Ultrafire WF-602C SSC U Bin AAA/10440

[ernsanada]

Great pictures and review, ernsanada! (As always!)

I've had several of these 602C's (Luxeon version), and had battery issues with every one of them. After a bit of head scratching, I discovered that the batteries were running out of downward travel, preventing the battery tube "shoulder" from properly contacting the pcb. Some batteries would work ok, some not at all. The fix is to take the battery tube spring out and trim about one-half coil off the bottom. (Note that I said one-half coil, not half of the spring. You're only trying to reduce the total spring height by about 1/32" at a time). Some need a little more, but don't take too much off or the spring will lose it's friction fit. If that does happen, just spread the bottom coil out a little and press the spring back in. This has fixed all of mine. I even had the same problem with the B3, which uses the same housing. Hope this helps!

Man, that emitter mounting job is scary! I hope they don't make all of them like that. Check out the third pic in this link (one I just sold)...that's how it should be done! Shame on Ultrafire...LOL. https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/172843

I took off about 1 coil, still no good with nimh.

 

[ernsanada]

The Ultrafire WF-602C SSC U Bin AAA/10440 head fits on the Fenix LOD CE body and my Fenix LOD Special Q2 body.

The Ultrafire WF-602C SSC U Bin AAA/10440 head works with the 10440's but still no good with the nimh on the Fenix bodies.

 

[johnny13oi]

I had this problem with a few other lights, you can try and push the battery down as far as it'll go and see if the positive contact is higher than the body around it. Because if it is, then the body can't make good contact with the PCB above it, but if the positive contact of the battery is far below the body of the flashlight around it at the top, then it could be something else.

 

[LEDninja]

The Ultrafire WF-602C SSC U Bin AAA/10440 head fits on the Fenix LOD CE body and my Fenix LOD Special Q2 body.

The Ultrafire WF-602C SSC U Bin AAA/10440 head works with the 10440's but still no good with the nimh on the Fenix bodies.

Looks like you got a light engine with the low voltage startup problem. Thought Ultrafire fixed that. Guess not.

 

[balazer]

Looks like you got a light engine with the low voltage startup problem. Thought Ultrafire fixed that. Guess not.

I don't know why you'd conclude that. It could just as easily be a contact problem.

 

[LEDninja]

I don't know why you'd conclude that. It could just as easily be a contact problem.

From reading this.

I can't get the Ultrafire WF-602C SSC U Bin AAA/10440 to run on a nimh. The light ran on the nimh when I did the beam shots. I got the light to work for a little after but the 14500 works OK.

That was the reason I cleaned the contacts with the Deoxit. I also had dirty threads and cleaned them. Still no good.

I tried an Duracell Alkaline AAA it worked but it is also intermittent

 

[LEDninja]

I don't know why you'd conclude that. It could just as easily be a contact problem.

From reading this. Works with 10440 but not with NiMH or alkaline even after cleaning or with L0D-CE bodies. Mine works fine with all batteries that fit. Half my batteries do not fit. See post 16.

I can't get the Ultrafire WF-602C SSC U Bin AAA/10440 to run on a nimh. The light ran on the nimh when I did the beam shots. I got the light to work for a little after but the 14500 works OK.

That was the reason I cleaned the contacts with the Deoxit. I also had dirty threads and cleaned them. Still no good.

I tried an Duracell Alkaline AAA it worked but it is also intermittent

The Ultrafire WF-602C SSC U Bin AAA/10440 head fits on the Fenix LOD CE body and my Fenix LOD Special Q2 body.

The Ultrafire WF-602C SSC U Bin AAA/10440 head works with the 10440's but still no good with the nimh on the Fenix bodies.

 

[johnny13oi]

It could still be a contact problem because the 10440s could be shorter than the Alkalines and Ni-Mh therefore still causing a contact problem.

 

[ernsanada]

The 10440 measures 43.98mm

The Energizer Rechargeable 850mAh measures 44.30mm

 

[FlashCrazy]

I took off about 1 coil, still no good with nimh.

