Just noticed if I add another flashlight for around $20 (OTR M3) the “Priority Line USA Express” shipping cost drops down to $1.77!
So that looks like the best way to go then.
Received my UF-10 yesterday and i was quite pleased with it on first inspection but saw some things that could be improved upon.
First i checked amperage.
1.11A on high mode
0.33A on low mode
I disassembled the light, no thermal paste at all under the MCPCB and no lubrication elsewhere, the sliding zoom was very stiff to operate.
On to the modifications.
I wasn’t too keen on the lighted tailcap, it was very unevenly lit, too bright and the silver colour of the magnet did not appeal to me.
I blackened the magnet with BC super blue.
Installed a black o-ring with slilcone in the tailcap boot to dim and even out the light.
Tail spring silicone wire bypass and brass cap soldered to spring, also removed the flimsy front end spring.
Soldered a R220 resistor over the internal 1R5 as Tom E did.
It was not my best soldering job and ended up way too high but i wasn’t going to mess around with it anymore as it was difficult to get working.
That meant i had to cut some out of the aluminium ring for clearance. (Lazy fix)
I then potted the driver board with clear silicone into the aluminium retainer.
I also noticed the driver board gives off a bit of heat while on.
As pointed out earlier, contact with the diver board is not optimal so a couple of solder blobs on the negative ring.
The battery tube measures 17.29mm on my sample and the tube could be bored out to accommodate 18350 cells.
I might do this later but in the meantime to stop battery rattle i installed two strips of thin felt to the inside of the battery tube.
I then installed an XP-L HI on a 16mm noctigon MCPCB, this throws the focus out so for a quick fix you can use two 24x1.5mm o-rings - one inside the bezel to keep the aspheric in place and one in place of the original bezel o-ring.
This gives a nice tight fit of the bezel and allows adjusting of the focus although i will probably file off the 0.5mm or so from the underside of the pill lip at some point.
For ease of pill removal i cut in two slots for long nose pliars etc to key.
So what does all this mean?
Much better thermal management, better looking and increased output to 2.40A on high mode and 0.70A on low.
Plus, i like it more now :sunglasses:
I don’t know if anyone has said it earlier, but this thread should be testimony that the old *B*lf “spirit” is still with us, with a bunch of you all jumping on modding the heck out of an “inexpensive” light (a GOOD thing, too :laughing:!
Jim
I'm think'n the shape of the green LED under the switch cover on mine looked like the dragon's eye, used in Manker and other lights. Think that's what they were attempting here - I could be wrong, or it was a feeble attempt by them, not sure...
Interesting your 1.11A is a bit higher than what I measured (~0.85A), but I measured mine with the tail cap off on the bench (heavy AWG leads on DMM). Good to hear though a more aggressive resistor mod still works - I'll go more in that direction next time I got it open.
For me, those are good tips on adjusting focal length: o-rings, etc. Thanks!! Also potting the driver is another great idea, specially after the resistor mod.
I just ordered a 2nd U-F10 - worth another modding for sure at this price. You really can't get better quality/features in a 16340 light for under $10.
Subscribed.
Doesn’t look too bad. Unfortunately, I see that once again, the cooling fins are molded into the sliding zooming assembly instead of somewhere useful.
That pocket clip looks nice, I like the little tab that’s folded down to help the clip slide into your pocket vs. catching on the edge (Is Jdub watching this thread?).
Also, curious if one of the 20mm TIR optics would be easy to implement to turn this into a fixed/non-zooming host?
If you could that, wouldn’t the head part still slide, though?
Also, if you could turn it into a fixed head that fits a 20mm, you could probably put a triple in there, like several older 16340 lights I have modded.
Making a zoomie into a fixed head light isn’t hard. Glue the bezel down with arctic alumina.
When I get mine if there is enough metal to bore it out,I’m putting a 18350 in mine for sure. Now I’ve got to hone my soldering skills to upgrade the LED and driver.
I’d like to try resistor-modding this light.
Where’s the best place to buy R220 resistors? Last time I tried resistor modding I ordered resistors from Ebay which looked like the right thing and had the right number on top, but turned out to be much too large when they arrived.
