Review : Utorch UT02 Flashlight (XHP35 / 26650 / usb rechargeable)(in progress)

Maybe it has something to do with these boost drivers pulling more amps as the battery voltage gets lower?

That’s the opposite of most buck drivers.

Confirmed : the short version protected 26650 KP’s fit. I bought them here
ebay supersport600

will these batteries work in this light ?”

https://www.amazon.com/ThorFire-5000mah-Battery-rechargeable-Flashlight/dp/B016D67OXA/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1488639159&sr=8-5&keywords=26650+battery

Those are protected cells and I don’t see anything there stating where the cut-off protection kicks in, you might run into issues with those as this light can pull close to 6A when a freshly charged cell is used and that will go up as the cell drains due to the regulated style Boost driver. They could also be a bit on the long side, regardless I feel like they’d fail due to the protection circuits.

We tend to shy away from cells ending in “Fire”, they just have a low track record. Try Liion Wholesalers and get some Basen cells or the 4200 Efest, something like that will do fine.

Thorfire is the only good “fire” brand.

I only buy from trusted stores. That way your guaranteed to get what you ordered.

Not necessarily so, Richard suggested I get the non-protected TrustFire 32650 for my TR-J20 and they actually work very well, outperforming anything I’ve seen and this in a 6000mAh 32650. That’s the only “fire” cells I have though, having had too much trouble with others in the past.

Efest, LG, Samsung, Sanyo, Panasonic, Sony, Basen, King Kong, Liitikola, there are a good many good cells out there. No reason to take chances with lesser “cheap” cells.

There has been a lot of discussion about Efest re-wrapping cells. I’ve tested many many cells and have never found a cell from any brand name that has performance characteristics matching the multitude of Efest cells I own. I have hundreds of cells, the highest concentration among these is Efest.

just got my utorch
2.5 amps tail
close to 1100 lumens best i can tell
97,600 lux tested numerous times
built like a brick, could knock somebody out with it no problem :open_mouth:
so im no modder, but do own a solder gun, lol
what can a dummy like me do to amp this thing up a bit ?
and btw, mine steps from a 150 lux ceiling bounce, to about 108 lux after about 4 minutes or so
is this normal ?

just retested at 10 meters
came in dead at 100kcd
was testing at 4 m

I would be careful modding this driver. If you want it to last, I would do a conservative power boost. See below.

Adding an R100 is all I would consider. The hardest part is getting one. Once you have it, you need a fine tip on your iron. It’s tricky soldering a resistor that is 3mm long and 1.5mm wide, but it can be done. I did it and there are videos of it on youtube.

thanks for that
is the 3 or 4 minute stepdown normal?
this light should be able to handle a good bit of heat the way its built

I don’t own this model, but I do believe the step down is normal. Check out Chris’s video review here.

He may mention it. Keep in mind early versions of this light had higher output and more heat, so it may have stepped down sooner. I’ll let an actual owner tell you about their stepdown times.

cant seem to find any videos
can you post a link if you can get 1?
ty sir :+1:

It was at the bottom of his review. Here is a direct link to youtube.

yeah , ive seen that one several times actually
i thought you meant there was a video for the mod we were talking about……

Oh, I don’t know of a video specific to this light, but the concept is the same. Do you already know where the sense resistors are on the UT02 driver? If not, I can hunt for a picture for you. [EDIT: Look at post 131 in this thread for the location.]

2:15 to 3:00

General videos

I recommend a tiny drop of super glue to hold the resistor on top or use a hemostat, if you have one, to hold it still. It likes to move around on you. Lol

I like the technique in those general videos. I might need some magnifying goggles to better see the tiny parts, though. :slight_smile:

Can someone recommend a good driver for xpg/xpl mod that I can buy from China, if there is any?

Unfortunately there isn’t any .

You can buy one from US , check MTN electronics.

So does the 50% step-down, mean after 90s it’s output is limited to 325lm(650lm/2) ?
Is there anyway to lower the bleeder resistor and increase output?
Despite the issues, it’s still difficult to find a thrower at $30 that has a built in charger.

mine steps down too
shame like you said for a heavy duty light
the dam things still ice cold after several reruns on turbo………

I agree 325lm is pretty bad for a XHP35, it has all the right stuff going for it why didn’t they just improve the driver.
Which Convoy C8 are you comparing to, XPL with 8 drivers? Or XPL with a FET?