Solarforce L2i Modified to be 18650 Friendly [ DIY Guide ] April 3rd 2011

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
1

Ok first thing to do is head on over to Shiningbeam.com and pick up a Romisen forward clicky [ I got the 5 pack = Figured it might come in handy ]

Romisen RC-G2 forward clicky [ the one I got ]

Ok the first thing you need to mod is the AAA carier , it now needs to fit inside the tailcap ..

I used a file just to trim the Diameter just enough so the carier would fit inside the tailcap , its a tight fit .

Just deep enough to contact the neg spring on the clicky , and reach the + spring on the pill ..

Now to mod the tailcap for some more internal space so you can run a 18650 and have no issues .

Take out the guts , you do have needle nose pliers ground so that you can remove the retaining ring ? [ If not , buy some cheap needle nose pliers , and grind the tips to fit ]

Here are the parts you need , Rubber tailcap-boot , Romisen forward clicky , and the retaining ring .

Now you do need to remove the niple from inside the rubber tailcap-boot

Here is my boot turned inside out , nice and neat niple removal .

Make sure the boot fits [ if your using the original disregard ]

Next fit the boot to the Romisen switch and put it in the tailcap

Put in the retaining ring , and tighten

And there you go , Now you can run 18650's and not have a care in the world ..

Ok , it is a forward clicky now !!

So to change modes press but dont click for momentary on , to change modes , simply turn the light of and back on again [ momentary ] and you should be in the next mode , If you like the mode click on . Now you can no longer change modes without turning the light of , and doing the momentary on thing , enjoy !

Now I was able to use a Xtar 18700 with no problems , so hopefully this mod will work as well for you .

2

Which switch from Shiningbeam did you use? They have three Romisen's to chose from.

3

Romisen RC-G2 http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/the-93/Forward-Tactical-Click-Switch/Detail

4

Great, thanks for the additional info! I'll probably order a 5-pack also, might as well convert all my Solarforces to fwd-clicky at the same time.

5

Thanks old4570 I have one coming in the mail. At first I was thinking I wouldnt like a fwd clicky, but I'm going to give it a try after reading your explanation of how its used with multi-modes. Also there will be more of the drop in in the head of the housing to get rid of heat vs my plastic spacer, not to mention the fact there will be more metal to metal without the plastic spacer in there.

6

2xCR123A should be ok as long as the pill can handle it [ voltage ] , I dont see why not ..

I just tried a pair of grey protected Trustfires , and its close , very close .. They fit , but by a cats whisker . [ So it might depend on the individual light ]

7

Primaries should fit ....

8

I just did this mod and it works great. My flame trustfires fit nice. The Romisen switch has a shorter and softer spring and with the extra space it feels perfect. I havent filed down the 3AAA carrier and I probably wont get around to for awhile. This is gonna be strictly a 18650 light for awhile. Thanks again old4570, nice job!

9

just curious anyone knows how much current these switches can handle.

10

I just noticed old4570.com in your sig.

How long before you have it all done?

11

well only just started about 12 hours ago , ok maybe 14 hours ago .

It will be a work in progress , and Im not 100% sure in which direction I will take it .

ATM I just want bring my work under one umbrella so to speak [ as well all future work ] , but finding everything ?

Ive lost the Solarforce lantern review [ web was deleted from not loging in I guess ]

Old4570.com has been on the back burner for over 6 months , so I finally got off my ass and did it . [ Easter Holidays ]

So maybe too little too late for the older stuff , but this will hopefully make it easier for me to keep tabs , and also help in passing on knowledge [ I hope ]

12

Sorry to hear you lost some of your older work but you still have plenty of other reviews and tests to share. I already have it saved in my favorites.

Keep up the good work.

13

CPF deletes another post :

I did this thing on Li-ion safety and it looks to have been deleted .. [ Thanks CPF ]

I sure as all heck will not single post anything there any longer . I will have to write a new one ..

14

That's too bad but I am not surprised at all. It seems like CPF keeps sinking to a newer low almost everyday. But on the bright side, the worse CPF gets, the more people will be signing up here at BLF.

15

The first time I got in contact with a review of old4570 was about the WOW 18650 on cpf.

A few time later I'm searching this review, but couldn' find it on cpf - they deleted it. I found it on jayki.com and was happy. After some month, I find ths forum, read the first few weeks and registrated then.

Without this review perhaps I wouldn't have found this great forum. I take old4570.com to my favorites, too. I love your reviews

16

I really have no idea ? , Ive had several posts deleted with no explenation or how do you do .

I guess the most famous now is the WOW test , but a few flashlight reviews as well , for what reason ?

One was a MrLite review , and MrLite at the time was a sponsor ? Why CPF would not want a sponsors light Reviewed ?

I guess the longer you hang out at CPF , the stranger it gets . [ for me anyways ]

17

They have the double whammy at CPF as well - they might have deleted it because they are evil or they may just have lost it because they are incompetent buffoons.

If you can remember the name of the thread it's possible it might be lurking in Google's cache or on the Wayback Machine.

18

just recieved my L2i, ordered a black and recieved a grey/dark silver one!

Me happy with the color

I want to run this light with only AW 18650 2900mAh flat tops.

So I have to buy the Romisen switch.

But what about the battery tube, thisone is too big in diameter compared by the 18650 battery.

Shall this battery not rattle all the time?

19

This is usually a plastic tube , about 22mm Outside Dia and 18mm Internal Dia and maybe 600mm long

20

What bezel you got on that handsome guy, thommy?

lookslikeasolarforcessFoy