Review: DIY UltraFire 1xAA Flashlight with Clip Host Kit

I received this host today. It’s GREEN~! I was expecting a black one. I swore it was black when I ordered it and had to go back to the website and confirm. The pictures do look a little green. I thought E’s pictures looked green because of the lightling. I was wrong.

What eva! No biggy. I like it better than black anyways.

Heck i thought it was gray in color. Is it like an olive green or what? What led did you install brted and bigwood and anyone else who bought one of these. except the origional poster.

Thanks

[quote=apt323]
Heck i thought it was gray in color. Is it like an olive green or what? What led did you install brted and bigwood and anyone else who bought one of these. except the origional poster.

Thanks[/quote

In the light the green is more evident. Metallic olive green/grey tone in a matte finish is the closest I can describe it.

I put a 16mm NW XML in it with a KD 8x7135 cause it’s all I have. It’s powered by TF Flame 14500 batt. It’s a little overdriven right now. I can feel the head start to get warm on high within 5 secs. I think I’ll take a few of the AMC chips off for sure. The way it’s set up right now is definitely brighter than my EOS v3 on turbo. I like to bring it down to at the most 1.5amps. If I do keep it the way it is, it would be better to have the modes start off at low-medium-high with no memory instead of the other way around.

On a side note, the ano is not that durable. Definitely not ano3 but it doesn’t claim to be. I took the belt clip off as it was scratching up the body already. I think I will order more as quite like this $8 AA sized host.

Thanks for the heads up on this one E!

[quote=BIGWOOD]

[quote=apt323]
Heck i thought it was gray in color. Is it like an olive green or what? What led did you install brted and bigwood and anyone else who bought one of these. except the origional poster.

Thanks
[/quote

In the light the green is more evident. Metallic olive green/grey tone in a matte finish is the closest I can describe it.

I put a 16mm NW XML in it with a KD 8x7135 cause it’s all I have. It’s powered by TF Flame 14500 batt. It’s a little overdriven right now. I can feel the head start to get warm on high within 5 secs. I think I’ll take a few of the AMC chips off for sure. The way it’s set up right now is definitely brighter than my EOS v3 on turbo. I like to bring it down to at the most 1.5amps. If I do keep it the way it is, it would be better to have the modes start off at low-medium-high with no memory instead of the other way around.

On a side note, the ano is not that durable. Definitely not ano3 but it doesn’t claim to be. I took the belt clip off as it was scratching up the body already. I think I will order more as quite like this $8 AA sized host.

Thanks for the heads up on this one E![/quote]

Thanks for the info. New to mods and still dont know what leds fit what reflectors except the one it states on the order website. I have an xre warm white and an xml t6 1a on hand right now. Been wanting to find a host for the warm white xre.
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Edited

I put a Nichia 219 in mine. The LED is the same size as a Cree XP-G. It is mounted to a 10mm diameter board which is pretty small. This pill should hold up to a 16mm board, though 14mm might be better. I agree the color of the host is a metallic light olive. I have a couple of similar lights so I was expecting this color.

I finished building this host kit yesterday and final result is above all my expectations. There are however some details that might make it challenging for less experience users.
If 17mm driver is to be used 16mm adapter ring can be used as press fit ring to secure driver and assure reliable electrical contact with pill. But it needs to be filed down a little bit so it’s not protruding outside pill which would prevent battery tube to screw down completely. Also it’s wise to make side cuts in it that line up with cuts in pill so it can be removed and to make tightening easier.
Reflector has 7mm hole which is perfect for XM-L but unfortunately lip around hole is too wide and without additional standoff it’s sits on connection wires. I used XM-L protector ring from KD and additional 16mm plastic isolator to prevent this, but it also makes LED centering quite tricky.
Perhaps most annoying part is clip which is quite flimsy but after some thinking and few cm of 1.5mm diameter heat shrink tube placed on clip where it sits in a groove between battery tube and cap makes the clip almost excellent. Also placing little bit of same heat shrink on position where clip touches body is good idea to prevent anno (beautiful grey-olive green color) scratching.

