I think the 502 is just ok it's a lil light but I like the shape ..The new 504b from manafont has painted tailcaps that tap them twice and the paint chips off them .One reason to spend the extra buck on the solarforce
Yes, the bezel just unscrews and I don't know about the slightly longer 18700. Seems like it would fit because there is a little room left with an 18650 in there.
Foy
Thanks for the quick reply Don!
1. Old4570 says that the 18700's he received measure 69.2mm in length. Do you think I could get them into an L2i without forcing anything and still fully tightening down all the threads?
2. Ooops, so if I unscrew the bezel the lens will come out? I was thinking that they just put that crown on for looks and that it could be removed without anything in its place.
You need something to hold the lens in place. You could grind the spikes off - any flat rock will do for the purpose. A powered grinder would be faster though.
Greets, sb56637. It always blows my my mind just how frugal you are: no P60 hosts yet! Kind of like how it surprised me that good old4570 buys Shiningbeam forward clickies by the 5-pack, yet never bought a McClicky. I have a friendly competition with a friend on who is more frugal--I think if I brought you in, you'd win!
What you call a crown, I call a bezel ring above. And yes, they do indeed unscrew. Thankfully! Allows you to get a smooth or "attack" (defensive) bezel, replace the glass disk (I hate calling it a "lens", but... can't come up with a better word). Or... go without a 'lens' at all, nor bezel, for maximum light transmission (at the risk of getting dirt in there, especially in the pocket or on outings--best to store face-down if you do). Old4570 has actually done lightbox tests comparing Bezel vs no Bezel, and has empirically proved that the bezel does indeed block some light (in the form of spill). So no, if you don't want to 'upgrade' the bezel to a plain smooth ring, and don't like the crenelated bezel, you can go lens-less (and "bezel-less"), and you'll still have the reflector of course (which will then get a little dusty, or worse... but usually no big deal).
Where did you see the L2i body for $7.99? Be careful, usually at that price it's just a battery tube: no head or tailcap. If you have another Solarforce or compatible model (the 504B is one of the few which would work), you could always swap the tube in, when you wanted to use AAA's. But that gets frustrating. I just checked Ebay, and the cheapest price on a complete L2i host is $10.56 delivered.
18700 fitting with no modifications in an L2i, not L2... well, I can fit my over-length Soshine "18650" protected cells in my L2i, IF I:
-unscrew the head somewhat
- don't fully screw in the tailcap
So, I think yes, if you're okay with things not being fully screwed-down. You can only unscrew the head so much, before the outside spring of the drop-in isn't being held against the shoulder of the battery tube anymore, but I suppose that could be stretched a bit to get it even further... but that would qualify as a mod, wouldn't it? :) . The L2 or L2P would be a better fit. No problems with the Soshine batteries in those with everyday switches. But L2 does not tailstand with its included switch. The L2P does.
And yes my L2i does tailstand (just tried it).
Hmmm, a rock vs. a $2.50 bezel...
Thanks for the tips!
Hi there Brjones and Foy,
Yep, I'm pretty frugal. Notice the first word in the acronym BLF. :) Thanks for the complement! Here's the $7.99 L2i, although I forgot about the shipping cost, which pushes it up there over $10 as you said.
I definitely wouldn't want to have to partially tighten anything. And I'm not a modder.
Foy, did you modify yours? You seem to have more extra room in yours than others have reported.
No, sb I have not and it was mere speculation on my part that it might fit. As I said, I don't know about the 18700 but on both my L2 and L2P, there is a good 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch space when you push an 18650 down against the spring. Is an 18700 that much longer? This link seems to infer they are quite close in size. http://www.xtarlight.com/en/08-technology/p-001.asp?id=15
Foy
I just looked up the protected Soshine 18650 cells that brjones mentioned, they're listed as 66.5(+/- 0.5mm). And Old measured the XTAR 18700s to be almost 70mm. So no, they're not drastically longer. It does seem strange that Solarforce would make it such a tight fit and still list it as an 18650 compatible flashlight.
brjones, thanks for the welcome and for the history lesson! That's about what I thought I knew about these companies, but you really sorted the whole story up. :)
sb56637, 18650s (I have specimens from Ultrafire [LC 2400, probably protected] and Trustfire [flame 2400, protected]) can barely fit into my L2i without putting a lot of pressure on the dropin/battery since the L2i has no buffer for the battery button and the dropin. I guess the 18700 will be even more tight. I think I'll use the L2i for 3xAAA P60 only and buy myself a proper 18650 host.
Hmm. Thanks Haggai for your experiences. Sounds like they made it a bit too tight.
I think the preferred single-cell size for the L2i at this time is the 18500 size (50 mm, just like 18700 is 70mm long). Unfortunately, the new 22600 size (whose purpose I think is aimed at the 3x AAA market) doesn't fit well either, due to it being a little too thick to fit inside the well of the tailcap. If you want to use an 18650 or 18700, yeah, L2/L2P is the best way. But sb I know you're a fan of AA's, so don't forget about the L2r, but unfortunately that's only a 2-cell tube (will probably end up with too much or too little voltage in most configurations). Idea flash: Solarforce should really make a single AA-sized battery tube for 14500 users. Now that would be cool.
