U2 Donut Poll

Mine doesn't really have a hole, more of a slightly darker area near the center of the beam.

It's easily the whitest luxeon light I own and very bright. Think I did pretty well with the luxeon lottery

Anyway I'm very happy with my U2 and would say it's my best light.

Judging by the recent increase in related traffic, there must be a lot of new Surefire U2 owners out there. How do you feel about the beam on yours? Specifically, does yours have a noticeable donut hole? I suppose overall brightness and tint may also sway your feelings with regards to the donut (if any), so feel free to comment on those criteria as well. For example, you might have a nasty donut, but it may be exceptionally bright and white, so maybe you can learn to live with it.

Just curious...

I bought mine brand new yesterday at a local dealer, and the clicky switch stopped working before I even got it home! But it was just as well because that unit had a big ugly dim spot in the center of the beam (probably 4-5 inches in diameter from 10 feet away). I took the whole light back earlier today and got a new one. Clicky seems to work (for now anyway), and the dark spot is not nearly as noticeable as the other unit, but it's still there. You don't have to look too hard to see it. Will have to wait until it gets dark outside tonight to see if it appears as bright and white as the one I returned to the dealer. From what I can tell so far, I'm going to be happy with it.

Judging from the many posts on CPF about this I wouldn't have expected two thirds of the voters with no relevant donut hole ... :thinking: ... and none with a really bad one.

I voted the "I had the bad one and called cust. service" it was really ugly IMO.
My replacement looks great however! should I vote again?:huh2:

My U2 has an ever so slight donut hole. During normal use I don't
even notice it. It is only noticeable at level 1 or 2 and several
feet away from a white wall.

Otherwise my U2 is white & bright ..........

Mine has a donut hole that's just noticable when you're doing white wall tests. It's not noticable during use.

The tint is somewhat green and more noticable at low power, but that seems to be par for the course with variable-current drivers.

I have a very slight one when shining it on a white wall. I really hadn't noticed it until I read this thread, and got it out and really looked at the beam on the wall.

I voted "It's very slight, and doesn't bother me at all.", as the "doughnut hole" in mine is negligible at worst, and doesn't bother me at all.

My first U2 had a donut pattern so severe it looked like a smoke ring. It was obvious at any brightness or distance. I returned it to Surefire because of that and a flickering problem.

My new U2 has a less marked donut pattern. It's obvious if you look for it, but doesn't really bother me.

Beam color is very white and output is tremendous -- over 100 lumens based on ceiling reflection lux meter comparision to my HDS U60 (calibrated to 60 lumens).

Unfortunately the selector ring sometimes has a rough, binding action.

I also returned my first U2. My new one still has a donut, but not near as bad as the first...its such a Great light so I'll live with it.

In normal use, not visible, but on a white wall you can see a little bit.

On the lowest setting, if the bezel is an inch from a white surface, there's a button-effect. Because of the four LEDs on the die of the Lux V, you can see the source is four LEDs, and not one point of light. It's not a doughnut actually. If you put the light close to a wall, you can see that it's very much like a white shirt button with four holes for threads (it's an image of the four Lux I LEDs on the die). Move it further away, or increase the output, and it disappears, but in the process at about a foot from the wall you can see that the reflection of the light from the four LEDs tends to create what looks like that void in the center.

I have #A00245, an early run. Incredibly white and bright, beautifully centered hotspot and great spill.

Mine has a slight donut. It bothered me at first since it was my first light and I kept reading about the dreaded donut. Since I can only find it against a white wall, I've relaxed a bit and now enjoy a great light.

Greg

I voted no donut hole because I fixed it by shimming the position of the reflector in relation to the LED with an O-ring in between the reflector section of the bezel and the LED section. I think it was mentioned here before that the possible reason why some U2s don't have donuts is because of the position of the LED in relation to the reflector. If you're able to unscrew the bezel at this junction, the donut is fixable.

Ive had 8 U2's now. The best has had no sign of a donut hole, the worst appeared to be a light ring(it was also purple) So it went back.

My newest one has a very slight donut hole, but you have to look for it to see it. My other "keeper" U2 has had the bezel backed off just a bit which cleared he donut hole up completely.

I've got one that has a barely noticable donut and another with a bad one. I've been debating about sending it back. Has anyone been turned down by SF, gotten one back that was worse, or been told by SF to suck it up and live with it? Thanks.

It's slightly visible but I'm going to contact customer support due to these reasons :
- scratch inside the lens
- clickie tailcap doesn't work as it should (after only 1 week of usage!!!)
- LED is not centered

Just got it 1 week from Mark2.

fasteddie said:

I've got one that has a barely noticable donut and another with a bad one. I've been debating about sending it back. Has anyone been turned down by SF, gotten one back that was worse, or been told by SF to suck it up and live with it? Thanks.

Click to expand...

I've received a worse U2 from Surefire, but I called and RMA'd that one as well. I finally got a new one that rocks - the two RMAs cost me over 100 dollars though.(shipping to Surefire is cheap but when they ship it back via UPS ground I have to pay 44 dollars in brokerage when it comes into Canada, they have used other shippers before that charge nothing, would be nice if they always did.)

fasteddie said:

...been debating about sending it back. Has anyone been turned down by SF, gotten one back that was worse, or been told by SF to suck it up and live with it? Thanks.

Click to expand...

Never heard of being turned down. I'd say send it back. Put in a note you don't want a severe donut pattern, and remind them their own web site says the U2 beam should be perfect with NO dark spots.

If your U2 donut pattern is really bad, it's likely you'll get a better one in return. Worst case is you won't, but you're no worse off than now and can always return it again.

My replacement U2 #08480 only has a mild donut pattern, white beam tint, and tremendous output -- well over 100 lumens.

joema said:

Never heard of being turned down. I'd say send it back. Put in a note you don't want a severe donut pattern, and remind them their own web site says the U2 beam should be perfect with NO dark spots.

If your U2 donut pattern is really bad, it's likely you'll get a better one in return. Worst case is you won't, but you're no worse off than now and can always return it again.

My replacement U2 #08480 only has a mild donut pattern, white beam tint, and tremendous output -- well over 100 lumens.

Click to expand...

Mine is about the same as yours. It's very white. Maybe the slightest hint of blue if I shine it on a white wall -- it's hard to tell. It also has quite a bit of output. I think it's brighter than my C3. It has a bit of a donut hole, but it's not too bad.

My biggest complaint is that a week into owning it the tailcap stopped working (apparently I'm not the only one). Two weeks later, I'm still without a replacement. That kind of sucks.

It's a great light, but for the price it sure should be. I also think it shouldn't have as many problems as it does for the price either.