Who are the Surefire modders? (L1)

Hey all,

I am looking for someone that can upgrade my surefires, specifically my L1(gen6). I know darkzero and Milkyspit used to but have since retired or stopped taking jobs. Shame! Lol, I see tana has a thread up that is 'in the works' for the L1 part, im working with him now on a drop in for a diff light but is there anybody else out there that can push more lumens out of this awesome little L1 for me that is reliable? I don't need 500 or 1000 lumens although it would be nice but something around 2-300. With a low setting still of course (5-20 lumens). Post here or pm me if you don't want said member/individual to be flooded with questions if they just do it on the side.

on another note, would any of you know where I can find the tritium tubes that go into the one way Surefire clips? Such as e1e, L1 clips. And who might be able to install them or do they just snap in place persay?

thanks guys!

Harry

Re: Who are the Surefire modders?

Check out Tana, he has a few service threads in the customs/modded section.

Re: Who are the Surefire modders?

I have seen his work, looks great! But like Id said, I was reading through and it appears his L1 mods aren't quite ready yet, seems he is perfecting them still.

Re: Who are the Surefire modders?

Using a IMR16340 will instantly bring output of the 6th Gen L1 to 200 lumens.

I had one, plus I swapped in a XPG2 on copper sinkpad. Noticeably brighter than my 200 lumen LX2, some throw lost because of the wider LED viewing angle but still throwy with a nice big hotspot.

Re: Who are the Surefire modders?

RobertMM said:

Using a IMR16340 will instantly bring output of the 6th Gen L1 to 200 lumens.

I had one, plus I swapped in a XPG2 on copper sinkpad. Noticeably brighter than my 200 lumen LX2, some throw lost because of the wider LED viewing angle but still throwy with a nice big hotspot.

Click to expand...

Wow, how is that even possible?? On the same stock light, driver and led it can reach 200 lumens on say an AW imr 16340? Is that safe for the internals...and me? Lol

I have a recharger and some lifepo4 batteries and was about to order a couple AW imr 16340 for my HDS and e1e tana drop in but maybe I'll grab a couple more if they'll work safely in the L1 as well. I just always read never use anything but the 123 primary or 3 volt k2 LFP123 rechargeables in the single cell surefires.

Re: Who are the Surefire modders?

There's a small cadre of Surefire modders here on CPF. Nitroz, light-modder (sp?), SOYCD, I think VOB too. Myself as well. You already know about Tana. Probably at least several more but the names escape me right at the moment. Be careful with high current builds in small lights such as the L1/E1. They have low mass, small surface areas and the batteries for that size are dismal in capacity at best. Why build something that runs for less than a few minutes at full power and steps down pretty darn quick. I mean 600 to 800mah is not a huge amount of capacity to attempt some over zealous dream of a 1000 lumen pocket rocket. My advice? Take the middle ground.

Do the math. It doesn't lie.

Re: Who are the Surefire modders?

^ Solid advice from the AR15 guy. I was happy with the 200 lumen output on IMR16340, I used it that way for over a year eith no issues.
High mode lasted around 40min, very reasonable becuse low mode which I judged 25 lumens was a very nice level for all around use, lasting around 6-7hrs.

Putting a XPG2 was purely a whim, it turned out great for me but wasn't really necessary IMHO.

Now that XPG3 is out, putting that in your L1 may provide a sufficient jump in output with the stock driver to bring output close to 200 without using IMRs.
Using IMR with XPG3 would be taking it to another level.

Re: Who are the Surefire modders?

Thanks M4A1 and Robertmm for the breakdown, any idea on a possible cost to have an XPG3 installed? And who might be able to? Wonder what an IMR and XPG3 would achieve

and m4a1, I just prefer the small lights, I like the portability, style and feel of the L1, e1e. But if I can get 2-300 lumen for around 40-60 min with a low setting for multiple hours I am definitely okay with that. So long as it is okay for my light! Lol

What would you suggest?

Re: Who are the Surefire modders?

Bump, anyone else care to chime in with their L1 experiences?

Spyder, I saw that you found the Bart's tritium thread. They do have to be filled in place, but it is easy. We use the UV cure optical glue, Norland.

Thanks Dan, I've got a small amount on order from ebay! Now just to cough up the money for the tritium lol

Yeah, that adds up quickly. As they say, it only hurts at the cash register. Once installed in your torch, you will really enjoy it.

IMR in the L1 just bypasses the driver = direct drive. This is very bright!

I still prefer to keep the primary batteries and just swap the LED for an Nichia219c (4000k), or XP-G2/G3/XP-L Hi. This runs niceley on the stock driver, increases the Output considerarbly and also keeps the realiability the light had before.
The Mod is really easy as the LED Board is held in place with Screws. Getting the light open is the only challenge, but its managable.

I'm running my L1 with an XP-G2 S4 and Efest IMR 16340.

Top binned XPG3 or 219C with their low Vf would be great eith primaries. Wonder how much of an increase in output they would give.

iirc the L1 is driven with around 500mA on high. You can directly compare the data sheets with that info. With 219C, even with the stock driver, the L1 is plenty bright. Due to the colimated beam of the TIR Optics, is appears a bit brighter than a comparably sized reflector light with the same output.

If you want the L1 to be a little dragster, you can always use RCR123

Tana makes an oustanding job! :thumbsup: