I just ordered my first L2 a couple of days ago. I also ordered the stainless bezel. I think though that the first thing I am going to do with the stock bezel is the Jacktheclipperstarteditfoyfinishedit mod.
Thank you mfm, he made some good points in that post. I cannot predict or rule out the possibility of a failure at some point in the future but I have two Solarforce lights with that particular drop-in; an L2P and the black L2. I turned the L2P on high for 45 minutes one time to see how well my amateur aluminum foil wrap solution conducted heat away. So far so good on both lights with this drop-in. I am an admitted beginer at this and it is possible my Solarforce 2400 18650 is not up to the task of allowing this XM-L to destroy the switch.
What I might do is drop 2 fresh CR123s in there and leave it on for a while. 6 volts on high for an hour ought to do it. 
troop - I used an empty L2r because it's kind of long and easier to hold, and just screwed the bezel I was working on to the L2r head. Held the orbital in my right hand, the L2r "bezel host" in my left and took it down until the valleys (?) between the points could not be seen any more followed by some time on the padded 300 grit. I want to get some finer grit and see if I can make it smoother.
muchmoretolearnFoy
Maybe it's because they thought that a good grip on the flashlight body was more important than one on the tailcap (i.e. to prevent the tailcap from being unscrewed accidentally)? Just an assumption. On the Surefire 6P (I got it cheap, and always wanted one for over ten years) the knurling matches, however, and is really aggressive. Love my L2 as well, maybe just because of the little differences despite the awesome machining.
Anyways, great review, Foy, and a really nice pair of L2's!
two thoughts on the bezels: I like stainless (or any steel for that matter) because it is capable of taking more abuse, thus protecting the head a little better.
As far as the crenelated bezels - well, I like to think of them as blank canvas. You can do to them whatever you want, file 'em sharp, or grind 'em down... (I ground mine down about halfways. They are much smoother now, and far less menacing.)
Stainless bezels are nice, but aluminum ones absorb shock better...
I haven't experienced or even seen one of the failed L2 switches so I'm speculating here. I think that turning the switch on and off is what wears the switch to failure in high current configurations. It is during the making and breaking of the circuit that an arc can form, pitting the contacts and eventually causing them to fail. If I'm right, and you wish to stress your switch, you will need to turn your light on and off a lot with the mode set to High.
Also, I don't use primaries so I'm unfamiliar with their ability to deliver high current under load. I would suggest a LiMn 18650 for this mission.
It can handle the current , What it cant handle is a short .. At higer current a short will spike the current to high , Ive measured 8A with the light still working , this will simply melt the switch internals . Anything below 3A should be ok , unless there is another issue [ bad switch ? ]
Be thankfull the switch dies , if it didnt , your Li-ion could be the one to flame out .
I tried contacting Solarforce Store about offering the switch itself as a spare part , but they wanted to sell a light with the parts [ expensive clickies ]
I will see if Solarforce proper [ manufacturer ] is interested in offering the switch itself as a spare part .
I remember seeing someone selling a five pack of them for like two bucks... a thread about a...gun? store that also sold solarforce parts, and GITD stuff......
Here's my guess on knurling, and maybe diameter. Compare the knurling to a 'real' Surefire 6P tailcap. The knurlings are very similar. It seems to me, Solarforce designs their tailcaps to match and replace Surefire tailcaps. Actually, my Ultrafire 504B tailcap knurling matches closest, but the tailcap itself is much longer.
Now an even further guess. The Surefire is designed for 16mm diameter batteries, but Solarforce is designed for 18mm batteries. Maybe they make their tailcaps a little thinner for the Surefire market? I don't know. Just did an inspection of my 6P-derived hosts. Mine are pretty close. I have an L2m with extension tube to make it take 18650's too, and the knurling does match. Hm. My L2i, L2r, and L2P knurlings also match themselves. Hm.. your L2 body's knurling looks suspiciously like my Ultrafire 504B body's knurling, which on mine (my 504B) does not match its own tailcap either. (Ironically, my 504B's original tailcap's knurling matches my Surefire Z41 knurling best, but the tailcap itself is much longer.) Yep, your L2 body knurling does not match mine, but resembles my 504B. The difference is my 504B has 3 miniature vertical grooves inside each little diamond; your diamonds are smooth (thanks for your knurling closeup). In fact, even the groove (sulcus?) between your knurling and head match my 504B perfectly, but not my L2m. (Again, not sure if L2m body is different from the L2, but my L2m's switch looks exactly like your L2's, and my knurling matches on all pieces.)
As for switches burning out, I'm the one it happened to. Haven't personally seen anyone else report a dead Solarforce switch here, but I have seen one other person whose 504B switched died (as mine did). Again full disclosure: my Solarforce switch came as an L2m kit with 18650 extender (no drop-in), I think from itc-shop. But, my switch looks exactly like your L2, Foy. I still have the now-dead internal switch assembly if needed for comparison (not much to look at). Both my failures occurred after I got XM-L drop-ins. I've had one a 3rd switch fail, and that's my Spiderfire P7 which also approaches 3 amps in draw, though not as high, but over 2.5 (not too fancy batteries). I don't do long runs, either. Maybe I'm just unlucky. Anyone else with a dead L2 switch, I'd like to hear. I remember reading someone claim that Solarforce itself said the L2P switch had a higher current capacity, which if true, would by logic mean the L2 has a lower capacity/quality, but I can't track the chain of custody on that, nor have I dissembled the L2p switch.
My electrical engineer friend was not surprised at all to hear about my switch failures, and gave me some electrical education about switches. I didn't know they were such a weak point in the elctrical path. He talked about the twisty/momentary switch on his Surefire and how much more inherently reliable the design was, and how it could handle more current. I went down this road and can say that 'reliability' is very mixed in the accessory/3rd party market in terms of what 'just works', despite the inherently simple design of twisties. And I actually taught my EE friend something, which is the greater resistance of such twisties (which he's given me some mod ideas on), but again I've found the use of twisties as upgrades or for budget use to be problematic, or say "finicky". I remember people at DX years ago when I started, talking about buying spare (internal) switches due to burnouts. 5 months ago, I didn't even know how to replace an internal switch. People here seem to be having good luck, though. As they say, "your mileage may vary".
Shhhh... don't say anything! Better him than me! Let him try it and report what happens! LOL. Go for it Foy! <egg egg> I've also wanted to know how an XM-L drop-in takes 6 volts. My guess is it'll be okay for a short while. Before I really knew what I was doing (but knew enough to be dangerous), I put two li-ion AAA's with a dummy battery in my 3x AAA headlamp with Cree LED. Yeah, it was brighter (duh). But everything (including batteries) got hot very quickly (in seconds)--however, that was 8.4 volts on a non-heatsinked LED. It did survive, though. It had already suffered dimming from no heatsinking, so I had nothing to lose but an explosion on my forehead. Just kidding, I didn't wear it, just tested it for under a minute. Don't they call this stuff "destructive testing"? Wait, that's when you intentionally drive it to failure!
Seriously, I've been searching for a heat-resistant battery option for P60 hosts, for emergency car use. So far, CR123's are the most cost-effective choice. But I don't buy multi-voltage drop-ins. I've heard rumors about LiFePO4 being more heat-resistant. But LiCo is quite sensitive to car heat. Lighthound sells a CR123 dummy battery, but I figure some stacked DX magnets would work in a pinch too. I would like better runtime than a sincle CR123 though. Maybe 6 volts on 'medium' would be the answer, but I don't know. I'd be interested how many watts are drawn on two primaries, and whether two primaries can even produce wattage sufficient to damage an XM-L on High (my guess is yes).
Speaking of being neurotic (or anal retentive in this case), I never thought I'd inspect knurling of various 6p copies in such detail.
