Bill Zeng (LightMalls) Comes Through With a C12, U3

I have been talking to Bill Zeng of Lightmalls. Talked him into putting a U3 in a C12 host, he did it:

~~http://www.lightmalls.com/ultrafire-c8-cree-xm-l-u3-5-mode-led-flashlight-torch-1-18650~~

They look good and I like the additional heat sinking over the C8. Lets hope they are driven to 3A+.

It says:
Max 4000mA Current Output (manufacturer rated)

Hopefully Flomotion can find out for us what it’s actually running at.

Just emailed him, of course their night is day in the US, but he did make a posting error in called it a C8, when it is a C12. I did recommend a brass pill, and at least a 4 amp driver, but the build is just out, and I don’t have a sample, yet…

He made a slight mistake in the output too, an xm-l2 wont do 1800 lumen at 5a, and at the vf is over what a single li-ion can supply.

Price is good though, I’d expect about 1000 lumen otf.

To give you an idea. An xintd c8 u3 is rated at 900 lumen at 2.8 –3a. At 4a the heat sag and voltage sag is really going to be an issue.

Now, any coupon codes for light malls? :bigsmile:

Alright! A C12 u3! Good going, Flowmotion!

But I’d say a U3 - if driven to 4 amps - would do over 1,200 otf (at start-up, anyway, before dropping off a good bit. And yes, the sag would be an issue). You have to factor in the effect of that huge pill. The T6 was doing like 930 otf, someone said. I’m gonna be optimistic about this one!

Looks like a nice light for sure

There is one around someplace. $2 off twenty and $5 off fifty if I remember correctly. I’ll try and find it.

Coupon Code: fa13t2cou
save $2 on any order $20 or up ,Limited time offer: Valid Until 03/27/13.

Coupon Code: fa13t5cou5
save $5 on any order $50 or up ,Limited time offer: Valid Until 03/27/13.

Coupon Code: fa13t12cou12
save $12 on any order $150 or up ,Limited time offer: Valid Until 03/27/13.

Cheers. I may not use it but at least others can benefit. :bigsmile:

ill be keeping an eye on this

THANKS.

thx for link

Well, got mine today and am disappointed.

  • Emitter offcenter.
  • Annodizing missing on 1/4” section of front bezel.
  • Light unusable at arrival because of flickering from loose switch.
  • MORE flickering light from poorly soldered ground from driver to pill.

Fortunately, being a BLF-educated flashaholic in good standing, those issues were fixed in a few minutes, BUT …

  • Even after visually recentered emitter, emitter center spot on wall is misshapen, irregular and slightly offcenter.
  • Although I got a 3.5 DMM reading at the tailcap, brightness looks low for a 3.5 with a U3. I have a $15 Ultrafire U2 C8 that is pretty much 20% brighter. xin c8, x5-t6 supfire, uniquefire c10 best it in white-wall hunting.

BUT it is still daylight here, so I will check after dark. Maybe it’s one of those lights that don’t seem to do well in WWH and then slay all comers in real-life after-dark tests.

Still, considering it was unusable out of the box and still has an oddly offcenter hotspot even after recentering the emitter, I’ll have to give this light a thumbs down at this point. Too bad. It had a lot of potential. Maybe I got a woofer and the rest of you will get stellar light sabers. But I’ll have to give it the official Ubehebe frowning face :frowning: .

i guess i’m not the only one that got crappy C12 U3… my C12 U3 hotspot is also misshapen, try to adjust the reflector but to no avail :frowning:
the C8 U3 from the lightmalls is much cheaper and much…much brighter, heck even their C12 XM-L is much brighter :frowning:
for the price… just buy their C8 XM-L2 which also excellent ( slightly brighter than their C8 U3)

Tried it outside in real-world conditions: Absolutely the dimmest C8-style light out of the 10 or so C8-style lights in my collection. Dimmer than 3 T6s, various U2s and a couple Fasttech U3 emitters in C8s …. Remember this is supposed to be a killer U3 emitter. Probably 30% or more less bright (by eye) than the xin c8. This lightmalls light is an honest-to-goodness woofer. Save your money. Wish I did.

Plus, as previously mentioned, the center spot is oddly misshapen with a weird hot spot inside the offcenter spot. The cheapest C8 I have is an absolute piece-of-you-know-what from Meritline. Looks like the meritline c8 (cheesy plastic reflector and all) was assembled by a grade schooler, and even that is brighter with a better beam pattern than this Lightmalls light.

The driver is pushing a solid 3.5 at the tailcap, so the power is there. I’ll probably try a new emitter in it. But addng a U3 emmitter to a light that supposedly already has one will push the overall cost into the ridiculous range for a so-so C12. Coulda bought a venerable Xin for the price.

What kinda ticks me is that this light was positioned as a special build for LED enthusiasts, something above average — when it’s anything but. Then again maybe good examples of this build exist, and the two described in this thread were exceptions to the rule. I don’t think that’s the case, but stranger things have happened I suppose.

thanks for the heads up guys. guess the kd and keygo’s c8 is still my top brightest and favorite c8 styles

This stinks I have the MX-L2 model on the way I hope it’s better than this. I used a $10 store credit so if it’s too big a dud I can play around and mod it.

Can the reflector be swapped out?

>>>>>This stinks I have the MX-L2 model on the way

Hopefully you’ll have better luck. I think the emitters in this build are bad. I think that offcenter hotspot is in the U3 dome. What else could it be? It’s centered in the reflector. I compared the reflector to other C8s and the way the emitter is centered looks to be the same. Maybe they toasted the emitters when they stuck them on the stars? Either that or it’s the dimmest batch of U3s on the planet. As I said, every T6 I have is brighter than this.

>>>>Can the reflector be swapped out?

Theoretically the c12 reflector is the same size as the c8.

I e-mailed sunny from lightmalls… she wants a video of it for proof… :~
anyway, i’ll send her a video showing how low the output was compare to another C8 U3 from lightmalls,
if i get the credit, i’ll tell her to send me a C8 XM-L2 instead, definitely better for the bucks.