Utorch UT01 battery space + TIR mod

Hey all,

I bought this nice little AA / 14500 light, i received it yesterday.

BUT, it doesn’t take protected 14500. :person_facepalming:
This light has to be able to accept protected button top 14500 !
So right after unpacking and damaging the tube with the included POS clip, i had to create some more space in there.

So i removed the tail cap PCB and i made this:

A circle of copper sheet with a 1mm rim on it and the 2 springs soldered together.
Fixed in the tailcap with grey epoxy (AB glue)
Basically, the springs now sit approximately 1mm deeper in the tail cap.

I also removed the brass button from the driver PCB and replaced it with a subtle solder blob, gaining another 0.5 mm of length.
Not yet done in that picture, but i also filed down the other protruding bits on that side of the driver board a little bit.
Anyway, some 1.5 mm length was gained, but that’s not all.

I bent the springs a little (before soldering) so you get this:

The springs have no overlapping coils anymore now.
This means they can be pushed about as flat as their wire thickness.
This gained another 1 mm.

I have some 52mm tall Keeppower 800mAh protected 14500s, and they fit just fine now.
I think it could take 0.5 mm taller batteries too.

Problem solved ! :+1:

(edit)
Someone asked about flattops, and i have none (mine are solder blobbed), so i couldn’t test that.
Have some on their way though, i will test and report.
Possibly there could be a problem with the plus pole contact with flat tops.

(edit2)
Got some flattops in today, works fine too. :+1:

…and then, after having dropped everything on the tile floor here, chipping a piece off the lens and damaging the anodization, on top of the scratches made by the included POS clip…
…i wasn’t happy about the O ring in the head bezel.
Too fat, squishing to the inside.
And that XP-L i didn’t like too much either, and the reflector with its tint shift beam etc…
Although it’s really cool the reflector screws in the head, clamping the LED board between it and the pill shelf, i decided to put in a TIR optic and a Nichia 219C 3500K.

Looks cool:

Works too:

But the light doesn’t look brand new anymore…

Nice one, I may try the emitter and optics swap myself. Where did you get the TIR optics from? Is it one with hotspot (and how large?) and almost no spill or is there both hotspot and spill?

nice fix!

It’s an old model TIR, actually made for XR-E.(that’s why i used the white LED centring gasket)
Bought a bunch here:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/361775095483
it gives me a large hotspot and a little spill.
I think a pebbled surface would have been nicer.
I have 2 O-rings now, on both sides of the glass lens, but they’re thin ones (i found in my collection).

But i’m especially happy with the battery space mod.

show us the beam shoot.

Thinking whether i should put TIR in mine too :slight_smile:

I ordered a pair of Sanyo UR 14500 unprotected cells for my Manker T01. Works quite well in the UT-01, although I find myself using NiMH in it, more often than not.

I will take a beam shot soon.

All my 14500s are protected.
4x Sanyo UR14500 which i put protection PCBs on myself and 2x Keeppower 800mAh with button top.
These are used in ‘dual chemistry’ (14500 or AA) lights.
Without protection, some lights just go on and boost the Voltage as if it were an AA battery, killing an unprotected 14500 by draining it to the bone…
The Sanyos have a solder blob top, the Keeppowers have a button top so they are the taller ones.
Either way, a AA / 14500 light has to be able to use any AA and any 14500 (i.m.o.).

Waiting for WindyFire high drain 14500 flat tops (for my Astrolux S3), see if that still works now that i took the little brass button off the driver.
We’ll see.

Very creative on the mod Jerommel. :+1:

Flattops also work fine.
(Got them just in today)

Jerommel, can you take a beam shot, please?
I got the Manker E11 (I guess they are not different in sizes) and I’ve been thinking about putting a TIR lens on it but I don’t know how it would be! If you could show us a beam shot from yours it would be great!

Thanks !! :+1:

I have some problems with my camera, hope to solve it today because i’m also very late with a Sofirn review…
But it’s a rather large circle of light without any tint shift so there’s no ‘brown’ corona, which is why i wanted a TIR in stead of a reflector (i hate tint shift).
There’s also some spill around the circle, but less than with a reflector.

Hum, I guess I can imagine it! Just lighted my Manker and tried to imagine it!
I guess I’ll get a TIR just to try it, although I like it the way it is now.

Any differences on the distance range (“throw”) with vs without the TIR?

Thank you and hope you can solve your camera’s problem :wink:
Bring that Sofirn’s review and others to the light :sunglasses: