Looking for a specific Sipik 18650

Had a great Sipik 18650 SK98-5W 1600LM CREE XML-T6, but the threading on the cap locked up and I can’t open the battery cap. I’ve tried to find this model everywhere but no luck. Can anyone help me?

The only think I can find is a Sipik SK98 with 1000 Lumens. The one I had was 1600.

Also, how can I upload photos?

No way they’d even be close to 1000lm, let alone 1600. ’98s have a “hollow pill”, ie, the LED’s board doesn’t sit on a solid shelf but just a small ledge, and the LED would cook itself to death in a hurry if pushed hard.

Anyhoo, most ’98s are commodity items nowadays. Some are good, others are crap. Some have nice smooth movement, others break away suddenly then almost rattle around loosely. It’s a crap-shoot, emphasis on “crap”.

On the other hand, if you get a decent one, you can mod the living Hell out of it. Change the LED, get a decent driver, fill the gap for better thermal contact, etc. Ask Barkuti, as he gets off on this sort of thing. :laughing:

You could introduce yourself first. Might help

Not a ’98, but Morpilot makes a really nice zoomie.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075M9DXJF

light + multitool, 20bux with 30% off coupon.

Damn, that’s even cheaper’n what I got it for…

https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/47268

Wellp, if going SK98 the authentic UltraFire SK98 is the only one I dare to recommend (standalone for sale at FastTech; coupon: BLF). It's nearly an 0K flashlight as it comes with the exception of the pogo style tail switch, of poor quality and which the manufacturer seems to change nearly as often as lasses change their crotch napkins. You will need to swap it sooner or later.

As it comes the UltraFire SK98 is hollowy but has a wide and thick ledge, so cooling is decent. Nothing to write home about, but some minor modifications can fix a few quirks.

I use a heavily modified sleeper SK98 but, to be honest, it'll take a lot of work if you really want to go high power as I did. Mine runs a shaved CRI90+ 6V XHP50A at 4A, and the first time I tried it with the new driver in stock configuration (2.8+A at the emitter) the stock switch died in about a minute and half of use during a 10 - 15 minute walk. Takes the heat well, but I had to machine, solder and thermal glue some copper discs inside its pill. And of course the pogo switch spring with brass cap assembly will need a bypass.

There may be more cost effective alternatives to SK98s.

By the way, 1600 lumens? My SK98 may do 1200 out the front in flood, so go figure.

I recently got several unbranded WF-501B with hollow pills is this normal for this model ?
Would adding thermal paste to the ledge where the LED board sit help ?

Not terribly much. I’d get real brass pills (with reflectors, to make sure they fit as a set) and be done with it, but then again, any host that comes with hollow pills is probably crap anyway, just barely good enough to throw on some low-stress LED+driver combo.

I learned my lesson with crap C8s. What used to be great lights, over the course of maybe a year or two, ended up being a true race-to-the-bottom, complete with plastic reflectors, crappy low-current flickery switches, plastic front “glass”, thinwall Al-foil battery tubes, and so on.

Ain’t worth the bother. Throw some generic LED in there with a 1A driver, and give it to someone you hate.

I wonder why they wouldn’t make the pill just out of aluminum would still be much better than a hollow pill if cost was a issue ?
These WF-501B were $3.84 jobs that were listed as UltraFire WF-501B T6 none of the photos showed the type of pill was inside. When I got them they were unbranded, but at least they did come with a T6 LED with with non-grounded edge glass lens. I planned on getting several to be mounted on tripods just for around the house for power failures and such.

I got a Convey C8 with a XML2 U2 pill 6 years back and those were quality torches.

You’ll never go wrong with a Convoy or legit name-brand. It’s the cheap no-name clones that are garbage. No one even bothers with XM-Ls anymore, and the T6 bin is ancient. And “XML-T6” doesn’t even make sense.

EdT, I've found FastTech as a reliable seller of UltraFire products (if in doubt, check the UltraFire site to see if whatever flashlight is manufacturer listed and/or ask customer support). Here is a “WF-501B” search there. You will probably pay twice or more than what you paid for the botched jobs, but should receive a fully functional flashlight of at least 0K quality. Remember to use BLF coupon if you wish.

Yeah I know the proper moniker is XM-L T6 or XP-E Q5, but most of these sites just list them without the hyphen.

Yeah I am a long time FT customer, but the thing is they don’t even listed the type of LED is used in their torches and their photos don’t show the pills as well so I was hesitant to buy from them.
Like for example this WF-501B, mention of LED or photo of pill.
https://www.fasttech.com/products/1601/10000911/1580801-ultrafire-wf-501b-led-flashlight

Yeah, that’s their way of slapping “Bolex” on crap to make you think it’s a Rolex.

CW plus HML+blinkies… expect to trash what’s inside to stick in a decent LED and driver. The mechanicals should be quite good, in fact.

A legit UF light should have a decent pill+reflector inside already, so ditch the expendables and put something decent inside.

Do you aim to gamble for the cheapest? You already know there are cheaper junk options.

If you use the drop down menu at the left side in the above product page, you will see 5 flashlights/flashlight kits. I tell you, it is very likely all of these come from the same (fake UltraFire) supplier. Everything has a reason (or more). Discard all of these choices is my advice. Asking customer support in this regard would also be wise.

If I had to bet from FastTech's “WF-501B catalog” for a fully functional white light, this or that (the gold color is cool) would be my minimum bets. FastTech has great customer support but dropships, you know.

In another price realm, a P60 search at Kaidomain reveals lots of interesting offerings, including an E6/E6S host and a 219C powered unit with deactivatable :-)) strobe and SOS modes. All of these offerings can also be gotten at LHT Flashlight store in AliExpress.

Wed, 12/11/2019 - 22:55

Makes me glad I grabbed a bunch of Solorforce hosts for a song waaaay back when…