Got my SuperFire WF501D, very impressed!

[KingGlamis]

My SuperFire WF501D 4xCR123A from Quality China Goods showed up today. They said 10-15 days shipping, it arrived in 9 days. :twothumbs I put 4 CR123A 3.0v primaries in it (I have read it will take 4x3.7v, we'll see). This thing is VERY bright. And at $21 including shipping, the best money I ever spent. The quality is about what I expected for a Chinese light, good but not exceptional. It's a good looking light, but most importantly, it's BRIGHT! Great throw and a nice wide spill. Standing in the hallway it lights up my entire bedroom. Outside it is just awesome, lighting up the neighbors trees just great. Did I mention that it is bright? My only complaint is that the primaries rattle inside the tube. Hopefully that won't be an issue when I put some protected cells in it.

I'll post more after I get to use it more. And unfortunately my laptop computer died so I can't post beam shots just yet, but I'll figure out a way to get beam shots up by tomorrow.

It's beyond me why brick and mortar stores in the US don't stock these lights. They would sell for 3-4 times as much as I paid once people knew about them. Best money I ever spent...

http://www.qualitychinagoods.com/images/ProPho/407/WF501D.jpg

 

[KingGlamis]

I was able to get some so-so beam shots using my daughters digital camera (since hers has a USB cable).

This first one is on the side of my house. It's illuminating nearly the entire height of the side of the house at close range (maybe 6 feet).

This next shot is lighting up my bedroom (please excuse the mess ).

About 4-5 feet from the wall.

My daughter's camera is really a "toy" camera so these pics DO NOT do this light justice. It really is very bright. Honestly, it outshines my 4D aspheric Mag when shining at the mega-tall Palm trees the neighbor has (but the camera couldn't get a pic of it).

Another observation is that the head gets pretty hot after a few minutes of use. This will not be a light that I choose to use for long runtime.

 

[mdocod]

I've been using the ultrafire version of the same light for awhile now... It's finally giving me trouble after about a year and a half, not a bad life for a $20 light that got used almost every day.. Ran a P91 and a pair of 17670s in it for awhile there... I'm debating about replacing with another super/ultrafire, or just saving up for a leefbody setup...

If it came with a G140 lamp, then you aren't seeing anywhere near the full potential... It will be way brighter on 4xRCR123s... (You'll want to go with AWs as they are the only protected cells I know of that will light up that lamp without any double clicking required).... If it came with a G120 lamp, then stick with primaries, rechargeables will blow it...

If the batteries really have a lot of room to spare in there.. then you might have one of the oddballs that may actually fit 18mm cells... Might be worth measuring the tube diameter.. if you can fit 18mm cells, you might want to run a pair of 18650s in it driving a P91, will be even brighter, and rechargeable to boot.

 

[KingGlamis]

I've been using the ultrafire version of the same light for awhile now... It's finally giving me trouble after about a year and a half, not a bad life for a $20 light that got used almost every day.. Ran a P91 and a pair of 17670s in it for awhile there... I'm debating about replacing with another super/ultrafire, or just saving up for a leefbody setup...

If it came with a G140 lamp, then you aren't seeing anywhere near the full potential... It will be way brighter on 4xRCR123s... (You'll want to go with AWs as they are the only protected cells I know of that will light up that lamp without any double clicking required).... If it came with a G120 lamp, then stick with primaries, rechargeables will blow it...

If the batteries really have a lot of room to spare in there.. then you might have one of the oddballs that may actually fit 18mm cells... Might be worth measuring the tube diameter.. if you can fit 18mm cells, you might want to run a pair of 18650s in it driving a P91, will be even brighter, and rechargeable to boot.

Well I just put in 4 RCR123A 3.7v cells and it did seem brighter. But they are not protected cells. I checked and it is a G140 14v lamp.

 

[KingGlamis]

Darn it! Wouldn't you know it... I woke up this morning and the sun is shining again. I guess I'll have to wait until tonight to continue the testing.

 

[KingGlamis]

So I took it in to work today to show the guys in the shop. They were all AMAZED at how much light it puts out. And 10 times more amazed at the price.

DISCLAIMER: The following statement is meant in a joking manner, so please don't firebomb my house.

I noticed the lack of responses to this thread. Perhaps it is because all of the SureFire and Fenix owners can't accept that a light that cost 1/5th or less of what they paid puts out more light? Just sayin'...

 

[KingGlamis]

Update. Went camping this weekend up on the Mogollon Rim in AZ. Beautiful forest high-country up there. Got to test out the WF501D in "real" darkness, pitch-black, no moon, no lights, nada. All I can say is WOW! This thing is incredible! Great throw but an absolutely amazing flood for such a small light. On night rides in my Yamaha Rhino I was using it as a handheld flood/spot light as it was way brighter than the headlights on the Rhino. Here are some beam shots (sorry for the poor quality, I really need to get a better camera).

This first one is shining up into a tall tree. The pic doesn't do it justice. In real life you can see every branch and every leaf.

These next two are shining into the forest. This light is amazing for lighting up large areas of forest. Unfortunately my camera would not work for showing long-throw, but this light has some serious throw (although it's better at flood than throw).

The best part was my buddy who is not a flashaholic was extremely impressed with this light and said he will be buying one. I have finally turned him to the "light" side.

