Repair/upgrade parts help.

[Brian Ski]

I have 2 cheap flashlights in need of help. I am good with electronics, but never really got into repairing LEDs. Not sure if a repair or toss. Prefer to upgrade. (BTW both use a 18650)

Ok, #1 Cheap Ultrafire WF 501B It is dead. Switch works, battery good. Either driver or bulb. Does anyone sell a good (and fair priced) replacement? Most of the links I found on here point to Dealx or Lighthound and both are AWOL. What kind/size am I looking for? (BTW the original board reads 6K-003A7 last one is 7 or 2 or Z)

#2 The other flashlight reads Uniquefire T6 CREE XM-L It has a larger head. Light works great when turned on. I took it from the garage which was close to 40 degrees F. Worked great for quite a while. Now that it is back to room temp, it goes to its routine. Turn it on bright and it will be bright for 5-10 seconds and then dim. Turn off or a soft click and back to bright. 5 seconds later, dim. Soft click bright again, 5 seconds dim...... Swap battery, same thing. Bypassed clicky same thing. Heat sink?? I think years ago I might have replaced LED??? or driver (or both)??? Same thing. Nice and bright when it works. Do the LEDs dim when getting to warm?

 

[Brian Ski]

I see there is a sticky on drop ins , but the links and pictures seem to be broken. At least at the beginning, and it seems to be over 80 pages long. Anything with sizes to what fits? Or what I should look for?

 

[glockboy]

It's a "Cheap Ultrafire light", throw them away, don't waste time fixing them.
Buy the affordable light, Wurkkos, Sofirn, Convoy.
You will like it better.

 

[Monocrom]

Ultrafire and Uniquefire = 🔥

Toss 'em! Right into the trash bin where they belong.
Buy better quality budget lights. I recommend anything from Sofirn's official website. Just double-check that the name "Sofirn" appears before the model designation. If it does, you're good. If not, that's a worthless piece of junk that Sofirn sells right next to their quality budget lights, on their website. No clue why they do that B.S., they just do. Also check out Convoy as another good budget alternative. The B.S. that brand pulls is shipping out models with literally no instructions attached. But you do get a cheap lanyard tossed in for free. Again, no clue why. But even with their quirky B.S., both brands are worth taking a serious look at if you're on a tight budget.

Also, one of the absolute best bargains out there in the whole frickin' flashlight industry.... Nebo Newton Torchy 300 LED model. Literally $10. Uploaded a review of it on my main YouTube channel two days ago. Let me save you some time, buy it! (Yeah, tax & shipping and handling isn't included.) But for ten bucks it comes with a lithium primary CR123A battery. Heck one of those by itself is usually $5 on its own. I know, for ten buckets you're expecting a plastic piece of garbage, especially with the battery included with the light. But no! Seriously, snag one before Nebo realizes they screwed up and jack up the price to around $30 or $35 for one.

 

[letschat7]

It's a "Cheap Ultrafire light", throw them away, don't waste time fixing them.
Buy the affordable light, Wurkkos, Sofirn, Convoy.
You will like it better.

It is easy to think this however we don't know his situation it could be his favourite light or for nostalgia. It is also better to keep and old light going then buying a new one just because, usually.

 

[Monocrom]

It is easy to think this however we don't know his situation it could be his favourite light or for nostalgia. It is also better to keep and old light going then buying a new one just because, usually.

Normally would agree with you. But........ It's Ultrafire.
Literally the only product of theirs' that I still own is a few of their double 18650 hard plastic battery cases. It's the best thing they make.

Alright, maybe for some very odd reason the Ultrafire has sentimental value for him. Honestly, get it framed and hang it up on the wall. Best thing to do in that case.

 

[letschat7]

Eh I like a certain cheap Eveready that was made in the 80s-90s that is beyond bad.

 

[Monocrom]

Oh, good news. That's what we call "Vintage."
Every collector should have one of those. Hella cool.

 

[letschat7]

Sometimes it is fun to see how little is needed to make a light work or maybe it is a fun trip down memorylane because you or someone you know used a certain light at some point in your life.

 

[jabe1]

If you want to fix them just to prove you can, great. Otherwise, you should probably just upgrade.
For a bit more than what they cost, you can get some pretty decent lights. Check Sofirn, Thrunite.
It sounds like the Uniquefire has a bad solder joint on the driver board, or the driver ground is loose on the pill; not hard to fix if you can solder, as long as you can find the fault.
I think the Ultrafire uses a p60 module(?). Easy replacement.

These have very little heat sink capability, the metal is thin.

 

[letschat7]

P60 has a lot of great options. Personally I like Malkoff, P91, or those 3.7V Lumen Factory bulbs with 16650.

 

[glockboy]

"Do the LEDs dim when getting to warm?"

You need to put "thermal paste" between the Led and the housing.

 

[Brian Ski]

Hmmm, No emails showing replies and just checked in again and seen all these.

No sentimental attachments... I guess I am the fixer of things and hate to toss anything that can be fixed.

BTW #1 is pretty much LED or driver trashed.

#2 I tried resoldering the driver board to the pill and it works a lot longer. I can maybe get a few minutes or more out of it. The light runs for a while and dims. A quick flash of the switch and it brightens.

 

[Brian Ski]

"Do the LEDs dim when getting to warm?"

You need to put "thermal paste" between the Led and the housing.

Single LED and there is some thermal paste between the LED board and the base it is held too.

 

[Brian Ski]

It is easy to think this however we don't know his situation it could be his favourite light or for nostalgia. It is also better to keep and old light going then buying a new one just because, usually.

I guess it is in my DNA to fix things. I remember my Grandfather, fix the pipe that is leaking. Well I can replace this whole section for what it will cost... Nah, just fix the bad one.

These surefire lights replaced my old trusty maglights. It was an upgrade years ago.

BTW I think I will hunt down a couple new lights. I have a some other cheap ones already. These were extras laying in the junk box. I have had for a long time. I remember people talking about upgrades to lights. I guess they don't do that much anymore.

I looked at flashlights and the world has changed a lot. Not just the brand and style. Each brand has different styles and several bulb and driver options. And I am laughing when I see people are reflashing the chips on the driver boards.