Question about upgrading a bulb in a Surefire G2

[10-Ring]

IF I change the stock bulb on my G2, understand my batteries burn out faster, but what is the output of the new bulb? Stock is 65 lumens, so the upgrade is what; 90? 120? 135?

To anyone that has swapped out the bulb, was it worth it in lossed run time?

 

[usp_fan]

10-Ring,

I believe the upgraded out put is 120 lumens.

I have the G2Z but have not upgraded yet. I can't answer the last part of your question.

--usp_fan

 

[10-Ring]

I guess, now my only concern is w/ the run time penalty. 120 lumens out of my G2 would be perfect.

 

[10-Ring]

20 minutes? Seems like to stiff a penalty for the output Plus, judging from the number & speed in the replies of this thread, not many have done it...

 

[Rovert]

10-Ring, the difference is the P60 lamp produces 65 lumens of light for one hour, the P61 will generate roughly 120 lumens... but for 20 minutes.

At the end of the day, only you know what's "worth it" or not. It all depends on what role the light will play, and how you expect to use it. If you're working in close quarters, like changing a tire, walking the dog, or writing a traffic ticket, the 60 lumen lamp is fine. But its power in terms of 'reach' falls off very quickly, compared to the 120 lumen lamp, that will punch out a surprising distance. The P61 lamp is like a mini-searchlite, capable of illuminating the side of a building very well.

For me, I changed over to the 120 lumen lamp, because in the kind of scenarios that I forsee needing this light in, the extra punch is important, and I have other lighting sources for long-term, lower level needs.

The only concern I have regarding the P61 high-output lamp in the Nitrolon case is that if you DO run it for any length of time, it's said that the lamp can get so hot, it might melt the lens and/or case of the flashlight.

HTH.

 

[10-Ring]

I figured the upgraded bulb would get hot, but not hot enough to melt th housing Maybe I'll just develop other lighting options and keep my G2 stock...
Thanks for the info Rovert

 

[Ron L]

The guys at Candle power forums hot-rod just about anything with batteries and some sort of bulb. They'd have the best guess as to runtimes. They've helped me soup up a couple of Maglites too.

 

[harrydog]

I have an M2, which comes with both the 65 and the 125 lumen bulbs.
I had a UTL on an HK USP and compared to that, the 65 lumen output was disappointing to me. I switched to the 125 lumen bulb, which I feel is the least you need for a light used for defensive purposes. To me, the whole point in having a Surefire is the brightness they offer.
The 20 minute run time isn't a problem for me. The light is only used intermitantly, so 20 minutes continuous is plenty.
If you routinely need to have the light on for long periods of time, maybe one of the larger Surfires that offer longer run times would make sense.

 

[ocabj]

According to Surefire, the 60/65 lumen bulb will last 60 minutes. The 120 bulb only 20 min.

Realistically, there is a definite decrease in battery life. I have a G2 and a 6P. I upgraded my 6P to a 120 lumen bulb and noticed I had to change the battery out more often than I used to. I can't give you a solid number though. I never tried to test it out by intentionally running out the betteries and timing it.

I tend to use my G2 for all my utility stuff at work. But I always carry my 6P at all times for personal use/defense.

 

[Plan-B]

Here's some second hand information I've received.

My brother has one of the older 9Z Combat lights. He swapped out the stock P90 (105 lumen) lamp with the P91 (200 lumen) lamp. Surefire claims a runtime of 20 minutes with the P91, the same runtime as the P61 (120 lumen) lamp. Since the light isn't on continously (and you can't really use it that way in any event; see below) it's hard to gauge, but the run time is easily more than the quoted 20 minutes. How much more I can't say.

And yes, the 100+ lumen lamps are hot enough to melt the lenses. On one occasion he left the light on and walked away from it for a few minutes only to return and find a bubbled lens and a flashlight that was too hot to pick up. He also once had it in his back pocket while driving and realized that his left cheek was getting roasted because the button was being depressed as he was sitting on it.

 

[harrydog]

That's why I like the lock out feature that some models have.