If it was really a heat only issue i suspect the heatsinking foil trick was indeed sucessfull but the board of the emitter could had a poor contact. No doubt the torch would be hot, the real probelm would be the inability of the led board to dissipate heat to the pill and then to the body. If the flashlight is somehow hot doesen't necessarily mean the led has good thermal transfer. I suspect overdriving was a more reasonable cause for fast emitter departure. By no means i have that much experience but it seems quite reasonable.
It was definitely OK when it arrived (and was bright), so I guess the heat killed it.
The cause doesn't seem to matter, still no chance for an RMA and I'm left with an empty drop-in to put a driver and an emitter into ;)
I started wondering about an XP-G, but not before next payday.
Sorry to hear that. I guess you got an unlucky drop-in. No chance to rma?
It's already been 5 months since I got it... do you think I should try?
Myself wouldn't dare. It's less a pain to just order a complete drop in for like 6€. The 2-3 week wait time would bother me the most. Too bad DX sells mostly poorly designed drop ins (leds are fine but drivers leave you with a bit of bitter taste).
I just cancelled my order for a 504b to get a XTAR A01 instead althrough stretching my budget conisderably. DX was really taking a sweet time to process the order.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=285603
Will report my findings. It is still in the budget light price range but barely fitting.
I liked:
- Higher grade led (apparently)
- HA finish
- Exquisite machining (debatable)
- Charger for both home and car included (actually it is charged in torch body) <-- which makes me a bit uncomfortable with li-ion but oh well i can still charge mine outside.
- Good lenses
- The option to disable strobe and sos
- Farily good high mid low
- Constant brightness
- holster included
The price is a bit more than double, it is a r5 instead, complete set (usefull for a starter kit, with proper charging technique charger with cutoff!), good constant brightness driver, customizable modes, HA finish.
I'll keep you posted and do a review when i get it.
and the price is?
I believe it would be around 36-39 usd if i got it right icluding shipping. Tomorrow i will know more.
the ulrrafire would be around 14usd a new driver around 3-4 usd and it would be a r2 still with type 2 anodizing. that was my reasoning, not counting a free charger for car and home bundled althrough totally unneeded.
Oh my 504B works perfectly, so I recon I have saved myself 23$ then.
That's a way of putting it. I wanted mine constant brightness stock. An r5 should be better, and HA could come handy on a handlebar on my bike and love the idea to have high med lo without strobes. To each it's own.
I'll probaly get one of those 504b in the future anyway. I guess i wouldn't stop having only 4 flashlights.
R5 better? That depends. I have a couple of R5s and they are brighter (flood) than my R2s. But if you want
throw imo and experiance the R2 is better. The best P60 thrower I have is a R2 where I swopped the orangepeal
reflector with a smooth reflector I bought at DX http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.5937.
But if you really want throw for small $ buy the MXDL SA-28 and put a 18650 battery in it. You will be amazed!
Does the smooth reflector show a show a uniform flood or is it ringy?
And I agree with the MXDL SA-28!
Smooth reflectors almost always show artifacts of one sort or another. Try focussing any Maglite to see what I mean.
Is this the MDXL light you are talking about. Sounds interesting.
My Maglite LED 2AA has a smooth flood when focused all the way 
Yup, that's the one. Puts my XPG-R5 and Romisen RC-C6 to shame (on throw). I'm going to be receiving a 504B R2 so I can compare that too. Also just bought the smooth reflector.
As midieval10 have writen allready, thats the one. Cheap and a hell of a thrower with 18650 battery.
Not much to write about in flood though.
Need to swop the metal O-ring in the head with one of rubber. Have a thread of it somewhere here.
My P60 thrower is not very ringy. In daylight you dont see it at all. The hotspot is very small,
only 15 cm at 2 meters distance. It outthrows everything I got including my R5s, but not my SA-28!
About the throw capability of r2 and r5... thanks for the info. Im very happy for a r5 choice then since my pimary use will be for cycling adventures without added sun heat. My romisen rc-n3 2xAA is way too narrow.
Have a sipik 68 flood to throw, while i like the light it isn't very usefull since it isn't regulated for constant brightness and last for 1h of good light only. Have it for backup anyway and to check into pc cases under the table for bulgy capacitors. :)
I measured my 504b "r2" dropin, and it's not 1A like the one for the review. Only 0.6a on fresh batteries and not really a great tint. It's a bit off-white but in a wierd slight greenish way such that colors just look off. The clear annodized coating also doesn't hide the nicks and scratch on the host very well, the 502b is imo better made.
While it's decent for value, I would pay a bit more for a Solarforce or a Skyray S5.
Based on this review, I ordered one of these from DX. I wanted to deepen my addiction with my first foray into the 18650 styles, and this one seemed reasonable; plus, it's a very attractive unit. It looks almost like pewter.
Several of the comments on DX after this unit's listing state that DX isn't shipping these anymore; they're shipping something else. One person said he got a Uniquefire L2. Okay, that opens up two questions: 1) What's the downside? The L2 looks like the exact same creature with a higher (but equally questionable) lumen rating, and a higher price. and... 2) How unreliable, exactly, is DX? I ordered a pair of grey Trustfire batteries and a charger at the same time, and I'm wondering what month it will be when these show up.
RB
Welcome Robert Barr!
Good to have you here.
My most annoying patient shares your surname. But I won't hold that against you.
If you get the UniqueFire it is more Surefire compatible than the latest one. This is probably a good thing.