P60 dropins and the things you can put them in.

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
1

Here are a bunch of lights that can take a P60 dropin. In each case it is a matter of unscrewing the head and putting the dropin in place, followed by reinstating the head. These are:

Ultrafire WF-503B - can't remember what sort of dropin it originally came with - probably a generic "Super Bright R2". $19.50 Now has a DX MC-E dropin in it. $23.49. It is probably about 300 lumens on a good day. Review here

Ultrafire WF-504B - Came with a single mode "Super Bright R2" module in it. Now has a mystery KD Quad die dropin (Probably an MC-E as nobody seems to sell P7 dropins in this size except http://www.malkoffdevices.com and they seem to have moved to MC-E as well. But at $125 a go not many folk here are going to be interested in that one. Gene Malkoff does make very highly regarded, if far from cheap dropins though). $13.99

Ultrafire WF-502B - still has the "Super Bright R2" single mode dropin I bought it with. I think. I remember thinking it was really, really dim till I used it outdoors and discovered that it threw for miles.

Ultrafire WF-502B - with the UV dropin it came with. Great fun. One charge on an 18650 lasts for ever despite a lot of playing testing.

Uniquefire R5 - Came with a 5 mode XP-G R4 $23.29 which turned out to be a 4.2V part, I thought it was an 8.4V part. It is now a single mode. Now has a DX XP-G R5 5mode dropin. $14.54 This is the only one of these that is being run on 2 x 16340 instead of 1 x 18650

Uniquefire L2 - Has the stock XP-G R5 5mode dropin in it. $22.32

Ultrafire WF-504B - with the 5 mode 4.2V dropin that it came with - this one throws nicely. $14.99

There is nothing stopping me from putting any of these dropins in any of these bodies. The two WF-502's were bought not as much as P60 hosts as for the dropins they contained. I didn't know anything about dropins then. You do have to keep an eye on voltages though - some will work up to 18V, some will die at more than 4.2V, just about all of them are visually indistinguishable. I can't even find the quad die thingy that KD sent me in their website so I have no idea of its specs. It is brighter than the DX MC-E dropin so it would be nice to know. It wasn't what I'd ordered as I'd ordered an XP-G R5 dropin.

So what does a P60 dropin look like?

26.5mmm wide at the widest point of the reflector.

About 40mm long including the springs.

Some lights do not need the outer spring. Apparently not all Chinese dropins will fit in all Surefire lights as some of these dropins are too long to fit properly. Since I'm never likely to spend the sort of money Surefire is asking for a light (You could probably get all of these together for about the same money as one Surefire), I don't care. All of these dropins are 100% interchangeable with all the others (As long as you take a note of voltages)

The front end. Most of these have some sort of orange peel reflector to smooth out the beam - this one is an XP-G R5 5mode that came with the Uniquefire L2. The orange peel finish works well.

A rather bad picture of the tail end.

Since the size and depth of the reflector (and the overall length) is rigidly determined if it is to be interchangeable with other dropins it means that for a given level of light output, a smaller LED will throw better. The quad dies are pretty huge and are pretty much flood lights. The mystery KD one is brighter than the DX one. The XR-E LED has a smaller light emitting bit than the XP-G LED so will throw better even if it is only making 60-70% as much light. Currently, the best compromise is probably the XP-G dropins as they pump out so much light they make up for the deficiencies in throw by sheer volume of light - a good one can make double a mediocre R2.

2

Hey Don,

thanks for posting this... sorry I didn't thank you last night when you put it up. This is some good information, and will be causing me to spend more money on drop ins for my light when I get it. I did end up getting the L2 and I think I'll be happy with it. I don't know how long it'll take to get to the northeast from DX. I noticed on DX's website that there's going to be a delay between now and February 22 I think. I don't know if that means all shipments are halted or if they're just not going out as fast even though from what I hear nothing ever gets out of there fast. I'm just hoping to get it within 2-3 weeks. Keeping my fingers crossed

3

Hey Don,

one quick question... can my uniquefire L2 handle an XP-G drop in? and if so, where did you buy it from. If it is your favorite drop in, that will probably be my first buy for a drop in for my light. The information is very useful... how do I know what my flashlight can handle or not handle though. I know the voltage is important and don't want to mess up my flashlight or the bulb.

4

All the Uniquefire L2s I can find on DX already come with an XP-G dropin. It will be slow at this time - likely it'll be the 22nd till there's anyone around to deal with orders, let alone whether the factories have any stock. To be honest, it is best to wait till the start of March and the chaos that is Lunar New Year settles down. Just keep an eye on the voltages so you don't use 2 CR123/16340 on a 4.2V dropin. 5 mode ones tend to be 4.2V only, single mode ones often have a driver that can handle other voltages. The 4 Uniquefire L2 options on DX are:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.33549 Black 5 mode 4.2V max (i.e., an 18650)

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.33550 Black single mode 8.4V max (i.e., either an 18650 or two 16340/RCR123)

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.33548 Silver 5 mode 18650 only

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.33550 Silver single mode 18650 or two 16340

Or if you want to use higher voltages (There is little point in this BTW) you can get another dropin such as http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.32954 a 5 mode dropin that will work at up to 18V (4 cells) but will be less efficient because of the wide range of voltages it covers. At the upper end of the voltage range it is likely to get pretty hot and not offer any extra brightness. The only reason I own one of these is that I fried a dropin with too high a voltage and needed a replacement.

