Surefire 6R - Upgrade or sell?

I have a Surefire 6R that is in like new condition with box and all paperwork. It was primarily used with the rechargable battery which is now dead. Since Surefire no longer makes the B65 battery, I've been thinking about buying a Malkoff M61 LED conversion and use rechargeable 123A batteries or sell it and use that money to upgrade to another light that is a little more technologically advanced.

I see that there are 2/3 A NIMH cells out there that i could possibly make a new replacement for the B65 but I am wondering if it is actually worth doing and would the new battery be compatible with the Malkoff M61.

I'v read of conversion of the 6P's by reaming the ID of the bodies out to use other AW cells but is it worth it? What would be a fair asking price for a 6R in excellent condition with box and papers? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Re: Surefire 6R - Upgrage or sell?

The cheaper version of the 6P is solarforce hosts. They're anywhere from 10-30$ for a host.

I've never seen a 6R before to know much about it.

Surefire 6R - Upgrage or sell?

The 6R is just a 6 with a A14 screwed onto the end. Take it off and it will look and perform like a 6P from the same era.

Re: Surefire 6R - Upgrage or sell?

The full-length SureFire 6R is essentially a 3.5x CR123 length SureFire. If you are OK with the current length of your 6R, you could replace its existing tailcap (possibly pre-Z41) with a modern Z41 containing a ZeroRes Shorty (twistie only, losing the 'momentary' button on the end). The body should then be able to house 4xCR123's or 2x17670 LiIons - if both body sections were bored, you could use 2x18650 LiIons for maximum cell capacity.

Pair this with a modern LED dropin (with a maximum voltage of at least 9v) and you'd have a top-of-the-line light that could run with the best of them.

Re: Surefire 6R - Upgrage or sell?

I also still have several 6R's from the late 80's / early 90's. At the time, the light was revolutionary. I used it for years with the rechargeable B65 battery and R60 bulb because the CR123 primary batteries were very expensive. Now you can just unscrew the A14 extension on the end and use it in it's short form; a Surefire 6P.
Today, CR123's are readily available and very inexpensive compared to the 1990's. 2 new CR123's and replace the bulb with a modern high powered LED and you have an excellent high powered light.

If you want to go this route, let us know and we can point you in the right direction choosing an LED dropin and websites to buy CR123's.

Re: Surefire 6R - Upgrage or sell?

NotRegulated said:

If you want to go this route, let us know and we can point you in the right direction choosing an LED dropin and websites to buy CR123's.

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Any suggestions would be appreciated, I do want to get quality cells and LED. I was looking at the Malkoff and I am most interested in the rechargable aspect.

Re: Surefire 6R - Upgrage or sell?

By removing the extension piece you could use a single 17670 Li-Ion battery and even keep your original incandescent lamp if you chose to. It would only be a bit dimmer than a set of fresh 123A cells and stay more even through the runtime. Installing an LED would drastically improve runtime and output however...worth upgrading.

Re: Surefire 6R - Upgrage or sell?

blfuller said:

Any suggestions would be appreciated, I do want to get quality cells and LED. I was looking at the Malkoff and I am most interested in the rechargable aspect.

Click to expand...

NotRegulated said:

If you want to go this route, let us know and we can point you in the right direction choosing an LED dropin and websites to buy CR123's.

Click to expand...

Before logical recommendations can be made, we'll need to know some info first;

How many lumens?

How many output levels?

How many of what type of battery do you plan to use?

Mostly flood, mostly spot, or a mix of both?

Budget for the drop-in?

Tint preference, cool, neutral, warm, very warm? Non W versions of M61s, Ls, and LLs tend to be slightly green. M61 219 drop-ins are very nice indeed.


Is there a sticky that includes a drop-in questionnaire? This comes up regularly.

Grizz

Re: Surefire 6R - Upgrage or sell?

How many lumens? As many as I can get, best bang for the buck.

How many output levels? One or Two. Two would be nice.

How many of what type of battery do you plan to use? Whatever I can stuff in the tube without modification, rechargable lithium is preferred.

Mostly flood, mostly spot, or a mix of both? Flood would be good.

Budget for the drop-in? No budget, just don't want to put more into this than what a new light would cost.

Tint preference, cool, neutral, warm, very warm? Non W versions of M61s, Ls, and LLs tend to be slightly green. M61 219 drop-ins are very nice indeed. No tint preference, I just want to see in the dark. The M61 is what I was originally considering.

Re: Surefire 6R - Upgrage or sell?

Kestrel said:

The full-length SureFire 6R is essentially a 3.5x CR123 length SureFire. If you are OK with the current length of your 6R, you could replace its existing tailcap (possibly pre-Z41) with a modern Z41 containing a ZeroRes Shorty (twistie only, losing the 'momentary' button on the end). The body should then be able to house 4xCR123's or 2x17670 LiIons - if both body sections were bored, you could use 2x18650 LiIons for maximum cell capacity.

