Great review, thanks for sharing.
A great mod for this light is swapping the pill from a Trustfire R5-A3/ or SA-2.
I did the strobe delete mod first on mine then swapped the pill.
C3 pill on left R5-A3/ SA-2 pill on right
Now I have a 360 lumen 3 mode (low,medium,high) XP-G R5 C3.
The SS C3s are the only ones I can recommend... less chance of contact issues that many aluminum ones had/have. The 93mm ones I got from Lightake back in the days, were nice for the money paid. I am not the biggest fan of SS in general on 1AA lights.
@E1320: I have a R5-A3 with a defective tailcap switch laying around here somewhere. Maybe I will also do your mod.
Oh please say that you were able to kill the strobe on the original C3? Pretty please, and how. :) (I guess you were referring to the R5-A3, but i try to feel lucky)
Great review old4570, at first i tought there was something going wrong on BLF and a otherwise high reply count old thread was somehow resurrected with low count. :)
I still like mine and over 1 year of steady use it is still reliable as the 1st day. Not gonna try a 14500 in it as i fear the driver might get cooked. IF i can make it Hi-lo i might even consider getting a nw emitter for it.
Sorry no magic for the original C3 pill. I am very partial to the look and feel of Stainless and the C3 is an awesome EDC especially with a 3 mode XPG in there. I don't know how it could get any better unless you want a 3 mode XML in which case I just swap the pill with my XML converted R5-A3.
I have 2 SS C3's and have been pretty disappointed in them. The first one never worked correctly, always had to loosen the tailcap or tighten internals up to make it light, I finally threw it out.
The 2nd one works ok but the beam is weak.
Mine is still performing admirably. I retired it not long ago with the Wk25 and later on by the Wk21 meteor for edc. A totally different beast but i never stopped liking the SS c3. If only modes were decent (ok that tint is also subpar for nowadays standards)...
This light is a thrower & bright use 14500 with memory as well! But Balder SE-1 is my EDC now. It's a floody & brighter but no memory.
Is yours 93mm long and does it still work with AA batteries after using 14500?
This has a different driver then the lightake 93mm version, just so everyone knows. The lightake version has unnoticeable PWM like a Nitecore or the UF2100 but will fry on 14500.
Review sample , comes out at 99mm according to my callipers ...
It' very expensive and I think that the seller is not U.K based.
It's Driven correctly.
Mine is 97mm long can takes both AA & 14500.
See this link: http://www.dealextreme.com/p/ultrafire-c3-stainless-steel-cree-q5-wc-5-mode-190-lumen-memory-led-flashlight-1-aa-1-14500-26122
I didn't like the shape or feel ..it felt heavy ..What's the weight compared to the B2s ?
Of course stainless steel is heavier than traditional aluminium! See my above link.
Great review Old, thanks a lot for giving this nice classic some press. Frontpage'd and Sticky'd.
So, where the best source for a C3 SS? I just gave mine away, and I'm looking for a replacement. My main requirement aside from good quality is tailstand-ability and a good low mode. I will not buy from DX any more. Some versions of this light have a slightly protruding switch, whereas others are properly recessed. Suggestions please? Thanks!
Since the review light was provided by Flashlight Heaven, I'd hate to post another link but I gotta say they are really really overpriced.
This looks like a better deal (if you don't wanna go through DX) but I've never tried BestOfferBuy before so I can't say if they're any good:
I have the 93mm long version from DX, and it is very good. It works fine on every AA-sized battery (alkaline, nimh and Lithium-ion).
But it is a little heavy compared to aluminium flashlights.
I own two of these (one EDC and one spare I keep in a box) and I've purchased 8 of them (over the last year) for friends that want one after they see mine. I have 5 things that I do to every C3 that I purchase...
1. Trim the tailcap switch boot about 1mm on the inside where it touches the switch - tailstands a little better and doesn't ghost push the switch in your pocket.
2. Screw the switch down tighter into the tailcap assembly - keeps it from flickering and gives a brighter output.
3. Screw the pill all the way down into the head, gives the LED firmer contact with the pill, cleans up the beam, makes it more reliable.
4. Add a trimmed "business card" into the body where the battery sits - takes all the play/slop out of the battery and makes it much more reliable, keeps it from switching modes if shaken or dropped.
5. Add a blob of solder to the positive portion of the driver that touches the battery (or you can add a spring) - keeps it from changing modes and keeps it from flickering if dropped or shaken.
It's misleading to talk about "the Ultrafire C3 SS", there are lots of models and probably none of them are made by Ultrafire. One of them are/were made by the Aurora factory.
Although it's a little more expensive, the Manafont version is 3 mode, no blinkies, with a SS switch. Mine doesn't tailstand however...I've never taken it apart to see if anything can be done with it. But it's a great little light, especially when coupled with a Fenix pocket clip.
I would pay the $20 just for the 3-mode (if it's as good as the original of course).