# Ultrafire WF-501B for real?



## kneighbour (May 24, 2011)

I recently bought an Ultrafire WF-501B from the Internet. Some 900Lumens, 4 CREE lights and uses a 18650 battery. Only cost me around $25. 

I am quite happy with it - very bright and all, but it is the first 'real' torch I have bought. I have quite a few other AAA LED based ones, but they are all quite cheap and no-where near as good as the Ultrafire. 

I was looking for a diffusuer for it as I go camping a lot, and found a suitable item on the Internet somewhere. But I noticed that to fit the diffuser, you had to unscrew the head and screw the diffuser on. 

My particular torch cannot do that - the head does not screw off - at least not in the fashion the diffuser requires. This raises the question - I assumed that the 'Ultrafire WF-501B' is a specific make and model of torch - made by the Ultrafire company, and this is the WF-501B model. They should all be exactly the same, right? 

It seems not. I have seen other WF-501B's out there with different lumen ratings. Is this just the head being replaced or what? Do I have a cheap chinese copy/pirate that is just using the name? Am I missing something here?

One of the reasons I am on this forum is that I want to deal with reputable dealers - I want to get the 'real thing'


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## kneighbour (May 24, 2011)

*Are the specified lumens real?*

I noticed in one of the pinned threads had this list 

____I want to navigate a dark room or read a map (0-10 lumens).
____I want to walk around an unlit rural area (50-150 lumens).
____I want to illuminate my entire backyard or a campsite (150-300 lumens).
____I want to illuminate an entire field, the neighbor's front yard several houses down, impress my friends and neighbors, etc. (300-700 lumens).
____I want ridiculous amounts of lumens (800+ lumens).

This is a very interesting list. Most of my torches are cheap LED type - I have no idea on the lumens. But I have a new 300 lumen no brand and a 900 lumen Ultrafire.

I fully realise that the specified rating is not what you really get (ie it is marketing hype/outright lies). But neither of my 'real' torches fits into this list. The 300 lumen one would not in any way 'illuminate an entire field', and I doubt my 900L one would either (unless it is a really small field). And the 900L is certainly not a 'ridiculous amount'. 

So - I am wondering if my 900L is even close to 900 - maybe it is only 300? Am I naive in 'trusting', as least to some extent, the quoted ratings? 

I was thinking of moving onto a 1200L unit. Instead, maybe I should think more along the lines of going to a known and trusted brand, and not the cheaper Chinese knockoffs? Perhaps then I would get a torch of a known and trusted rating?


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## ^Gurthang (May 24, 2011)

*Re: Are the specified lumens real?*

Kneighbor,

Welcome to CPF. The quick answer about your 501 is that it can use a very diverse range of LEDs w/ a very wide range of output. UltraFire is a commonly used name from Chinese manufacturers, its a take-off of SureFire. 

If you do a bit of reading you'll learn more about lights than you could have imagined. Keep reading, use the "Search" function and the keep reading more.


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## oronocova (May 24, 2011)

*Re: Are the specified lumens real?*

The 501B is one of the budget P60 hosts. By P60 host I mean a light that takes a light assembly made like the Surefire P60 drop-in modules. The drop-in consists of the reflector, light source (LED in your case), and whatever electronics make it tick. That's why you see all the different ratings; they all won't have the same module (aka P60 drop-in) installed. I have owned a couple 501B lights and they are not a bad light for the money, there are much better made hosts out there. If you search for P60 hosts there is a thread around here that lists most of them. Some are more standardized/interchangeable like Surefire 6P and the Solarforce L2 series.


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## mwb01 (May 25, 2011)

*Re: Are the specified lumens real?*



kneighbour said:


> I was thinking of moving onto a 1200L unit. Instead, maybe I should think more along the lines of going to a known and trusted brand, and not the cheaper Chinese knockoffs? Perhaps then I would get a torch of a known and trusted rating?



A lot of companies are moving to ANSI Out the front ratings, Ultrafire probably not being one of them. ANSI is a standard for measuring how much light is actually exiting the front of the flashlight, so if you move to more reputable brands that use it you can get an idea of what lumen ratings actually look like in person.


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## gcbryan (May 25, 2011)

You've raised a lot of question, many of which has been addressed by others. However camping and 900 lumens IMO generally don't go together. Why take a 900 lumen light (and the battery drain that goes with that) and then put a diffuser on it.

