Recently picked up an E2E and was interested in getting an LED dropin, and hoping to modernize the classic to something roughly par with contemporary lights.
(I currently use a Klarus XT1A and Streamlight 1L-1AA with 14500, Streamlight Microstream with 10440, and used to have a Zebralight SC600C but lost it….)
I know Veleno doesn’t make LED drop ins anymore, and I think the only two options I’ve come across are Tana and Lumensfactory. Not sure if I’ve missed any. I prefer the dropins because the reason I’m a fan of the classic E1E / E2E is the aesthetics (not really a great reason I know), I know surefire has some upgraded variants but they just look wrong with the different style heads.
Lumensfactory has two options (I prefer single mode)
E1-LED Nichia 319A (2.7V-4.5V Regulated Input) 380 Lumens max
E2-LED Nichia 319A (3.6V-9V Regulated Input) 600 Lumens max
The E2-LED is attractive, and I had planned on running mainly a 16550, but being able to use 2x CR123 or 2x 16340 in a pinch is nice too, and 600 lumens seems reasonably comparable in brightness to my existing flashlights. Unfortunately the cutoff voltage is rather high, so for a single cell 16550 it looks like I’m not going to get full brightness or a lot of runtime even with the largest capacity 16550 I can find, and I would have to run it with 2x 16340 in series to get the full output. I was under the impression though that running the lipo rechargables in series was potentially dangerous if they’re not matched well
Is that the case? I used to have some AW ICR123 / 16340 for some old single CR123 lights I had, but it appears they’re no longer available. I am also planning on upgrading to a McClicky from Lumens Factory.
I’m using an older Nitecore Intellicharger I4