Re: Surefire EDCL1-T Runtime Tests
Great price for L1t.. I have read mixed reviews about B&H.. Paypal is a plus, please post impressions after receiving
Thx..
I've had good experiences with B&H for years while buying camera equipment and electronics. They appear to have sale prices on a couple of other current Surefire lights as well as this one.
Just got the EDCL-1T delivered by FedEx, some early observations. The tint is a little greenish (or golden yellow) compared to an EDCL-2T and a E1B-MV but white compared to older SureFire's. As usual, the green tint seems more pronounced on low mode. The clip does indeed scrape the tailcap when you turn the light on. Somebody else said their EDCL-1T tailcap was a little dry out of the package and I thought mine was as well. I found my lifetime supply jar of Nyogel 760G and put a dollop on the threads and O-rings at both ends. The tailcap still feels a little tight compared to the seemingly identical one on my EDCL-2T, you can feel the spring vibrate a little when you twist the cap like on some of the old L1's.
I like to use rechargeable batteries whenever possible and save my CR123A's for backup and Y3K. A Fenix RCR123A in the drawer would only power the light in low mode. No load voltage on the Fenix cell was still about 4.0 after the test so I'm thinking the problem is a voltage drop due to the high current draw. I charged the Fenix cell to 4.2 volts and still got only low mode.
Surprisingly, an old AW RCR123A runs the light fine on high power for several minutes before going dark. Cycling the power allows the light to come back on for a while longer.
I put an unprotected Exell IMR 16340 in the -1T. After 25 minutes on high the light dimmed visibly (but would still switch between high and low) and at 35 minutes it started to flicker. At that point I discontinued the test and the battery read 2.12 volts when put into the Nitecore D4 charger. That's lower than I like to run even an IMR but it is good to know that the EDCL-1T has a nice tail of usable light as the battery depletes.
As with the EDCL-2T and E1B-MV, it looks to me like IMR cells are the way to go if you want to use rechargeable batteries on this high current draw light.
Low level on the -1T looks like the advertised five lumens, it seems much brighter on the EDCL-2T.
The hotspot is larger and perhaps a little more diffuse to my eye than the one on the -2T.
I get a very nostalgic 'back to the future' feeling handling EDCL-1T after comparing it to some L1's in the drawer. With the beautiful CNC knurling it seems to be a direct descendant of the pre-E1B lights of the golden PK era.
