I have recently purchased from ebay an ultrafire WF 502b flashlight with a cree xml-T6 led, 5 mode, using the 18650 2400mAh 3.7v battery. This light was advertised as 1000 lumens.
As soon as it arrived I was straight up to my mates thinking that I was going to make his WF 501b with an R2 led producing 290 lumens look like a toy .......... No chance! to my disappointment this light was not as bright as my mates. I measured the amperage being drawn on the 3 light settings using a multi meter and obtained the following results;
High Med Low
0.96A 0.49A 0.06A
I have read various forums and they say that at 1amp the xlm T6 is being under driven and that it should be driven at about 3 amps to achieve its full potential. I am well aware that the flashlight is likely to get very hot within a short period of use but I only intend to have the flashlight on for 30 seconds at the most before switching off so heat transfer in such a short time shouldn’t be a problem.
There are lots of forums where guys say that they drive the xlm T6 at 3A but what I cant find out is "how do they do it" is it the electrics at the back of the Led which I think they call the driver or is it what they call a "drop in" which I think is the complete head unit (Led, electrics and reflector).
It may be more cost effective to purchase another WF 502b but how can I be sure that it will be driving at a greater amperage and that I will be getting somewhere near 1000 lumens.
Hi, I'm in Nottinghamshire, so very close to you btw.
Anyway, either your driver isn't very good or the battery you're using is not up to high current applications. The switch in the 502b could also be providing extra resistance. What brand battery is it exactly?
You would otherwise have to buy a 2.8A regulated driver and do some soldering to switch the old one out for a better drive current. It would be much easier just to buy the well-known high-performing manafont 3 mode drop-in instead however.
It is very important to wrap the drop-in well with aluminium foil to make good contact between it and the head of the light, or output can drop after even less than 30 seconds if it is driven hard.
Wow! thanks guys, I didn't expect such a good response so quick. You probably gathered I'm a newby to this site and flash lights but from what I have read I could easily get hooked.
The battery is an Ultrafire LC18650 2400mAh 3.7V (blue) and I measured the current drawn on a fully charged battery.
I dont have a problem soldering and for what it costs wouldnt mind having a go at a new driver but then its much easier just to do the drop in. The reviews on the AMC7135*8+MCU 2800mAhread pretty good
Where abouts in Notts you from RedForest, I'm from Chesterfield
I'm in Keyworth, just about 7 miles south of Nottingham, so quite a way out from Chesterfield. I've been through it a good few times though going out to the Peak District.
The driver linked is the one I meant as well, and is worth getting even if you have to wait a while. You can choose the mode configuration too by soldering a connection between the negative contact and the stars on the back of the driver which is good.
This is the drop-in that me and I'm sure most others on here would recommend:
Remember for any high-powered drop-in that heat transfer to the body is very important. The tighter you can wedge it in with a conductive material the better.
Those blue Ultrafire batteries really aren't that good for a 3 amp push you should probably pick up a couple different batteries if you want to run a 3 amp light. There are many good choices in batteries for cheap money shop around or ask and we can steer you in the right direction.
sounds great and is no doubt good for $16.22, but the link below is for a complete torch at $15.80 but am unsure if it has the same drop in and dont know whether to take the gamble
If you want a complete torch I would look at a C8 based one for better intensity of beam if you don't want to spend much. Or save up and get a Trustfire 3 T6 for a really powerful one.
The 3 mode one I linked to is generally considered the best quality/value drop-in around unless you want to get a custom one (E1320 will build one to your specification at a very good price) as the memory is very good on it, it draws around 3A (good current) and does not have the annoying flashy modes to scroll through every time you want to get back to Low or Med from High. Well worth getting in any case and certainly not the same as the one in that other torch which is 5 modes and probably lower current and less good memory function.
There are a lot of options with detailed reviews on here. Solarforce hosts are much better quality than Ultrafire in my opinion at least and not much more expensive, and there are a lot of other complete torches around which have better integral thermal paths so can give better output for longer than an un-modded/potted drop-in and host.
Look into getting some better batteries too if you want full output, try the trustfire 'flames' design ones or even better get some xtar 2600s direct from xtar if the deal is still open. It's worth picking up an Xtar WP2 as well for much safer charging and longer lifetime of the batteries as it terminates very reliably with the correct charging algorithm.
Good morning................. some great advice I appreciate your help.
I have a mate who has an Ultrafire C8 and agree its a great torch but it has a little too much flood for what I require. Can the C8 be modified with a better reflector and/or aspheric lens to give it the better throw?
Going back to your origional post, if I decided to change the driver is it easy enough to copy the soldering of the one I take out for the new one and do you get any electrical diagram with it? or could you send me a sketch if I got stuck?
It should be pretty easy to do. I'm not sure if the driver will come with positive and negative wires already attached, if not the hardest part will be finding where to attach them to the driver, although the positive and negative contacts are marked so it shouldn't be that difficult. Then you just connect the positive wire to the same side of the PCB that the old driver's positive was connected to (this may be marked as well to make it easier again) and the negative to the other.
Make sure there's a connection between the negative input on the driver and the P60 pill if you'll be using a spring (just blob some solder between) and then blob solder between whatever star you want and the negative to choose what modes you want to use.
You are right I just compared both lights but the 980L reflector is wider at the base so the angle the light is projected is tighter giving the effect of a deeper reflector, sorry for the confusion. I should have said properly angled reflector I tried to oversimplify the cause and effect of light collamination.
Thanks guys for all the support that you have given on getting the correct torch for my needs. My bank balance is going to take a hammering now because there's so much I need and want to experiment with.
I would never have believed how much knowledge there is out there and how in depth this torch issue could get.
Gordy, glad to have you here on BLF! I've been reading this thread and it seems like this 502B is your first XM-L light. Your buddy's 502 with the R2 emitter is going to have a very focused beam by it's very nature, even in a P60 host. An XM-L is extremely floody when compared to any other cree emitter but especially when compared to an XR-E R2.
The C8 another friend of yours has appears floody to you because it's an XM-L. If your 502B with the XM-L was working properly you'd see an even more floody light than the C8. The KD C8 with XM-L, while seeming floody, will give you far greater throw than you will ever get out of a P60 setup with an XM-L. It's a fantastic light to start off your XM-L collection! You can always get a more specialty thrower later on as I guarantee you will be getting many more lights in the future.
