This is a mini review of the 900L P7 LED Conversion Head that fits the Surefire M series body. I was willing to try one out and wanted to see if it can do what it claims. Do an eBay search for “ Surefire 900L ” - there were none listed at the time of this writing.
It was mailed in a plain bubble type envelope that was in a USPS Priority Mail envelope that came from CA, USA. My first impression was… eh! The finish is a dull bead blasted looking olive drab. I am not sure if it is actually hard anodized but I tried scratching it lightly with a key and nothing. I didn’t want to deep scratch it on purpose yet; I will let time do its thing. The color matches the Surefire SW02 switch but without the glossiness. The reflector looks decent and it has a light stippled finish. The base of the reflector, where the LED is, is flat with a diameter of about 1”. The LED seems dead center and the yellowish reflector glow appears uniform but there is no reflection of the LED on the flat area, it remains silver in color. Seller states 9v-12v operating range.
The OAL is 79.85mm (3.114”). The bezel is lightly crenulated and has an outside diameter of 53.91mm.(2.122”) at its widest and has a nice clean shape down to the cooling fins. The glass window is 1.84mm (.0725”) in thickness and has a diameter of 50.8mm (2”). It is not coated in any way. I didn’t remove the reflector for it did not drop out on its own. There was a thin o-ring between the reflector and inner edge of the head. I didn’t want to chance scratching the reflector should I slip in removing the o-ring with a pick or the o-ring popping out touching the reflector leaving a smudge..
The back of the head has the standard 2 spring contact points. Center spring (+) is silver and the outer spring (-) is gold. Not sure if it is ‘gold’ plated though I doubt it. The springs can be pulled out of the base quite easily and I don’t like that. The wires remained attached but I don’t see any solder on the wire/spring contact point. It could be spot welded.
The threading looks good and it fit with no problems. It was a very nice feel screwing it on an M3/M4 body. It made very good contact with the o-ring and felt like it should give a proper seal.
The rated operating voltage is 9-12vdc. This means it can be used with three or four CR123 primaries or three 3.7v RCR123 rechargeable cells.
The beam pattern is very impressive for a medium cost wanna be high end accessory/mod. The hot spot has a soft outer edge that feather out to the side spill. It seems to be dead center and the side spill has the hexagon shape of the bezel. There are no dark spots or artifacts in the beam. This to me shows that everything is lined up properly and seems to be pretty well built. Though I don’t know what the inside electronics looks like.
Camera shutter @ 1/320 sec beam pattern...
I compared this 900L P7 to two other Flashlights that I thought would be a good comparison. The Surefire L6 and the ‘ARC mania’ SF-V 3 cell in Black HA… the only one in existence. All camera setting were the same for these 3 beam pictures and was set at 1 sec shutter, ISO50, f2.8, tripod mounted with 2 sec timer used for a steady shot.
L to R * Surefire Z3 w/900L P7(3xRCR123) * SF-V(3xRCR123) * Surefire L6(3xCR123)
Surefire L6…
900L P7 Head…
ARC mania SF-V 3 cell…
The beam for the L6 in the picture looks like it needs to go to the doctor to get fixed up. I took the picture twice and it was the same. I doesn’t look that bad live but I have to use what the camera sees. The L6 tint is on the greenish side. The 900L P7 kept up with the SF-V… NOT! It did run a middle second though. The pics don’t do justice in the real world of beam shots. I have yet to see one beat the SF-V in its size/power source category. If the SF-V is rated at around 1000 lumens then the 900L P7 maybe putting out what it claims.
Current draw on 3 x CR123 (9.13vdc) = 2.08 amps
Current draw on 3 x RCR123 (12.25vdc) = 0.87 amps
Amp readings were taken at the 5 sec mark. Meaning, once I hooked up the meter and the light came on, I counted 5 seconds and what ever was displayed on the meter at that point is what I recorded. Unknown if this head is reverse polarity protected and no I didn’t want to try to see if it was.
Using 3 x RCR’s it ran for 24 min before dimming to a very low low. I immediately turned it off and back on again and it went right to full brightness. 20 seconds later it dimmed again. I did it one more time and this time it remained on for 30 sec before dimming. I stopped and turned it off. I don’t know if it could be the battery protection starting to kick in or if the head has a temperature sensor. It turns back to full brightness again immediately but I just turned it off. I didn’t want to hurt anything. The outside temperature of the head was 116.5 F. It was very warm to the touch but manageable.
And now for some Flashlight porn with this 900L P7 head on some sexy bodies…
Surefire M4 body…
Surefire M3 body…
FM 2x18650 body…
And my favorite… the Surefire Z3 with a C to M adapter and an SW02 tail…
Size comparison group hug…
I didn't have any other Flashlights with a P7 LED to compare this too and I know it was not a fair fight but I did the best I could under the circumstances.
Would I recommend this head?,,, YES! It is a definite go in my book for a quick easy medium cost upgrade (for what you get) for the M series Surefire Flashlights or any M series threaded body you may own. Just don’t exceed the 12v maximum. Reliability and longevity remains to be seen.
Njoy…
