Angelfire parts quality?

Zombiechopper

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jul 26, 2011
Messages
2
Hello Folks,

I'm just getting interested in lights and looking around at the bewildering variety of parts available for surefire type lego builds. I've found most of the answers I need regarding electronics but I can't find much info on something pretty basic, which is quality of different bodies. I'm looking at a 3P build and found an 'Angelfire' tube for $7 shipped on the bay. Is it total junk or what? Just curious if anyone has bought this brand of parts and what they found

Cheers,
Jeff
 

Stephen Wallace

Enlightened
Joined
Mar 10, 2011
Messages
628
Location
London, UK
I have a couple of 3P Angelfire bodies - these were purchased as complete sets of tube, head and tail cap with switch installed.

As far as the major components are concerned, they are solid and get the job done. The positive spring on the bulb or LED module needs to be fairly long, otherwise, you may have some contact issues.

While these should be compatible with Surefire parts, there does seem to be some variation between the dimensions of various different companies SF compatible parts, so when you start mixing and matching compatible parts, "tolerance stacking" can become an issue. If each part is a little off the true SF spec, and then you start mixing those parts, the cumulative difference in dimensions can lead to issues. The parts may all work individually when combined with SF parts, but may not work together.

One area where this has been an issue is with the tail cap threads. They seem a little shorter than some SF type lights, and this can cause issues with the contact between the back section of the threads and the contact ring in the tail cap. Using the Angelfire tail cap would prevent this being an issue.

The biggest issues I have had using all Angelfire parts is that one of the included tail switches had the spring off centre, but a little bit of spring bending resolved that. Looks a little naff, but works just fine. The other issue is that the tubes are bored to 16mm, rather than 17 or 18mm as some tubes are. Protected 16340 cells fit, though tightly, due to the protection circuit. Primary CR123As, unprotected LiCos and IMRs all fit fine, but you cannot use the newer, higher capacity 18350 cells without boring out the tube.
 
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