Review: Uniquefire G10 1xAA [ 14500 ] 6 Mode

Hi everyone! I am new to this forum and I really like what I read so far.

I bought this one too on DX and mine worked quite well for some time with 14500 but eventually it died aswell, after an hour of usage in total I would say.

I tried to solder it to be direct driven as described above but being a total newbie I killed the LED in the process. I believe my driver was killed because one of the transistors (or whatever the little black things are) became loose as a result of getting too hot. I could here it rattle after the light died and it fell out after unsoldering the circuit board from the round thingy (I am not only an electronics newb but also not a native speaker of English)

DX gave me store credit however so it was definitely worth the try.

The thing is: I really loved this flashlight, it was perfect in all respects except that it dies of course.

Does anyone have a recommendation for a light that is comparable in size and light output that really works with 14500 batteries?

I also own a Ultrafire C1 which is an awesome light but a bit bulky for an EDC and a C3 which is quite handy but definitely lacks the punch of the G10.

Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for your help.

Hello Tim

You could try the Ultrafire U20 Cree XP-G $17.60I have this light and it works with 14500 and AA batteries.

But the king of AA/14500 lights would be the Trustfire R5-A3 ($14.70, $14.08)this is the brightest light. The Manafont light is High/Mid/Strobe the other 2 light are High/Low/Strobe.

You could also try the Ultrafire M2 $18.03 .

I have a M2 on the way ... Got my fingers crossed ...

Do you mean the Ultrafire C3? I have both the G10 and the C3 and the latter is brighter.

But C3 comes in different versions. Do buy the Manafont R5, this:

http://www.manafont.com/product_info.php/ultrafire-c3-cree-r5-led-mode-flashlight-aa14500-p-4432

Aloha and welcome to BLF Tim!

Might I suggest the SkyRay S-A1. It isn't a XP-G but it is an XP-E. It works great on nimh and 14500. It is a very nice torch and I am sure you will love one. It has a great beam. It is my favorite torch under 20 bucks.

Hi Tim,

Unless you were holding the soldering iron against the LED, you didn't kill it. There are two parts to the driver's circuitry -- voltage boost and pulse-width modulation. The former allows an alkaline or NiMH to drive the LED, the latter blinks the LED extremely rapidly to get the different brightness levels. It sounds like the latter failed when the component came loose (most likely not properly soldered in the first place -- I doubt the driver would have gotten hot enough to melt the solder). You should still be able to convert the light to pure direct drive by connecting the two LED leads to battery+ and battery-. At least on the driver board I messed with, the transistor that switches the LED for PWM is between the LED- lead and battery-, while the voltage boost circuit is between battery+ and LED+. Doing so loses the modes, of course -- no blinkies and no low/medium.

sad to hear the drivers in these flashlights are burning out on 14500's. i have used the s10,

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/uniquefire-s10-cree-r2-wc-220-lumen-led-flashlight-black-1-aa-1-14500-30987

for at least a year now as my EDC always with an 14500 and have never had a problem. Would've loved to upgrade to an XP-G. :/

I'm running 1-Mode G10 with 14500, still working. Very bright, gets hot quickly thou.

so which driver would you guys recommend for this light? im here bc my driver also died but i never ran any 14500's, one that could handle 14500 and nimh would be ideal i have had these recommended, but dont know much about these things or how to solder them to the flashlight

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/2-8-4-2v-3-mode-circuit-board-for-flashlights-16-7mm-50527

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/5-mode-1000ma-7135-circuit-board-for-cree-and-ssc-emitters-6190

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/3v-8-4v-5w-cree-5-mode-circuit-board-for-flashlights-16-8mm-6-3mm-26107

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/1-5v-4-2v-3w-cree-circuit-board-for-flashlights-16-7mm-5-6mm-25505

did you still want to run AA ?

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/17mm-1000ma-5-mode-with-mode-memory-leddriver-circuit-board-for-cree-xr-e-emitters-0-9-4-5v-input-15880

No surprise to anyone that has one of these lights, but my driver died after 5 minutes on a 14500. Will not work at all now. Oh well, time to change the driver.

This is a good AA only light = I need to buy another ... Just to run AA ... You can buy so much worse

Would be nice if the driver was a little more efficient

Just wanted to let everyone know I used the SKU: 1610 .9 to 4.2 volt driver from Shiningbeam to replace the one I killed. It is 15mm and fits perfect in the stock pill, and I like getting rid of the blinkys and having just low med and high. The light pulls 1.94 amps on high with an AW 14500 IMR, and 1.79 amps with a duracell. I tested the amps at 4.14 volts and then ran it down in one of my high draw lights to 3.87 and it was still pulling 1.89 to 1.9 amps. As you can imagine it is really pumping out the lumens with li-ion now. Overall very happy as I really like the style of this light.

That's on the high side I have a RCR123 light which I have modded and that run 1.9Amps. My only lasts between 12 and 20mins depending on battery. How long does your run for on high?

I do not know the run time yet, but prob not more than 15 mins or so on high. Driver pulls a lot more amps on high than what is advertised. First one of these I have used, so I will have to see what the next one I use pulls.

The driver of my LED is defective. I dismantled the part of the button on/off turning the silvery metal that has two holes. But I can not dismantle the part that is the led. How do I dismount the part that has led to remove the driver?

I have a single mode version from dx, glass looked clear until the light was turned on, inside of glass was kinda foggy on the inside, i took it apart cleaned it out with alcohol. Looks much better, been wanting to put a 14500 in it for the longest time but have decided against it. Anyone have experience with the single mode version? mine draws a litte over 2 amps, definitely nothing close to my 2AA fenix ld20 q5. Nice smooth whitish blue compared to my greener more natural q5 in the ld20. Pushing the budget for a small budget light, but i like it because i can wear it on my head, works perfect with the fenix headband.

I'm sure I read somewhere that the 1 mode version of this light was more likely to be 14500 tolerant, but I can't now recall where I read it. I've a FandyFire badged version on order http://www.dealextreme.com/p/fandyfire-g10-cree-xpg-r5-6-mode-350lm-white-led-memory-flashlight-w-strap-1-x-14500-1-x-aa-91699 and I'm hoping that maybe this one can run on 14500's; I'll probably risk it. If not, then I guess I'll have to learn how to change a driver..

I did it, i stuffed a 14500 in mine tonight, never going over the 1 minute mark while using it, but so far, so good, light output nearly doubled. My uniquefire g10 single mode is brighter than an aurora ssc p7 flashlight i have which runs on an 18650, i havent done a current draw test with the 14500, because im afraid to, but my p7 doesnt draw much current tho, well under 1.5 amps more like 1.2 amps well under the 2 amps or more everyone claims. So it could be under driven, its the five mode version aurora ak p7. My g10 has a brighter more intense hotspot and the spill is about even. Cant believe what i was missing out on. G10 users who havent ran a 14500, man i feel sorry for you guys. Mine was a single mode, so be weary if its any other one i guess.