Surefire G2 or G3 plus cell extenders to convert to 3AA or 4AA

Hello,

I'm thinking about converting my Surefire G2 to either a 3AA or 4AA light for use with a Malkoff module. I believe I could use the the following:

For 3AA conversion

G2 + A19 + AN14 (or G3 + AN14)

For 4AA conversion

G2 + A19 + AN14 + AN14 (or G3 + AN14 + AN14)

Is this correct?

Are there be any adverse effects when using multiple cell extenders in conjunction with each other?

Which Malkoff modules would be preferred to use with 3AAs?

It seems the M31 series are not very suitable with 3AAs except if using Eneloops.

Has anyone done this type of conversion with a G2, G3, or 6P, 9P? Is a 4AA conversion to awkward to use?

Thanks for any comments and suggestions.

A G2 with an A19 extender will fit 2AA's, but, there are two types of A19 extenders, and older model that will work with the nitrolon lights, and the newest model A19 that WILL NOT work with nitrolon lights. Unfourntally the only A19's your going to find are the newer type, finding an older A19 might prove difficult unless you get lucky on the marketplace

http://www.angelfire.com/pro/6p/a19.html

I have tried using the newer A19 on my G3 and it doesn't work.

ebow86,
Thank you for the explanation about the A19 adapters. I had originally tried to attach one of mine (all of mine are the 'new' style) to a G2 several years ago, and couldn't make it work, and then posted about it, and someone replied that they had no problems, which made me wonder what I was doing 'wrong'. Obviously that person had the 'old' style.

Mikellen,
There are some length 'issues'. An A14 is close to being the right length for an AA, but I think it is just a 'smidgen' longer. When I have a 9P (or a 6P +A19) + A14, I find that there can be slight 'connectivity' issues. Sometimes I put some sort of 'fibre washer' in front of the light engine, to 'push it back'. Sometimes it will flicker on when I am swinging my arms while walking, and sometimes it doesn't always turn on. It's fun to experiment with, but I would not use this rig for anything crucial. Using 2xA14 in a 4xAA might be even more problematic. Make sure to sleeve the AA cells, because allowing them to slide side-to-side is only going to add to any potential problems. Let us know how your set-up works out!

Thank you both for the replies. ebow86, just for clarification, the G2 plus A19 will fit 3 AAs? I thought it was two and if I wanted to use 3AAs I would need to use the A19 plus A14 extender. I'm not 100% sure though, hence my thread.

Thanks again for the information!

Mikellen said:

Thank you both for the replies. ebow86, just for clarification, the G2 plus A19 will fit 3 AAs? I thought it was two and if I wanted to use 3AAs I would need to use the A19 plus A14 extender. I'm not 100% sure though, hence my thread.

Thanks again for the information!

Click to expand...

Sorry, I made an error in my first post, had a brain fart and wrote 3AA instead of 2AA, it has been corected.

Mikellen, the G2 +A19 will fit 2 AA's, not 3, but you will have to find the older type A19 for it to work. As far as fiting 3AA's, I'm not sure, if you're looking to use AA batteries maybe you should be looking for another host other than your G2

Yea... I think you're right. I'll just keep a Nailbender dropin in the G2 and use it with a 17670 battery.

Thanks for letting me see the light!

novice said:

Mikellen,
There are some length 'issues'. An A14 is close to being the right length for an AA, but I think it is just a 'smidgen' longer. When I have a 9P (or a 6P +A19) + A14, I find that there can be slight 'connectivity' issues. Sometimes I put some sort of 'fibre washer' in front of the light engine, to 'push it back'. Sometimes it will flicker on when I am swinging my arms while walking, and sometimes it doesn't always turn on.

Click to expand...

It does this because the AA cells are a lot skinnier than a 17mm protected or even a CR123A primary. You'll need to find a battery sleeve. I wish more of these were available in the aftermarket, but you may be able to find the correct size pvc at a hardware store. I have never been able to, what I find is usually either the wrong size outer or inner diameter. But I do have a battery spacer from an old Dspeck set that seems to work well. But it's only for 3x CR123A to 2x AA.

What I ended up doing was getting some polyvinyl tubing at the hardware store, and cutting narrow 'tires', and forcing one over each end of the AA cell. Not terribly convenient, but it worked out to be the right size.

A Surefire 9P/G3/C3/Z3 with a Malkoff M3xxx works well with two AA cells. I use a slice of a paper towel core to keep the batteries aligned and pervent most of the rattle. It isn't perfect, but the availability and price are right.

Oveready sell sleeves for using AAs in 18mm or 17mm bodies. I run a Malkoff M30W on 2 x AA eneloops in a 6P + A19 with battery sleeve (both 6P and extender are HA from Oveready). This is a great setup because I can remove the A19 and run it on a single 18650 as well. Not the cheapest setup but reliable and excellent quality.:thumbsup:

http://www.oveready.com/batteries-chargers/aa-delrin-battery-sleeves/prod_230.html

So it has been determined that the newer A19 most likely will not work with a G2 while the older A19 probably will.

What about using a nitrolon A14 (AN14) on a 9P? Will this cause problems when trying to use three AAs?
I guess my question is will the nitrolon extender have conductive problems on an aluminum 9P body like the aluminum A19 does with the nitrolon G2 body?

^^^

I just threw a Nitrolon AN14 on my SF 9P body and put three AA's in it.

It's too long. You would need a spacer of some kind for it to work..

Schuey2002 said:

^^^
It's too long. You would need a spacer of some kind for it to work..

Click to expand...

In my wanderings on DealExtreme, some people appeared to be using appropriately-sized magnets as spacers. Each magnet is about 1mm thick, so you would just add the appropriate number to fill the gap.