Ultrafire WF502B XM-L T6???

[fields_mj]

Okay, so I'm a cheap light junkie, primairly because I tend to loose them when I'm out in the middle of no where. Anyway, I got my daily email from Amazon today trying to get me to buy something, and I noticed that they had some 900 Lum LED lights for less than $10. I did a little more looking, and it appears that Amazon has several sellers offering some form of the Ultrafire WF502B using a XM-L T6 LED. I thought about buying a few of them to try, but none of the descriptions or reviews give much usefull information. Are they throwers, or floods? How much run time do they give on a full charge? Some are advertized at 900 lum, and the reviews say they probably get half that (which would still be okay for an $8 light). Other descriptions list 200 lum for what appears to be the same light. Any way to know what I should actually expect to get before I purchase it?

Thanks,
Mark

 

[Yorgi]

The WF-502B is a very popular budget P60 drop in flashlight. If you search on DX.com there are about 40 variations available. Just note that most of these are knockoffs and not real Ultrafires, hence the huge variation in price and specs. Check that site out for reviews. There should be some good reviews here on CPF too.

A real example with a T6 will put out about 600-700lm and a U2 close to 800lm.
They are very bright but don't expect to run them on full power for more than 5-10 min at a time due to poor heat sinking inherent with most P60 hosts. I had a few of these and gave all but one away to friends. Build quality is OK but with all the knock-offs out there is you never know what you are going to get, especially at $8. Real 502B should be going for $15-$20 and for that kind of money I'd rather buy a Solarforce which is in a different league quality-wise.

P60s are about mid-way between a thrower and a flood. Just note you need 18650s or 2x CR123 so good batteries are going to cost you as much as the light. Run time is very good on a quality 18650.

 

[DellSuperman]

Are they throwers, or floods?

Depending on what emitter you put inside.
A XM-L series would generally be a flooder & a XP-G / XP-E will having better throw.

Any way to know what I should actually expect to get before I purchase it?

You should find out your usage for your flashlight before getting one, eg throw or flood, outdoor or indoor, number of modes etc.
Lumen ratings by manufactures are usually exaggerated & Yorgi's statement on the T6 & U2 are pretty good examples.
A XM-L can usually churn out 700-800 lumen while a XP-G / XP-E at only about 300 lumen, but due to the size of emitter, the latter can out-throw the former by a great deal.