Discussion : - Utorch UT01

Both my UT01 lights are still working fine, without needing to do the tailcap mod; however, the tailcap springs dig into my NiMH cells pretty good, causing visible indentations on the back of the cell. I guess that’s better than crushing the driver on the other side.

I’ve started inserting cells from the top now so that I don’t have to touch the tail cap.

Today Soshine reached 14500 so I made new measurements:

Of course, the hue has not changed, but it is brighter. 3718 lux with 1m.
I solved the spring problem by cropping the larger one. Now there is no problem with different batteries. The switch was also sucked, I ordered a new one for replacement, but … I did something else in between. I added a piece of plastic between the switch and the eraser and now works beautifully every time. The size of the cartridge is about 1.5mm.
Now I like the flashlight. Of course, the gearbest returned the money for a defective product.

Somebody mentioned the battery drain earlier (probably regarding UT01 but I’m not sure). The measurements indicate for AA 4.7uA and for 14500 14uA. The result is great. For comparison UT02 has 8.3uA and Lumintop SDMini up to 40uA (which is not bad anyway)

I didn’t notice it at first but now I’m having the same problem with the switch as you. So I’m thinking to try as you did to insert the plastic in the switch boot, was that hard to do? What did you use for the plastic, a flat disc? And how thick?

Also when you said the cartridge is about 1.5mm what are you referring to as the “cartridge”?

You have to take off the elastic band and between it and the switch add a piece of plastic about 1.5mm thick. It’s enough for the switch to work perfectly.

I just received my UT01 from gearbest. It is very small and relatively bright. Not as bright as the Zebralight SC5c II that I just returned but the UT01 has better tint. The SC5c II had too much green in the tint, which was nasty. However, it is not the best looking tint, still more on the yellow side. It is closer to 3800k than 5000k. Compared to my Emisar D4 with 4000k, the D4’s tint looks way better and has more rosy tone than the UT01. For the price, it can’t be beat and I’m planning to get a few more to give to my parents and friends since the UI is simple enough to use.

Thanks, so I guess I’d need to de-solder stuff and remove the driver to get to it? Or can you somehow just remove the switch bezel?

If it’s too involved I’ll just wait and see if it starts to really bother me. As it is it works fine if you click it square and firm.

You do not have to pull out the driver. Just pull out the rubber button. The flashlight has been working perfectly since the modification. Every wedge is correct, light, strong, it does not matter.

Thanks for the reply …I hate to make you keep elaborating but I don’t want to damage it, and I’d like to try your fix if it’s easy:

To clarify you’re saying I can just pull out the rubber switch cover with out doing anything else? So no need to remove or unscrew the switch bezel retainer ring part?

Yes. You can do it without tools. Good luck.

Any report of problems of new UT 01 from GB ? Is the problem solved ? Interested in 10 usd deal.

edit:

Or better take sofirn sp 10b.

Between the two, I prefer UT01, as long as you get one with a working switch.

UT01 has a more usable moonlight mode, and better overall mode spacing. UT01 also has a reversible clip, which makes it possible to attach to brim of a hat.

hmm, I guess I’ll have that added benefit I didn’t even realize when I ordered it. Put a nichia on it and it will possibly become my EDC. Well, if gearbest delivers it this year, they seem to be the worst place in terms of shipment quality, but unfortunately it’s the only place I can buy this flashlight

Yeah, their free shipping has been very unreliable as of late. One of my orders took 76 days to reach me, although, most of this time it sat in US customs, so it’s not exactly GB’s fault. If it’s anything over $10, I just break down and pay for express shipping instead.

That’s why I like Aliexpress, they have delivery time guarantees. Gearbest gave me a hard time getting a refund for an order that hadn’t arrived 4 months after the purchase. I’m hopping Banggood is better, but I have a bunch of orders that shipped but never checked in my country more than 30 days after. I’m hopping it was just the holiday delays, but other orders from around the same time had passed through

To keep on topic, onde I get it I might be able to do a side by side review with the Sofirn SP10A (old driver) and Lumintop EDC05 (if it also arrives this year). I plan on using mostly with AAs, but I might run a test with 14500

Same problem here. The indentations are a bit worrying, but so far none of my batteries had any problems.

Just cut 3/4 the length of the outer thick spring and after the problem. All my batteries work perfectly and are not damaged.

Grateful for this thread. I think I read most of the posts. I have 2 UT01’s on the way. now I know what problems to look out for if they come with it. So basically there is 2 issues that may arise. One being the switch which someone mentioned fixing with a 1.5mm plastic filler under the boot. And the biggest one was length of body tube could be short so connection issues and driver crushing. Solved by a copper filler. Or cutting the outer spring a bit?

I received 2x UT01’s a week ago and one is on its way, no issues with power buttons so far and I received 4x 14500 button top batteries today, these fit nicely:
Soshine 3.7V ICR 14500 900mAh Li-ion Rechargeable Battery


amazing deal on those batteries!

Yeah, these batteries are really nice, people get between 840mAh and 1000mAh in the Aliexpress reviews and you get also a battery carrier.