Review: UltraFire C20 / Crelant 7G3CS clone

I guess you could recommend it to Crystal and then somebody could get it for a review.
Is that a 7G5CS or 7G6CS clone, the bigger brother of 7G3CS?

If I do another review I’ll try to make it more to the point and make my own template as I got quite dissatisfied with this one.
Hopefully to cover all the parts of the flashlight without having to blah blah for so long and not knowing where to exactly put it.

Pictures or it didn’t happen :wink:
Really, why is there so few comparisons on BLF? :confused:
So many people have these emitters at home, just take a few pictures and post em on BLF people!

That's a clone of the V6CS. Doesn't really make sense to get it though - the original is cheaper: http://www.md-lightsource.com/Crelant-V6CS-XML-U2-710-Lumen-Throw-light-V6CS.htm

Also this clone says it has five modes... a major minus if they dropped ramping.

I just got the 7G6CS yesterday, and I'm loving it. It's not quite a pocket light though.

I ordered one and will review it once I receive it :D

Got my C20 today, 17 days from Lights Castle, pretty quick for China Post. XTAR 18700 fits fine.

I like this light but I’m not at all blown away by its output. Just did some quick playing around with it and it does not outshine my Xeno Eo3 (and the Eo3 is NW). The output between the two looks about the same but the Xeno looks nicer to me because of the neutral tint. Comparing the two also made me realize again how much I like NW over CW.

This is my 1st ramping light and I really like that feature, however I agree with JonnyC the ramping is a bit too slow.

Overall for the price I’m not unhappy at all, it appears to have a good build quality, it’s sleek looking, and looks to have a decent quality finish.

I also had some weird flashing when I turned it on after removing the tail, tightened up the tail cap better and it went away.

EDIT:
After leaving both on high for 4 minutes the e03 got very hot and the C20 was barley even warm.
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EDIT EDIT:
Not sure if that’s a good thing after reading this quote by JohnnyMac on a Crelant thread: “I just received a 7G2CS and it doesn’t warm up the least bit which tells me there is no heat sinking going on internally and the LED is cooking itself and, most likely, the driver as well”

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Hmm, that’s strange, I’ve used it without grease for a while, it worked fine and it works fine with it as well. No problems with contacts or flashing for me.
Though I tighten all the lights well when closing them.

Some comparisons with the C20 reflector are here.

Didn't think it was worth mentioning before, but the tailcap on my C20 was not well tightened either, and the light did not turn on initially... all it took was half a turn to tighten the tailcap to fix.

My sample turn out to be 99,9% perfect, working like a charm straight out of the box, it was intended as a gift but when I saw it in person I changed my mind and decide to keep it :D

Now I wait T80 and Hong Kong postal system seems to be VERY-VERY slow this days :/ ...

If you loosen the tailcap about 1/4 turn you will see the turn on flash, it will blink once every time you push the tailswitch. So if anyone has that issue check the tailcap for tightness.

The tailcap threads were lubed when I got mine but the threads between the body and head were dry. I used SuperLube Synthetic Grease on them and now they’re smooth.

I’m really liking this light the more I play around with it.

I’m liking this light so much I’m considering getting the original Crelant version for the better tint (warmer) and slightly brighter. Either that or I need to learn how to swap this emitter for a NW XML.

Slightly brighter and warmer may have been worth the $15 more. But since I’m a sucker for a good deal I appreciate getting this for $29 and change.

You can get XM-L2 or XP-G2 from Illum. Supply and swap it. Reflow is dead easy you can check my latest thread for how do I reflow with just a soldering iron and a piece of metal/heat conductive material.

Rarely you can get NW tints from Chinese manufacturers, and if, then it’s most likely because the shop requested them or install the parts as selected themselves.

Of course you have to tighten everything :wink:
Not an issue for me. Yes I just tested it, you have to tighten the tail stainless steel ring as much as you can a 1/4 loosened turn makes it act up. For me it only works if I apply pressure on the switch or the ring when it is switched on because the switch board needs contact.

Just tighten the parts folks, it will not flicker :slight_smile:

Thanks for the idea, that’s something I’d want to try someday, but I have never changed an emitter before, and I’m a little “in the dark” on exactly what your explaining here

I guess you’re explaining how to replace/build an emitter by soldering one on to a new “star” ?
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Is the “Sink Pad” a “star”?
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Does the C20 already have a SinkPad star or is is this something I would need to build in order to get an XML2 NW in to this light?

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Guess I’m going to have to read up on doing this sort of thing and try building something for a “practice” project. I’ve got a lot to learn.

there's no need to complicate things, you could just buy XM-L2 emitter like this one, unsolder original and solder new one...

Yep, you will only need to solder the contacts and before that make the start smaller as 16mm is too big for a C20. Check the table at the beginning with dimensions.

Yes the tutorial is how to solder a bare emitter onto a star.

It’s definitely good to be a bit tech savvy when playing with things. You can find a lot on this forum on how to do things.

Goodness that was the best review I’ve seen so far. Thanks for all the time spent making it. Love the animated pics! That light is very interesting, been wondering when clones of these lights would show up. Def on my “want to buy list” :slight_smile:

If you're on a budget, try a different light instead. The difference really isn't worth $15 imo.

Thanks for recommending a more simple solution. I’m looking to mod it to a NW though, would this one be a good choice or can you think of something that would work better?

Agreed, and I am buying several other lights anyway. Plus it maybe more fun and rewarding to just mod this one myself!

Is that what needs done to mod it with XM-L2 T6 3C, as you mentioned you will be doing?

Or is there somewhere I can just buy just an XM-L2 T6 3C (or XM-L2 T6 4C) for this light that’s already mounted on a star?

That one would work also but, as JackCY mentioned, maximal LED MCPCB (that is a led "star" size although it is not a star but rather circle :)) is 15.2mm so you would have to shave about 0,8mm in diameter with a nail file for example which is still easier than reflowing it.

It is not hard to do a reflow but you definitely want to practice first with some non essential and preferably dead emitters and if it didnt work no loss there.