So what do guys do with all these malfunctioning ut01 lights? Do you reach out to GearBest and demand a refund?
Try this;
Smack the flashlight (tail down) fairly hard onto a solid surface like you’re smacking a pack of Cigarettes and see if it doesn’t come right back on with a click after doing this.
The freakin driver assembly is free to move around, bad design.
I tried switching the tailcap and batt tube from my good one, no difference, problem is in the head.
Later,
Muto
I’m not going through the hassle of video, 14 PM’s and emails of bad translation and form letters for a $10 flashlight that works fine once you know what it needs to come on. It works fine once it’s on.
The older version I have does not have this problem, Progress they say?
Poll here:
Please vote to get an idea how many % is bad.
I may well open a ticket, yes.
See what solution they can offer.
I mean, a bargain is nice, but not when the product is faulty (obviously).
Just got mine today. So far, it appears to have no issue on either NiMH or Li-Ion cell, knock on wood.
However, visually, I don’t think this thing delivers 800 lm. Based on the results of the ceilingbounce app in my make-shift integrating sphere, lumen output is about the same as my JetBeam Jet-1 MK, which claims 480 lm on high.
Have you tried programming in the brightest setting? Some members suspect it comes programmed at a lower output level for its “turbo”.
Thanks. Programming to the brightest turbo setting helped. Looks like I’m getting upwards of 600 lumen now. I’m guessing the 800 lumen factory rating is for the CW emitter. Mine is NW, so it’s going to be lower. Plus, the cell I’m using (Sanyo UR14500P) isn’t exactly a high drain cell either, so that may also be limiting my output.
I don’t believe this light is spec’d for OTF-ANSI Lumens. IIRC the 800L is spec sheet emitter lumens.
Glad you got it re-programmed, and yours works fine with either cell chemistry.
It most certainly doesn’t do 800 OTF. I am not sure what the current draw is, but theres a good chance without an IMR cell you could be pushing the limits of the 14500.
Just a note: the problems with this light are not because of loose driver, bad contacts, or a bad switch. The switch however, is what manifests the problem. The problem is how firmware decodes the signal from the switch. When the light is off, something in the firmware tightens up the parameters that determine whether the button was pressed or not. Reason for this is unknown but I’ve wondered if it more “picky” with the handling of the signal from the switch to limit accidental turn ons. The firmware may not be broken through as it verywell may have worked with the switch used in testing(which may have not been actual physical switch at all). I say this because the light works fine with some switches and does not turn on at all with others. All my testing was done with the driver outside of the light so all other theories of mechanical problem from the host can be dismissed. Of course there is the normal one or two lights out there where this could be the problem.
I’ve read about all reported issues and all of them can be explained by my theory. Someone claimed my theory is in correct because their light started working when they straightened a twisted driver. However aligning the switch and pressing the button from a better direct angle changes the signal profile of the button press. It gives a better clean click so the driver reads the presses correctly.
Another claimed the problem is with the type of battery or because of different charge levels. These observations are probably correct but it doesn’t disprove my claims. Different voltages will also mess with the way the firmware views the signal from the switch. Either the voltage from the switch or the internal reference voltages of the MCU can be affected by different input voltages. This was confirmed by using a power supply to test the driver. Different voltages did affect the chance of the light turning on. Though, there wasn’t a general rule that deterermined what voltages did what. Each switch was different.
So, changing the switch may help defective drivers but not because the origional switch was “bad” it was instead not compatible with the firmware.
Good firmware design should take these factors into consideration. In fact, the designers of this light would have had to concider these things to some extent or the light wouldn’t work at all. The designers, however, must not have been thorough enough to acount for hardware variations.
This is my theory atleast. I admit, I am not fully qualified to make these statements. So maybe someone with a scope and a better understanding of firmware and switch press debouncing will test this theory further.
Sounds logical to me!!
I’m getting about 1.3-1.4A current draw on the highest Turbo mode.
