SF U2 TO GET UPGRADE FOR 2008?

Great thread guys. :thumbsup:

I have no particular reason to think this other than a gut feel, but my guess is SureFire will incorporate an as-yet unreleased Lumileds LED, basically a successor to the Rebel but packaged more like a LuxIII, into the next-generation U2. For some reason I think SureFire is looking to reach 300 lumens at 1A with its next generation. The Rebel has (finally!) given them some good momentum, and it wouldn't surprise me a bit to see them leverage that technology in a further refined form, into the successor to the Luxeon. That would also seem to support the SF tech's comment about '12 months out.'

And yes, I'm working on quad-Rebel upgrades of the existing U2 right now. It's the worst kept secret of any of my builds, ever! Haven't even devoted a proper thread to it yet, and already it seems like everybody knows what it's all about. oo:

I can say this: I haven't had the pleasure of owning a U2 myself, but recently grabbed one specifically to mod it. I'm just as excited as anybody about this one... the first one, built for iNDIGLo, performed great!

We live in great times for LED lighting.

What is this "quad-rebel" U2 upgrade? Definetly want to see that!

KDOG3, definitely do a search for the Quad Rebel mod from Milky. 400+ lumens from four Rebels. I have a U2 at Milky Labs right now for his mod. and I'm eagerly anticipating the results (no pressure Milky )

Praxis said:

I have a U2 at Milky Labs right now for his mod. and I'm eagerly anticipating the results (no pressure Milky )

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Haha I wonder how many U2's Milky got sent to him in the last month? Mine is there also awaiting this build!

milkyspit said:

Great thread guys. :thumbsup:

I have no particular reason to think this other than a gut feel, but my guess is SureFire will incorporate an as-yet unreleased Lumileds LED, basically a successor to the Rebel but packaged more like a LuxIII, into the next-generation U2. For some reason I think SureFire is looking to reach 300 lumens at 1A with its next generation. The Rebel has (finally!) given them some good momentum, and it wouldn't surprise me a bit to see them leverage that technology in a further refined form, into the successor to the Luxeon. That would also seem to support the SF tech's comment about '12 months out.'

And yes, I'm working on quad-Rebel upgrades of the existing U2 right now. It's the worst kept secret of any of my builds, ever! Haven't even devoted a proper thread to it yet, and already it seems like everybody knows what it's all about. oo:

I can say this: I haven't had the pleasure of owning a U2 myself, but recently grabbed one specifically to mod it. I'm just as excited as anybody about this one... the first one, built for iNDIGLo, performed great!

We live in great times for LED lighting.

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U2 Mod definately looks like something I may have to do sometime soon...

Haha I wonder how many U2's Milky got sent to him in the last month? Mine is there also awaiting this build!

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I know of one other U2 sitting with Milky awaiting this mod.

MSax

I think poor Milky got slammed with U2s. I know he was carefully counting his Rebel 100 emitters making sure he had enough for all the U2 projects. I'm keeping my fingers crossed...

:thumbsup:Anyone out there with a Milky modded U2 have any feedback? I'd like to hear how you like them. Can't find anything on my search attempts. Any other information would be appreciated:

Turnaround time

Approximate cost (unless this is a faux pas)

Beamshots

Thanks!

I would also love some more info about Milky's U2s there seems to be very little info for what could potentially be an absolutely awesome light!

I cant find much with the search either.

gilly said:

:thumbsup:Anyone out there with a Milky modded U2 have any feedback? I'd like to hear how you like them. Can't find anything on my search attempts. Any other information would be appreciated:

Turnaround time

Approximate cost (unless this is a faux pas)

Beamshots

Thanks!

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Gilly, perhaps I could provide some details. You didn't find much info because I never actually posted a thread dedicated to the U2by2 upgrades... and yes, that's a less-than-inspired name... I showed the initial prototype at PF9, which I'd hosted at my home, and word seems to have gone around about them mainly from that... ended up with several orders and didn't post a formal thread mainly so I didn't get hopelessly swamped!

Anyway, I apologize for the general lack of info out there.

Like them? Uh... well... I have one and certainly like it!

Cost? The upgrade to your U2 currently costs $245 plus shipping. That can vary a bit based on price fluctuations in the necessary supplies, improvements in the build process, etc.

Turnaround time? Far too long! Folks started ordering these in October and only in the past couple weeks have I begun to deliver them. I anticipate the delay was a one-time situation though... basically I had to source, fabricate and/or invent virtually every component involved in the upgrade! I was totally unprepared to start building these on any sort of scale. It's one thing to put together a one-off by hand-fabricating everything... quite another to make the process repeatable to build a number of them with the sort of consistent level of quality that I expect of myself. I sourced custom-sized mineral glass lenses, created custom Rebel micro-stars (more like tiny squares actually), standardized dimensions for the custom heatsink with a local machine shop, sourced supplies of good-quality Rebel-100 emitters and matching reflectors, and more. Then Lumileds (manufacturer of the Rebel-100) issued a recall on the parts! Some of mine were affected, some not... that's required me to do additional in-house testing and replace some of the mounted emitters. (Grumble grumble.)

Anyway, going forward the general timeframe for MY piece of the work looks to be about 2 weeks. ADD TO THAT an unknown amount of time for the U2 head to be prepped by the local machine shop... my work gets slipped between jobs from their larger customers, so that lag time could be a couple days, or it could be a few weeks. I have little control over this aspect of the timeframe.

Specs? Max output increased to roughly 500 lumens. The other brightness levels are increased proportionally... so for example, if level 5 is normally half the output of level 6, it will remain that way... but now will be half of 500 lumens. The light retains its six brightness levels, same runtime each level as the stock light had, same battery compatibility as the stock light had, less heat generation and greater efficiency.

Beamshots? Here's a beam profile...



Here's a collage showing all six levels aimed at a target roughly 40 yards away...



Here's a collage featuring our friendly neighborhood skeleton cat...



Merkaba, hope the above helps!

I just read the very well detailed post you did about your U2 mod. Can you tell me if that mod is available on the U2 Porcupine variant?? I'm willing to bet that you know what that variant is.........however if you don't it was a limited production run that went to the Asian market with a seriously crenulated 5 prong strike bezel on it. I don't know how "involved" the strike bezel interface is to the head of the U2.........have you ever dealt with one of them before?? I'm thinking your mod would certainly make that light even more unique!!

Thanks, XPLRN

PS..........this was supposed to ba a PM to Milkyspit......however your PM box is full.

XPLRN said:

I just read the very well detailed post you did about your U2 mod. Can you tell me if that mod is available on the U2 Porcupine variant?? I'm willing to bet that you know what that variant is.........however if you don't it was a limited production run that went to the Asian market with a seriously crenulated 5 prong strike bezel on it. I don't know how "involved" the strike bezel interface is to the head of the U2.........have you ever dealt with one of them before?? I'm thinking your mod would certainly make that light even more unique!!

Thanks, XPLRN

PS..........this was supposed to ba a PM to Milkyspot......however your PM box is full.

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Uh... I'm Milkyspit, not Milkyspot, but will assume this was intended for my anyway! Hee hee.

Yup, inbox full, you could always PM me at CPF Marketplace or email me here...



Anyway, YES, no problem with working on the U2-P. I've never had the pleasure of owning one but have seen them, and you're right, the upgrade should work fine in those. Let me know if you'd like me to work on one and I can get you mailing info and such. That would be a fun project! :thumbsup:

milkyspit said:

...I never actually posted a thread dedicated to the U2by2 upgrades...

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Personally I like the name, "Ux4". Of course, I would pronounce that as "You buy four". Then you know those "in the know" from those "not in the know", because the former group sounds goofy and smug at the same time, and general marketing efforts have a nifty-looking designation...

Then again, I've always been a fan of cheese.

DROOOL!!!!
This is possibly the most awesome mod I have ever seen. Now only if my Milky budget could handle that...

Interesting how that 'i' and 'o' are side by side on the keyboard. Just a minor finger movement can change a spit to a spot!!

Thanks for the info, I'll be sending you an e-mail.

milkyspit said:

Uh... I'm Milkyspit, not Milkyspot, but will assume this was intended for my anyway! Hee hee.

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Masque said:

Personally I like the name, "Ux4". Of course, I would pronounce that as "You buy four". Then you know those "in the know" from those "not in the know", because the former group sounds goofy and smug at the same time, and general marketing efforts have a nifty-looking designation...

Then again, I've always been a fan of cheese.

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Haha... I quite like 'U2X2'. Doesn't that sound good?! Can we call it that Scott, Please??

Milky-

Thanks very much for your time and effort in answering my question! VERY nice. I'll have to start saving up! Any idea how long you might be continuing on with this mod?

This mod is better (IMO) than the upcoming revised U2 with the SSC P7...
Time to start thinking...
Great job

Anthony

gilly said:

Milky-

Thanks very much for your time and effort in answering my question! VERY nice. I'll have to start saving up! Any idea how long you might be continuing on with this mod?

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Gilly, I'll continue to offer this upgrade as long as I can get appropriate parts, and as long as people want me to do it.

RoL (Anthony), thanks for your very kind words!

Yay, just saw Milky's update to this thread. I can't wait to get my upgraded U2 back from him! I'll be happy to write up a brief review of the mod once I have the light in hand.

Milky, will 18650s work with this mod or will I need to go back to CR123s?



So hard to be patient

Ben