A Leslie Wong Blog

When I read that Surefire was discontinuing the Surefire E2D flashlight, I found a good deal on a new one. I liked the ability of the E2D to tailstand. On a flat surface, the flashlight will stand vertically on the tailcap.

I decided to make a couple of mods to the flashlight too – modifying the strike bezel so it wasn’t so sharp; changing the switch in the tailcap and replacing the incandescent lamp with an LED.

I wasn’t really in need of the defensive capability of the crenelated Strike Bezel®, so I used my Dremel’s cut-off wheel to grind down the bezel so it wouldn’t be so aggressive toward the inside of my pocket. I used a Birchwood Casey Super Black™ Touch-Up Pen on the bare aluminum.

I also wanted to install a McClicky switch because I like the lower pressure it requires to switch on. I’ve used the McClicky switch in a lot of my flashlights.

I read that the McClicky switch is a direct screw-in replacement in the discontinued Surefire Z52 twisty switch but using it in Surefire Z57/Z61 tailcaps requires some modification. I assumed the inner construction of the E2D tailcap was similar to the Surefire Z57/Z61 and the Z68 tailcaps.

Most of the E-series/McClicky modifications I found required a 11/16 x 20 tap to cut more threads in the tailcap to correctly position the McClicky switch. In trying to find a way of avoiding buying a tap, I realized if I removed some of the threads on the McClicky switch to reduce the diameter of the front end, I could insert it from the rear of the tailcap housing. The modded switch stops in the correct position against a rim that was already machined in the tailcap and is held by the stock retaining ring.

The last mod was to replace the 25 lumen MN02 incandescent lamp assembly with an LED. The simplest and most expensive way to do this is to buy a Surefire KX2C (200 lumen single mode) head or a KX2 LED Conversion Head (3 lumen/60 lumen dual mode). Surefire sells these two heads for $150 (USD) each. That’s what I did with my Surefire E2E (KX2) but I managed to buy it on eBay for considerably less. Before arriving at this point, it may have been better to consider the $189 (USD) E2D LED Defender® Dual-Output LED flashlight.

With the E2D, I thought I’d try the Veleno Designs Surefire E series incandescent to LED conversion three mode module. It’s essentially a brass heatsink with a neutral/warm Cree XP-G. The module fits inside the E2D bezel and the input voltage range is 1.8V to 5.5V (1 x CR123 or 1 Li-Ion rechargeable). I sanded the inner body of the flashlight with emery cloth so it accommodates a protected 17670 Li-Ion battery. The E2D flashlight is about .5 inches (12.7 mm) shorter than the E2DL.

The Veleno Designs module is “tested to provide 200 lumens of actual output.” Mine doesn’t seem as bright as my KX2 and I since I’m used to cool white LEDs, the neutral/warm color of this module seems green to me sometimes. I may get over it.

I bought a Surefire E2E because it was a good deal. I didn’t realize until I received it how much smaller it is in comparison to the Surefire 6P flashlights that I have. It’s about the same size as my JETBeam Jet-I Pro.

The E2E uses an incandescent lamp, the Surefire MN03 lamp assembly, with an output is 60 lumens. The output seemed a little low so I started looking for ways to make it brighter.

Fivemega, over at candlepowerforums.com makes two nice incandescent options for the E2E, a bi-pin socket and a Mini Turbo Head.

I’d rather use LEDs and I found that Veleno Designs makes a good option fits in the E2E head. The Veleno Designs E Series LED drop-in is machined from brass, has great heat sinking and uses a Cree XP-G LED. I ordered a 3 mode cool white model and while the output was great, the tint was a little green. The manufacturer said that most people order a neutral tint so they don’t have that problem.

I decided to order some neutral tint Cree XP-G LEDs from DigiKey to replace the LED. After I soldered the LED to the board, I trimmed the board with a Dremel so it was a little larger than 3.5mm x 3.5mm, so it would fit on the Veleno pedestal. It still had a green tint.

In a few discussions on cpfmarketplace.com, it was theorized that the E2E reflector was causing the green tint and it was a lottery whether the factory reflector had the green tint. Instead of buying a new bezel/reflector, I tried re-silvering the reflector. The tint was still green.

Because of the work involved in putting another LED on the Veleno drop-in, I decided to try to find a deal on a Surefire KX2 LED Conversion Head. When I received it after a week, the tint on my new KX2 was also green. I had also taken a very long way to get to a E2L Outdoorsman.

Determined to get the light I wanted, I disassembled the KX2 using a heat gun to release the ample amount of glue that Surefire used on the threads to hold the head together. I unsoldered the leads from the LED board, removed the two hex screws holding the LED board to the drop-in and pushed the LED board out.

I then unsoldered the old Cree XR-E and reflowed soldered in a new Cree XR-E (R2 bin). I reassembled the KX2 using Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound underneath the LED board and when I first tried the light the hot spot was off center. I centered the LED and because the threads on the bezel that holds the Surefire Total Internal Reflection (TIR) lens were no longer glued, I was able to focus the beam to a perfect hot spot. And finally I have a neutral tint.

Now that the KX2 is open, I could use another driver, maybe try a McR-19XR reflector or an XP-G LED; but it’s been a long road to get here, so maybe I’ll wait a while.

The beam from my Veleno Designs E-Series LED drop-in my Surefire E2E had a green tint. I replaced it with a neutral tint Cree XP-G LED and the beam still had a green tint. Some people commented that the green tint was caused by the stock Surefire reflector.

Instead of buying a new E2E head, I removed the factory reflective coating on the head with solvent and tried using “chrome” paint to re-coat it. The Krylon Metallics Bright Silver (1401) paint was not reflective enough to be used as a flashlight reflector. With the E2E reflector six feet away from a white wall, the bulb just threw a giant white circle with no hot spot.

Next I tried Mona Lisa Silver Leaf. The leaf material comes in booklets of 25 (5.5″ x 5.5″) sheets. I used Gold Leaf Adhesive Size on the E2E head before applying the leaf. The size is a water-based adhesive that dries to a light tack before the leaf is applied.

The silver leaf is so thin that picking up part of a sheet will tear it. I just tried to get a large enough piece to cover the reflector then I burnished it lightly. There were some creases in the leaf, but since I wasn’t trying to get an absolutely mirror finish, the imperfections weren’t a problem. The reflector with the silver leaf has a nice hotspot. I’m not sure how the size (adhesive) will hold up to the heat.

A year ago I saw this Youtube video where Steve Dahl at DigiKey demonstrates a method of soldering high-brightness LEDs to a Metal Core Printed Circuit Board (MCPCB) using a heat gun.

Though I’ve seen an electric skillet used for reflow soldering, I decided to try using the above technique when I wanted to replace an LED on a drop-in. I ordered some neutral Cree XP-G LEDs from DigiKey, some 16mm circuit boards and some LodeStar solder paste.

I don’t have an expensive heat gun – just one for removing paint. I thought if I used my infrared thermometer, I could measure the temperature at the tip of the gun and when it was maintaining the correct temperature, I would hold the board/LED in the heat.

I put dabs of solder paste on the contact pads where the LED would be soldered and placed the LED on the pad. It doesn’t need to be precise because the solder will only flow onto the contact pads.

The Cree XP-G specs (PDF) have 215 degrees C (~419 degrees F) for Peak/Classification temperature. When my thermometer read that, I put the board in the heat. (In the video, they use 600 degrees, which seems way out of spec and may be the reason the board turned brown). In a few seconds the paste melted and the LED centered itself, just like in the video. I immediately turned the heat off and kept the fan running to cool the board.

In the photo, the bottom board has been soldered. The upper left board shows the amount of paste I used. The upper right board has the LED on it before soldering.

After I put in a 3 mode 1.4 A driver in my Malkoff Devices M61 drop-in, I wasn’t too happy with the yellow/green tint of the Cree XP-G LED. I found a cooler tint XP-G and applied some Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound to the back of the LED board and used some Arctic Alumina Thermal Adhesive to hold the assembly in place.

Before I reassembled the drop-in, I wiped some hazing off the reflector with some chrome polish and inadvertently removed some of the reflective finish. I needed a new reflector.

I searched for reflectors for the Cree XP-G and found positive comments about Don McLeish’s McR-20 Seoul reflector. I ordered one from the Sandwich Shoppe and it was delivered in 2 days.

