Hmm? This was not my experience. I got about 2.4 at the tail and a resistor mod brought it up to 2.6. With accurate testing.
And doesn’t it advertise the use of either 2x 18350 or maybe 2x cr123? Can’t remember but I thought so. I’m interested as I have three or four of these drivers laying around here. Trying to think of how to put them to good use.
Yes, it does advertise CR123’s which would be an input voltage of 6V yet it was already at 3.3A at that voltage and climbing. Since it doesn’t have a DTP star and I didn’t want to kill the LED I stopped there but It showed no regulation at all and I have a feeling it would instantly pop the LED if CR123’s were used.
I honestly think there is something wrong with my driver, I highly doubt they would put all that time and money into designing a buck driver only to use it as an FET driver.
Just tried it out outside. I would call it a moon mode, it is slightly brighter then my EDC moon but that is mostly because it is focused into a smaller beam then my S2+.
Djburkes,
Where did you get the vg10 with xpl hi?
Texas ace, where did you purchase your vg10 from?
And there is a coupon for a thorfire c8s right now. From m4d m4x. $14.99
It’s my favorite c8 because I just love the tail cap. Similar to the vg10 how it has the cut out groove.
3.3A sounds a bit high compared to more recent reports, but when this driver first came out some people were seeing slightly over 3A. I need a better DMM, or at least leads, so I won’t give the actual results but the tail amps of my VG10 is ~20% less than my C8 with 8x7135 driver.
I haven't had a chance to push that driver yet, but it looks to be a high quality driver. Most bucks need a decent amount of overhead voltage to regulate properly. Below those voltages, they tend to behave like a DD with low efficiency. My bet is that yiou will get still be below 4 amps to the emitter at 2S. I'm not sure why so many folks are so quick to change out this VG10 driver. With a reverse clickie and no need for bleed-off resister for tail cap lights, the driver is already awesome. Take it to 2S and slightly decrease the sensor resistance and it may be a real winner. Well, hopefully. I'm planning on using one to drive a high power laser diode if it does.
I got it from amazon with the coupon a few weeks back.
Subscribed
Are there deals for EU customers?
I have several of your flashlights
Thanks
Yeah, it is a bit high I think because the buck part of the driver is being bypassed and it is acting like a pure FET driver. I am guessing this is not how it is supposed to work.
I tested it by hooking it up to my bench power supply so I would know exactly what is going on.
I planned to keep the driver actually if the buck worked but it just doesn’t seem to be working as a buck. I will try taking the voltage up higher tomorrow and see what happens.
At best it is a very high resistance FET driver when using it with an 18650 since it maxes out at 3.3A and drops like a brick as the voltage drops. My 7135’s drivers maintain 2.8A down to ~3.5V in many cases.
I will take some official readings tomorrow and see how it does, I just did a quick voltage sweep earlier.
I really need some kind of light meter. I am probably used to what is closer to firefly mode. My middle of the night light is a DrJones RGBW driven Yupard 16340 with DCfix over the lens and on the dome of the led, it is mostly used on the lowest setting with the red emitter.
TA, I echo basically everything you said word for word. I got the $7.99 deal a couple weeks ago and was so impressed I ordered two more at the 9.99 price (waiting on those two to arrive) due to the excellent all-around quality. I had the same pinched O-ring. I get 3.43A on a freshly charged rested 30Q. I even used my jar opener pad to get my bezel off as well, lol.
I would call it “barely” moonlight - I can look straight at the lit emitter without immediate discomfort, but a few seconds later it becomes uncomfortable. To me true moonlight modes allow me to look into the emitter indefinitely and low moonlight modes allow easy observation of all the features (bond wires, mottled nature of the phosphor coating, etc).
I do not have an M1,but I have several S- series and C8’s from Convoy. With the exception of the pinched O-ring, the robustness of the design and the quality of the manufacturing is better for the Thorfire VG10 than the Convoys I have observed. (source: QC engineer in manufacturing)
I reserve the right to backtrack on the above statement if there is in fact a malfunctioning driver issue, lol. Although on the OTHER hand, isn’t Convoy dealing with malfunctioning drivers (firmware) at this very moment? Double lol…
I want to put an XP-L HI in one, an XM-L2 and DC-fix diffusion film on another, and who knows with the third.
Hopefully, your driver looks like this:
Hmm… dunno why I didn’t want to pull the trigger on this light… it was in my cart for the longest time.
Now it seems like I missed out on a great light :person_facepalming:
Oh well, maybe next time they will have another sale on this light again
That is the same driver as the ones I’ve received. Mine were from 4-5 months back though.
Ya though… I got the light so cheap I really didn’t give the driver a fair chance. I’m just now realizing.
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Nope, not what came in mine, mine is a blue PCB and a different layout entirely. The sense resistor sits parallel to the edge of the driver instead of pointing towards the center.