I’m thinking on using this driver in another host. Is the switch mainly to blame for many of the troubles or are there problems with the driver as well? I’m tryinf to decide if it is generally reliable enough to repurpose. Any out there had a reliable UT01 for a good amount of time?
So this light just regain popoularity recentlt, i see
For 10$, im sure this light is one of the best bang for buck
I am having one, for half a yeah i guess, is there any changes in new batch, if not, i am considering getting another one
I wonder if perhaps they’re more ‘14500’ sensitive than we think.
I’ve been using my two at every opportunity since they arrived, using only Energizer Ultimate lithium primaries, and so far I can’t even coax an error from either. I’ve tried loosening the tail cap (even when lit), cycling modes rapidly, and using them for long periods as candles. So far, not a flicker of misbehaviour. I’m amazed at the runtimes; while I haven’t been keeping track or doing any formal runtime tests and using all modes indiscriminately, these things act like they’re never going to die!
Alternately, since these are being offered at what feels like a ‘clear out’ price, I wonder if there might be a high incidence of problems and Utorch simply wants to empty the shelves. I’m reminded of the Thrunite Neutron 2-AA of a couple of years back. IF you got a good one, you had a wonderfully efficient and truly outstanding flashlight. The trouble was, there was a high incidence of problems, so the model was dropped in favour of the not-quite-so-efficient Archer.
I have two more inbound that I intended for gifts. I’ll put them through their paces as well when they arrive (I don’t want to gift ‘problems’), but so far I’m really impressed. At $10 apiece, even if I get two good ones out of the four, I’ll still feel I got a bargain.
I recently ordered another one for $9.99 and i hope it’ll be good too, but after reading the recent posts here, i think i can expect some trouble…
Juts to be sure, aren’t the 14500 problems you guys mention due to the limited length of the battery compartment?
I modded the tailcap of mine to gain space for protected button top 14500s, otherwise i couldn’t get the tailcap to screw on all the way.
But the problems i just read sound like they have a different cause…
I ordered one today for $10, OK $12 somethiing with priority line to get it faster and tracking. Hope the SW is good. I will certainly put a few switches in my cart for the next electronic order.
I don’t believe that to be the case for me because I am using unprotected, flat top 14500 IMR (efest purple). So they are as short as possible, and at no point do I get the feeling there is excessive pressure.
I dont use protected cells, but that would really be the only way for me to confirm.
As near as I can tell, my problem seems to be something in the driver
I forgot I uploaded a video on the programming aspect of these lights:
The lowest output is about 2 Lumens with either chemistry. As near as I can tell the only difference is in the brightest turbo setting. Where 14500 gains the full ~750 OTF. On an eneloop the brightest turbo is around 375 OTF.
IIRC these lights have a low voltage protection… so you can’t run dead alkalines (or any battery for that matter) completely dead. Someone please correct me though.
The light does have lvp but it’s not voltage based alone as it will run fine from 2.5v-3.2v without problem as long as the battery can provide the power. If the voltage sags too much and fails to deliver the expected current the driver shuts off.
Re problems: reviewing back through the thread does not confirm wether or not the problems are switch related. The problems are all related to using the switch and in some cases changing the switch solved the problems. But there has not been enough reports to indicate what is the status after changing the switch to confirm for certain that it is the switch.
One theory I have is that the problem may be related to how the driver handles reading denouncing of the switch. Different switches have different response images even with the same switch model so if the driver is not calibrated to a wide enough variance there may be problems even if the switch isn’t technically faulty. If this is the case, changing the switch may help or it may not