Lumens Factory E-series bodies

night.hoodie

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Initially, I noticed on eBay last night some new product from Lumens Factory.

Dig this and this.

I was going to keep it to myself until I could afford to get some myself, but am assured by LF contact that there is plenty of stock.
 

Killer Kane

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Any idea what the inside diameter of the tube is?

If it is 18mm :hitit:

if the lumen factory website listed it, I must have overlooked it.
 

night.hoodie

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Any idea what the inside diameter of the tube is?

Yup, most will immediately have a pretty good idea. These bodies are identical, as in exactly and precisely the same, as the last made and sold Surefire E1e and E2e three-flats bodies, except they are without any labeling. Thus, they are not 18mm tubes, but designed for CR123A, though 16340 will fit, and sometimes AW 17670, certainly any 16650 in the E2e.

Lots of members have bored their E1e/E2e for 18mm cells. I have an E2e bored for 18mm cells, and most cells fit, but although the fatter highest capacity 18mm cells fit, they squeeze in there too tight, no room for thermal expansion. A body interior with 18mm diameter is not what you want, because it probably would not fit 18mm cells; you need an inkling more than 18mm to fit 18mm cells, and more than that to allow for thermal expansion. There are boring services advertised elsewhere on this forum. Trouble is, boring often weakens the threads, risk increased of snapping them clean off with hard use, which is a great reason why Lumens Factory did not alter the design.

These are direct duplicate replacements for E1e/E2e bodies. By the account I got, LF worked very hard to get these right, a lot of trial and error, and have binned more than one run of them because they did not meet the high standards they were after. Apparently, these do meet or exceed their high standards.

If you want to use 18mm cells with E-series, you can bore, or try Fivemega ehet, and/or Fivemega TS E Body and/or Fivemega 18650 & 2x18500 E Body
 
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Killer Kane

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Thanks.

Just checking, I figured as much.

I may get the five mega body. I need a home for some 18mm cells but small footprint.
 

recDNA

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Initially, I noticed on eBay last night some new product from Lumens Factory.

Dig this and this.

I was going to keep it to myself until I could afford to get some myself, but am assured by LF contact that there is plenty of stock.
Too bad they don't make a matching head with a choice of incandescent or XP-G2 Or Nichia 219C. I suppose an XP-L would work with 16340? Anyway nice body and really nice tail but no head. Love to be able to build my iwn E1e.

Malkoff MDC head should work but it's too expensive for me. This thing would be a toy.
 

ElectronGuru

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The basic size issue is E are head load. So even from scratch, bigger cell = thinner threads. I'm working on a body but it will be tail load so threads are stronger. But it will mean that head and tail are about the same size.
 

night.hoodie

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Too bad they don't make a matching head with a choice of incandescent or XP-G2 Or Nichia 219C. I suppose an XP-L would work with 16340?

Lumens Factory sells E-compatible single LED heads. There are modders that can swap in any PowerLED you want. I'm not sure how one would make a head with reflector that accepts incandescent lamps and also has a driver and LED for user choice, except to simply produce a head for incandescent use, and if the user wishes, use an LED tower to replace the lamp, that are made and sold by LF, as well as CPF member Tana.

But I have it on good authority that in a few months (with luck and Godspeed to LF) we'll indeed see LF heads for incandescent use that are E-compatible. I hope, like these bodies, the heads are more or less copies of the Elite head, and copies from the era before the superfluous and silly crenellations appeared. Let a flashlight be a flashlight, and nothing else, not a knife, not a weapon, not a bottle opener, just a portable lighting utility.

If reverse engineering the tails, switches and bodies was tough, it only emphasizes how tough it will be to develop and engineer, manufacture in quality in and quantity a replacement for an Elite head. These compound pieces are only deceptively simple. Probably others at CPF know, but I can't imagine how something as common in the industry now as the orange peel reflector is produced. SF did their R&D and LF will need to do no less R&D to match it.

I'm just happy most of SF design is unpatentable, all those patent numbers on their host bodies notwithstanding. I would not really care if SF was continuing to manufacture and sell incan e-series, that would have satisfied me, but IMO, SF was late to the LED arena, and ended production of most of their incandescent options, which are still unmatched and the best in the industry, too soon and for no great reason, while fumbling the LED and playing catch-up for years. 2017/2018 SF is finally catching up to the rest of the industry in LED, yet still no attention given to spectrum and color rendition. Again, IMO, SF more or less replaced most of their incan options with inferior LED options, inferior to their own incan designs, and inferior to most other industry in LED design, and we gained... runtime. Not a fair trade. Yet SF's durability is still there, and that is no small feat.

The basic size issue is E are head load. So even from scratch, bigger cell = thinner threads. I’m working on a body but it will be tail load so threads are stronger. But it will mean that head and tail are about the same size.

Awesome, love to hear that those with the skill are driven to produce such things. Leaf made some hosts like that, but hard to find now, and there is available Fivemega E Head C tail bodies.



