unbranded 18650s that I tried DO fit (just barely, but enough to engage the + contact). So, it looks like I am actually interested in a custom 18650 body.

Two questions:

1. Would these hypothetical bodies be anodized? I'm not sure how I'd feel about using soft, un-anodized aluminum as an EDC.
2. Tailswitch? My preference would probably be that it used a P60-thread-compatible tailcap so that I could use one of the extras I have around here, or pick up one of the many compatible tailcaps (solarforce, lumensfactory, etc.). Does anyone know who makes the smallest forward-clicky P60-compatible tailcap?
   
   One thing that I wouldn't want to do is have to disassemble the RRT-0 tail to scavenge the tailswitch. I'd like to be able to carry a fully-functional standard tail in my bag for maximum battery compatibility in an emergency.

I think I'd be interested in having my 14500 extender bored out to 18mm for an 18500 to fit in there

I will sign up for a 17500 extender if you decide to sell some.

Is there enough material to go for 18500 with the AA extender and orginal body?

grunscga said:

Two questions:

1. Would these hypothetical bodies be anodized? I'm not sure how I'd feel about using soft, un-anodized aluminum as an EDC.

Click to expand...

That's probably the biggest concern for me. I definitely would have them anodize, but trying to get them to match might be hard... But then my factory original SureFire L5 is about 4 different colors...

grunscga said:

1. Tailswitch? ...
   One thing that I wouldn't want to do is have to disassemble the RRT-0 tail to scavenge the tailswitch. I'd like to be able to carry a fully-functional standard tail in my bag for maximum battery compatibility in an emergency.

Click to expand...

That's one thing that I was going to ask. What is one of the best switches out there? I'd probably just make it to fit a certain replacement one. I'm been meaning to order one, just thought I'd ask before buying and making it fit a crappy one.

re Morelite and swrdply400mrelay: I really don't know that an 18500 is possible. Well, it might be possible, but wouldn't think it'd be the best thing as you'd have to bore not just the extender but the whole body. It'd be really thin at that point. So at that point, making a new body for an 18mm battery would be in order.

I also ordered a replacement clip for an EX10 and thought that I'd at least drill the end right for that. I'd really like something more like SureFire uses on their lights (more of a pressed in keyway style or whatever you'd call it).

Anyway, that's about all for now.

Paul

Blindasabat said:

I will sign up for a 17500 extender if you decide to sell some.

Click to expand...

I haven't decided if I'm going to buy some to try to bore out or not. I'd be certainly happy to bore yours out if you'd like to send it to me. Send me a pm if you'd like.

Thanks,
Paul

I don't have any experience with which replacement tailswitch is the best quality, but I would think that you couldn't go too wrong by "keeping it in the family", so to speak, and using a Jetbeam switch: Jetbeam Tailswitch

The only other one I can think of off the top of my head is this one.

While we're talking about switches, some kind of tail ring / crenellation that still allows tailstanding would be good. Also, good grip is a requirement, but judging by that e2 body you created, I didn't have to say anything about that.

As for anodization color, I'd almost prefer a completely different color to one that almost-but-doesn't-quite match. I guess it depends on how close you could actually get. On my desk right now I have one of those Lumensfactory purple-ish lights sitting next to my RRT-0, and I bet a body that color would look pretty striking next to the Jetbeam gray/green anodizing.

Blindasabat said:

I will sign up for a 17500 extender if you decide to sell some.

Click to expand...

I'm in for one too! I don't see any reason to ship mine overseas for boring out... I'm ready to buy another custom.

Hello Swarfworks!
Fantastic post! I can wait to try this!!
Can you still use an AA or 14500 now that the extension tube has been bored to accept an 17500? Would be good to be able to do in a pinch,
Also, would you be interested in selling a bored extension tube?
Thank you,
Tom

Very nice! The RRT-0 running a 17500 with very little weight increase. :thumbsup:

thomaswclardy said:

Hello Swarfworks!
Can you still use an AA or 14500 now that the extension tube has been bored to accept an 17500?

Click to expand...

Yes, I've thrown a 14500 back in it and seems to work fine. I thought about the same thing before I bored it out. Nice to keep your options open.

thomaswclardy said:

Also, would you be interested in selling a bored extension tube?

Click to expand...

I've thought about it, but there is just enough differences in the threads that not all extenders seem to be compatible with all the lights. My wife's RRT-0's extender didn't seem to thread onto mine (or something like that... I don't exactly remember...). I'd hate to buy a bunch, bore them out and then have someone buy one and not fit there light.

The better thing maybe is shoot me a PM and I could bore yours out for you. I've done this a couple times and seems to work good.

Thanks again!
Paul

Thanks A lot Paul!
I would also be very interested in purchasing a custom 18650 body that fit the head and tail of the latest rrt-0. Your work looks fantastic.
I will PM you.
Thanks,
Tom

Hello Paul.
Thanks for the help.
I tried PMing, but it doesn't show up in my sent items folder??
My email is the same as my username at yahoo.
Thank you,
Tom

HI Paul! I sent you a PM.
Thank you!
Tom