Maybe just coincidence, but I turn my switches on and off, and change modes (which is an on/off cycle) frequently. In fact, when I say I don't do long runs on high, it's partially due to me changing modes, or just turning on when I need it, then back off. Hence why I like both twisty/momentary switches and forward clickies. From my reading, I have more switch failure than anyone else here. So, probably not a coincidence. I read what Old4570 has said about shorts, but lack knowledge of what particularly would create said short. I also wonder if a partial short would cause the LED to get more current; if so, I'd notice. If not... hard for me to measure, but I'd think I'd possibly notice heat from the battery (which I never have). I can say that my switches tend to get 'flaky' (intermittent) before they die a slow and frustrating death (in at least 2 of 3, can't remember the 3rd). Not fuse-like, such as "poof, no more light".
That was probably Shiningbeam's 5-pack of forward clickies (marketed for Romisen flashlights), most recently suggested by Old4570. 'Thread about a gun' was probably Budgeteer's review of his freebie review-sample 501B with gun mount and pressure switch.
There are about 3 or 4 concurrent threads running on CPF about Solarforce switches/tailcaps going out.
One way to short out the light ...
Take the head off , take the puill out , leave the battery in the light .
Put the pill back in scew the head on [ with the battery in place ] and you may get an instant short when you turn the light on ..
Why ? because the + spring has wandered of center and when you turn the light on = Short , good bye tail clicky switch ..
A lot of folks are guilty of doing this , myself included .
The other way is DIY pills , [ building your own drop ins ]
Some emitters are easy to short .. SSC P7 - SSC P4 - Diamond Dragon - Luxeon K2 TFFC - Cree XP-G - XP-E
So if you play with DIY , chances are good you will have a short , which is why you want to test and test more ..
Also there could be a very small short - solder bridge ? in the pill , turn the light on , and the solder bridge burns away , and melts your switch ..
Or you were unlucky , and simply got a bad switch [ stuff happens ]
Nope... like a picture of the genuine solarforce clicky with a solarforce style product name...and Shiningbeam's switches are one by one....I think...
Despite being very new to this and possessing very limited experience, (getting better every day however) I did/do indeed know that my drop-in is 4.2 volts max. With this fact nervously manifesting itself in my mind, I dropped two fresh Eveready CR123s in Mr. Silver and turned him on high at 3:32 pm pacific. It became hot immediately and then cooled noticeably along with a concurrent significant decrease in brightness. Judgement being the better part of valor, at 3.:45 I removed the primaries and quickly installed a fully charged 2400 mAh Solarforce 18650 and turned it on high again. Brightness returned; it was just as bright side by side as my other Ultra Fire XM-L. About five minutes later I picked up the CR123s and they were still very hot. At 4:45 I removed the 18650 (discharged to 3.8 volts) installed a Trust Fire 2400 mAh 18650 and turned it high again. At 5:15 I turned the light off and opened this thread. Throughout the 90 minutes on high (part of it watching Hardball on MSNBC) about every ten minutes I cycled through the three modes about a dozen times.
The type of weirdness necessary for such behavior I accept with no apology but now, with another fresh 18650, the light turns on and is just as bright as it was and, just as bright side by side as my other Ultra-Fire XM-L drop-in. The light did not flicker when new, did not flicker throughout the "test" and does not flicker now. At no point did the light get too hot to hold. The drop-in is wrapped with a significant amount of store brand aliminum foil. (knock-off flashlight, knock-off tin foil I always say)
So; the Solarforce L2 still stands tall, the Ultra Fire XM-L drop-in remains the champ budget XM-L drop-in and Foy takes one for the team to defend his evaluation.
learningcurveFoy
Good man Foy, appreciate it. So pass on using a pair of CR123's in the Solarforce?
yesFoy
Foy... you need to finish what you started ..Get out the 500 and then the 1000 and then go to polishing it with a cloth at least till it starts to shine .. it just gets better and better ...although I like the brushed look you have already .. my neurotic self would get it to a minimum shine .0:)
love the pics.
Already on it.
ocdFoy
Great review foy
How much better is the Real solarforce than the Fake Solarforce sold by lightake?
The fake might be 90% to 95% , and uses a slightly cheaper clicky ... So depending on over all price ...
Currently the genuine ones are so cheap [ host body ] , for the price of a tailcap , you can buy the L2i ...
In fact I need to order the Gunmetal L2i ...