Did someone say 200 lumens???

I got my new UltraFire EMR1 Rebel today. Did someone say 200 lumens? I haven't measured the output yet, but the ringy yellow beam is about as bright as my 2XAA MiniMag incan -- my estimate is 30 lumens. Did I get a bad light? No, I got several bad lights! Fool me once, shame on you... Fool me twice, shame on me. I'm a total sucker for false advertising. The light is a nice size and the finish is reasonably good, but the beam pattern and output stink! I never believed that it would have 200 lumens. No, I was skeptical and thought that it would only have 100 lumens. Boy was I wrong, and only about 30 lumens is outright fraud! Moreover, the 5-mode UI is not very good. One light advances and memorizes as it should, but the others don't. Makes me sick to think that I could have bought a couple of better 1X123A CREE P4 or SSC P4 lights for the cost of each of these pieces of @#$%&*!

You got bad lights. What kind of batteries are you using? Did you by chance install the batteries backwards? I don't know if those lights have reverse polarity protection. It sounds like the LED is damaged from reverse polarity or some other issue.

I have a little Ultrafire Cree and it's putting out over 100 lumens easy.

Here's some results from a bounce test I did:

Surefire E2e rated at 65 lumens by Surefire:



This is the Ultrafire CREE WF-602D1, your Ultrafire with a Rebel 100lm should be at least as bright or brighter:

Not to cast an unsympathetic eye toward your plight, Pofford, but is there any chance you may have never activated the "high" mode? It's definitely possible that you got a lemon from Ultrafire, or perhaps the entire R1 series is garbage, but seeing that Ultrafire is a reputable manufacturer and their lights have been circulating in CPF for sometime now, I think it's more likely that yours is an isolated incident. Contact the dealer you bought it from and arrange for a exchange/refund.

Where did you buy it from?

Are you using 3v CR123 or 3.6v RCR123? I remember for the initial batch, it was stated that the light would be very dim on 3v. The newer, military green batch is supposed to be able to handle both 3v and 3.6v.

Otherwise, sure hope yours is a dud cause I have one on the way to me!

I'd make a guess on which dealer they came from but I'll be nice and try not to stir the pot on this one. But please do let us know. How about some beam shot comparisons with other lights. Or even just a picture of the ones you got. Did they have any labeling on the body? In my experience UF lights tend to need a little initial care - cleaning and tightening of the light capsule in the head. Battery contact points checked and cleaned. Threads cleaned and lubed. I can't imagine after the exchanges with XlumensX in his thread that this would be the norm. He seems to be very interested in our input and in getting lights to meet our criteria. Selling a 30 Lumen light to CPF members that claims 200 Lumens is obviously going to end badly and I have a hard time thinking this is typical.
Very interested in the source these came from.

I got a UltraFire EMR1 Rebel the other day too and I have been feeling a little bit a fool. I haven't decided if I wanted to make a stink about it with Ultrafire. The light states about 200 lumens on high, and my best guess would be around 100. It's about as bright as my P3D when it's on high.

The tail cap switch is hard to turn on and it can't be done with your thumb. It can be turned on with your finger and some effort. The 5 modes are really hard to switch through. It's really easy to fly by a mode if you push the button a little to hard.

All in all I am not very happy with the light, but for such a little light it's pretty bright. You may have a bad light there. It should be pretty bright. :shakehead

Let me confess a few things. I have a terrible case of either flashaholism or flashalitis, because my LED light collection is in the hundreds of lights. I have multiple copies of just about every LED light on the market, and I now have multiple copies of this light too. I know that this light has 5-modes and uses only 3.0V batteries, and I have tried three different brands of lithium primaries in it with the + at the bezel end as it should be. I'm not having flickering or other signs of contact issues. I also have a relatively new digital light meter, and I know that most manufacturers report output at the emitter rather than out the front of the light. Every CREE P4 and SSC P4 1XCR123A or 1X16340 light that I own, and that's a lot of lights, and my other 1XAA Rebels are brighter than these. Even my Fenix L0D lights are brighter. These don't look counterfeit, so unless someone else actually has a bright EMR1 and gives me a different story, I'm going to assume that Ultrafire has grossly overrated the product. We should know over the next week if everyone has the same experience or not. If my experience is radically different from other CPF members, I'll need to work with my dealer to investigate whether these are second quality, counterfeit or what. :thumbsdow

This is not good. I think I'm going to cancel my order

bspofford said:

I know that this light has 5-modes and uses only 3.0V batteries, and I have tried three different brands of lithium primaries in it with the + at the bezel end as it should be.