I scavenged mine from an old powerbank PCB, it was the wrong size and that’s why i had problems.
I wonder if RMM could sell resistor modding kits containing a selection of common resistors appropriate for resistor modding.
I think fasttech have various resistor packs.
I have a rather large inventory of resistors, built up over time. Bought a few of the resistor packs from FastTech, others from DigiKey, some from eBay, but for the sub 1 ohm resistors, I mostly had the bigger ones because stock drivers typically use large ones in parallel for current limiting/sensing - this needs an 0805 one, which I did happen to have a few of, but limited sizes. Did happen to have R500's though in 0805, so to further boost the amps, I'll just piggyback one more, equal to adding a R250, close to what CRX used with the R220.
Looks like FastTech is letting their resistors run out stock: https://www.fasttech.com/category/1002/resistors
Anyone else noticed the switch boot has some GITD powder in it?
Yeah the switch boot is GITD,
Mine arrived today, I solder jump the 1R5 resistor, work like a charm, I think its run direct drive now, remove the front contact board spring and swap it with the brass connector, bypass tail spring, and make a solder blob on the driver board to get better contact, also mod the Aluminium MCPCB to DTP. very satisfied with the result, 
Salvaged an old R220 resistor and resistor-modded the driver exactly as shown in CRX’s post. Output seems considerably improved.
Haven’t tried any other mods with this light yet. The press-fit plastic disk holding in the star is super-tightly pressed in. I drilled 2 holes in it then tried turning with needle nosed pliers. The disk didn’t move but the whole pill unscrewed. I might have to destroy that disk to remove it… not a big deal since I almost never reuse those.
Additional mods I’m considering to this light:
- open up additional space inside the tail and head of the light to allow use of 900 mAh Efest IMR 16500. Possibly also bore out the inside of the tube so it can use 1000 mAh Efest Purple IMR 18500.
- emitter swap to neutral tint XPL HI on copper Noctigon
- solder-braid battery compartment springs
- find an additional resistor somewhere to try stacking on the R220 to further increase output.
- Either cook or remove the tailcap magnet. I hate magnets in EDC lights… too much risk of accidentally putting the light in the pocket with my wallet and demagnetizing my credit cards.
Did the same mods on this light CRX did to his:
- spring bypass both springs
- R220 resistor mod
- Emitter update to XPL HI on Noctigon.
I took a look into possibly widening the tube for 18350 or freeing up space at the tailcap and head for 16500 or 18500. My impression: not looking too hopeful. :confounded:
Widening the tube:
The body tube aft of the sliding bezel has plenty of extra material and is suitable for boring out. Unfortunately, the “neck” of the light under the sliding bezel is actually quite thin. An 18350 cell would extend into this neck. I’m not sure the tube can be bored out wide enough for an 18350 because of the lack of material in the neck. I’ll have to inspect it closer to see. Perhaps if I free up space in the tailcap and use a longer spring at the head, maybe I can keep the cell in the back part of the tube where material is thicker…
Lengthening the internal battery compartment: I need around 1 cm additional space in the battery tube to fit a 16500 cell. How to get this space? Some options:
- Shorten the tailcap retaining ring. Remove the brass spring cap and surrounding plastic cover. Saw or Dremel the aluminum retaining ring down. It can have half as many threads and work fine.
- Shorten the head. Remove the contact plate at the head. I haven’t been able to remove this yet. Will likely need to drill some holes in the pill to get sufficient leverage. With the plate removed, shorten the pill to remove empty space, then reinstall the contact plate without the spring.
Unfortunately, even if I do all of the above, I’m still not sure it will be enough to fit a longer cell. I think I need to give this one more thought before spending time trying to modify it.
I’m very interested in seeing what you do to fit that cell, I just came across those cells while looking for them for a possible mod of a different light. http://www.batteryjunction.com/efest-4063-flat.html
I really would like to have your driver, the resistor mod is just to much for me at the moment. Also have a xpg2 on the way, wich I will dedome.
I’d understand if you would rather give it to someone with more forumposts though.