New Lumens Factory option for Surefire 9N/9AN Commander

Illum

Flashaholic
Joined
Apr 29, 2006
Messages
13,053
Location
Central Florida, USA
Looks interesting for sure, considering the the halogens are $30 a pop thats not bad.

The biggest hurdle for the 9N/9AN is the battery. The Surefire original is.... just ok, 1700mAH, very high self discharge rate.
 

DayofReckoning

Enlightened
Joined
May 1, 2018
Messages
573
Location
USA
Looks interesting for sure, considering the the halogens are $30 a pop thats not bad.

The biggest hurdle for the 9N/9AN is the battery. The Surefire original is.... just ok, 1700mAH, very high self discharge rate.

You are being too nice about the B90 :) IMHO it was a terrible battery from the beginning. I swapped it out for a Streamlight Stinger battery, from Empire I believe, and saw a substantial increase in performance in my 8X/8NX lights. Sadly, due to the design, the Stinger batteries will not work in the 9AN :(
 

sidfishez

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Dec 8, 2017
Messages
199
I have just installed a Lumens Factory LED in my 9n and was impressed. First, by the brightness and second the working time on stock B90 batteries that would only keep the stock bulb going for a few minutes. Great runtime with a single 18650 with adapter ( no stats yet). Also since the Lumens Factory LED is good to 9 volts, I have had excellent results using a paper wrap and two 20650 batteries (no adapter).
 

thermal guy

Flashaholic
Joined
Jan 28, 2007
Messages
9,981
Location
ny
This company is great! They are basically keeping old school Surefire's alive. IMO
 

Mark@LF

Enlightened
Joined
Nov 2, 2006
Messages
590
Location
Hong Kong
LOL, thank you for the support guys.

Yes, keeping those much loved good quality old school lights alive is part of the ideals of the company.
They just don't make lights like they used to, some lights can never be replaced in my opinion.
So finding ways to update and upgrade them are always fun for me.

Just because they use an "obsolete" light source (which I disagree entirely)
Perfectly good and high quality lights (not to mention high priced when brought) should not be left in the drawer to collect dust when many of them are better built, engineered and designed than the new lights that are available now.

Fun fact, the 9AN was THE very first Surefire I ever brought.
I brought it maybe in 2004, before Lumens Factory was established.
It was brought as a Birthday gift for my Father.
We actually modded the original incandescent lamps (both the high beam and low beam) when the high beam died.
It was left on the shelf after all this time and until I decided to look into the possibilities of a LED module for it early last year (2018).
I admit that I should have done this long ago, hopefully people still keep theirs around.

So I started the 8X/8NX/8AX project shortly after the release of the 9AN-LED module because I should have done it long ago for that light as well. LOL.

And yes, the 8X/8NX/8AX LED module is recently done and already released.

Old flashlights never die, with love, dedication and upgrades they wouldn't fade away either.



Cheers and Happy New Year.

Mark
 
Last edited:

RamTuff

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Dec 29, 2018
Messages
92
Location
NW Alabama
Can anyone comment on the functionality of the 9N's charging cradle/base with newer form batteries? i.e. will it charge the 18650/20650's mentioned here in the thread?

And definitely +1 on Lumens Factory, customer service is outstanding.


Edit: After re-reading the thread title, my apologies for potentially diverting the thread. Think I found my answer; by accident, in; of all places, an eBay add for a 9AN Commander...

"NOTE don't charge 18650 in stock charger, it's for B90 cells ONLY"
 
Last edited:

Nortiz1035

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Feb 25, 2019
Messages
6
This is great! I love the look and feel of the 9an, but the batteries were garbage. I swear they only lasted 5 minutes a charge..... looks like I may be resurrecting the old girl sooner than I thought.
 

FernT458

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Apr 27, 2019
Messages
2
I have just installed a Lumens Factory LED in my 9n and was impressed. First, by the brightness and second the working time on stock B90 batteries that would only keep the stock bulb going for a few minutes. Great runtime with a single 18650 with adapter ( no stats yet). Also since the Lumens Factory LED is good to 9 volts, I have had excellent results using a paper wrap and two 20650 batteries (no adapter).


Hi,

would you mind sharing which adaptor you use on the 9n with the 18650?

Thanks
 

sidfishez

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Dec 8, 2017
Messages
199
FernT458. TAD customs makes a two piece aluminum capsule for the 18650 that replaces the stock B90 battery. Also altermann has a capsule adapter for the 18650 that has a built in mcClicky switch for added ease of opreration. TAD is about $40 plus shipping. altermann gets about $55 plus. Hope this helps you.
 

FernT458

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Apr 27, 2019
Messages
2
FernT458. TAD customs makes a two piece aluminum capsule for the 18650 that replaces the stock B90 battery. Also altermann has a capsule adapter for the 18650 that has a built in mcClicky switch for added ease of opreration. TAD is about $40 plus shipping. altermann gets about $55 plus. Hope this helps you.


Thank you very much...!
 
Top