5

Unfortunately this is the worst time of the whole year to order from China. I also have some pending shipments stuck in the DX queue. I should have waited. I have had orders pending since the beginning of February, parts of which are still waiting for stock, and another one that is stuck in the Hong Kong Post, which is also shut down for the holiday. I don't believe DX's statement about maintaining a minimal staff on hand during the holiday, I suspect they'll be totally shut down until 22 Feb as Don says.

6

Or maybe not.... I just checked the status on my package, and it says "The item (RTxxxxxxxx) will leave Hong Kong for its destination on 13-Feb-2010". We shall see.

7

My Akoray K-106 from KD has the same status at HKP. But yesterday it said it was going to ship on the 12th and obviously didn't. So I'm still not sure if we'll get the last light of the ox or the first light of the tiger.

8

What a great way to put it!!

9

Now im glad you put this up.....will make everything simple for me when i put my order for the light. Posting now so i dont forget the thread. Nice job Don for the thoroughness of the thread.

10

Yes, thanks Don! This shows a lot of hard work and detail. It'll be a great reference. Sticky'd.

11

Cool, now that was nice......

12

Well miracle of miracles, according to Hong Kong Post, my package shipped on 13-Feb-2010. Unfortunately they did a partial shipping, and the $4.28 Powerlight is being tracked, whereas the $13.99 Trustfire F20 is unregistered.

13

Maybe they put it in the same package and just didnt mention it......naw that would be too good to be true.

14

'fraid not, as far as I can tell they just recently posted the Trustfire, well after the Powerlight was waiting in the dark shadows of a murky Hong Kong Post shipping dock. And then there's my Ultrafire C3 SS, which has been ready and at the same time Processing - Awaiting Stock for I don't know how long. I swear if I ever buy from DX in February again....

15

Did you get your light? HKP showed my light as shipped on the 13th as well, but I haven't seen it yet. In the past it has taken about a week from when HKP says they sent it on for me to receive the package.

16

Ah, only a week for you brted? No, I haven't received it yet, usually takes 3 to 4 weeks for me, so I'd expect it around March 7th.

17

Did you get yours? Mine still hasn't showed up yet. So I know it didn't get out of the country on Feb 13 like they said and then certainly must have sat around for the entire holiday (2 weeks worth at least). This isn't KD's fault, this is HKP. I'm giving them another week and then filing a dispute with PayPal.

18

It finally showed up, but I have to go pick it up at the post office since it is registered mail and I wasn't home during the first delivery try. So I should have a review of the KD Akoray K-106 3-mode this weekend. I am pretty patient, but certainly this package was put on a ship, not a plane. I'm sorry to hijack this great thread about P60 drop-ins, but I'm done now.

19

Hi,

I'm new here & fascinated by the eefort being made to customise flashlights to achieve specific results.

I am a bit confused however at the "need" to use the "drop in" as an upgrade.

Why don't tye Chinese manufacturers who clearly have access to components, just build this sophistication & power right into the original build?

Anyway I have a specific need & its not unusual although I have not founda solution that looks reliable.

I am a biker so I need to meet several distinct requirements, using one or two luminaries:

Need a flasher that's powerful enough & will allow to be seen at 200 metres (my 14 LED headlight of very modest quality already does this well when set to flash but its hard to mount & no good in other modes).

I need other modes "low on" & "high on" so that I can select for additional light when the streetlamps are either non existant or inadequate.

My typical speed is 15 to 28 Km/hr & I need a reasonable wide beam (throwing forward maybe 20 metres) to see adequately when relying on the bike lights alone. I'd guess that 3 or 4 watts would be sufficient on High & low would be about 40-60%. Obviously an infinitely adjustable power level would be ideal but probably unnecessary if the correct lo-hi ratio is found.

Most of the mods here seem to either be super pencil like spotting beams, or hi power floods that would be enrgy wasteful on a bike as well as a nuisance to oncoming traffic, IE both types no good for bike lights.

Can anyone please direct me to the right place or suggest a suitable build, There must be plenty of bikers here who have solved this problem.

Thanks

Peter O

20

Seems like one of the XP-G R5 P60 hosts at DX would be good for a headlight (502B, 504B, L2). Not as tight a beam as the XR-E R2's. Some of them have modes that would let you use something other than maximum.What kind of battery life do you need? You should be able to get at least an hour out of these.