--
Hey, CPF, I am deeply sorry for the longwindedness of many of my posts. The best posts are short and sweet here. I assure it is not that I am some out of control narcissist, but instead I think it is that I was dropped on my head quite a bit when I young and first learned English, down many flights of stairs, almost daily, until my perception of the 3D world finally developed quite late. Happy to be on your ignore list, I completely understand.
 
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bykfixer

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Way to go Lumens Factory. Best regards for these.
I like the 'tear drop' style head they sell but avoided buying one. Now that black E type bodies can be had that will change sometime in 018.

If they ever decide to do two way clips I'd buy several.
 

ven

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The heads are available in black, in the selection box you get the choice of HA and black ,in white and warm flavours. I do like the look and very tempted, trouble is i can find an E2e for around the same total cost(head/body/tail).
 

recDNA

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For $58 the turbo head should have heat step down and low voltage protection. I'd settle for one or the other but both would be nice.

For the price of a complete setup I think you could buy an MDC which might be preferable. Maybe they will put it all together like Malkoff did and sell it for a little less.
 

night.hoodie

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The heads are available in black, in the selection box you get the choice of HA and black ,in white and warm flavours. I do like the look and very tempted, trouble is i can find an E2e for around the same total cost(head/body/tail).

What I have observed about Surefire hardware prices is that, except for the very special and rare collectable pieces whose resale values doubled, the hardware maintains is original price and value, effectively keeping the price that it was when NIB and still sold by the manufacturer.

These things are not fine art. The auction values are stable. An E2e costs what it costs. If you score a complete light for $50, that is a boon. But you can expect to pay more and close to original price if you don't have the patience to wait for that auction that everyone missed but you and you had no competition.

My point is, an E2e body is what it is, has the value that it has, and IMO that is likely based on labor, setup and manufacturing cost more than materials. If you are using these things and not keeping them in pristine condition in a safe, there is no difference between LF's copy and SF original, they have the same value because they are basically identical.

All things considered, people will pay more for a brand label product than for an identical generic. But the true value of these utilities must be identical, if you're not, you know, insane, and actually believe a pair of $300 Air Jordons is somehow better than an otherwise identical but unbranded copy for $35.

No one really can explain, for example, why the black versions of SF stuff commands far more resale value and desirability. You can't see the color of the anno in the dark, when you're using the flashlight. The color of the anno could not possibly affect the utility of the light, for nearly all intents and purposes. Yet the black seems to always sell anywhere from $30 - $100 more than the natural.

Conclusion: face it, we are insane. We want what we want. We want a serial number that includes our favorite lucky number, and we will overpay to get it. Insane.
 

Timothybil

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All things considered, people will pay more for a brand label product than for an identical generic. But the true value of these utilities must be identical, if you're not, you know, insane, and actually believe a pair of $300 Air Jordons is somehow better than an otherwise identical but unbranded copy for $35.
The classic example for me are the Beats headphones and earbuds. If one reads some reviews, the performance is only mediocre but everyone things the name makes it better. I will take my JLab earbuds for $30 over Beats any day of the week, especially if you are listening to music on your phone.
 

Timothybil

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Went back to LF's web page and looked at the 'E' offerings. Besides the afore mentioned E LED heads, they offer an E head only in black or natural. I am going to assume that it is an incan head, since all of the LED heads are fixed and one must select on option to order. That tells me that this head is designed for all of the E incan bulbs that LF sells. A quick email would tell you for sure if I am right or not.
 

Mark@LF

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Thanks for everyone's support.
We just released these bodies over the weekend and I hope they will meet the high standards of CPFers.

Went back to LF's web page and looked at the 'E' offerings. Besides the afore mentioned E LED heads, they offer an E head only in black or natural. I am going to assume that it is an incan head, since all of the LED heads are fixed and one must select on option to order. That tells me that this head is designed for all of the E incan bulbs that LF sells. A quick email would tell you for sure if I am right or not.

Hi Timothy.
Those "E (Head Only)" on our site are for our LED modules, we offer them separately in case customers need them for projects or replacements.
We are working hard on an incandescent head replacement for the E Series, it is actually the most difficult part of the entire light.
But we are not giving up on incandescent support, hopefully prototypes and test productions will go smoothly and we can bring something out in a few months.


Cheers,

Mark
 

vadimax

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Dear Mark@LF,

I cannot understand IMR battery warning coming with E series 3-3.7V heads. At the same time it lists AW17650 as an option (4.2V max). I don't get the point :)

P.S.: OK, I have read the chapter about fake AW IMR cells. But the question is still up: are these heads safe with max Li-Ion voltage of 4.2V?
 
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LiftdT4R

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But I have it on good authority that in a few months (with luck and Godspeed to LF) we'll indeed see LF heads for incandescent use that are E-compatible. I hope, like these bodies, the heads are more or less copies of the Elite head, and copies from the era before the superfluous and silly crenellations appeared. Let a flashlight be a flashlight, and nothing else, not a knife, not a weapon, not a bottle opener, just a portable lighting utility.

Man, I sure hope they do, I would be in for a few! I would have bought these E bodies had I not picked up a couple modded ones a couple weeks ago. The E series stuff is awesome and there is very little in the way of parts for them.
 
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