A diffused light is a good idea of course but in general for camping I wouldn't start with a 900 lumen light. A floody headlamp with 40 lumens or less would do.


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## SirJohn (May 25, 2011)

Where did you buy this UltraFire. Are you saying it has 4 separate Cree emitters in it? I'd say fat chance that it comes anywhere close to 900 lumens with it being a p60 host on 1x18650. No only do the manufacturers make up specs on these, the sellers are even worse with made up specs. You can find the same light at multiple sellers with each seller listing a vastly different lumen claim. Most not very realistic. A big key when buying low budget lights is finding a group of people that may already have the light and can tell you a bit about it before hand. Otherwise you are flying blind as the seller listings are pretty much useless unless you know what to look for. If you want to stick with budget lights, you may want to head over to budgetlightforum.


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## subwoofer (May 25, 2011)

I have several Ultrafire WF-501Bs. It appears the Ultrafire brand is used by at four or more Chinese manufacturers, so you never really know which factory it will be coming from.

It is a budget P60 host and works very well for a budget light. It sounds like you have a MCE led which is a quad LED. It will not output 900lm from one probably cheap 18650, probably more like 350-400lm on a fully charged battery if you have a good one, but then drop off as the battery voltage drops.

The only screw in diffuser I have seen is the Solarforce lantern adaptor, but you need a solarforce L2 to use it (quite similar P60 host).

The head of the 501B will unscrew from the battery tube and into two parts to release the LED module so you can change it for another type.

You really want a multi-mode torch as the maximum output will deplete your battery very fast and you will find it too bright for close work.

Ultrafire also make the UF-H3 a full flood headlamp that I have and would recommend.


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## trooplewis (May 25, 2011)

I have a couple of 510B lights and like them, but they are the least expensive of the Ultrafire models. The 503 and 504 are very similar to Solarforce models, and the diffuser will work with those, but not the 501, as you cannot remove the bezel on the 501. Also, make sure you have some sharp-ended tweezers or needle-nosed pliers, as I have found that every couple of times you change the battery in the 501, the internals in the tailcap come loose and need to be tightened up.

A number of different drop-ins (bulbs) can be used with the 501, that is why some are rated different than others. Some reliable dealers are manafont and dealextreme you can find them on the web. Do a Google search for Budget Lights and you will find all kinds of information out there.


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## Mike_TX (May 25, 2011)

Two limiting factors for using the light you have for general campsite lighting are battery life and heat build-up. LED's suck the life out of batteries ... the average lifespan of high-output LED's is generally less than one hour on "high". The other factor - heat buildup - is a consequence of the LED's light output and the inability of the flashlight body to dissipate it, and heat can kill an LED in fairly short order.

So ... your multiple-LED light, working in a host (the 501) not known for its heat-dissipating abilities, further suffocated by a heat-trapping diffuser, and run for long periods of time, is a non-starter. Sans diffuser, it will work great for lighting up the woods when you think you hear a bear, but you would do much better to get something else for lighting your campsite.

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## trooplewis (May 25, 2011)

Mike_TX said:


> Two limiting factors for using the light you have for general campsite lighting are battery life and heat build-up. LED's suck the life out of batteries ... the average lifespan of high-output LED's is generally less than one hour on "high". The other factor - heat buildup - is a consequence of the LED's light output and the inability of the flashlight body to dissipate it, and heat can kill an LED in fairly short order.
> 
> So ... your multiple-LED light, working in a host (the 501) not known for its heat-dissipating abilities, further suffocated by a heat-trapping diffuser, and run for long periods of time, is a non-starter. Sans diffuser, it will work great for lighting up the woods when you think you hear a bear, but you would do much better to get something else for lighting your campsite.
> 
> ...


My experience with LED's is they still last way longer then incandescent lights do, just don't run them on full-power mode. A good 29 lumen Maglite with 3 "D" batteries lasts what, about 3 hours? An XP-G on medium should be good for what, 5 or 6 hours? And it still puts out way more light, and you don't have to lug around 3 "D" cells when the thing goes dead on you, just a single 18650.


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## Mike_TX (May 26, 2011)

trooplewis said:


> My experience with LED's is they still last way longer then incandescent lights do, just don't run them on full-power mode. A good 29 lumen Maglite with 3 "D" batteries lasts what, about 3 hours? An XP-G on medium should be good for what, 5 or 6 hours? And it still puts out way more light, and you don't have to lug around 3 "D" cells when the thing goes dead on you, just a single 18650.



I'm not disputing that, but I also don't think a 3D Maglite is the answer for general camp lighting. A two-mantle propane lantern will output almost 1,000 lumens and burn for 8 hours on a single 16 oz. cylinder. To me, that's a far better solution. A good LED flashlight definitely has its place for campers, but not for general area lighting IMO.

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## trooplewis (May 26, 2011)

True, but when you try to slip that 2-mantle into your pocket you end up with a low-power version of the famous Nadz-on-Fire light


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## kneighbour (May 26, 2011)

*Re: Are the specified lumens real?*



oronocova said:


> The 501B is one of the budget P60 hosts


Ok - understood. The 501B is bascially the casing. Good to know. I had kind of suspected that. Thanks.


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## kneighbour (May 26, 2011)

SirJohn said:


> Where did you buy this UltraFire.


 
DinoDirect.com. Only $25 including free freight (to Australia). Very good price, I thought.



SirJohn said:


> Are you saying it has 4 separate Cree emitters in it?


Yes. It is one circuit board with 4 CREE segments on it. 

I only came upon this site after buying my first two torches. I am fairly happy with them both, but I had the feeling I could do a lot better if I had a bit more information.


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## Mike_TX (May 26, 2011)

trooplewis said:


> True, but when you try to slip that 2-mantle into your pocket you end up with a low-power version of the famous Nadz-on-Fire light



Roasted chestnuts is a definite consequence of carrying a lighted propane lantern in your pocket. 

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## oronocova (May 26, 2011)

Can you post a picture of it (maybe a couple shots one looking down at the LEDS and one of the overall light.) I personally haven't seen one of those come with a Quad-LED drop-in.


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## monanoke (May 26, 2011)

Probably this one with the Cree MC-E.



kneighbour said:


> DinoDirect.com. Only $25 including free freight (to Australia). Very good price, I thought.
> 
> 
> Yes. It is one circuit board with 4 CREE segments on it.
> ...


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## Mike_TX (May 26, 2011)

monanoke said:


> Probably this one with the Cree MC-E.


 
Ummm, no ... his has 4 emitters. This one has only one.

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## mfm (May 27, 2011)

*Re: Are the specified lumens real?*



^Gurthang said:


> Welcome to CPF. The quick answer about your 501 is that it can use a very diverse range of LEDs w/ a very wide range of output. UltraFire is a commonly used name from Chinese manufacturers, its a take-off of SureFire.


 
Ultrafire is a real Chinese company, although a lot of other companies make fake Ultrafire products.


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## RedForest UK (May 27, 2011)

Mike_TX said:


> Ummm, no ... his has 4 emitters. This one has only one.
> 
> .
> .


 
Yes, but the MC-E is a quad core LED made up of 4 EZ1000 dies, an XR-E or Seoul P4 also uses 1x EZ1000 die and the Seoul P7 uses 4 like the MC-E. It is easy to understand why he referred to it as having 4 emitters as the quad core led is advertised in a way which makes it easy to interpret it as such.


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## Mike_TX (May 27, 2011)

^ You may be onto something ... I took his description literally to mean four separate EMITTERS as opposed to a single emitter comprised of four SEGMENTS.

Kneighbour: What do you have? Can you post a picture of the head of the flashlight itself? 

Here are quick pictures of two kinds of multi-emitter setups, one with separate reflectors and one with an array of emitters on a flat reflective plate.













Is yours like either of the above? Or is it a single cone-shaped reflector with a single LED (even if it is a composite LED)?

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## cratz2 (May 28, 2011)

I just got a WF-501B with a green K2 from Dealextreme. I've only used it briefly as I've only had it for 2 or 3 days, but so far, I have zero complaints. Sure it's not as nice as my C2 but hell... it was only $10 shipped from the other side of the planet.

I doubt if I'd personally pay more than $20 or so for a 501 type light regardless of what kind of LED it had in it... much more than that, esp for a really bright LED, I'd probably just for a used Surefire or a Solarforce and a specifically ordered drop-in.


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