How to disassemble a Fenix E15 head.

So I just got a new E15 in the mail today as a backup to the one I already have. So of course I am itching to modify one on them. For me the color temperature of the new E15s are to cool, far cooler then the previous generation with the head the same size as the body. I would guess them likely cooler than 6000K. I have a nice 5000K Nichia 219C I want to drop in to one but can't for the life of me figure out how to get the head open. It is made up of a brass body with the circuit board crimped in the the base and an anodized aluminum head that is some how attached to the brass body. The aluminum head holds the optic in place and guards access to the LED side of the brass body.

So far I have tried uncrimping the circuit board but no luck you can only pull it out a few mm before the wires going to the LED become taught and I assume they are separate cavities with 2 holes for the wires to pass through. I tried heating the head with a heat gun and holding it with a silicone hotmit while using the crimp tabs as leverage to try and unscrew it with no luck. using a microscope to look down the crack between the brass and aluminum no threads or adhesive goop can be seen The aluminum just tapers until it contacts the brass which leads me to think it is a press fit.

Anyone have any experience or recommendations for me?

I just had one of these new E15's modded by DB Custom. Here is his response on how he got the head open:

"I used the lathe. First I cut a thick walled collar out of aluminum that the brass threads of the E15 barely fit in. Then I cut through one side of it so it would have some compression. With the E15 slipped into this collar, I mounted it in the chuck on the lathe to hold it. With it nice and snug in the big 5" chuck, I used a sheet of rubber wrapped around the bezel and gripped it with channel lock pliers, carefully. What choice did it have in the matter? It came loose."

I hope that helps!

Wow it has been a long time since I checked this thread. Thanks for the suggestion, it worked great.

I made a fixture by drilling a hole in a chunk of aluminum just a hair smaller than the threads. Then I cut a slot through one side so I could expand the hole and once the head was inserted I clamped down on it with the vice. I used a strip of leather with some pliers to wrench the head off.


It was held on with some form of lock tight type adhesive. I replaced the LED with a Nichia 219C and now like the tint much better. Thanks again for the suggestion.

Some of these lights can be hard to get apart. I thought I'd share how I got my E15 apart.

I was able to take my head apart by using a small strap wrench, a vice and some Irwin 8" Groovelock pliers (Google those so you can see what they look like). The only part of the strap wrench that I used was just the rubber strip. I actually did not use the strap wrench the way you'd expect to use it. What I did was use the end of the rubber strap to wrap around the brass threads of the E15 and clamped that in the vice. The rubber simply keeps the E15 from getting scratched. Then I took another end of that same rubber strap and wrapped it around the head. I then used the pliers to clamp down on the head so that I could twist the head loose without also damaging or scratching the head. I had to play with the tension on the vice so as to not have slippage but also not so tight that you compress or damage anything.

Once the head was loose I was able to change out the greenish LED that I inherited with this light to something more pleasing.