Ultrafire 501A & 504B Hosts

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
1

The Ultrafire 501A , takes a 16340 [ RCR123A ] to 18350 battery and is a P60 host .

This one came from Manafont.com , and is very well priced . link will take you to the 501A


Now I found myself in a curious position of having too many P60 drop ins in my spare parts box , and I was looking for an excuse to buy another 501A for one of my favorite drop ins , recently made homeless by my Dual XM-L drop in . Yes I'm talking about my Dual XP-G R5 drop in , and I think it works in the 501B really well .


For the price [ payed some $5.89 ] this is one heck of a deal , and if you have a few P60 pills doing nothing , then for the price of a Hamburger , you could have a very nice little flashlight . There is only one issue with the 501A I have to talk about , the clicky needs adjustment . As it comes the nipple on the rubber boot puts pressure on the switch causing variable output and flickering , the cure is so simple . One only has to trim the nipple on the rubber boot about 1mm to release the pressure , and the switch becomes very reliable and consistent , but seriously , $6 posted to your door , so it needs a little nipple tweak [ ok , I just had to say that , OK! , I had to ] .


Aside from the small clicky issue , this is a wonderful host .Mine is very well made , everything goes together tight , there are O rings where they need to be , the threads are well cut , anodizing is nice and even , and it just exceeds the price paid by such a huge margin , this really is a must have host if you have some spare P60 pills lying around gathering dust . Now the other nice thing , is the ability to run 18350 cells , this is a huge plus , as it gives you more options for the P60 pill you want to run . And in this regard , I have gone with the Dual XP-G R5 , for some approximately 400L output , making this a very nice little pocket light . And in case you were wondering , this is my 3rd 501A now , and there is no buyers remorse what so ever , in fact , I love it .




Ultrafire 504B , Takes 2 x 16340 [ 18350 ] or a 18650 battery and is a P60 host.

This one came from Manafont.com , and is very well priced .


What can I say , with some 9 spare P60 drop ins doing nothing , I had a good excuse to buy the 504B .

Now I put a stock standard 5 mode Solarforce XR-E drop in into this host just to get a feel for it , as I will be building some more XM-L drop ins in the near future , I will end up with even more P60 drop ins doing nothing . Well lets talk about the 504 , no real flaws to talk about , as it came it worked just fine . For the $8 shipped to my door price , its a very nice host , and it just looks Bling !

The threads are very well cut , O rings through out , low profile bezel , nice even shinny anodizing , just a lot of value for the $8 spent , which would be comparable to a Burger with fries and a coke . Have we lost perspective ? , because this is really good value . Again if you find yourself with a growing collection of P60 pills as I do , I cant think of a cheaper , or better for the $ spent , host .


The only thing I could possibly pick on , just to dig up something , is there was just a little slop in the head [ threads ] but the O ring fits well [ seals ] and once the head is tightened down , its really a non issue , and its the tailcap that comes on and off on a regular basis , and the fit is very nice , would be hard to find better until you go L2P or something . The action and feel on the tail clicky is almost perfect , I would have like a little more tension , but thats just me . Over all a very nice host , looks fantastic , works well , I had no issues with it , and I can based on this example , recommend it to anyone looking for a 18650 host for less than $10 shipped to there door . Just in case you were wondering , will it LEGO with Solarforce parts , the answer is yes .


2

I like 501A too. I will squeeze 18650 inside it. It's tight, but doable. I have tested it successfully, but negative path and beam pattern still needs some tweaking. I'm lacking in the motivation department just now as Finnish summer is at it's best and terrace + beer are more appealing to me than soldering + dremeling + DMM:ing. And there's no need for flashlights before August anyway, as summer nights here are not dark, but rather dimmish here in the south. In the north sun shines 24/7 for couple of months.

3

I have a bunch of the L2's and clones. IMO the quality ladder goes real l2 -> KD/LT fake l2 -> DX 504b. Which isn't to say the 504b is bad, just not as nice as the fake l2 which is the one to get if you want flat bezel and tailstand for $10. Milling work on it is as good as if not better than real l2.

4

I recently gor a 501A and a camo 501B, and I must say I loved the better opening in front of the reflector after those narrow eyed Solarforce L2 series. The camo from Manafont seems to be built a bit coarse (especially on the threads) but that camo outfit feels kind of soft and plasticky, which I prefer after my shiny black 501A.

5

I've been very happy with both the 501A and the 504B. HID45, I have no idea how you are going to squeeze an 18650 into the little 501A, that's just wrong, like mating a Great Dane with a Chihuahua.

6

Only thing I'm not crazy about with the 504B and which your pictures show perfectly is they used this giant o-ring in the head and skinny one in the tail. I wish the one in the tail were a little bigger. Silver 504B is one of my favorites, better than my black fake L2 from LightTake for sure. Better functionality than the real Solarforce L2 since it comes with a flat bezel and tailstanding. And I know this is blasphemy, but the L2p doesn't do a lot for me.

7

Those are two of my favorite lights budget or not.

8

I popped out the plastic positive contact and and loosened all the threads and it still does'nt fit. will probably take some cutting of springs to make 18650 fit. it did get a bit smaller with 16340 after taking out the positive contact.

9

Take the clicky switch out and put a penny in there so it is a twist on and off.

10

ahhh thanks! E .