Pair this with a modern LED dropin (with a maximum voltage of at least 9v) and you'd have a top-of-the-line light that could run with the best of them.

Click to expand...

Kestrel,
Thanks for the suggestion. I'm going to go the route with the Shorty and 2X 17670's. I'll get a Malkoff M61 as well.

Re: Surefire 6R - Upgrage or sell?

Thanks for the update - good luck with this setup and please let us know how well it works for you.
I haven't personally tried a configuration like this but it should work well.

Regards,

Edit: Many of the popular LED dropins including the Malkoff M61 will work just fine with 2x LiIon rechargeables like those 17670's.
However, please keep in mind that if you attempt to use 4xCR123 primaries with the Malkoff, IIRC that is beyond its maximum voltage and you run the risk of frying the dropin.

Have you considered a Malkoff M91A or M61SHO instead? I think they would be voltage-compatible with a 4xCR123 as a backup power config, and would provide considerably greater output with either cell configuration. You will have "runtime to burn" with 2x17670 and the M61 - why not go for more output with an M91A? :devil:

Re: Surefire 6R - Upgrage or sell?

With the exception of two modes (and the price), an M91A or M91AW more closely meets the answers to my previously posted questions.

My M91A lives in an MD4, fed by two 18650s, and it's a truly awesome light. In around the house use, I actually prefer the M91AW's reduced output and tint.

Grizz

Re: Surefire 6R - Upgrage or sell?

Kestrel said:

Thanks for the update - good luck with this setup and please let us know how well it works for you.
I haven't personally tried a configuration like this but it should work well.

Regards,

Edit: Many of the popular LED dropins including the Malkoff M61 will work just fine with 2x LiIon rechargeables like those 17670's.
However, please keep in mind that if you attempt to use 4xCR123 primaries with the Malkoff, IIRC that is beyond its maximum voltage and you run the risk of frying the dropin.

Have you considered a Malkoff M91A or M61SHO instead? I think they would be voltage-compatible with a 4xCR123 as a backup power config, and would provide considerably greater output with either cell configuration. You will have "runtime to burn" with 2x17670 and the M61 - why not go for more output with an M91A? :devil:

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I'm guessing that he intends to have one cell "in the charger" and one in the light so that he won't have to go without a light when the one runs down and not put them both in the light.

Re: Surefire 6R - Upgrage or sell?

lightfooted said:

I'm guessing that he intends to have one cell "in the charger" and one in the light so that he won't have to go without a light when the one runs down and not put them both in the light.

Click to expand...

No, it sounds like he's going to try 2x17670 in the full-length light configuration:

Kestrel said:

The full-length SureFire 6R is essentially a 3.5x CR123 length SureFire. If you are OK with the current length of your 6R, you could replace its existing tailcap (possibly pre-Z41) with a modern Z41 containing a ZeroRes Shorty (twistie only, losing the 'momentary' button on the end). The body should then be able to house 4xCR123's or 2x17670 LiIons - if both body sections were bored, you could use 2x18650 LiIons for maximum cell capacity.

Pair this with a modern LED dropin (with a maximum voltage of at least 9v) and you'd have a top-of-the-line light that could run with the best of them.

Click to expand...

blfuller said:

Kestrel,
Thanks for the suggestion. I'm going to go the route with the Shorty and 2X 17670's. I'll get a Malkoff M61 as well.

Click to expand...

Re: Surefire 6R - Upgrage or sell?

Kestrel said:

No, it sounds like he's going to try 2x17670 in the full-length light configuration:

Click to expand...

Correct, full length with two 17670 LiIons in the tube and two in the charger. I will report back on how this configuration works. Thanks for the help.

Kestrel,
I'm in a similar situation, I was given four streamlight propolymer 3c's 2 4aa's brand new but there incandescent, and a new streamlight scorpiuon. I would be interested in upgrading them all to led if possible. If this is possible where can I get the parts from and would the investment be worth it thanks.

Update on the conversion. I got all the goodies and put it together and the Malkoff M61 lasted about 2 minutes and went out. There was odor of burned electronic components. I was using two of the 17670 LiIon which were only 3.7V each for a total of 7.4v which I thought was well within the range of the M61 of 3.4-9V.

All the components fit together as Kestrel suggested.

Anyone have any input on what may of happened with the M61? Now I need to get it replaced.

Sorry to hear about your difficulties, it sounds like that was a defective dropin. This is extremely rare for Malkoffs (lifetime warranty BTW), unfortunately it appears as though it happened to you. I would recommend you call Gene M, he would most likely send you a replacement ASAP. That module should have easily handled two LiIons in series like that - I had many hundreds of hours of runtime w/ 2x 18500's (i.e. in series, ~7.4V) before I sold off my Malkoff M60.

Edit: That SureFire host configuration you put together is so dead-simple (mechanically & electrically) that there isn't any real possibility of it being a challenge for any reasonable dropin.

What Kestrel said. One of the strong selling points about Malkoff drop-ins is the outstanding customer service.