I recommend the Ultrafire WF-504B for people who are sincerely budget oriented, who would really rather keep the extra $3 over the price of an L2. I think that may be right down your alley (as we say in the States--don't know about where you are [I assume 'the dark' is Down Under]). Plus no sharp bezel ring/crown. It's fine, especially if you don't plan to get exotic with it. I think that one tailstands as well, so it may have everything you want, nothing you don't. Check out the current "New nicely priced p60 hosts at MF updated" thread which has some parallels to this one, but is primarily about the WF-504B. Make sure you get the one which looks like a Solarforce or Surefire 6P, not the supposedly new version I call the 'impostor'.
I think that for 14500 one could use L2r with one 14500 and a dummy cell.
But boosting from 2xAA 2.4v (or even 3v) input to 3.7 Vf shouldn't waste too much. Two AA eneloops have about 4.8Wh, three AAA have about 2.8Wh, so I guess the 2xAA in the L2r will give brighter output / longer runtime than the L2i.
I got the L2i for 8 bucks at solarforce sales...its the whole body excluding the drop in of course.
Great history of the P60, Solarforce, etc. I disagree on going straight to the L2 though. If you can find the drop-in you want in a DX host for $20, that will be hard to beat, especially if you're just getting started. You can get a L2 for $13.50 (I really don't like the L2i for 18650 use though I know some people disagree; L2i is great for 3xAAA though I wouldn't try to run an XM-L from it), but then you need the flat bezel for $2.50 for a total of $16 and now you might as well get the L2p for $19.99. So now you've spent what the whole light cost at DX and all you've got is a host. Then you can buy a drop-in at DX for $12-16 and you're way over the $20 you could have spent.
If someone has a target price of $35-40 then yeah, a Solarforce is great, but if their target is $20-25 then the DX lottery might be the way to go or even a fake Solarforce with XM-L from KD. I'm quite happy with a 502B and a 504B I got from DX though I changed the drivers out. I like my Solarforce hosts too. I think there is a place for the Ultrafires and Solarforces, but for a first or only purchase it just depends on what a person wants to spend.
Thanks again to everyone for the reply!
I read on another thread that someone here on BLF is using 1x14500 with the L2i.
I do strongly prefer AA batteries, but I don't like 2xAA such as the L2r, looks rather unwieldy.
The Ultrafire WF-504B does look pretty nice. Just that the L2i is a true Solarforce for a really good price.
Here's a good review of some 18650 battery lengths: http://lygte-info.dk/info/Batteries18650-2011%20UK.html
If i ever get a solarforce and probably will, it would be a L2P grey. That one looks so good to me that i don't mind spending the extra required.
That was a very nice writeup brjones :)
I don't have an L2 so I'm not sure if it's as generous inside as an L2P, but the L2P has so much space inside a 75mm cell wouldn't be the slightest problem I suspect an 80mm one would fit too...not that either of those exist.
Seems there is a bit of confusion about battery lengths and widths .. the first 2 numbers being the width and the second three the length .So obviously if people are having problems with a 18650 than a 18700 that has 5 more millimeters will be an even greater problem...All this is assuming that a black trustfire is indeed 650 milimeters long ..(Which it ISN"T) They run long and you need to be careful with certain hosts . you need to know the real specs on all batteries .(one more reason that bad specs from vendors make people crazy )
That and the extra money for another bezel Knocks Lxi out .Even brted who seems to be somewaht handy claims he isn't a fan of his and has seemingly happily replace it with a L2p..seems to me the l2 is only 12 bucks .. so what's the difference between this and the lxi and a bezel for 3 bucks more ..(I thought bezels used to be 5 ?? )
My theory remains buy a decent one .. there will be plenty of opportunities to buy junk cheap like the last 3 manafont deals ..There have been hosts in every one , Don't worry you want trash It's always available ..
The P-60 takes a lot of heat ..And I mean the pun here ..Lots of people are either unrealistic or very wreckless when it comes to their lights ..DUH every light heats up .. turn it off or turn it down ..To continually whine about the thermal properties of the flashlight is just dumb .99% of the people using a flashlight never run it on high for hours at a time .Anyone who plans on doing so need to seriously get a clue and ask real questions about what kind of light they should be buying , because running the highest brightest and pulling the most amps causes heat and heat causes failure..
Best advice is buy the l2 or like brted said a fake L2. lego ability becomes very important factor as there are too many models that don't swap parts already , why add to the confusion .
Battery nomenclature
3 parts.
So for an 18650 we get 18 and 65 and 0.
First is cell diameter, second is cell length, the 0 is for a cylindrical cell.
Or for 16340, 16mm diameter, 34mm length, cylindrical cell