If you have some extra time this cheap host can be a real pleasure to build…

I ordered this host from CNQG and I was surprised that it even came with a driver and emitter ( it was clearly stated they have to be purchased separately).

Both will go in the parts drawer I think... The driver is a three-mode (high - low - strobe), draws 1.3A from 1xNiMH, feeds 0.2A to an XR-E.
The emitter is an otherwise unknown XP-G with slight scratching on the dome.

Probably a mistake, or maybe they get rid of products they don't sell anymore that way...

That’s cool Ric is including the parts to finish the build. I was using my Nichia 219 version nightly to walk my dog, I see why old Bob likes the XPG for dog walking. Unfortunately for me my brother was quick to confiscate my Nichia build one last time he came over to visit. So I made an XML U3 1C tint version with a 3.5 amp turbo mode, man is it bright even the .002 candle mode is much brighter then the 3C tint XML and the 1.75 amp high is perfect for 600 plus lumen of continuous light without overheating. The new U3s really are super efficient I am impressed. This kit light has been my EDC for about a year now it gets used daily and it is holding up fine. It’s amazing something this small absolutely destroys a super sized mag light for output and handily fits into your pocket when not in use.

600 lumes from such a small thing must draw some serious attention when you use it :bigsmile:

I think I'm going to put a moderately driven XP-G2 in mine, either 3C or 5A tint and it will still blow away most commercially available lights.

Looks identical to my much beloved akory. A really well made flashlight/host! With the wall thickness, they feel really nice and sturdy.
I’m also planning on swapping to an xp-g2. (The emitter was intended for my sk68, but since it’s so much fun with the dedomed xp-e, i’ll keep it that way for a while. Now I just need a nice fitting xp-g reflector. )

The large hole reflector worked fine with my Nichia 219 build, just make sure the LED is perfectly centered and you should be alright.

I have not the host kit but the akoray version with an XR-E sized reflector. I don’t know if it’s comparable to the reflector that comes with the host. I thought about ordering this one click with my next fasttech order, but I certainly will try out the old one too. :slight_smile:

I just finished putting everything together and I already like it.

The stock reflector really is made for XP-G footprint, you will have no issues with emitter centering. Also the reflector sits perfectly flat on the pcb and doesn't ride on the solder joints. From the front, it looks like the reflector is huggging the emitter :)

The reflector dave_ linked looks like an identical twin.

I pressed the 17mm driver into the pill and pushed the brass ring on top of that without soldering. Although the brass ring protrudes from the pill one or two mm, the light screws together perfectly. The only issue I have is battery rattling, maybe because of lower pressure on the battery due to the driver sitting deeper in the pill. A small spring or magnet on the driver should fix that.

Thermal path is great, the light gets warm almost instantly.

I only wish the clip wouldn't be so flimsy.

Glamour shot :bigsmile:

Beautiful! :slight_smile:
The clip is really flimsy. I removed it so I’m not tempted to clip the light and lose it because of the clip. :smiley:
Are you happy with the beam so far?

Thanks dave_. The beam is great, very useful combination of flood and throw. It's comparable to an XM-L in a P60 reflector, maybe a tiny tad throwier :)

The Nichia 219 fits nicely as well. I just built this one to replace the one my brother borrowed. I used a Nanjg AK A1 with two extra 7135 chips added and a custom 5 mode reflash. The extra chips still only give 1.6 amps max on turbo mode because that’s all the 219 will pull, but the high gets bumped up to 1.2 amps from .7 and medium gets bumped up to .6 amps and low is .3 amps now plus the the .002 1 lumen candle mode will be perfect for bathroom duty.

Hey Guys,
New to the forum and interested in building my own lights as a hobby. Could some recommend a driver that would work with a standard 14500 Rechargeable Battery otherwise using the same other components?
Thanks,
BD86

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