Ultrafire C3 Stainless Steel 1AA

[Bigsy]

DX seem to have had stock delivered now, mine was shipped today.

 

[gravityz]

i ordered 2
yesterday it said processing but still not shipped
the item itself has the status"backordered"

could it be the case that they shipped al incoming lights and that mine is still on backorder?

 

[ernsanada]

If it's KD you can check your status by opening your account. It's very easy. All you need is your email and a password. It shows all your orders and gives you a tracking number.

DX does the same as above but most of the time they will send you a tracking number.

Links to tracking below

Link to Kai Domain

Link to DealExtreme

 

[BigBluefish]

i ordered 2
yesterday it said processing but still not shipped
the item itself has the status"backordered"

could it be the case that they shipped al incoming lights and that mine is still on backorder?

Same deal here. Ordered on 3/3, no e-mail saying it had shipped. Now, the site says the item is backordered.

 

[sino]

I think demand for this light has been huge, maybe more than KD and DX anticipated. In a thread on the Dealer's Forum, KD said they sold out 1000 units, and have more on the way. Assuming DX had similar inventory, that's a lot of SS C3s!

I'm sorry I didn't jump in right away. (I was waiting for Bessiebenny's review on the single mode version first.) This light will surely be in demand for a long time, and prices could very well go up. :sigh:

 

[alfreddajero]

Yes it seems to get good reviews as well here, on this board........i seem to favor it now since it has a home in my pocket........but this light is tiny and hefty which for me is a good thing, hope they come out with an extension tube for it. I put on a single layer of tennis grip since it is small and my hands have a habit of sweating.......now the grip is better.





I do plan on ordering another one when they get them back in........

 

[RainerWahnsinn]

@friends of C3 SS,

I have one in my pocket an three on the way. To share my sources with you:

as you know Kai and DX
Ebay
and this one

perhabs we are lucky and they are still available.

Rainer

 

[bspofford]

@friends of C3 SS,

I have one in my pocket an three on the way. To share my sources with you:

as you know Kai and DX
Ebay
and this one

perhabs we are lucky and they are still available.

Rainer

I've had problems with New Excite keeping my money and not sending the product. They also don't provide aftersales support. Buyer beware!!!:thumbsdow

 

[Ty_Bower]

Tastes differ, so to me, the gap is good.

It means that the end of the body tube is bottoming out on the PCB (or tail switch) contact ring before the shoulder of the body hits the end of the head/tail cap, i.e. that a solid electrical contact has been established.

I got my stainless steel C3 in the mail today. I've sworn I wouldn't buy any more Crees (damn rings) but this one got such nice reviews. Besides, I'm a sucker for stainless steel.

Fast shipping from DX! I'll first say I'm very pleased with this light. It's smaller than I expected, and brighter too. Mine came with the OP reflector and the newer (?) style Cree with the silver backing.

I've got gaps both head and tail, but I can somewhat adjust them. I'm pretty sure the head and/or tail are bottoming out not on the body, but on the battery. If I bottom out the head against the body before loading the battery, I'll get a larger gap at the tail end. The reverse is also true (bottom out the tail first).

Not that I mind... but it's probably wise for me not to overtighten, as I suspect I might crush the battery.

Overall, a very excellent light. Well worth the purchase.

 

[c8h8r8i8s8]

Mine shipped from DX on 3/27. I will report back here when it arrives.

 

[Nake]

I put a 7880 board in my second light. Also a Seoul and a smooth reflector. Initial brightness with a NiMH is about 120lm, wow. Lotta work, grinding down the circuit board from 17mm to 15mm. The threads on the reflector also had to be ground off for fit. The OP reflector worked OK, but I like the beam of a Seoul with a smooth one. Now what shall I do with my third one. Maybe a P7 with a battery pack on my belt. :naughty: J/K

 

[alfreddajero]

Post up a pic when you get the chance i would like a look see.

 

[gravityz]

did you use the blue 18mm o-rings from DX

i ordered these but was not sure if they were the right size.
they are the only ones in that size
20mm might be to big and 19mm does not exist.

