Just Got a New LED in the Mail....ULTRAFIRE XML-T6....Have a Question or 2.....Help.

LED Flashlights – General Info
1

Hey all,

A week or so ago, before I joined here, someone sent me a link to some inexpensive lights at Amazon and I ordered a couple just to see how good they would end up being. Well I got one of them today. It is the UltraFire XML-T6. Here it is so you’ll know what I am talking about:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008MROLX0/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I thought for $8 plus shipping how could I go wrong.

I get AAA batteries to try her out and it’s a pretty nice little light. One thing though is that when you zoom all the way in to get the max output, it is a SQUARE beam. Kinda strange, but not bad. It is certainly brighter than the $10 Ozark Trail 150 Lumen light I got at WalMart last week.

One thing I want to know is about the battery that I didn’t get. It is one of the 18650 batteries. The light came with a plastic sleeve to use the battery I guess.

1. If I use that 18650 battery will I get more output than when I use the 3xAAA batteries that I have in there now?

2. How much are those batteries and a charger? I would want to get a GOOD ONE that would last and have no problems.

The things I don’t care too much for are the way the head screws on. There is no STOPPING point. Because the head moves in and out because it’s a ZOOM light, you can’t screw it down to feel like it’s secure and when you get it on, it feels like you have to turn forever and a day to get the head off to put in batteries.

I also don’t think I would’ve got a ZOOM light. I wasn’t paying attention when I put it in my cart and bought it. I would rather have the same light but with no zoom, just a constant power level.

The way this light is set up, at least the way I see it, is that if you turn it on and it is all the way out, you are getting 150 lumens, when you zoom it all the way in is when you get to the supposed 2000 lumens, which I am not buying for a second. It’s bright, but not THAT bright. I would prefer max brightness all the time.

Anyway, if you don’t care to help me with those 2 questions I would appreciate it.

I’ll keep the light and put it in my drawer. I’m happy with the 8 bucks I spent. It is worth it. I don’t know how long it’ll last though. I’ll just have to see.

Next on my list that I’m waiting for is the other one from Amazon, the $3.50 model that sports 300 lumens and isn’t a zoom. Can’t wait for that one to check out.

Thanks all.

nalajr

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:slight_smile:

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3AAA in series - 4.5vdc, Li Ion at full charge is 4.2vdc…not that much of a difference

It’s a 5 mode, have you tried 1/2 clicking the end button to see if it changed to a higher power level?

You gotta remember you are dealing with Chinese lumens also…a XM-L T6 bin at 3A is 800-900 lumens rated…

Levels on a 5 mode are probably lo>hi>strobe or hi>lo>strobe(they count the zoom in/zoom out as 2 extra modes??)

Also the pill is screwed into the body of the flashlight, the head is a slider that holds the aspheric lens (for focusing), it has a rubber o-ring on it, there isn’t screwing it in or out…it freely rotates, if it’s too loose changing out the o-ring for a thicker diameter one can tighten up the head, but it will always rotate

4

If the AAA batteries are not supplying the current that the driver requires and the 18650 battery will supply the current it will be brighter with the 18650. Saying that though 99% of 18650 batteries are useless. Better AAA batteries will have the same effect. Its all about the current required to operate and the current available to operate.

I'm not a zoomie fan but I have restricted the travel of the zooming mechanism to suit my own tastes on a couple of lights.

Lumens are all about lies.

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Hi, Nalajr.

You are probably getting 350 out-the-front lumens with that thing. With an 18650, maybe a hundred or so more. Your brightest adjustment is full flood. The limitations of a zoomy are that you lose a lot of lumens via having no reflector.

Remember, cheap doesn’t usually mean good. There are good, bright - and yet reliable - lights around. I’d recommend any of these…

Just remember NEVER to go cheap on your batteries…

Keeppower, Sanyo, Panasonic, or HiMax are the trusted names I use…

The problem with so many budget lights are that you never know just what you might get. These will get you something good and worth your money. Try these out.

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Yeah…hit up 18sixfifty (or others) for some laptop pull sanyo’s they work very well

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When zoomed in, the emitter is in the lens' focal plane so you see an image of the die. Often, you can even see the tiny bond wires. Cree uses square dies, so you get a square beam when it's focused.