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Is the 3.0 volts a typo? Cause if you're using 3 volt lithiums that might be the problem, I think it uses 3.6 volt rechargables.
I have seen claims that it uses 3.0 volt batteries though.

Jaz said:

Is the 3.0 volts a typo? Cause if you're using 3 volt lithiums that might be the problem, I think it uses 3.6 volt rechargables.

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No, I think this light very specifically uses only 3.0V primaries and rechargeables, and Ultrafire cautions against using 3.7V.

BTW, I took beam shots, but I don't have privileges to post attachments.

Did you see what lexina mentioned above about 3V batteries? I would try a 3.7V battery.

mmmflashlights said:

Did you see what lexina mentioned above about 3V batteries? I would try a 3.7V battery.

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** Battery Note: Ultrafire does not recommend the use of a 3.6V rechargeable CR123A battery with this flashlight. It can potentially cause permanent damage to the driver. Use a 3.0V primary or rechargeable battery instead.

bspofford said:

If my experience is radically different from other CPF members, I'll need to work with my dealer to investigate whether these are second quality, counterfeit or what. :thumbsdow

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hmm... if the enemy of my enemy is my friend, then the "counterfeit" of a "counterfeit" must be the real thing!

sorry...couldn't help myself. Just thought it funny that anyone would want to counterfeit an Ultrafire which itself is....you know?

I have a number of Ultrafire lights, and the quality seems to be all over the place. For example, I have a few of the WF-602D lights (clickies and twisties) that are very nice while most are junk. The really nice ones come in a different size box, have better internal construction (not visible from the outside), and are brighter and whiter. The junky ones often have solder all over the place, poor threads and emitters that are dim and blue. I don't know if Ultrafire has different factories, assembly lines or lots. Maybe the cheaper ones are conterfeits using emitters rejected by other manufacturers.

It sounds SuSpicoius

bspofford said:

** Battery Note: Ultrafire does not recommend the use of a 3.6V rechargeable CR123A battery with this flashlight. It can potentially cause permanent damage to the driver. Use a 3.0V primary or rechargeable battery instead.

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If it's as dim as you're describing it, I suspect it's either defective or that particular circuit is meant to run on a 3.7V battery. I would try it myself, but that's your call obviously.

Hi.

Got mine yesterday through Ebay Ultrafire Shop. Initially very disappointed with the switch, which was nearly impossible to operate single handed. Then today, I got an envelope from the seller with a pair of tweezers and a small magnet. Installed and problem fixed. Too much travel in the switch before it activated.

Checked the beam tonight against P3D on 2xAW RCR. Similar throw BUT R1 has lots of artifacts in beam. OP reflector will correct this but with loss of throw, so I guess the Fenix wins.

Emailed and got reply that OP reflector still about 10 days off.

Works fine on AW's RCR123's, which is consistent with the Ebay ad which clearly says either will work.

Good little pocket light but prefer feel of P3D in the hand.

Cheers

Toby

bspofford said:

** Battery Note: Ultrafire does not recommend the use of a 3.6V rechargeable CR123A battery with this flashlight. It can potentially cause permanent damage to the driver. Use a 3.0V primary or rechargeable battery instead.

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According to this 3.6V is okay.

http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showpost.php?p=2051936&postcount=15

From this thread: http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?p=2051936#post2051936
Kai states: "It takes one 3.6V/3.7V RCR123A battery only. The 3.0V Lithium will fit, but gives very dim output."

He later says: "The latest R1 shipping batch from Ultrafire works on both 3.6V RCR123A and 3.0V CR123A. They are available in military dark green color only."

My guess is that you have an earlier model that only works on 3.6/3.7 volt.

Bill

Compromised on voltage issue. I tried a LiFePO4 16340 cell with 3.2V., but output from multiple lights is still poor. I'll try 3.7V if Ultrafire or my dealer advise.