cmaylodm
Newly Enlightened
After getting my first taste of a true flashlight with my first hotwire (mag 2D, 2x18650, 6 cell xenon lamp) I have been in search of a nice little pocket rocket that can blast some lumens yet be small enough for EDC. I ended up buying an Ultrafire WF-502C (3xCR123) and a 12v LA (purchased from nothingtobid on eBay) and swapping out the primaries for AW's new 750mAh RCR123s. While I was waiting for the batteries to charge, I played around with the 9v lamp on primaries and after a total of ~10 minutes of intermittent use, the reverse-clicky tailcap got stuck in the down (open) position. I disassembled the switch and found that the spring in the switch was conducting electricty, overheated, and lost its springyness. I attributed this to bad QA, and requested a replacement switch. I got my replacement switch a couple weeks later, and popped it in. Worked flawlessly with the 12v lamp and rechargables for multiple hours, and then one day while charging my batteries I switched back to the 9v lamp and primaries. This time, the switch melted in less than 5 minutes of intermittent use! Luckily, fellow CPF user LED Zeppelin had an identical switch, and mailed it to me free of charge! The follow pictures are of the completely disassembled WF-502C and the switch replacement process.
Front Half:
Bezel, glass lens, retaining ring, reflector, lamp, head, and front of body
You may notice that the spring on the lamp is cut very short, this is because I had to convert this flashlight to a twistie after the switch died.
Back End:
End of body, retaining ring, switch assembly, plunger, plastic collar, rubber cover, tailcap
Reflector with lamp unscrewed:
I guess this would be classified as light or medium orange peel, but I have only seen MOP before so I can't be sure.
Switch Assembly:
As you can see, the button is not raised.
Anatomy of a Busted Switch:
The switch behaves much like a clicky ballpoint pen does. A spring in the center of the switch assembly goes into the pocket on the 3-pointed metal piece (upside down to show pocket), which rotates 45 degrees each time it is clicked. When the 3-pointed metal piece is at the position shown in the picture, it is open. Clicking the switch causes it to rotate 45 degrees and come into contact with strip of metal going to the positive side of the PCB, closing the switch. The spring is not in this picture because it snapped when I tried to stretch it back to normal size.
Switchboard after switch was desoldered:
The positive end of the switch is connected to the battery spring via traces on the bottom of the PCB, and the negative is connected to two metal pieces that hold the switch in the tailcap through traces on the top of the PCB.
Fixed Switch:
The button is raised, as it should be.
Beamshots:
SureFire G2 vs. UltraFire WF-502C
While this picture doesn't really do the G120 LA in the Ultrafire justice, you can see the much larger and whiter hotspot. This thing kicks out a serious amount of lumens for its size, most of it in flood. While it doesn't throw as well as I would like it to, it is perfect for a lot of light at medium range. Amazingly bright indoors. Runtime is approximately 25 minutes, gets smokin' hot at the bezel but not too bad on the body.
Well, I don't know what to think of this Ultrafire flashlights. On one hand, I have a pretty sweet setup for cheap that works. On the other hand, if I had use the flashlight as they intended, with primaries and 9v LA, it's toast in 5 minutes. My advice to anyone who is considering buying one of these is that you get what you pay for, but with a little trial and error you can have a decent setup for cheap.
Front Half:
Bezel, glass lens, retaining ring, reflector, lamp, head, and front of body
You may notice that the spring on the lamp is cut very short, this is because I had to convert this flashlight to a twistie after the switch died.
Back End:
End of body, retaining ring, switch assembly, plunger, plastic collar, rubber cover, tailcap
Reflector with lamp unscrewed:
I guess this would be classified as light or medium orange peel, but I have only seen MOP before so I can't be sure.
Switch Assembly:
As you can see, the button is not raised.
Anatomy of a Busted Switch:
The switch behaves much like a clicky ballpoint pen does. A spring in the center of the switch assembly goes into the pocket on the 3-pointed metal piece (upside down to show pocket), which rotates 45 degrees each time it is clicked. When the 3-pointed metal piece is at the position shown in the picture, it is open. Clicking the switch causes it to rotate 45 degrees and come into contact with strip of metal going to the positive side of the PCB, closing the switch. The spring is not in this picture because it snapped when I tried to stretch it back to normal size.
Switchboard after switch was desoldered:
The positive end of the switch is connected to the battery spring via traces on the bottom of the PCB, and the negative is connected to two metal pieces that hold the switch in the tailcap through traces on the top of the PCB.
Fixed Switch:
The button is raised, as it should be.
Beamshots:
SureFire G2 vs. UltraFire WF-502C
While this picture doesn't really do the G120 LA in the Ultrafire justice, you can see the much larger and whiter hotspot. This thing kicks out a serious amount of lumens for its size, most of it in flood. While it doesn't throw as well as I would like it to, it is perfect for a lot of light at medium range. Amazingly bright indoors. Runtime is approximately 25 minutes, gets smokin' hot at the bezel but not too bad on the body.
Well, I don't know what to think of this Ultrafire flashlights. On one hand, I have a pretty sweet setup for cheap that works. On the other hand, if I had use the flashlight as they intended, with primaries and 9v LA, it's toast in 5 minutes. My advice to anyone who is considering buying one of these is that you get what you pay for, but with a little trial and error you can have a decent setup for cheap.
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