Pila 130 Lu 9V Lamp in SF 3-cell lights

The Pila 9V LA is rated at 130 Lumen and 50 minutes run time on either a pair of 1200 mAh 18650 Li-Ion cells or of 1400 mAh CR123's. I'm guessing that the Pila 9V current is around 1300 mA as compared to the 1100 of the P90.

This compares to the 105 Lumen P90's 1 hour run time on CR123's.

Curiously, Wolf-eyes / Pila advertise using their 80 Lu 3.7 V LA in a 2 cell SF. This works, but the wide OD of the outer top part of the reflector causes a jam fit into the SF body and keeps the bezel from screwing down the final 1/8 ".

Pila doesn't advertise the 9V light for SF, and I assumed it was because the LA was even wider. Last night I found out, to my surprise, that the Pila 9V LA fits perfectly into a 9V SF. It also runs well off of either 3 * 123 or 2 * 17650 Li-Ions.

I like the wide Pila 9V beam much more than the P90. The P91 beam is brighter,more even, and effectively as wide but it also has a much shorter run time, is more expensive, and would require a 4 * 123 cell length with with Li-Ions to run a pair of 17670's.

I don't think I'll ever order another p90.

I'm running a PILA 3.7v lamp in my G2z with the rechargeable battery. It is great. I also have the PILA GL3 with the 9v lamp and like it a lot. I have the GL4 and that is the light I carry on duty all the time.

for those who are interested PILA is going to be offering the lights with an "optical" glass lens that is similar if not the same as pyrex.

lemlux,

Can you tell us about differences in beam between the Pila and P90? All my P90's have a distinct football shape which I find objectionable since I'm constantly turning the light to orient the beam. Is the Pila more round? Brighter or whiter? How bout beam shots /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I run the Pila 3.7V in my 6Z and concur with the larger diameter. I had thought it was due to my older model Surefire. I reamed it out just a tad and now it fits perfectly in the 6Z. It appears comparable to the P60 but it runs off rechargeables. My goal is to not buy any more CR123's. I'm almost there but not quite.

CM

The Pila 9V beam is similar in character to the 3.7V beam but brighter and whiter to my eyes. Both beams have basically even intensity hot spots without a collimated hot center. There appear to be more noticeable irregularities in the 3.7 V beam than in the 9V beam.

Thanks lemlux. Just placed an order for 2 with 1esa. Wow, $19.00 each includes shipping. Wonder what the lamp life is.

CM

I've recharged the GL4 about 10 times so far and the lamp is still running strong.
I purchased one of the 12v lamps and ran 3 sets of DL123's through it at 190 lumens with 45 minute run times. That is one nice set up. With the Li-Ions it has the about the same lumens (130) and 80 minute run as the standard GL4 9v lamp. I prefer the Li-Ions for cost effective use as I end up using my light for about a 15-20 minute total use per shift.

madecov,

You were the one that inspired me to try out those Pila's. Thanks for enlightening me, I'm really glad I tried them out as I'm now guilt-free with my lumen usage. Wonder when Surefire will get with the program with Li-Ion. I know there are non-product related hurdles in its implentation, it just seems like an optimum combination-lights and Li-Ions.

CM

Madecov,

Be forewarned that the new hard glass bezel might not fit old G2 very well. G3 and G4 are great with the new glass bezel.

After having a few lights from Pila, I just addicted to these li-ion bat. Not only for Pila lights, I also use li-ion on E2e w KL1, C3 w P90, E2e w BB600 1W and Mini-LGI. It's too bad that TL-3 5W couldn't use li-ion due to its design.

Alan

Alan,

Li-Ion's are in use for me wherever possible. I have a bunch more on the way to replace the 2x123 on my L4, KL1/E2e, home brewed "Arc LS3", and KL1/e2e with 5W LED. To say I'm addicted is an understatement. Everytime I walk by the camcorder section, I look through the Li-Ion packs and think "batteries for my flashlights!"

CM

Pila does advertise being able to use their 9V lamp in Surefire lights. It is on their accessories page here. When I got my lamps and batteries a few months ago, they sent me a spring so that I could use the lamps in Surefire lights.

I have to agree with everyone that these Li-Ions are great for flashlights. They pack a lot of punch for a small package. I use them in anything that they will work in. One combination I've been using for a while is a Mag 2C with a Tigerlight LA and 2 1800mAh Li-Ions. Tigerlight brightness and throw but in a much slimmer and lightweight package. Too bad bare Li-Ion batteries could be dangerous if discharged too far because i don't like having to keep checking the voltage and worrying about it blowing up.

Another Li-Ion fan chiming in. C3+Pila beats the SF 9AN in my book. The lowbeam on the 9AN is less useful to me than an ARC AAA. I may try one of those lamps with the next box of cells.

Sproing,

What size Li-Ions are you using on the 2C? How much work does it take to do this mod? I have neither Tigerlight LA nor Mag 2C.

As far as Li-Ion bombs, overcharge and not overdischarge is the problem. Overdischarging just shortens their life. If you have the proper charger, then you shouldn't have to worry about explosions /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif There's a good chance that the light output will tell you whether you need to take the batteries out and recharge them. My C3 starts to yellow at about 3volts which is a safe point to discharge to.

TIA,

CM

DOH! I forgot I swore off maglights. Never mind.

CM,

I'm using the Pila 168A 68mm batteries in the 2C. Not much work to get this mod to work if you have all the pieces. The Tigerlight lamp is bi-pin and you can either use a bi-pin to PR base adapter or just bend the pins a little. They work equally well IMO. I've tried a factory Tigerlight lamp and also the textured one from flashlightlens.com

With the 2 68mm batteries the tailcap won't screw down all the way so I used a metal ring to bridge the gap between the body and the tailcap. I used a bit of conductive epoxy to keep the ring in place and painted it black to match the body. When I first tested this mod I just wrapped some wire around the flashlight at the gap tightly until the light worked properly. I soldered the wire down and this worked very well but was ugly. You then just need to scrape off the anodizing on the inside bottom of the tailcap and everything should be fine. I think if you use bare 65mm Li-Ion then you wouldn't need to use a modded tailcap. I also screwed the head all the way down and loctited it so the head won't be accidentally turned and damage the lamp.

Also, thanks for the advice on the Li-ions.. All this time I've been worried about the wrong thing. I guess by the time the voltage dropped to a level where its bad for the cells, the beam would be noticeably yellow anyways.

Sproing,

Thanks for the info. I may have to whore myself and get a mag 2C, a used one if possible--or get a different host. My wife also has a 2D in her car, it should fit that with a homemade extender. I really like the idea of the tigerlight lamp with Li-Ions.

CM