Ultrafire WF-602D overdriven?

Just received a Ultrafire Cree XR-E WF-602D 1xCR123A Flashlight HA-III from DX today and when fired it up I was quite surprised just how bright it was. Seemed on par with a Q5 1x 18650 light I have so I decided to check the current. With a freshly charged 16340 I'm seeing a draw of over 1.4 amps from the battery which seems excessive and makes me wonder how long this poor Cree P4 will last. Does this light have any kind of regulation/current limiting, sure doesn't seem like it... or perhaps I have a faulty light. If anyone has one of these lights handy I'd certainly appreciate a current reading for comparison.

Karl

Have you checked the current draw on the other light?

Was the 16340 around 4.20 volts? I suspect it is direct driven and the current would drop pretty quickly. Do you have any other source of voltage such as primary CR123 or bench power supply or stack of AA batteries? If so try feeding it around 3volts and measure the current. You might be able to deduce that there is no driver in it.

It is under $20 light, is insanely bright and has the HA-III coating. If this is called defective, I would much rather have a "defective" light

Vikas Sontakke said:

Have you checked the current draw on the other light?

Was the 16340 around 4.20 volts?

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Actually it was around 4.13 volts. Now at 4.01 volts I'm seeing 1350 ma.

Vikas Sontakke said:

try feeding it around 3volts and measure the current. You might be able to deduce that there is no driver in it.

Click to expand...

with a fresh CR123A at 3 volts, I'm seeing 900 ma.

Vikas Sontakke said:

It is under $20 light, is insanely bright and has the HA-III coating. If this is called defective, I would much rather have a "defective" light

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Heh... don't get me wrong, this is seems to be a wonderful light. Size and the durability of HAIII finish was the main draw for me. I'm just concerned that at 1400 ma it will not be a long lived light... kinda defeats getting HAIII finish if doesn't live long enough to develop wear anyways.

i swap the emitter with Q5 WC and 20 modes driver
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/191226

kwarwick said:

Just received a Ultrafire Cree XR-E WF-602D 1xCR123A Flashlight HA-III from DX today and when fired it up I was quite surprised just how bright it was. Seemed on par with a Q5 1x 18650 light I have so I decided to check the current. With a freshly charged 16340 I'm seeing a draw of over 1.4 amps from the battery which seems excessive and makes me wonder how long this poor Cree P4 will last. Does this light have any kind of regulation/current limiting, sure doesn't seem like it... or perhaps I have a faulty light. If anyone has one of these lights handy I'd certainly appreciate a current reading for comparison.

Karl

Click to expand...

You realize that the current out of the battery and the current into the emitter are not the same? If it's a very inefficient driver, that 1.4A could easily drop to 1A or less.

Khaytsus said:

You realize that the current out of the battery and the current into the emitter are not the same? If it's a very inefficient driver, that 1.4A could easily drop to 1A or less.

Click to expand...

Possible, but that would be one horribly inefficient driver and it would very quickly overheat and let the magic smoke escape if it was wasting that much current. In a single cell 16340 or 18650 light, the current at the battery is typically lower than the LED drive current given the battery voltage is higher than the voltage at the LED. At this point I'm just looking for confirmation that the current I'm seeing is normal and that I don't have a defective driver.

kwarwick said:

with a fresh CR123A at 3 volts, I'm seeing 900 ma.

Click to expand...

This proves that it does have a converter but it is simple boost driver. It is NOT direct driven. It is designed to run well on CR123A. You can see how it handles little lower voltage such as 2xNiMh batteries. I suspect it will still give decent light. This looks like a good driver and good light.

If you are concerned about burning the led and/or the driver, you should stick with the primary cells. If I were in your shoes, I will just enjoy the insane brightness on the RCR123A and pre-order the new LED and the driver in case this one gives up. I am assuming that getting the pill out is not a difficult job.

I suspect that you have essentially caused me to lighten my wallet by at least $20
Should I thank you or should I curse you for that??

- Vikas