New here.

New guy here. The purpose of me signing up is the wealth of information on flashlights, obviously. I just purchased a Surefire 6P and was looking for information pertaining to the upgrade to a LED head.

I know little about flashlights. What I do know is that I like them to be as bright as they can be. I'll be using my 6P for duty use on the job and would like to upgrade to an LED head with rechargable capability. I had recently seen a link on another forum site referencing ElectronGuru selling an LED upgrade.

As I said before, I'm not flashlight savvy and don't know what all I need to purchase for an that specific LED upgrade and rechargable capability.

Could I get some help on this one? Thanks!

First of all, Welcome! Check out Malkoff drop ins, many different available for 6p. Worth every penny. I'm sure one will fill your needs. After that, hide your wallet!!!

Electron Guru makes some insane drop-ins, but, unfortunately, his latest drop in is meant to be used with rechargeable 18650 cell only. The driver will support 6volts, but it can draw so much current that you are at risk of having a CR123 battery vent, so he really doesn't reccomend it.

I would search for Nailbender. He's making some very nice drop-ins, with a variety of LED's, from the Cree XP-G and MC-E, to the SST-50 LED.

I would say purchase a single mode, high output drop-in for your 6P, meant to be your main light, and purchase another, multi-mode light as a backup, or in situations where maximum brightness isn't necessarily needed.

Here is a good post with some drop ins for the 6p. The two listed above have some very nice custom offerings.

Welcome to CPF!

I picked the Thrunite P60 style Cree XP-G R5 LED drop in. Can I use an 18650 rechargeable with it? If so, suggest a good battery/charger please!

:welcome:

Hang onto your wallet..

Patrolman951 said:

I picked the Thrunite P60 style Cree XP-G R5 LED drop in. Can I use an 18650 rechargeable with it? If so, suggest a good battery/charger please!

Click to expand...

Yes, and you can use 2 x 123s if needed.

This charger and these batteries. Free shipping and don't forget to use the "CPF8" code for 8% off your order.

:welcome:

I thought I would add just a little bit to help in avoiding purchasing incorrect LiIon cells.

If your 6P is STOCK, it WILL NOT accept 18mm cells (18650's). You're looking for a 17mm LiIon cell instead (17670). Both cells can be purchased from the online merchants linked in previous posts.

Hope that helps.

Point Source said:

:welcome:

I thought I would add just a little bit to help in avoiding purchasing incorrect LiIon cells.

If your 6P is STOCK, it WILL NOT accept 18mm cells (18650's). You're looking for a 17mm LiIon cell instead (17670). Both cells can be purchased from the online merchants linked in previous posts.

Hope that helps.

Click to expand...

Whew, good catch! He is right the 6p will not take 18650 cells. However, Electron Guru can bore it to accept those cells.

scout24 said:

...Check out Malkoff drop ins, many different available for 6p. Worth every penny...

Click to expand...

:thumbsup:

However, the full output M60s and M30s are out of stock right now.

Yes to the Malkoff, the quality is beyond any mass produced light engine...especially for duty work. I have mine in his own host, not a SureFire but that's what he initially made them for so it will definitely fit a SF. And yes, I would have the light bored to take a 18650 cell, your burntime would be greatly increased.

DuncanHynes said:

Yes to the Malkoff, the quality is beyond any mass produced light engine...especially for duty work. I have mine in his own host, not a SureFire but that's what he initially made them for so it will definitely fit a SF. And yes, I would have the light bored to take a 18650 cell, your burntime would be greatly increased.

Click to expand...

I am looking to have the Burntime increased as well due to my shifts at work being 12 hours long. Dark till dark in the winter. How would I go about getting the 6p adapted to accept the 18650?

I'm not sure about body boring, but I'm sure someone else will be along to fill you in.

In the meantime, there is always this option as well. -->http://www.lighthound.com/Solarforce-L2-Host-for-18650-Battery--Body-with-Head-and-Switch-all-Black-Type-2-Anodized_p_2629.html

It's what I did when I was looking for a 18650 compatible 6P light. For $25 you get a new bezel with lens, 18650 compatible body, and reverse clicky tailcap. The bezel and tailcap from your 6P will fit the new 18650 body. Swap bezels and tailcaps, drop in your module and 18650 cell and go. There's no machining required, but it won't say Surefire on the side...

And no matter what combination of Surefire/Solar Force legoing you choose, you would have another host to play with. It's an option worth considering.

welcome! and might i say you picked a fantastic light, doesn't feel like it yet until you get that next dropin, new battery, and get it bored out but i promise you will love it. I would definitely look into either nailbender or malkoff for your dropin. But it depends greatly on what you want, do you want a wall of light up close (flood) or do you want your light to hit targets 200 yards out (throwy) that will determine a lot of your dropin and LED choice. personally I run the SST-90 led from nailbender in my 6P...some would consider it overkill, and others a waste, but I LOVE the giant wall of light that comes out of my hand even though it only lasts a little more than an hour. Just my .02lovecpflovecpf

Very good idea on the Lighthound link for the Solarforce. You'll get 2 hours or more constant burntime with a M60. It would be on constant high I suppose unless there is a low switch mode in the clicky I don't know. I love my MD3 body but paid considerable ($145) total for the package...running two 18500's it has not gone dead on me yet, burn time may be 4 hours? Between high mostly and low sometimes. Mind you I'm not going to a mineshaft and just leaving it on 'high' all the time...but anything that can take a 18650 cell you'll be happy with. Get a good charger, an Pila IBC is what I use $45 but it's high quality and safe, never charges the cells over 4.13 volts. Over 4.20, they may vent, i.e. explode.

:welcome:

Welcome, Patrolman951....

So, will the Pila charger recharge any rechargeable 18650 or do I need a specific one? I'm just trying to sort out what I'll need to upgrade my Surefire the way I want it, though it's tough because there is so much terminology used on the site that I'm really not familiar with. So, my shopping list would consist of the following:

1. Thrunite P60 style cree XP-G R5 LED drop in
2. Pila IBC charger
3. 18650 rechargeable battery (which one?)
4. Bore job by ElectronGuru

I think that's all I'll need to have a pretty nice built up duty belt flashlight. Am I missing anything?

Pila IBC charger will charge most any Li-Ion, as far as they go AW brand is the best...on any quality website that sells flashlights and battery cells. It's about $45, a 18650 will run you $12 or so per.

I too am new here and as a retired L.E.O. would have given anything for this lighting technology during my service.

It seems you already have a terrific package under consideration, so another recommendation for a Malkoff Drop-In wont matter.

However, since I was fortunate to get one before he sold out this past week, I can attest that it truly transformed an old D cell MagLite into a modern high performance LED light. Very impressive performance.