Surefire Aviator question...

Hi, Folks...

I just bought a Surefire Aviator (blue LED) a few days ago and while I'm generally very impressed with the quality of construction, I noticed that mine produces very, VERY bad dark rings when using the LED mode. The incandescent light is fine, but the beam from the LED's is terrible...not at all what I would expect from Surefire.

Is this a common issue? Have other Aviator owners noticed this also? The odd thing is you would think if it's going to have rings like that that it would have three since there are three LED's...mine has two rings. When looking at the reflection off of a surface with the light about 2" away, you can see all three LED's lit, but two are very obviously closer to each other than to the third one. Farther away, those two that are closest to each other merge and form one of the interlocking circles of those two dark rings I mentioned earlier).

Anyway, if this has been discussed here before, my apologies. I searched here on cpf and elsewhere for information on this before posting. I can try and post a beam shot or two if it would help...I'm not sure if my description made any sense... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

JM-99

That doesn't sound right at all. I don't have this light, but I have been considering a purchase. I am planning on driving to Tactical Warehouse tomorrow, (today, actually, I guess, when the sun is up. lol) and I will see if Dan has one I can take a look at. If so, I will post what I see.
David <><

[ QUOTE ]
RevDavid said:
That doesn't sound right at all. I don't have this light, but I have been considering a purchase. I am planning on driving to Tactical Warehouse tomorrow, (today, actually, I guess, when the sun is up. lol) and I will see if Dan has one I can take a look at. If so, I will post what I see.
David <><

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks...that would be great!

Here are some links to beamshots to explain my first post...
View from about 2-3 inches away (with lens parallel to surface):
http://pictures.sprintpcs.com/share.jsp?invite=iEcr2omrmkPyma5zLQRL&shareType=Photo

View from about 5 feet away:
http://pictures.sprintpcs.com/share.jsp?invite=BEWr2VmbmkPcIark7hmU&shareType=Photo

JM-99

Wow! those are VERY ringy, maybe you should drop SF an e-mail about your problem..

That is the standard beam pattern of the Blue A2. I had one and got rid of the blue LEDS.

This is well known. I asked pk@surefire about it regarding my red LEDs beam pattern (I also had a problem with my tailcap).

The answer he gave me regarding the LEDs was:
"Just FYI, color LEDs are generic ring built in.
However, It is common practice and even Nichia suggest that you either Grind off some portion of lens or Bead Blast lens section to DIMINISH ring affects. You might want to try it. Just a suggestion. Have fun."

Bjorn

spectre, re. your sig (Car: 4xD2S HIDs), i was under the impression that cars have only ONE D2S per side, and the high/low seperation in the bixenons is taken care of by a moving shield assembly. curious where the other two extraneous D2S units go?

I also have the A2 white LEDs on my A2, and they have a much better beam pattern (this is probably due to the yellow phosphor that evens out the light when creating white light.

offtopic - iddibhai:
My "old" car ('97 Passat B5) does not have the moving shield assemly in the main lamp (The newer facelift Passat B5.5 does), so the HIDs are low beam only. The regular high beams are halogen. However I have added extra xenon high beams below. See picture:
http://home.online.no/~b-bado/car/IMG_0781-web.jpg

The rings are normal for any of the colored LEDs, the White LED's do not produce this effect. The Blue that I had produced these rings, but at any distance they looked more like the Olympic rings, linking over each other.

One CPFer said he got rid of the rings by removing the LED ring and gently sanding the the LED's to diffuse the light a bit.

I have an Inova X5 with blue leds and one with red and both exhibit the same pattern - I suspect all colored leds will have that problem.

JM-99, I have a red LED A2 and although the individual LEDs do produce rings, at 2" I get three distict circles of light in a nice even triangular pattern. At 5', they merge into one (admittedly ringy) pool of light. From your pictures, I'd say you definitely look as if you have a problem.

This is common to all colored LED's. For some reason my Ultraviolet Inova X5T doesn't have rings. Just tried the Surefire F04 Beam Shaper on a Green KL1 and the rings disappeared completely. I've read on another post that satin and opaque scotch tape will get rid of rings on the colored Inova X5T's. To bad Surefire doesn't make a Beam Shaper for the A2.

Doesn't flashlightlens.com have a diffuser film that you put on the lens? If I remember right, almost all the light is passed through the film. He might want to offer this to owners of A2's with colored LED's.
oldgrandpajack

Try some matte clear modeling paint (Testors) on each LED.

You can carefully remove the LED module and again carefully bend the LEDs on their connection points so that the beams converge better or create a better pattern. Pay attention to detail and make only small changes. Keep track of which ones you want bent in which direction before you disassemble, then proceed. Of course, do this at your own risk as it will probably void the warranty.

I have a red Photon II (older) which has, I believe, a HP red LED. It is the most smooth red LED I've ever seen - not a ring to be seen. I'm surprised SF didn't go with these, but I'm sure there's a reason.

I emailed flashlightlens.com and all he needs is the exact diameter of the lens. He offered me a sample but both my A2's have white LED's. One of you should try this and report back to us.
oldgrandpajack

My A2 has white LEDs too, and doesn't need the corrective optic.
It's normal for colored (non-white) LEDs to produce funky and ringy beams. I don't think there's anything wrong with Jumpmaster's A2.

FYI,
Dan at Tactical Warehouse said this is typical.
We discussed diffusers, and what my needs are, and I ended up with the L4 instead. (Like a lot of other people, I guess.)
By the way, that Kumkang is amazing! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/huh.gif
David <><

oh so the secondary HID are in in the driving lamps (can't be foglamps, too much blue output for decent foglamp use). since you seem to want more light, what about putting HIR capsules in the high beams? assuming they have the 900x form factor. lots of lumens, same power usage.

Originally posted by Quickbeam:
[ QUOTE ]
You can carefully remove the LED module and again carefully bend the LEDs on their connection points so that the beams converge better or create a better pattern. Pay attention to detail and make only small changes. Keep track of which ones you want bent in which direction before you disassemble, then proceed.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, I tinkered with my A2 since this suggestion was posted and I finally (just yesterday) got the A2 to look like it should. I'll post pictures later...it looks MUCH better now! Still ringy, but at least it's an even pattern -- it yields enough light up close when needed.

I had another question...which A2's have the long pocket clips? Mine has the little shorty clip and the serial number is A0####. It has the FCC and CE logos etched on it. Do the newer ones or older ones have long pocket clips? I just bought mine, but they could have been at the local retailer for a while...I'm lucky my local gun shop seems to like Surefire...When I walked in the other day (when I bought this A2), I saw this great Lucite display case! It had a 10x, an M2, M3, E2E, G2, A2, and a couple of weapon lights and other Surefire flashlights I can't recall -- an excuse for another trip. It was a sight to behold! I'd never seen so many Surefires up close, in person in the same place at the same time! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Thanks for all the suggestions...please set me straight on the pocket clip issue...I sure wish Surefire would offer different LED heads for the A2. Sometimes, I'm going to need red light and others I'll need blue but I can't justify another $135 for another A2. Well...I mean...I *can* justify it, but I don't think my landlord would buy my story...ha!

JM-99

?????
Does anyone have any info about the pocket clips on the A2, re: my question above???

JM-99