There is a recess around the top of the M61 heat sink that the top of the stock reflector sits in – that’s the flat part of the reflector. I put a GITD (Glow In The Dark) O-ring in the recess and it held the McR-20S reflector perfectly. The new LED is mounted on a thinner circuit board than the Malkoff board, which in this case helps with the reflector placement. The bottom of the reflector (with a thin insulator) rests on the LED board. The other end of the reflector is flush with the end of the heat sink.

The beam is very nice. Compared to a M60 or M30, there is less of a hot spot and more spill. The stock M61, IIRC, didn’t have as much of a hot spot compared to the McR-20S.

So far in this mod, I have destroyed the Malkoff M61 driver board and damaged the reflector. But now I’m happy with a drop-in that has a great heat sink, a great beam and three modes. It’s now in my current favorite flashlight, the Surefire C2.

I received my Malkoff Devices M61 drop-in last week. The drop-in uses a Cree XP-G LED and it’s designed to replace the lamp assembly in Surefire 6P style flashlights. Malkoff Devices says, “the output is approximately 260 measured out the front lumens.” It is a single mode drop-in.

I bought the M61 with the intention of modding it with the Shiningbeam three-mode regulated circuit board (SKU 1218). The Cree XP-G datasheet (PDF) had recently noted an “increase of maximum forward current to 1500 mA for XLamp XP-G Cool White is retroactive and applies to all XLamp XP-G Cool White LEDs produced by Cree. The increase is the result of more extensive qualification testing that was performed after the initial product launch.” The Shiningbeam board output current is 60 mA on low, 440 mA on medium and 1.4 A on high.

First, I removed the potting and contact spring. In the process, I destroyed the Malkoff driver board. I used a Dremel to reduce the diameter of the Shiningbeam board so it would fit inside the drop-in.

The Shiningbeam board works as advertised – I measured 1.4 A on high, 450 mA on medium and 65 mA on low. I’m not enamored with the yellow-green tint of the LED; maybe I’ll replace it down the line.

I have also used the Shiningbeam board in a DealExtreme XP-G R5 drop-in (SKU 32954). The result, compared to the Malkoff, is a little more throw and a lot less spill. The tint of the DealExtreme LED is also cooler – more blue.

After disassembling the M61, it’s clear that this is a most robust, superbly constructed drop-in. I can see why a professional would be able to rely on this drop-in in a life or death situation. But flashlights for me are a hobby, which is why I wanted to mod this drop-in to have (a more useful for me) three modes.

You’d think a 3D cell Maglite would be pretty bright. It’s over 12.5″ (310 mm) long and weighs over 30 oz (850 g) with batteries. With the standard Krypton bulb, the 3D Maglite puts out about 76 lumens. A flashaholic wants 76 lumens from a keychain light.

The Maglite may be behind in bleeding edge illumination technology, but flashlight modders like them because it’s a great platform to build upon. One of my first mods was the Roar of the Pelican – a 2D Maglite running on 6AA batteries and a high wattage bulb. It puts out about 600 lumens.

There are many LED Maglite mods that will put out a lot of light. Multi-chip LEDs – the Cree XLamp MC-E, Seoul Semiconductor Z-Power P7 and the Luminus SST-50 and SST-90 PhlatLight LEDs are popular because of their high outputs. You just need a heatsink for the LED, a driver and suitable batteries in a combination that won’t burn up any of the components. A lot of people have figured this out for you. Google.

I decided to do the easiest high performance 3D cell Maglite upgrade: Malkoff Devices’ Maglite drop-in with the Cree XP-G LED. It’s not as bright as a multi-chip LED mod, but the Malkoff drop-in uses regular alkaline D cell batteries and it has a six hour runtime at full output. The only problem with the Malkoff drop-in is that it’s difficult to buy because it’s so popular. Once they are in stock, they sell out quickly. Malkoff Devices back-in-stock email notification system will alert you when they’re available, but even then you have to be fast.

