Ultrafire Headlights

Other Types of Lights LED Headlamps
1

In another thread I ran through my experiences with budget headlights and concluded that I couldn't come to terms with the Ultrafire H3 that I'd bought.

Since then, I have followed the advice of gcbryan and covered the lens with a disc of Scotch Magic Tape, to eliminate the circular artefacts. I have also changed the way that the light attaches to its headband (see below), which makes it considerably less bouncy.

The light has now been elevated from my 'least favourite', to 'most used' headlight. I particularly love the way that the flood beam's periphery fades into the darkness, as opposed to having a distinctive defined edge.

Here in northern Britain we are currently reduced to 7 hours of daylight; hence the light gets used twice a day for dog walks of 60-75 minutes apiece. I can only measure output via an incident light meter, which at 2.5" reads 12 EV. I prefer to use the light with this ramped down to 10.5 EV and six hours of such usage pulls a protected UF 3000 mAh battery down from 4.15v to 3.60v.

Don reckons this light's XRE-Q5 produces 120 lumens on full, so I'm guessing that at 1.5 stops less, it's producing around 37.5 lumens. At this setting it is plenty bright enough for my walks. On the narrow riverside path where I have lots of tree roots and stones to negotiate, I also use a hand-held UF-502 set on low to illuminate these from a lower angle. Side projection picks them out much better than when illuminating them from head height, which doesn't correctly reveal their 3 dimensions.

I want to fall in love with this light but having just zapped a different XRE-Q5 headlight that had serious thermal issues I am half preparing myself in case things go wrong. I find that after an hour's use the light remains cold to touch, but am unsure whether that is due to a lack of thermal pathway, or that I'm simply not pushing the LED hard enough to make it produce heat. Can these lights be safely run for long periods on high? I have seen stories of similar XRE-Q5 Zebralights becoming too hot to touch after 10 minutes of full power usage.

My second concern is about waterproofing. If I blow into the battery compartment I don't hear any air escape, which suggests the light is reasonably impervious and should stand a shower of rain (which is has). I don't plan to immerse it in water, but would appreciate any commentary upon the light's waterproofness (or otherwise) and whether this can be improved upon.

2

I don’t have any personal knowledge regarding the heatsinking of that light but I would assume that at the lower levels that it is being driven that it can handle it.
If it were my light I’d also assume that it could handle rain and maybe not submersion. If it does get wet by whatever means afterward I’d take the battery out and leave the cap off and let it dry out if necessary.
The possible issue would be running it on high for a long period if you’re not touching it in anyway. If you are touching it your body is acting as a heatsink. At 120 lumens though I doubt if you have anything to worry about.
If the head can’t be gotten into (is that the case?) then there probably isn’t much you can do to increase the waterproof aspect.
Keep in mind that I don’t have this particular headlamp however!
If you like that diffused look (which I obviously do as well) you might get some DCFix to experiment with as well. I use tape as described on one of my Zebralight headlamps because it’s easier to fit than DCFix in that light. With most of my flashlights that aren’t used for throw I use DCfix if I can get behind the lens.
In some applications tape seems to have a directional bias and DCFix doesn’t. It’s also easy to remove if necessary. Lee Filters sample pack also has various diffusion filters.

3

My walks over the last two nights have been accompanied with pouring rain, and the light appears to have handled this without problem.

I am reluctant to take the light apart for the fun of it, so will continue to trust its heat sinking for now. I will however remain wary of using it on high for significant periods until somebody convinces me otherwise. The Zebralight 501 uses the same emitter and is reported to become very hot within minutes. Similarly, the light I zapped after a couple of hours usage on high, also had the same emitter and produced the same output as the H3. OK, it had absolutely no thermal pathway, but it nevertheless demonstrated how easy it is to break an XRE-Q5.

I have been more than happy with your Scotch Magic Tape recommendation and am unsure if DC Fix could improve upon this. It appears to come in lots of flavours, including white, milky, frost, opal, clear and transparent. These all then come in gloss and matt versions. Which combination of these would you use?

4

I don’t think the XR-E is particularly more susceptible to frying than any other emitter but if an emitter isn’t properly heat-sinked it can fry instantly.
Good point regarding DCFix. I looked at their website once and wasn’t sure which version everyone was talking about. I think it’s the frost version.
The easiest way to get some for me was to buy it from the guy who sells it on CPF Marketplace but he actually offered it on here as well. It was something like $1.50 plus postage. As I recall the guy actually lives in the same city that I do.
He sells pieces that are about 6" x 5" or something like that. It’s enough to do a few flashlights.
If the tape is working for you I wouldn’t bother however. It works best for me in those applications where I can open up the head and put it directly on the glass lens rather than trying to cut it to the exact size of the front of the lens.
The tape works because it is translucent. The DCFix works because it has a pattern on it but lets a little more light through (I think) than tape.
It’s good to have some around just for another option.
I would agree with you, if a light gets too hot I turn it off. My Zebralights don’t get too hot but I rarely use them on high for extended periods of time anyway.
For walking around outside I usually have them on medium or low. If I’m working on something tedious around the house I may put them on high for a few minutes.

