Lux III in my L1?

I bought an L1(along with other lights /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinser2.gif) on a spur of the moment buy from an online reatailer who is closing out his Surefire inventory. I have not yet decided whether to keep it or sell it. Without breaking any seals, how do I tell what generation L1 I've bought? The box is colored red(right side), and black(left side), with "L1 Lumamax" on the upper right section of the box. The text on the box states 1W LED. Also, the L1 comes with a lanyard and lanyard ring.

So, do I have a Lux 3 in my L1?

Thanks,
Richard

If its a 1W, I believe you bought the old version. Also, look at the head of the L1. If it looks like a KL1 head, then its the new 3W. If it looks like the A2 aviator head, then its the older version.

Also look at this review.
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/surefire_l1gen2.htm
If the head looks like the one in the review, then its the new version.

What type of box does it have?

-Mike

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seattlite said:
The box is colored red(right side), and black(left side), with "L1 Lumamax" on the upper right section of the box. The text on the box states 1W LED. Also, the L1 comes with a lanyard and lanyard ring.


[/ QUOTE ]
to xrunner

[ QUOTE ]
Mags said:
If its a 1W, I believe you bought the old version. Also, look at the head of the L1. If it looks like a KL1 head, then its the new 3W. If it looks like the A2 aviator head, then its the older version.

Also look at this review.
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/surefire_l1gen2.htm
If the head looks like the one in the review, then its the new version.

[/ QUOTE ]
Mags,
Thanks! Thats what I was looking for. Unfortunately, the light that I received looks like this: http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/surefire_l1.htm . So, I think I received the OLDER L1. With the Lux I LED. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif

Thanks,
Richard

richard, don't despair. although the luxIII is capable of higher drive currents, the new L1 doesn't appear to drive the luxIII any harder than my old L1 which has a low dome luxI. i.e. lumens output should be no similar, outside the usual variances in LEDs.

if your L1 has a high-dome led, it would actually be a more versatile EDC light than the latest L1, whose TIR optic creates a beam that lacks any useful sidespill. besides the older L1 is shorter and therefore, a bit more pocketable than the TIR L1 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

wait a min, didn't the last batch of old styles come with lux IIIs?

I d like to have this answer too /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Just got a L1 I ordered online, it is not the latest model cos it has the old style bezel, but it came with the lanyard wich I thought was an option on early models.
How many gen of L1 exists anyway ? How can you tell wich gen it is ?
Still trying to decide if I should get the latest gen instead, for an all purpose EDC light /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gif

Thanks !

About a month ago I received a few old-style L1's, and low and behold, one of them had a high dome emitter in it! I think it was a 1W, not LuxIII though... I don't think the LuxIII made its way into the L1 until this latest version (the one with the head similar in appearance to a KL4).

Overall, this is what I've seen as far as evolution of the L1 flashlight (not to be confused with the KL1 head)...

L1 Gen1: Low dome with NX05 optic. May have come in both scalloped and smooth bezel versions... not sure on that. The gen1 lights did NOT come with a lanyard, nor did they come with the lanyard attachment point on the tailswitch. (Both were added-cost options.)

L1 Gen2: Low dome 1W Luxeon with NX05 optic. Scalloped bezel. Came with lanyard and attachment point on tailcap.

L1 Gen3: High dome 1W Luxeon with NX05 optic. Scalloped bezel. Came with lanyard and attachment point on tailcap.

L1 Gen4: High dome Luxeon III with proprietary TIROS (sp.?) optic, in a head that looks similar to the KL4. Scalloped bezel. Comes with lanyard and attachment point on tailcap.

IMHO the most versatile L1 flashlight is the older gen1/gen2/gen3 version, which is a little shorter and more elegant looking than the gen4... but they do need some modifications to unlock their potential. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/naughty.gif With a gen1 or gen2, I typically replace the low dome with a high dome Luxeon III emitter, and replace the NX05 optic with an SO17XA reflector. With the gen3, the Luxeon III is optional since the stock light already contains a high dome emitter, and it's usually a pretty decent one, at least from what I've seen... so all that's needed is the SO17XA reflector.

Sometimes I also cut a circle of textured WriteRight to affix over the lens for a little smoother falloff of light from hotspot outward into the sidespill.

The result isn't the smallest 1x123 light, nor the longest-running, nor the brightest... but somehow there's a synergistic effect in which the whole is much more than the individual parts. In all honesty, I've considered selling my modded L1 a few times now, but each time I take it off the shelf and fire it up, I realize it's a keeper. It's one of those lights that just works, and does its job quietly, in the background, so you end up taking it for granted and don't even appreciate what an excellent tool it is (the modded version at least) until you contemplate life without it! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif

Beyond all this, I consider the L1 switch to be the best dual brightness tailswitch available right now (no disrespect meant to our esteemed CPF modding community, whose creations are also EXCELLENT)... the ergonomics are absolutely phenomenal!
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

How can I tell whether I have a Gen 2 "low" dome Lux I or a Gen 3 "high" dome Lux I?

Seattlite, wish I had some beamshots to show you (anyone, anyone?), but here are some tips on telling the difference...

The low dome typically has a blue/purple cast to the beam color, and tends to flood an entire area with light, without a really strong hotspot present.

The high dome tends to be whiter with maybe a slight blue cast, and will have a clearly visible circular hotspot... also, at close range the high dome will show both a circle AND a square. (The square is a magnified image of the LED die itself!) No square visible with the low dome.

Hope that helps! If you saw the two side by side, the difference would be pretty obvious. Again, anyone have some comparative beamshots to offer?
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thinking.gif

milkyspit: Thanks a lot for all the info /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
According to what you said my L1 is a gen3, I can see the square around the bright spot. You convinced me, I keep it /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif