Sunwayman V11R, 18650?

So I was thinking about how awesome it would be if my V11R had an 18650 instead of a CR123A. It would make it a bit longer, but I think it's a bit too short to be really comfortable anyway, without being a real "tiny" EDC, as it's rather fat. So I had a look at the Sunwayman site and it appears that the closest thing that actually exists is the V20C, which is a completely different design. I don't like it for a variety of reasons including the Nitecore-style tail, but most importantly, it's a lot bigger so wouldn't be nearly as pocketable.

I was wondering if there is a technical reason for this not to exist, or indeed if anyone has made something like it out of off the shelf or custom parts. To be clear, I'm talking about exactly the same format as the V11R, just a bit longer. The battery tube would need widened internally and might not fit every 18650, but I normally use Eagletacs (protected 3400mAh), which from the looking at it, should fit with little or no external redesign: at most, the grip pattern on the tube might need to change a bit.

Would it work though? Would it be too thin? Would that badly affect the heat dissipation characteristics? Is there any other reason?

Hi robert.t,
The V11R head is thread compatible with E series bodies, so all you need is an 18650 E-theaded body to lego with.

jonwkng said:

The V11R head is thread compatible with E series bodies, so all you need is an 18650 E-theaded body to lego with.

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Is that the Fenix E Series? Can you buy the tubes on their own (as an extension kit for the E50, perhaps)? I tried Googling it but couldn't find it. I could try contacting some UK Fenix sellers directly if I know for sure it's the right thing.

What about the tail cap/switch? The V20A has a separate tail cap that has the exact same 3-scallop design as the V11R (which is my favourite tail switch design, so it's pretty important to have that), but unfortunately the V20A is designed for AA batteries and has a narrower thread than the head. It's too narrow to accommodate an 18650. I'm not sure if there'a another Sunwayman that has a removable tail cap that could be used with the E series tube, but it's integrated with the body on the V11R and the V20C has a completely different (not so good) tail design.

Prob means the Surefire e-series bodies. The originals only fit cr123, but there are aftermarket 18650 bodies available.

But for a lot less trouble, you can get the AA extender for the v11r and run 14500 cells. They're still 4.2V, so you get the 500 lumen turbo, but capacity is 1/4 of an 18650, and you get a longer/easier to hold light. And you retain the ability to run AAs in an emergency.

KQL said:

But for a lot less trouble, you can get the AA extender for the v11r and run 14500 cells. They're still 4.2V, so you get the 500 lumen turbo, but capacity is 1/4 of an 18650, and you get a longer/easier to hold light. And you retain the ability to run AAs in an emergency.

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I've got the AA extender, but there's no point in running it on a 14500 instead of an RCR123A because they both have the same capacity. I just have it as a backup in case I need to fall back to alkalines at some point.

As you indicate, the capacity of an 18650 has about 4 to 5 times that of a 14500 or RCR123A. That's a substantial increase in runtime without making the torch substantially bigger than it already is. Hence it would be very nice.

I had a look for E series bodies on eBay and couldn't see anything (which is surprising as there's usually a lot of "utrafire" and the like). Of course there's still the question of getting the tail to be as close as possible to the V11R. There are lots of 6P compatible clickies, but they would be too big and I haven't seen one with a 3-scallop design: just 2 or 4, neither of which is as good IMO. When I looked for E series versions I couldn't find anything.

Interestingly, eBay will not allow me to search for "Surefire E clicky" it insists on replacing "clicky" with the word "click" (it works if you remove the "E" because it finds matches).

The V10R/V11R is an awesome light with a 18650! You get a great UI and fantastic runtimes.

You can do this if you can find one of Steve Ku's Ti 18650 bodies secondhand for your V11R. I think that only 30 of these were made so good luck finding one.


It's the battery tube at the top of the photo. :thumbsup:

Get the V10R/V11R bored for a 18350 cell. Then get two V10R/V11R AA extenders and get them bored for 18mm cells. Lego everything together and it will also work.

You can also bore the AA extension and use a AW 17500 cell for more capacity.

KDM said:

You can also bore the AA extension and use a AW 17500 cell for more capacity.

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^^ That's what I did. It was a little bit of a job for me. I really didn't have the right tools I guess.

I posted about it here..

Lite_me said:

^^ That's what I did. It was a little bit of a job for me. I really didn't have the right tools I guess.

I posted about it here..

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Were you boring Ti or Al? I've done both and the Ti is a Pita! I used a dremel and file, the correct size bit in a drill press would be ideal but I used what I had.

KDM said:

Were you boring Ti or Al? I've done both and the Ti is a Pita! I used a dremel and file, the correct size bit in a drill press would be ideal but I used what I had.

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Aluminum.. And that was tough enough. I was trying to keep it centered, of course. I just took my time. Well, kinda had to. I needed better tools.

Works nice though. Love the additional runtime, without being much more size wise . Actually, it feels better in the hand. It was a little short to my liking with the stock CR123 barrel. I guess mostly when adjusting the output.

Some beauties!!! I'd love a V11R with 18650 capability. In Ti all the better.