Highest Output/Throw M2 Millennium Centurion LED drop in

I have an original incandescent M2 Millennium Centurion. I've been running the Surefire P60L LED and also tried a Q5 assembly off ebay. Neither are real impressive which I assume is obvious to readers. The cheap ebay animal has significantly better throw. It's been an old friend but times have long changed and so has the flashlight stable. For a weighty beast, with limited output & run it doesn't get used much and was looking to revive it. I am interested in learning what the M2 chassis can support. I'm open to machining work but would prefer not to. Tail extensions for battery are probably a waste with the head size in my assumptions.

I tried to perform some internet research & reading on this and the Malkoff Devices units are recommended. Is the M61 still the best option for output and throw? Run time isn't an issue for fit; this is a bang-a-round push and spot application with low duty-cycle. Looking at the Malkoff reflector it looks like the M2 head is depth deprived per the design.

Thank you,
BH

While the Malkoffs are considered to be among the best drop in assembly's it is not because they have the best throw or the brightest output. They are a no frills indestructible option that give good output, good throw, and good runtime. I have two Malkoff dropins and would like to get some more but if your after something brighter with mor throw they probably aren't going to impress you.

Not quite a drop-in but I know overready does "Mini Turbo heads" out of the M2 bezels. Since they have more space he manages to fit a wider reflector in there. I believe he does have to remove the shock isolation in the bezel for this mod.

*The shock isolation is also a reason why I would be careful with running powerful drop-ins, the heatsinking can't be good on those...

Yeah, Overready / TorchLab / Nailbender/ Vinh might be the best bet...but, output (L) AND throw are not necessarily achievable in one set-up together.

Part of the reason is that the throw is done best with a small LED to increase effective surface brightness, at the expense of total lumen out put....and flood is more easily done with a larger LED to maximize lumen output.

I use one of Vinh's drop ins in my Centurion, and its a very good combination of flood and throw. He makes them to order, so you can fine tune what you want.

For the Malkoffs, the flood of the Wildcat is nice, and the throw of the Houndog is nice, but, there's not much with the throw of one and the flood of the other in a P60-ish light.

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It would be useful if you were to say what the min range is you needed the beam to get out to, say in yards or meters, as a starting point, and then just select the floodiest beam with that range or better.

Lumens Factory makes products for them as well. The SST90 and XML are pretty stout.

The Nailbender / Customlites XP-G2 smooth reflector P60 drop-in with smooth reflector offers a really nice mix of flood and throw in a P60 size unit. It actually out throws the D36 OP reflector XM-L2 drop-in that's in my M3. I'm also running an OP XP-G2 low voltage P60 in another light. The XP-G2 is so energy efficient that even at 2.4v-3.4v it puts out almost as much light as it does at 4.2v to 6v. The XP-G2 OP reflector has a smoother beam pattern with a little more flood, and only slightly less throw than the SMO reflector. You could go to an XP-E2 for even more throw, but there's very little spill coming out of this small emitter.

Itwould be useful if you were to say what the min range is you needed the beam toget out to, say in yards or meters, as a starting point, and then just selectthe floodiest beam with that range or better.

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My apologiesfor vagueness. Throw taking priority. I was hoping to push into near to >200mbeam range.

I thank everyone for the replies. I am glad I didn't blindly order the MD assembly. No pun intended. I need to research these new names. The Nailbender / Customlites XP-G2 smooth reflector P60 drop-in looks attractive. It also looks like that is something sold through the CPF site only.

The Nailbender / Customlites XP-G2 smooth reflector P60 drop-in looks attractive. It also looks like that is something sold through the CPF site only.

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I recently found out that you get them from Nailbender's Customlites website -
http://www.customlites.com/XPG-XPG2-XPE-XPE2_c21.htm

Dave (Nailbender) is a great guy to deal with, and ships quickly. At $35 for a potted pill XP-G2 or $30 for a potted pill XP-E2 his prices are extremely competitive too.

scsmith said:

The Nailbender / Customlites XP-G2 smooth reflector P60 drop-in with smooth reflector offers a really nice mix of flood and throw in a P60 size unit. It actually out throws the D36 OP reflector XM-L2 drop-in that's in my M3. I'm also running an OP XP-G2 low voltage P60 in another light. The XP-G2 is so energy efficient that even at 2.4v-3.4v it puts out almost as much light as it does at 4.2v to 6v. The XP-G2 OP reflector has a smoother beam pattern with a little more flood, and only slightly less throw than the SMO reflector. You could go to an XP-E2 for even more throw, but there's very little spill coming out of this small emitter.

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Thank you again for the information. I found a Red head and a IR head also on the website .
Can you help me out in understanding how the throw difference is achieved in the XM-L or XM-L2 vs. the XP-G2? The Customlites descriptions limit it to lumens. Since the head diameter and depth is fixed, is this purely a function of the reflector LED aperture and the LED emitter dome? Per your input, I assume that lower output XP-G2 still has better throw against the XM-L2 in the same M2 head, std CR123A's?
Am I correct that the multi-modes have no last-setting memory? If so what is the default?

Thank you

Can you help me out in understanding how the throw difference is achieved in the XM-L or XM-L2 vs. the XP-G2? The Customlites descriptions limit it to lumens. Since the head diameter and depth is fixed, is this purely a function of the reflector LED aperture and the LED emitter dome? Per your input, I assume that lower output XP-G2 still has better throw against the XM-L2 in the same M2 head, std CR123A's?

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The XP-G/XP-G2 are built on 3.45mm x 3.45mm die, while the XM-L/XM-L2 are built on a 5mm x 5mm die. The XP-E/E2 are made on the same die as the XP-G/G2, but the E/E2 have an even smaller emitter surface area under the same size dome. The XM-L and XM-L2 have 125 degree viewing angle (beam width) which is the same viewing angle as the XP-G, but the XP-G is doing this from a smaller surface area. The XP-G2 further tightens the viewing angle to 115 degrees, which is the same angle as the XP-E. The XP-E2 again tightens the viewing angle down to 110 degrees.

So, given the same depth and diameter reflectors (which we have with P60 sized modules as you've already observed) the smaller emitter surface area and/or tighter viewing angle is going to create more throw at the cost of less spill. Lumen rating - total light output - will be lower, but Candela (Cd) - how intense or bright the light is on a given spot at a given distance - will be higher.

Am I correct that the multi-modes have no last-setting memory? If so what is the default?

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Correct, there is no memory. Default mode is the first mode listed in the description. So, it's high first on 3 mode modules, and moonlight first on 5 mode modules; unless the description for that particular module states otherwise.

Scsmith,

Thank you for all your help and answering my questions. I placed a order with Customlites.


You wouldn't also happen to know of a drop-in (no head) LED for the E1e Executive?