and trying only the pill without the reflector (possible short there)?
positive on the spring and negative on the outside of the pill
do you have a multimeter and/or soldering iron?
Yup I tried that. I do have a meter and soldering iron.
so unsolder or pry the driver out and check the cables 
also check if they aren’t shorting somewhere (typically on the led mcpcb)
if you desolder the led you can try it for a second with a ~3V to see if it works
Those are designed to fit snugly in the head of the light, unlike the generic/universal P60 with a separate pill & reflector. The different shapes are because the hosts each type is made for have different internal dimensions in the head. Since they don't list any measurements, I'd suggest contacting them and asking for dimensions and then comparing each to the measurements from your 501B (or, they may already know and just tell you which one you need). That's a lot of money to stick inside a $6 light though... why not get a regular drop-in for this host, and pick up a much much nicer Solarforce L2P for the triple? They aren't all that much more expensive than the 501B.
I already ordered that same L2P in grey a few days ago lol. Also ordered the nichia x3, hopefully they get em soon.
If I like it, I might consider getting another for this 501 host. I really like the host.
I thought it was funny that you swore off anything made by ultrafire and then in the same breath say you like the 501b host ........an ultra fire host :P
I assume problems are first a tailcap ..and run a paper clip and than I assume it's a reflector shorting the emitter ..unscrew the reflector and test it . If that doesn't do it I'd unsolder the emitter and test the driver.
I'd put money on it being a short from LED- to ground causing it to be direct drive, and when switched on it pulls too much current and trips the protection on the cell. If it were a dead short on the positive side the LED would never get enough power to even blink. But then again, I'd have checked it with a DVOM first, before doing anything else...
So it has been 7 days and fasttech keeps giving me the runaround….
I opened a paypal dispute and fasttech is telling me to close the dispute first before they send me a replacement……
Yea right…
I have told them to give me my refund or I will be escalating this to paypal…
Maybe i should make a youtube vid to get their attentipn but probably not worth my time for a $12 light….
hmm… you know in order to get refund from paypal you have to show that you’re willing to work out the issue with the seller
I had few bad lights with fasttech before… all you have to do is open a ticket with fasttech and then show them pic of the light or better yet video of the LED that looked dim…
after that they will ask you to send it to their Miami office and keep the receipt of the shipping charge and then show the pic of the receipt in the ticket.
then just wait for about a week and then you get your money back including the shipping charge to send it to their Miami office… much faster than have to deal with paypal back and forth
you just have a bad luck… that’s all… it can happen to anyone, don’t let it ruin your day
Fasttech has gone downhill with their customer service.
Fasttech is not suppose to be telling anyone to close a dispute before they will even attempt to solve the issue. Its likely to be against paypal’s rules. Disputes can never be reopened.
Pretty much. Google searching shows that everyone advises not to close the dispute.
Sellers only make excuses (like fasttech did in my case) that the system wont let them process a exchange or refund until the dispute is closed.
They know that once I close the case, they can simply ignore my ticket and I will not be able to reopen the dispute…
As for the mailing this flashlight…No way am I going to pay as much for shipping (or more) than the cost of the darn thing. If they give me a prepaid label or something, then sure I’ll send it back.
Uh-oh…. Up to now I’ve always had good and efficient service from Fasttech. But now, based on these comments here I’m getting kinda’ worried as I have 2 orders on the way.
If it turns out that FT is truly “going down the drain” then I will be dumping them faster than you can say L.E.D. 
They reimbursed my postage for an item I sent to their Miami office, no problem.
Write in the dispute communication that no trustworthy seller will force you to close the dispute because once it is closed you have lost your protection.
Wait two days for them to not respond and escalate it and claim the amount of your money you want for compensation.
I have a Nitecore EA4W purchased with the all too common switch bubble. FastTech fought me very step of the way in trying to exchange it. I was in direct contact with another member here who had the same issue who eventually got it resolved. It was only after they figured out that I knew what they had done for another member and that I had access to the wider forum audience that they were even willing to compromise.
Then they had the gaul to tell me not to mention the resolution to anyone else here because they didn’t want to do the right thing for everybody.
HEY, FASTTECH, I saved the emails just so I could remind myself (an others) that you are scumbags and that I should spend my money elsewhere.
Y’all have to decide for yourself, but I encourage you to vote with your wallet.
No more Nitecore either.
Yep... I'm having a fight with FT as well. They are giving me fits about fixing this. THEY didn't put in any insulation between the solder connections and the aluminum reflector. I usually look before powering one of these up but didn't this time. It didn't even put out a flash!
Dang poor workmanship and design. You gotta love how they do things! This is the image I sent them. It won't cost me much to fix their mess but it's just the idea that I have to! Dan.
OK should I dust off the old soldering iron and try to fix mine ? I dunno if the dispute will get anywhere.
Any idea what might be causing mine to blink once faintly and not do anything else ? Already ruled out the host and battery.
FT doesn't build any of the stuff they sell, the 'they' who left out the insulation (though I can't make out anything missing in that pic) would be FT's supplier.
Is the solder sticking up too high, centering ring not thick enough? Honestly that flat-base reflector is meant for XR-E LEDs, the ones for other LEDs usually has a machined area around the emitter holes for clearance.
Unless you have done other testing you haven't mentioned here, you have not ruled out much of anything. Did you see my comment about current draw and a short from LED- to ground causing the cell's protection to trip? Have you unscrewed the pill from the reflector and checked for shorts to the underside of the reflector?
It will be easy to walk you through what to check where, but if you refuse to check the things suggested it will be slightly more difficult. :)
Just checked it. Didn’t realize it unscrews so easily.
No shorts from the reflector to emitter. The 2 wires seem to be soldered very cleanly to the emitter.