Since this light does not have non-conducting HA-II coating, the body tube does not need to touch either PCB or the switch assembly. The negative current path is provided through the threads. You can loosen threads on both ends until they are almost ready to fall out but the light will still stay on as long as battery is making contact with fronth PCB and the rear spring.

that's why if you can tighten the pill or better, replace it with Rex 2.0 pill but keep the stock reflector, you can remove the gap at the head.

By the way, I managed to get the glow-ring in. Here is the order
stock_extremely_thin_ring
glow-ring
glass
reflector
pill

It looks great but I am little afraid that the glow ring might pop out but it has not yet. I am worried that if it popos out, it might take the stock ultra-thin ring with it and I will never find it again.

When I had tried to put the glow ring between the glass and the reflector, it got squished badly.

I also used Mother's Al+Mag cleaner/polisher and made it little more bling-bling.

- Vikas

- Vikas

 

[Vikas Sontakke]

From KD
3021 Water-tight O-Ring Seals(18mm 5pcs) 1 $0.88

I also stretched them a bit by putting them around 3D maglite overnight. As long as you don't tighten the reflector too much, the ring stays nicely inside.

- Vikas

 

[Norm]

The one I received from KD didn't even have a lens O ring.
Norm

 

[ykb]

The one I just received from KD doesn't have an O-ring at the lens either. The washer which screws into the tail cap isn't gold coloured but silver, and has a bit of a rough finish. The edges on the tail cap and body could do with a smooth. The two holes on tail cap (for lanyard, clip etc) are rough on the inside. Also, the O-rings on the body are black, not orange.
At least they're issues simple to remedy
Everything else good!

 

[jur]

I had a look through this and other threads, but nothing came up... does anyone have an idea on the run-time? Am i correct in that the output is about 50 lumen?

 

[Norm]

The one I just received from KD doesn't have an O-ring at the lens either. The washer which screws into the tail cap isn't gold coloured but silver, and has a bit of a rough finish. The edges on the tail cap and body could do with a smooth. The two holes on tail cap (for lanyard, clip etc) are rough on the inside. Also, the O-rings on the body are black, not orange.
At least they're issues simple to remedy
Everything else good!

Mine is exactly as you describe.
Norm

 

[KFE]

Something like that going on here as well, I bought one from DX and one from Kai about a month or so back. The one from DX came last week, the one from Kai this week.
The difference between the two is so big I wonder if they were even made in the same factory. The only thing that seems to be the same on both lights is the black switchcaps.
Some differences:
-The DX one has a Cree with a silver base, the led on the Kai has a yellow base.
-The DX one has a screw in reflector and the Kai one just sits loose
-DX, O-ring at lens...Kai, none
-They use different swithes, the DX one seems more solid. Swith assembly is different too, the DX one has a more solid construction.
-The pill containing the LED and driver looks different. Better finish on the DX there.
-The writting on the head is a different style on both lights.
-The DX one is a lot brighter, and has a much smoother beam. Much more rings in the Kai's beem.
-DX, orange o-rings, Kai, black
-The grooves on the tailcap are bigger and further apart on the Kai light compared to the DX light.

And most clearly of all, the finish:
The DX C3 has a smooth brushed finish, the threads are a bit rough, but other then that it's a nicely finished light...
The Kai one on the other hand, well, they only machined out the parts, but there seems little finishing done after that. It still has the machining grooves all over the body and the tailcap, only the head seems to be smoothed somewhat. It also has sharp edges all over the light.

The both share the gaps though, but I put some thin black o-rings in those, and that gives it a pretty nice look. Nicer then the gaps anyway, if you ask me

Ofcourse, I can't say if this counts for all the Kai and DX C3's, but to me the DX light is the clear winner, it actually feels like a light that's twice as expensive as the Kai C3.

 

[ykb]

My replacement C3 SS from DX just arrived. Compared to KD's version the differences are pretty much how KFE (thanks! :thumbsup describes, except the KD version is much brighter, with bigger hotspot. The DX version seems to be the same brightness as a regular C3. The DX version has bigger gaps but is much smoother to the touch all round.
Just to echo what KFE said: I also wonder if they were made in the same factory ??