5

it's the "Sand". i think the patterns on the others are too big to give good results. the Sand is the one that the guys on CPFMarketplace sell, so it should be the one that most folks here and on the other place use.

6

Thanks Robo. I’ll try to remember that for whenever I run out of the piece I have!

7

I have used mine on high for an hour without any issues.

8

Thanks for that. I'm fairly sure I read something about 3.5 hours use on high, but can't recall whether that was based upon calculation or experience.

I have had no power for most of this dark December day so have been wearing my H3 around the house and for reading. It was set at the dog walking setting, which I calculate to be 37.5% of full power, and I noticed a slight blood heat warmth emitting from it. When outdoors (at around freezing point) it stays stone cold at this setting.

9

They dont drive hard enough to have much heat issues, If you take them apart its just a aluminum chunk wedging the LED/lens to the front off the back wall of the head. They are not really sealed, but pressed tight enough that not much or any water will make it in. If you were to put some clear silicone around the outside edge with a toothpick then it would be sealed better.

I go through 2-3 batteries when underground for 10-14 hours running the H3 on high. I don't have any usefull calculations, I just change them out when its not as bright as I want.

10

Mine just ran dead yesterday after two weeks of standby and 3-4 uses of about 20-30 mins each. I think I got a hour or so on high out of a Eneloope. I am fine with that but would prefer more runtime. I carry a spare cell so when it got dim, I just popped in a Duracell alkaline that I had stashed and it was back to form.
I like this light so much I just ordered a spare. At $26 it is a bargain. I had the ZL H51 and consider this to be a better light in most aspects. Love the magnet in the tail cap!

11

Thanks for the feedback about running times and using the light on full power.

It's now been a couple of months since I initiated this thread, so I thought I'd give an update.

I came to like the H3 so much that I also purchased a H2, which I like even more, due to the lower weight of 75g, versus 109g (inc batteries)

Once again I rethreaded the strap as per my H3 (picture below)...

This considerably reduces the light's tendency to bounce around when I'm walking. As per the H3, I also placed some Scotch Magic Tape over the lens to diffuse the beam even further.

Having got into my stride I find my preferred setting for the H2 is at around half-power, which is plenty enough to illuminate the route ahead of me. Three hours of such usage will reduce a 14500 from 4.2v to 3.5v at which point I recharge it. The H3 does the same to a 18650 with around 9 hours of similar use. I don't know what the view on here is, but I've read elsewhere that Li-Ion batteries prefer being topped-up rather than being fully discharged on a regular basis.

Both of my lights have survived significant drenchings when I have been caught out in downpours, and neither has shown any ill-effect.

12

My UF-H3 arrived today. It's not dark yet so I will have to wait to give it a good but looks to be a useful headlamp. Not nearly as bright as I thought it would be. May be a good thing in the long run as the battery life will probably be extended which is what I wanted this light for in the first place. It doesn't seem to get very hot at all. My other single cell 18650 lights are much brighter. Button is very hard to push which could also be a good thing. The light will not come on by mistake in a backpack or pocket that's for sure.

This light is 100% flood. I was wanting a floody headlamp and I got it. I wanted a headlamp for reading that had a long battery life. The flood is perfect for reading.

I guess I'm just really surprised that it's not even as close as bright as my Zebralight H51 which only uses one AA battery.

Still, I think I'll be pleased with the light.

First thing I did was remove the worthless/cheap pocket clip. Now it works in the headband better.

13

I have a question about the UF-H2. How does the beam compare with the UF-H3? What kind of battery life do you get out of the H2?

14

With Li-ion batteries, the beams are pretty much identical, both with regards to strength and pattern.

I've not tried it, but understand that the H2 will go for over an hour with a 14500. I use mine for dog walking on perhaps a bit less than half power, which half drains the battery in 3-4 hours. It is my understanding that Li-ion batteries don't respond well to being fully discharged on a regular basis.

15

Great to know about the 14500 but I'm really interested in how bright the light is using AA NiMh.

16

Using a photographer's incident light meter (in my cellar), at 2.5 inches in front of the lens I get the following exposure values...

UF-H3 with 18650 Li-ion = 12EV

UF-H2 with 14500 Li-ion = 12EV

UF-H2 with AA NiMh = 11.8EV

This suggests that the light produces around 10% less light when powered with NiMh AAs. The difference isn't discernible to my eyes through.

The 14500 is 900mAh and the AA NiMh is 2450mAh so running times could be similar. In fact, given that NiMh batteries are more tolerant to being fully discharged, they could arguably produce longer running times in between charges. That said, the light proabably pulls a lot more current from the lower voltage AA battery.

For good measure I also tried the UF-H2 with a fresh Duracell Alkaline AA. This produced a reading of 11.3EV, which equates to around 35% less light than with the 14500.

17

Thanks Sool. This is what I was looking for. Looks like a UF-H2 is in my future. I'm liking my UF-H3 more and more each day. Once I get used to the lack of throw and appreciate the spill at close range, it's just about perfect for many close range tasks. I like the magnet and tailstand ability. It's a great lamp for reading.