Hmm...then you need to take 1 1/2 coils off.

Actually you can take two wires and a charged NiMH to test the head...then you can be sure if it's a contact issue or a low-voltage issue.

 

[johnny13oi]

The 10440 measures 43.98mm

The Energizer Rechargeable 850mAh measures 44.30mm

That hair of a difference could definitely cause the contact problem.

 

[LEDninja]

The 10440 measures 43.98mm

The Energizer Rechargeable 850mAh measures 44.30mm

The 10440s I got, the bottom of the battery does not reach the bottom of the wrapper giving extra space for the spring.

 

[john2551]

Ernie & all,

I'd like to buy & use this light as a keychain light. I was going to buy it to use with ni-mh AAAs but after reading this i guess i'll go with 10440s. Would using the 10440s make it brighter?

 

[LEDninja]

Ernie & all,

I'd like to buy & use this light as a keychain light. I was going to buy it to use with ni-mh AAAs but after reading this i guess i'll go with 10440s. Would using the 10440s make it brighter?

Sanyo 1000mAh 1.2V AAA cell, runtime: approximately one hour
DLG 10440 500mAh cell, runtime: approximately 45 minutes

Since the Chinese seem to use smaller mAH (10440s are normally rated at 300mAH), the batteries have about the same capacity. The 10440 is providing 1/3 more power, but it is not noticable to my eyes in actual use. I only have 1 lite so I can't do an A-B test. Not at all like an L0D CE which is 3X brighter on 10440.
Mine works fine on RayOvac Hybrids. I am using 10440 because in the words of Sir Edmond Hillary "it is there". I bought the 10440s to find out how bright my L0D CE can get but did not want to leave them there as the Fenix is pulling 1.2A from a LITHIUM BATTERY that has a design max of 0.6A. So I now use the batteries in the Ultrafire which I calculate to draw 0.4-0.5A max.
DX have both the light and light with 10440 Battery and Charger Kit listed.

 

[FlashCrazy]

So I now use the batteries in the Ultrafire which I calculate to draw 0.4-0.5A max.

Your calculation is right on...I measured mine awhile back with an Ultrafire 10440, it showed a 450 mA draw. This was the 602C Luxeon version that I converted to an SSC, but I assume they're using the same circuit. Using a NiMH cell, it showed 1000 mA.

 

[Gene]

Ernsanada's photo's are always some of the best ever just like FlashCrazys' mods! I'm the one who bought FlashCrazy's SSC P4 modded 602C.

His tip on cutting down the negative spring must be the solution to the problems because this example will run on ANY AAA cell! I've tried it with Eneloops, 10440s, NiMHs, lithium and several brands of alkalines. It works like a champ on anything I can throw at it.

This really is one great little light! I have a Fenix LOD-CE, (which I like a lot!), but I prefer the beam of this over the LOD. The LOD has a slightly brighter hotspot like ernsanada stated but this has cleaner and better spill and is an almost perfect beam for everyday use.

 

[LEDninja]

I took the pocket clip off my L0D-CE and put it on the Ultrafire. The clip fits much tighter on the Ultrafire.

I do not need the clip on the L0D-CE as it is attached to my keys. I think the 602C has a slighter bigger O.D. in the back which together with the checkerboard knurling gives a much more secure grip. The clip does not want to slide around anymore.

 

[moon lander]

Gene and Ernsanada seem to have both fixed their 602c by cutting the spring down a bit. can anyone else confirm that this fix works for them?

also, is the spring hard to cut? is it recessed deeply into the body of the light?

 

[balazer]

If it's the same as the old Luxeon WF-602c, the spring slides out of the battery tube easily using a pair of needle-nose pliers.

 

[ernsanada]

Gene and Ernsanada seem to have both fixed their 602c by cutting the spring down a bit. can anyone else confirm that this fix works for them?

also, is the spring hard to cut? is it recessed deeply into the body of the light?

Cutting the spring did not work for me.