I also wanted to mention, UT01 works great as a walking light, attached to the brim of a hat. On ‘High3’ setting, using a high capacity NiMH cell, it’s bright enough, and gives more than 80 minutes of runtime.
Oh wow thats way less than I was expecting!! cool
Took the chance on the UT01 for $10. So far mine is OK from what I can tell.
Used the 14500 at first and was hesitant to change to NiMh for fear to “confuse” this thing or mess up what was so far a good working light. I did the swap and all seems OK here too.
Pretty impressive on AA NiMh Tenergy green flat top made for pack builds. No Eneloops in AA.
For 14500 I have Windy cells from MtnE that are supposedly good higher drain and I have used them in SC Quads at 7A+. 14500 is brighter but not really too impressed with the difference to my eyes indoors. I have changed the outputs in menu.
I have another on the way and would be interesting to see the side by side difference in the cell chemistry.
My tail spring board came unglued on the second battery change. Easy enough to fix and I wanted to figure out a magnet for it anyway and possibly spring bypass but doubt its really needed.
Saw some talk about backwards tube but I looked closely, measured some things but my tube is identical on both ends. Pics are gone on Giorgoskok review so I have dug further for other pics to compare mine.
Took the head off to see whats in there. Got blue-goo boogers in the reflector and lens but wasn’t hard to open. Logo on bezel still lines up with SW after reassembly. Like how the reflector tightens down on the MCPCB. Will take it apart further later on to get the reflector cleaner and change the thermal compound, check shelf machining etc.
I got the NW 5000K but seems pretty Yellow for 5000K to me. At least its not Green. But I like it.
So far in the short term, I like the light and glad I bought it.
I did get some extra literature in my box. Thought this was funny.
Huh? A Lumintop warranty card in a Utorch box?
Food for speculation? (like why Lumintop after all these years finally manages to come out with a AA light with a driver done well, that even looks like the UT01: the EDC05)
Btw, my $9.99 neutral UT01 that on the box states to be 3D tint (5000K), is not 5000K, it is 4000K. For 70CRI Cree leds, 4000K is the danger zone, tints in the 5 region can be really ugly, but in this light I struck a good one: good yellow/red appearance with no green.
I thusfar did not have any of the UI problems reported in this thread (I use no 14500’s because it is already so good on Eneloops!), and am still amazed that such a good and complete light can be had for so little money!
Yes Sir… My thoughts exactly. Someone made an Oooopsie. “Those cards should have gone on that other packing table.”
I don’t mind the tint at all. OP reflector takes away the star look of the cut sides of the XP-L. Didn’t notice the box, yes it says 3D 5000K on the side.
Certainly one of my better Budget lights of 2017.
Took the head apart completely. Shelf is pretty good and flat. I still got the light machine marks off and chamfered the wire holes. Soft White thermal compound, not the hardening plaster stuff, was a pleasant suprise. My driver was slightly off center to the SW button hole. Hope the SW still works when aligned straight. 
While it’s apart, is there any worth while resistor mods for the stock driver? I saw an R050 but I am not well versed in the workings of electronic parts. But that resistor is accessible on the top layer. Looks about 0805 size, by the LED Neg wire.
Kinda didn’t like the feel of my fat thumb in the SW bezel. Enlarged the taper on the inner edge at the silicone button. Fat thumb should feel better now and operate SW easier.
Looking into Lumintop’s EDC05 a bit more:
[Quote Lumintop EDC05] Operation:
-When off, one click to access Moonlight, another click to circle through moonlight-low-medium-high. Long Press for off.
-When off, long press to access the memory output last use (except Moonlight), one click for circle.
-When off, double click to access Strobe, one click for circle: Strobe-SOS-Beacon, Long press for off.
-When on, double click to switch between general modes and flash modes.
[/quote]
That is the Manker UI !
And here’s the inside of the tail of the EDC05 (picture taken from the BG site):
Looking familiar?
Yeah… I saw that same spring board roll across my floor, on my second battery swap in the UT01.
The EDC05 will come in a Pretty box to satisfy the minds of those that paid 5X more and believe their light is better than the $10 UTorch.