11/22/15 - Updated with pics in post #14.
A friend of mine asked if I could replace a lens on a Streamlight PT 2L. I can see the tube is a separate piece from the head, but I can’t get it apart. Anyone have any experience with these? I was going to try heating it up with a torch and see if maybe it was glued on, but thought I better ask first. Thanks.
I don’t any experience with these particular lights, but if I know anything about glued on parts, is that sticking it in a plastic bag and boiling it for a few minutes, there’s a good chance you won’t damage any components with excessive heat and it does a decent job of loosening glue. For grip, see about using a couple of strap wrenches to work it apart.
Excellent advice, tru3s1lv3r. I will give that a shot tonight. I was afraid I might damage something using a torch.
Hey, that worked!! Thanks.
results I have I believe 4 strions that I would like to uo up grade,but I could figure how to disassemble without ruining it.
Great! Glad to hear! It’s the same process I had to go through on my tn31.
Ok, looks like I'm going to need a little help with this project. In hindsight I wish I would have just told my friend we should build a light with a new host, but he wanted his Streamlight hopped up. I've already torn it apart and I can see why these style of lights are considered so dependable. Everything is glued together and they aren't meant to be modded. It runs on 2 CR123s and I assume the driver drops the voltage. He wants to run on a rechargeable, so figured I'd change out the driver and a 16650 should fit the tube just fine. Problem is the driver is 16mm and the old XRE sits on a 14mm board. I was thinking of maybe an XPL. I see 10mm and 14mm mcpcb's out there, so I don't think that will be an issue. The problem I'm having is finding a driver 16mm. This thing is tiny, so I don't want to drive it too hard. I think there's a 15mm FET driver on RMMs site, but unless I can program the modes to eliminate 100% that won't work. Pics of the pill below. Just looking for suggestions. Thanks.
RMM will program custom modes for you if you want, I am sure if you express that you do not want 100% he could do that too…
On the other hand, I have filed down some 17mm drivers to fit a 16mm pill, both work…
As long as your LED is on a noctigon or other copper DTP board, you should be good. RMM has 16mm XPG2 S2 2B’s mounted already for $3. That would be a huge upgrade from the current one, no sense lightly driving an XPL for over twice as much money…
My 2 cents… Let us know what you end up with and how it works…
Thanks ReManG. I didn’t think of sanding down a 17mm. I think I will go that route. I know an XPL will be more expensive, but I really sorta wanna see what I can make of this light. I was thinking driving it around 2.5A might not be too bad. Again, the board the XRE is on is only 14mm. I’ll update with pics as soon as it is finished. Will probably be a while if I order from China, but I’m sure I’ll have several questions between now and then.
Careful filing will take a 16mm copper board down to 14mm as well.
I would get on Richards site and look at the Qlite and get it with guppydrv, more than enough modes. You can opt to have one or two 7135’s removed and it will be at 2-2.4 Amps.
Guppydrv has a programmable turbo timer so you can set your 100% to less than a second.
Total would be around $12 plus shipping for a custom driver and an XPL and they would be to you in MUCH less time than any overseas order. I would still get one of the $3 XP-G2’s for a backup or practice on filing the Noctigon. But I like a backup plan.
Richards shop is great and any questions he is more than willing to answer. I think your mod will be great and nice to see that you are not looking to overdrive it….
EDIT: MtnElectronics also has the 16650’s HERE
Ok, your plan sounds like a good one. I’ll put my order in with Richard tomorrow. Since I’m ordering from him I’ll have to see what else I want for myself 
Problem is that I also need to order an ~18mm lens, and I can only find them from the overseas sites. So, either way, I’ll be waiting a while till this thing is finished. Thanks again.
Oh, if this were mine I would probably overdrive it and have another impractical light.
If you get a hold of Streamlight, they can send you a lens, their customer service is excellent.
I was wrong on Guppydrv, you have to have at least a 4 second turbo in order for it to step down… So if you think it can stand 4 seconds on turbo and a ramp down to 50%, it should be excellent.
I spend way too much in RMM’s shop, but he has everything you may need and the price difference is more than made up for in the short shipping time…
Good luck and let us know how it turns out.
Funny you mention contacting Streamlight. I emailed them last night, and they responded first thing this morning. I was asking about the dimensions of the lens, but their response was it cannot be replaced and to send it in to them for repair. Response was quick and also it was on a Saturday, so I give them credit for that. I measured the reflector and it’s 18mm, so I’m sure an 18mm lens will work.
Also, I think I am going to go with your original suggestion of an XPG2. This thing is so tiny an XPL would be overkill and I do think it would just get too hot.
One concern is the Qlite driver. I’ve used these many times and one issue I have found is that the 7135s are so close to the edge of the driver board that they sometimes make it difficult to seat without hitting the ledge. I don’t know how this would work if I tried to sand one down and fit it into a 16mm opening.
Let me know your thoughts on this idea. Was thinking maybe this 2-mode driver from Fasttech. It is direct drive, but I think with the right cell and small gauge wires it wouldn’t drive an XPG2 too hard. I’m open to suggestions. Thanks.
Do you have any pics of the driver with the pill out? I have actually shoehorned a Qlite into a bit smaller than a 16mm driver space and the inside edge was fine, the outside edge dinged up the side by side 7135 corners when I tightened the battery tube too far. The spring was too long, so I had to trim that as well… It was an AA format light. Works good and does not get as hot as I thought, so you should be OK with that one.
It will take some paitience to file the driver down, go slow and steady. I checked mine often and the ground ring may get thin, but it worked fine, the boards have a few ground VIA’s that keep it all together for the grounding.
I do not know that model of Streamlight, but if worse comes to worse, the driver may stick out 1/16” or so (max), you should be OK with a good driver spring for taking that up on the new battery…
I actually have that fasttech driver, and I got a bad one, so I did not get to see how good it could be. Fasttech refunded my money and I bought something else. It would be a good option as well, but on direct drive, check the heat when you run it.
To me, the difference between a S2 XP-G2 and an XPL V5 or above is minimal between them in a current regulated driver. No doubt the XPL is brighter, but not so much as the XP-G2 will be over the original emitter…
You could spoil him and put a Nichia 219 in the thing… Still brighter and colors would look great…
You can buy two XP-G2’s on copper for the cost of the one XPL, then you have another should something go wrong, or for another project.
EDIT:
Pics of the filed down Qlite in a Thorfire TG06
The circle shows the area that is worn from over tightening the battery tube, and I actually sanded the corners of the top two 7135’s, but no negative effect.
Finally finished the Streamlight modification. Most of the time was spent waiting for parts.
I was able to find a 14mm copper base, but for XML only, so ordered an XML2 in a NW tint.
I decided to go with a 105C driver and try my luck at sanding it down. This took a lot of sanding and I had to dremel out the inside ledge on the pill as well. I swear I thought something was going to short out when I tested it, but it worked perfectly. Made it 2-mode, low and high.
The driver was listed as 2.8A, but that looks like 38 on those chips.
This is the pill with the original XRE on it. It had some sort of attached spacer on it. I placed it back on over the XML and put it all back together.
But, I did not like how tight the 16650 was fitting. Also, the output was very good, but there was no visible hotspot. Figured this might just be the very small reflector. In an effort to make some more room for the battery, I placed a smaller o-ring between the lens and bezel and also tried a normal XML spacer which gave me about 2mm and brought the reflector closer to the base of the emitter. Much better output with a hotspot as well this time.
Put on a new 18mm AR lens. Funny, these Streamlights go for quite a bit of money, but I didn’t find the quality all that great. You can clearly see an imperfection down where the lens meets the centering ring…top left.
So, this thing now runs on a rechargeable…no more CR123’s. I had planned on running it at around 2.5A, but I left all the chips on just to see how hot it got. I got 2.95A at the tail and it just got warm after running for several minutes. Seemed manageable, so I left it as-is. I was very surprised how much light this little thing put out. I wanted to keep it. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any beamshots as I finished it last night and gave it back this morning. I’m sure he will be happy with it going from 260 to 700-800 lumens.
Good job! And a HUGE upgrade! The dude will be happy, I’m sure.
I’m fighting with 7135s being too close to the edge if a qLite driver too, that I’m (trying to) put in an EE A6 body with a dead driver. 
Thanks chenko. ReManG said it would work and it did. I hit the corners on a couple of those 7135s with the dremel, and it didn’t hurt a thing.