The '2000' on the head isn't lumens, it refers to the beam area, I think. Most zoomies have that printing. The power is constant but losses out the front increase as the focus changes to the zoomed-in spot.

As mentioned, the tail-cap should unscrew to change cells.

It may be brighter with an 18650, due to eliminating resistance in those cheap battery carriers (4 times as many contact points). Plus, if you're using alkaline cells, they're not well suited to higher currents, not that this light is drawing that much.

The Nitecore I2 is a good first charger. Many good cells here, stick with a protected cell at least until you learn more about them.

http://www.mtnelectronics.com/opencart/index.php?route=product/product&path=79&product_id=231

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I second and third that. I have about 18 or so of his pulls. All of them work very well! They are Flat tops, so you may need so add some magnets to make them button tops depending on your applications. Good luck.

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Hey all,

Yeah the tailcap does unscrew. It was my bonehead move to use the head. I just grabbed it and treated it like a MAGlite and started unscrewing until it came off. I then noticed how odd it was when I started screwing it back on that it seemed like it never hit a STOP like a MAG does. You know what I mean? It works fine, nothing at all to complain about there. It’s working as it’s intended I guess.

I don’t know if I like all the modes on it. From what I see to get to the other modes you have to turn it on and off repeatedly to get to them. The 5 modes are HI, MED, LOW, STROBE and SOS. I just wish there were an easier way to select them without going through so many on and offs, if you get my drift. For instance, if I want the STROBE mode, I have to turn it on and off, on and off, on and off and that should put me in the STROBE mode. Then to get it back to HI, I have to do that a couple more times. Seems like a waste of batteries to me. It’s not that big of a deal though. I can see how this feature would be really useful though. If you don’t need the BLAZING LIGHT of HI, you can go through the modes to get to one that you do need and will conserve battery power.

I can think of an instance in the past where I needed that SOS or STROBE mode. My biddy caught a serial burglar at his house at 2AM one night and he called me to help him. I was there with him, both of us had him tied up, on the ground with our pistols on him waiting for the cops who were 30 minutes away and my buddy lived on a street that hadn’t made it to the maps yet, it was all brand new. When the cops did turn down the closest road to get to us I used my light pointed at them and turning it on and off as fast as I could to signal them to get to use ASAP, and they did. So this is certainly a useful mode.

I think if there is not that much of a benefit over the 3xAAA batteries, I’ll just stay with them. If I get another light that requires 18650 batteries then I’ll switch and use them in this one.

Thanks all

Nalajr

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About the head unscrewing, most zoomies aren’t meant to be unscrewed by grabbing the head and twisting. The best way is to unscrew the bezel then look down through the top of the head and take sturdy tweezers and place each point in one of the two holes on top of the pill and unscrew.

Reverse the process to reassemble. If you didn’t tighten the pill down then it is likely loose and this may cause issues with the flashlight in the future.

The part that moves up and down to zoom is only meant to move the lens toward and away from the emitter. The friction between this slide part and the oring on the pill is meant to maintain the degree of zoom, not actually unscrew the pill (though it tends to work sometimes).

On the mode subject… These cheapie Ultrafire lights almost always have what is called next mode memory (a seemingly unanimously hated feature). You’ll need to add a pencil line on the capacitor on the driver. You can check out light reviews here if you want to be certain of a light’s modes and memory before buying.

On the mode changing subject… You should be able to half press the button while it is on and this will change modes. There won’t be a ‘click’, but it will be enough to break the connection momentarily to tell the driver to change the mode.

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Just a light half press of the switch should change modes when the flashlight is turned on, so you’re not completely switching it on and off.

When the light has been on for a while and you turn it off, then turn it back on, does it come back on at the same mode you switched it off in?

You’ll probably want to tighten the pill as unknown described.

Here’s a couple of links about next mode memory

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hi there…i posted about same issue….i wasnt expecting a Flood light beam but was expecting a spot light beam…not…arghh…i spent $29.00 for my modified one but my Tasco 250 lumen is a spotlight type sol8d beam…an appears to be brighter tho it takes 3 quantum lithium AAA batteries while my new one i dont like takes both aaa an my 18650 battery from Monster.com…… i am soooooo frustrated too. if i found one like my tasco 250 but with much much brighter beam…spotlight style an not floodlight style…i could die happy….