Installation is simple: remove the existing bulb, push the drop-in down as far as it will go inside the flashlight and tighten the screw (which wedges the drop-in’s heat sink against the flashlight body). The bottom part of the reflector needs to be cut off to accommodate the drop-in. This is a simple cut with a razor saw. If that is too much for you, Malkoff Devices sells a pre-cut Maglite reflector for 7$.

Malkoff Devices description: “This dropin produces a real 260 (measured out the front) lumens in a 2D or 3D light with alkaline batteries. The Drop-In module is constructed of CNC machined structural aircraft aluminum and has a regulated driver. Full heatsinking of the driver and LED insure that the module can, and will, run at maximum output for extended periods. It will easily illuminate objects at a distance of 1000+ feet and will light a 2 inch red reflector at a distance of more than 1/4 mile. If you shine someone with this at night, within a 100 ft radius, they should see spots for a good 8-10 seconds.”

I got a nice Black Friday deal on a JETBeam RRT-0 flashlight from the people at LightJunction.com. I read bondr006′s great review on Candlepowerforums and it looked like a really nice little light. The main feature of the JETBeam RRT series is the ability to adjust the brightness to different levels by turning the Rapid Response Control Ring at the base of the head.

The RRT-0 is also versatile because it can use 3.0V CR123 primary batteries, 16340 3.7V rechargeable Lithium batteries, 1.5V AA primary batteries, 1.2V AA rechargeable batteries and 14500 rechargeable Lithium batteries. The latter three require the AA extender, which adds a little more than a .6 inch (16 mm) to the 3.8 inches (97 mm) length.

I have a JETBeam Jet-I Pro I.B.S. flashlight, which is slightly smaller in size. The RRT-0 is a little larger in diameter because it can take CR123 batteries and a little longer, because of the rotary switch built into the body. I can also set a “lower” low level output on my Jet-I Pro. The RRT-0 also lacks a strobe mode – which I would probably only use if I was lost in the mountains at night needing air rescue. But I could always use the forward clicky switch for signaling.

JETBeam claims an output of 240 lumens. I have not seen independent confirmation of these numbers, but my RRT-0 (with the SMO reflector) certainly looks close to my Malkoff M60 drop-in. In laymen terms, Surefire describes 200 lumens as ten times the light of a big two-D-cell flashlight. For a flashlight this size, the JETBeam RRT-0 puts out a lot of light.

From JETBeam:

Model: RRT-0
Specially designed for Military, Law Enforcement, Self-defense, Hunting, Search & Rescue and Outdoorsman
The Rapid Response Control Ring allows the user to easily select different brightness level
Five levels of brightness to choose
Optional low / lower low mode
Stainless steel rapid response control ring, very reliable and durable
Stainless steel bezels protect the head and tail cap from drops and impacts
Stainless steel crenulated bezel can be used as a glass breaker or defensive tool
CREE R2 LED,
Max output reaches 240 lumens with an effective range of 200 meters
New dual curve reflector specially designed for CREE LED, which allows for better beam quality, efficiency and throw capability
Newly designed high efficiency broad voltage drive circuit
Compatible with both CR123 and RCR123 rechargeable Li-ion batteries
Floating positive end, designed for better contact
Built-in intelligent Li-ion rechargeable batteries protection circuit
Tailstand
Impact-resistant accords with US MIL-STD-810F
IPX 8 standard waterproof

Using AA Battery
High Mode 180 Lumens, 45 min
Daily Mode 50 Lumens, 5 hours
Mid Mode 25 Lumens, 10 hours
Low Mode 10 Lumens, 15 hours
Lower Low Mode 1 Lumen, 80 hours

When I built my Roar of the Pelican, a Maglight 2D flashlight modified to be really bright, I used two cheap 3AA to 1D adapters. I needed 6 AA NiMH batteries to make 7.2 V to power the bi-pin incandescent bulb.

I’d read warnings about some cheap battery adapters not being able to handle the high current, so I bought the beautifully engineered Fivemega 6AA to 2D adapter.

The negative end of the adapter fits inside the spring in the Maglite tail cap. The adapter also has a charging jack that takes a 5 mm coaxial DC power plug, so the pack doesn’t have to be disassembled to charge the batteries. Besides 6AA to 2D adapter, Fivemega makes a 9AA to 3D adapter and 3AA to 1D adapter, among other flashaholic things.