I have 2 cheap flashlights in need of help. I am good with electronics, but never really got into repairing LEDs. Not sure if a repair or toss. Prefer to upgrade. (BTW both use a 18650)
Ok, #1 Cheap Ultrafire WF 501B It is dead. Switch works, battery good. Either driver or bulb. Does anyone sell a good (and fair priced) replacement? What kind/size am I looking for? (BTW the original board reads 6K-003A7 last one is 7 or 2 or Z)
I found one of these… Looks good unless someone has a better idea. I know Lumens are are selling features that are not usually accurate. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072ZW5F23/
#2 The other flashlight reads Uniquefire T6 CREE XM-L It has a larger head. Light works great when turned on. I took it from the garage which was close to 40 degrees F. Worked great for quite a while. Now that it is back to room temp, it goes to its routine. Turn it on bright and it will be bright for 5-10 seconds and then dim. Turn off or a soft click and back to bright. 5 seconds later, dim. Soft click bright again, 5 seconds dim… Swap battery, same thing. Bypassed clicky same thing. Heat sink?? I think years ago I might have replaced LED??? or driver (or both)??? Same thing. Nice and bright when it works. Do the LEDs dim when getting too warm?
Not sure how to swap stuff in this one. It looks like it is not quite a drop in. Not sure what would be a replacement
I had a similar issue with one of my UltraFire and it ended up being a connection issue between the driver and the pill.
I ended get good advice from another user here.
I soldered some wire to the outside rim of the driver and press fit it into the pill.
In my case it was tripping the low voltage protection, so that sounds about right.
[quote=“BMMann, post:4, topic:223349”]
Good call… I got the soldering iron hot and scuffed up the aluminum… Hit a couple areas well with solder and the light has been on bright for over 20 minutes now… Cool Thanks!!!
On the first one, I am going to order a replacement, but will give it a resolder and see if it has any luck. Doubt on it, but worth a try.
To be fair, you can get an entire new (and better) light for the price of that replacement; if you are interested, state your preferences and ask us for recommendations. If you prefer to replace, Kaidomain sells lots of P60 replacements with much higher quality and performance, around the same price. A general rule of thumb here is that unless it’s a well-recognized brand, never expect to receive a high quality light from Amazon.
I am always a fixit guy… But interested in what you would recommend. I like the 18650 batteries. I have quite a few. Bright is good, but does not need to be anything super bright. I rarely use anything other than on and off. (no dim/strobe etc) I am always digging under a hood, in an attic, inside an appliance or crawl space. Something that I would not pay a lot if I were to drop it in a wall. (also like a fixed light, not a slider)
I know there are a bunch of opinions, But it would be nice to have a more powerful light for outdoor. Something cheaper but maybe a dual battery or 21700?? That one maybe a high and medium brightness.
BTW Most of what I have were picked up from DX when they were still around. I like the 18650 Ultrafire. The one I use all the time is either an Ultrafire or Surefire. Probably some kind of knock off. It has been around for years and has been dropped on concrete many times. I use it many times a week and amazed how well it has held up. The coating (anodizing or paint) is really worn off.
Sofirn and Wurkkos has lots of single-18650 offerings in the $10-20 range, and so does Convoy with the S2(+)/S3/S6/S8 series. You can choose the driver/emitter combo to make it really bright or really throwy or render colors really well. Any one of these lights will be multiple times brighter than an ultrafire or the no-name replacement module.
I’m a fix it man myself, but some things just are not worth the effort and parts. get a convoy, they are inexpensive and very well designed, and built.
You could fix it, it’ll work, but with poor design like that you never know when it will fail again.
I gave away many of my older design flashlights, prepped them for anybody and put them in a box for coworkers to take.
My favorite upgrade lights come from the Home Depot, Lowes but the best ones are from Convoy ie. C8+, L2 and S21A. Do yourself an inexpensive favor and buy some of those.
I’d also echo the recommendation of others to get a Convoy, probably the S2+ as it’s a compact 18650 light that has the widest compatibility with various parts. Convoy lights are essentially the cheapest and most user-serviceable quality lights on the market, you could get one and keep upgrading it for life.
They can be found on Aliexpress’s “Convoy Flashlight Store” (beware of knockoff stores with similar names), but the owner Simon is in the process of transitioning to a dedicated web store because of Aliexpress’s exploitative practices.
Sofirn/Wurkkos both have their own web stores, where prices are much cheaper than at third-party vendors like Amazon.
They have options for voltage (you want single cell that cover 4 volts+/-) You can pick smooth or orange peel reflectors and many different LEDs, number of levels, etc. I have been using a couple of their Quad LED P60s. Not bad.
But I agree, a Nice Convoy would be a good upgrade. Maybe something in 21700 like the M21 series.