 

[KingGlamis]

And this is a beam shot through the smoke of the campfire. I thought it was a little different way of getting a pic.

 

[sysadmn]

I noticed the lack of responses to this thread. Perhaps it is because all of the SureFire and Fenix owners can't accept that a light that cost 1/5th or less of what they paid puts out more light? Just sayin'...

Nah, we Fenix owners will tell you a CREE is bright, but not that bright, then start asking about runtimes


Different tools for different jobs...

 

[KingGlamis]

A couple more beam shots from tonight. This first one is to the far wall by the pool, measured at 50 feet from light to wall.

And this one to the corner of the wall at 50+ feet away (the light doesn't reflect as well since it is not straight on to the wall, so a good comparison).

I sure wish more people would do beam shots outside with a known range rather than against an inside white wall at close range. That would better help us compare beam shots.

 

[FlashKat]

It's brighter to shine on a white wall at 3 feet away. Plus we want to see the PRETTY beam with no artifacts!!!

I sure wish more people would do beam shots outside with a known range rather than against an inside white wall at close range. That would better help us compare beam shots.

 

[KingGlamis]

It's brighter to shine on a white wall at 3 feet away. Plus we want to see the PRETTY beam with no artifacts!!!

If I were to shine this light on a wall 3 feet away the wall would melt or catch on fire and the camera would show nothing but white.

 

[FlashKat]

No bragging...I'm BROKE

If I were to shine this light on a wall 3 feet away the wall would melt or catch on fire and the camera would show nothing but white.

 

[KingGlamis]

No bragging...I'm BROKE

I'm broke too, that's why I bought a $20 light! The fact that it is brighter than most $100 lights is just a plus.

 

[half-watt]

I sure wish more people would do beam shots outside with a known range rather than against an inside white wall at close range. That would better help us compare beam shots.

hear ya', bro. a combo of both white wall + outdoor use is maybe best - especially for those high powered light cannons like yours (1x5mm LED = all indoor shots fine by me!).

some type of standard targeting disk/pattern would be in order though, and still not make for a perfect comparison.

a white wall is hopefully just that a white wall bearing some measure of similarity from wall-to-wall. outside scenes would all be different to a degree. this would detract a bit (but certainly NOT totally detract) from a comparison perspective.

however, the outside shots, IMO, would still provide some basis of comparison as long the distances were STANDARDIZED and perhaps a standard target disk/pattern employed. that would at least give some small basis of comparision, but...

perhaps i'm missing something. [??? so, anyone, besides the downsides mentioned in this Post what else might impact usefulness of outside beamshots -- many heads are better than one - esp. if that "one" is mine as i'm not the brightest bulb in the bunch]


hey, many thanks for the great outside beamshots. you might have sold me on that light. i have looked at it for a month or two and just haven't bitten yet. now, i'm strongly leaning towards procuring one.

many thanks for your time and [SALES!!!] effort to make such fine Posts.

 

[RoyJ]

Anyone know how this light compares with the WF500? Which one is brighter?

 

[KingGlamis]

Anyone know how this light compares with the WF500? Which one is brighter?

I'm not sure either but would love for someone to post beam shots of a WF500 as I am considering buying one of those too. It has a much larger reflector, which should be an advantage, but it runs off of less volts, so it would be an interesting comparison.

 

[mdocod]

hard to say on that... As I understand the WF500 runs on 2 18650s and pulls somewhere around 3 amps if I remember correctly... The G140 when driven on 4xRCR123s, would be about double the voltage, but I think it runs around 1.3A.... So I think the WF500 is still a higher wattage setup, probably brighter, and definitely going to be more focused for throw... The fact that it uses 18650 cell format gives it a big advantage- 18mm cells have way better power density. So while the G140 only runs around 20-30 minutes on RCR123s, the WF500 should run somewhere around 40+ minutes and be brighter at the same time...

 

[KingGlamis]

Question about WF501D

I've had a Superfire WF501D for quite a while and it has been great. No problems at all. On my suggestion my buddy bought two of them from Quality China Goods and has had nothing but problems. He thought it was the tailcap switches, and they sent him two new tailcaps. He still had problems. So he asked me to check out his lights. I tested the tailcaps with an Ohmmeter. They are fine. Put them on my light, they work fine. Then I noticed one of the bulbs looks discolored. So I took the bulb/reflector out and his says 12V, while mine says 14V. I'm pretty sure that's the problem but what is weird is I don't even see 12V bulbs for sale on Quality China Goods. Even though we both use 3.0V RCR batteries, as you all know they are much higher than 3.0V fully charged. So putting over 15 volts into a 12V bulb could be the problem, yes?

Thoughts?

He is going to email them and ask for 14V bulbs. I'm just wondering if anyone else has had this issue.

Thanks,
Doug

 

[mdocod]

Re: Question about WF501D

sounds like he has probably fried the bulbs... remember, these are shipped in different variations, the ones that include the 12V lamp are intended to be used with primary CR123s, while the ones that ship with the "14V" lamps can be used with various li-ion rechargeable cells, I've heard reports that the "14V" labeled lamp will run on 4x3.7V cells and is a real screamer at that level..

My suggestion would be to run it on 2x17670 cells and drop an EO-9 in there. More runtime, less cells to hassle with, about the same brightness.