KL4 plus Z57 or Z52, which is best?

Remember reading a post about increased resistance with the Z57 tail cap. Would the Z52 tail cap give you longer run times with the KL4? I want to make the KL4 run as long as possible on an E1E body.
oldgrandpajack

If you have a VOM do a resistance check on both and use the one with the lowest resistance.on my Z57 I have 1.1 ohms resistance, on my Z52 I have 0.1 ohms resistance. The only caveat is it will only help if you run it for extended times nonstop I will live with the slightly shorter runtimes for the convience of the Z57 over the Z52

Jack,

I actually have both setups. I have a modified Z57 that is mounted on an E1E/ McL4 with BB400 and a Z52 mounted on an E1E/ McL4 with BB600. The shorter switch lets me readily differentiate between the two lights, plus the BB600 McL4 tends to get a little warm so I didn't want the constant on feature.

The resistance and the temp as mentioned are the key.

~Greg

Don't have a VOM. I have put the Z52 on the E1E+KL4. What I am seeing is a dim KL4 when the Z57 is activated without clicking it. Is brighter after clicking. I held the button down on the Z52 while turning it, and there was no difference in the output with the transition from temporary to constant on. I am guessing that amps are being wasted with the Z57 when it is used without clicking it.

I do not see a change in output on the L4. Must be that the regulator is taking care of the increased resistance of the Z57 tail cap, when using two cells. Must be the KL4 is not regulated on one cell. I bet that the run time of the L4 would be longer with the Z52 tail cap if you are only activating it temporarily.

I have put the extra Z57 on a UBH II that has a KL1 on it. The KL1's regulator takes care of the difference in resistance between constant or temporary activation.

oldgrandpajack

I really prefer the clickie, so much so that I don't even own any LOTCs anymore. Unfortunately, most of them require a little "tweaking" to realize their full potential. Using PeterB's resistance fix will take care of flickering problem completely.


Peter

I can't justify spending more money on a fix. Spent too much on this hobby as it is. I have put the Z52 on both the L4 and E1E+KL4. I think that the L4 will get maybe 5 or more minutes run time with the Z52. I only activate the L4 temporarily and therefor the resistance of the Z57 is always a drain. The Z57's have been put on UBH II's with a white and red KL1. I use a F04 beam shaper on the red KL1. The KL1 on three cells runs for over 7 hours and I would be clicking these on anyway.
oldgrandpajack

[ QUOTE ]
oldgrandpajack said:
I can't justify spending more money on a fix. Spent too much on this hobby as it is.

[/ QUOTE ]

I hear you, and I can certainly relate to what you're saying. Fortunately, this is a pretty easy thing to do yourself.

Peter

What litfuse said. Even I did it without destroying anything. Just boil it (10min in a bag), open it, wrap a thin wire around the small spring, and put it together again.

I lubed mine inside and inserted a sf123a spacer ring, and it felt much better after that. Not so clunky anymore /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif.