Ultrafire Cree XM-L Cree T6 LED light

[Arjimlad]

I will see what I can do and take a good look at tightening up all the springs & threads etc. I may not be able to do this for a few days though.

 

[Arjimlad]

Well., I just dismantled this torch, and putting it back together made no difference. I put masking tape around the battery to stop it rattling sideways and it has made no difference. There is too much rattle along the length of the torch - I have tried to adjust it but can't stop this rattle.. The good news is that the seller has offered to send me another one FOC.

 

[Arjimlad]

A couple of hongkong ebay torches I've had have needed to have all the bits screwed up tightly to remove any dodginess in the electrical connection. The emitter bit usually has two dimples which you can get purchase on with a biro nib. The first one I got also didn't have enough 'springage', so I added a cylinder of folded kitchen foil, wrapped in insulating tape, which worked to get enough stability from the spring in the tail cap. If the connection through the body of the torch is a bit iffy, bumps can be enough for the control circuit with the emitter to thing you've done a mode switching press with the tail cap switch.

Thanks for this - I am still waiting for the replacement torch, but pondering what you said, I checked how tight the tail cap switch assembly was, by putting two nails in a metalwork vice at the right distance apart to mate up with the little indentations in the tailcap switch. I made sure that was all tightly done up at this end and at the business end too.

I could not work out where you inserted the foil/tape cylinder - was it actually in the spring itself ? I think you have hit the nail on the head with this though.

Next, I carefully stretched the springs which has made a big difference - riding in this morning, the light still changes mode, but only over the worst bumps (it did so three times on a 6 mile ride). The lowest power setting is plenty bright enough to get me seen at 8am.

Anyway, thanks for the tips everyone, and I hope the replacement torch has none of these issues... will be sure to post up as soon as tested.

 

[Arjimlad]

Replacement supposedly sent on 5th Jan still not here. In the meantime having to use the rubbish mode-changing light. Am inclined to the view that buying on ebay from a non-uk seller is a waste of money and time.

 

[HovR]

The eBay listing states 14 to 24 days, so I'd give it a few more days. I tend not to expect anything great in terms of postage from other countries, that way I either get what I expect, or am pleasantly surprised.

In the last 12 months the eBay store has completed over 15000 transactions, so it's possible your order just got lost, and they may need a friendly "reminder".

 

[Arjimlad]

The replacement arrived on Saturday 28th. It works fine, managed 6 miles to work along less-than-smooth country lanes on low, without changing modes at all. I have rigid forks and 700x25 tyres at 110psi so there is a fair bit of vibration over bumps.

I also popped out yesterday evening with it, and got some pictures which I will post up later.

 

[HovR]

Good to hear! Mine should be arriving fairly soon, as it has been 2 weeks since I ordered.

 

[Arjimlad]

f 3.1 4 second exposure. ISO unknown. Sorry I am no photographer !

 

[Arjimlad]

This is using a different camera setting, 2 second exposure. In short, it's plenty bright enough for a tarmac ride home on unlit roads, I was happy going fast downhill with it too. The beam is not very focussed, that's the only "problem" - there's not much of a spot to it. I think the first shot above was on full beam, this one on medium.

 

[HovR]

I have one. It's unbelievable, but buy the 18650 extension tube off eBay. It needs 2 batteries to get a decent burn time if you go out at night for any decent time.

Well my Keygos arrived, and I'm impressed, although the battery life on high with a single battery leaves something to be desired - Which 18650 extension did you buy? Am I right in thinking any will work, as they are all fairly standard?

 

[Arjimlad]

Update on this light, I am well pleased with it now.

I did 33mph downhill with it last night and it lit up the road ahead beautifully.

When there is oncoming traffic I nudge the light downwards on a lock-block, so as not to dazzle. The pop-in mount provided is not reliable, the light fell out on a badly-surfaced road once.

As I approach urban lit streets, I drop the light down to the low setting, which gets you seen without being so bright as to dazzle oncoming traffic. It's as bright as your average 2xaa led front light on this setting.

Approaching a junction where a lot of cars were emerging from the community centre to my left, across my right of way, a quick push of the button set off a very bright strobe light. This meant that the minibuses and cars all saw me in plenty of time and were not tempted to pull out in front of me.

It's a corker - provided you get one which works - and the seller did his best to make sure I got a working light.

 

[Arjimlad]

Update - I bought some better quality batteries from torchy the battery boy, for a 5 hour night ride. The light performed very well. I put a fresh battery in after 2.5 hours of riding and all was well. I use rubber lockblocks to hold it on the bars. I'm very happy with this light now. It chucked it down with rain throughout the ride and this light did not let me down at all.

The back light on the other hand, fell to bits pretty quick, but I didn't expect much of it.

You can get the Ultrafire 501b on Deal Extreme for not a lot of money.

 

[HovR]

Still using the stock batteries in mine, and it's still working fine. Might get some better quality ones before winter, however. Which ones did you buy?

 

[Arjimlad]

the Torchy ones... 2x Torchy 2800 for £10.99. Ebay number 300740078189.

The case was very brittle & fell to bits but a postman's red elastic band has restored its usefulness.

Delivery was astonishingly fast.

 

[The Jogger]

Do you use rechargeable batteries with this light?