"You get what you pay for!!"
I can hear you all thinking it right away, while reading the title of this post
And you are right in thinking it. I would say, shout it out loud!!
The greater part of flashaholics will know the famous Ultrafire WF-501B. The cheap Xenon starter-flashlight, that is bright, but has weak threads, bad finishes etc etc.
Maybe less people know, there's a WF-501C and WF-501D also! I always thought that "B" is for "Black".
No, the B is for 2X CR123, the C is for 3X CR123 and the D is for 4X CR123!
And, best if all, those el-cheapo's are 18XXX-compatible.
So, the B accepts one 18650, the C accepts two 18500s and the D accepts two 18650s!! I actually tried this, at least AW and the well-known blue Trustfire 2500mAh cells fit. I also bought the new 3000mAh Ultrafire cells and guess what? They DON'T fit!
But, so far so good, with AW cells no problems, they just slide in. What's the problem then?
Well, in the first place, the O-rings are crappy. In combination with the too-sharp edges on the tailcap, you immediately cut them....
In the second place, the (very bright!) incan drop in starts to emit SMOKE after a few seconds.... had this before with DX drop ins, this was due to not hardened bonding agent. Let it cure in open air for a few days and all is OK.
So, in the end, I have some ruined O-rings now. Let's visit the hardware store to see if they sell appropriate replacement....
All this because I wanted to save some money, and didn't want to give $45,- for an FM body. I can tell you: go for the FM body, this one will definitely be much better and you can combine it with your SureFire tailcap and bezel....
Timmo.
I can hear you all thinking it right away, while reading the title of this post
And you are right in thinking it. I would say, shout it out loud!!
The greater part of flashaholics will know the famous Ultrafire WF-501B. The cheap Xenon starter-flashlight, that is bright, but has weak threads, bad finishes etc etc.
Maybe less people know, there's a WF-501C and WF-501D also! I always thought that "B" is for "Black".
No, the B is for 2X CR123, the C is for 3X CR123 and the D is for 4X CR123!
And, best if all, those el-cheapo's are 18XXX-compatible.
So, the B accepts one 18650, the C accepts two 18500s and the D accepts two 18650s!! I actually tried this, at least AW and the well-known blue Trustfire 2500mAh cells fit. I also bought the new 3000mAh Ultrafire cells and guess what? They DON'T fit!
But, so far so good, with AW cells no problems, they just slide in. What's the problem then?
Well, in the first place, the O-rings are crappy. In combination with the too-sharp edges on the tailcap, you immediately cut them....
In the second place, the (very bright!) incan drop in starts to emit SMOKE after a few seconds.... had this before with DX drop ins, this was due to not hardened bonding agent. Let it cure in open air for a few days and all is OK.
So, in the end, I have some ruined O-rings now. Let's visit the hardware store to see if they sell appropriate replacement....
All this because I wanted to save some money, and didn't want to give $45,- for an FM body. I can tell you: go for the FM body, this one will definitely be much better and you can combine it with your SureFire tailcap and bezel....
Timmo.
