thank you matt, that makes sense. I bought a Rev 3 in April of 2015 and it did have the GITD ring and PWM also. I hag gunga put i a Reylight driver, from the copper reylight group buy at end of 2015.
thanks also for clarifying your had 2 electronic switch and one mechanical switch, tools
that confirms that so far all the electronic switches have the 30 minute spec driver, that is unregulated on high mode.
The Maratac in my test is also a Rev 3 w GITD ring, but it is from Oct 2015, and is NoPWM. The Tools I bought after that are also NoPWM
it would seem that the PWM Maratac you have runs considerably longer than the NoPWM one I have. However, before jumping to conclude that the NoPWM drivers are ALL 30 minute spec… I highlight again the Worms, which have all tested regulated for over 40 minutes… and NoPWM
much appreciate your time developing and sharing data
the quest for me is to learn how to recognize the drivers w NoPWM that run regulated for more than 40 minutes, as in the worm. At least Two Tools got the regulated driver, my reylight driver from gunga and maukkas CuTool… seems the only visual difference in those is at the inductor level… im hoping gunga may revisit the topic sometime when hes got a mod in hand
thank you for taking the time, in the interest of science
Also tested a Lumintop Copper Worm (219B) which was bought from BG a couple of months ago. Mine has the efficient driver. The button on the driver board is smaller than on my efficient Copper Tool, similar traces though.
From the left: Cu Tool, Cu Worm, Ti Tool. No PWM on any of them.
Thank you Maukka!
your CuTool has the very large button, like my Worm
your Worm has the regulated driver, on high, that also runs for over 40 minutes before dropping out of regulation, while your TiTool is below 50% brightness by 35 minutes
on high:
I think that makes 6 worms, all regulated
1 CuTool Regulated (maukkas, with large button)
1 CuReyLight driver, Regulated (mine)
All other Tools tested, be they ReyLight or not, Ti, Copper, or Brass, use the unregulated driver
Thorfire PF03 still is hard to beat for run time on a AAA flashlight, 60 min on high with NiMh as measured in this review;
Just slightly lower output than the Tools.
Really tempted to get that Brass Worm at the great sale price, have the nickle one with cree and like it but the nichia would a nice addition.
Later,
Keith
So, based on what has been posted so far, I think these are accurate Q&A
I invite confirmation and further education
What is the most efficient Copper single AAA light available with 90 CRI (N219) and NoPWM?
Answer: Worm
What is the most efficient Copper single AAA light available with 70 CRI (XP-G2) and YesPWM
Answer: Maratac Rev 3 prior to Oct 2015
Will a Copper Worm head w Nichia Lego onto a Copper Maratac body?
Answer: Yes
Will a Copper Maratac head w XP-G2 Lego onto a Copper Worm body?
Answer: No The threads on the worm body are too short to reach the pill in the Maratac head
Can the Nichia Pill from a Copper Worm be unscrewed and swapped with a Copper Maratac or Copper Tool (including ReyLight) from Oct 2015 or later and vice versa?
Answer: Probably YES, but not yet confirmed.
Can the Nichia Pill from a Copper Worm be unscrewed and swapped with a Copper Maratac or Copper Tool from BEFORE Oct 2015 or later and vice versa?
Answer: Probably NO. iirc the YesPWM Copper Maratacs, and Copper Tools, used a 2 layer board, the post Oct 2015 NoPWM Lumintops use a single layer board.
Another two data points for this test. I have a copper and aluminum version of the Tool and the copper has the efficient driver but the aluminum does not from what I can tell. These are the run times on medium and high with a 750mAh Eneloop (from Costco) to when there is no more light coming from the LED:
Tool Cu - 4hr4min - 59min
Tool - 3hr40min - 46min
Right now I have them in low and the aluminum one expired between 23-26 hrs but the copper is still running (27+). Here is the driver on each, notice the small gold pad at about 10 o’clock on the copper version
fwiw, the efficient driver runs flat regulation on high, you might want to invest in an inexpensive light meter so you can determine if the lights have flat regulation
though I agree the runtime on your copper sounds like the more efficient circuit based only on runtime on high
otoh, your copper also has more runtime on medium, which suggests a battery difference, not a circuit difference… fwiw, the inefficient drivers are not different on medium, only on high, and spec for medium is now 4 hours,
tangent about Medium and runtime, spec used to be 10 hours… nobody has posted one of those, I suspect it was from the version with PWM, before Oct 2015, but have none of my own to check… can you confirm both your Tools are the NoPWM versions?
thanks for the pic, looks different than some, maybe similar to the one matt posted with the gold leaf at 10 oclock
if you want to contribute a test, do this
Turn the light on, on High and start a stopwatch. Let us know if it lasts 30 or 60 minutes
It really helps to have a lightmeter, then you can answer the question about the runtime curve, and whether it is flat regulated, or constantly falling brightness. You only need to check brightness at the beginnig and at the 35 minute mark.
The efficient driver will still be at the same brightness, while the inefficient driver will be at less than 50% of its initial brightness.
This is maukkas excellent example of the two different runtime curves on High
these 5 lights are the efficient ones that turned up through this thread
my reading of the pics
maukkas CuTool and my CuWorm both have large buttons and are efficient
my ReyLight CuTool, the Brass Worm, and mrmatt’s CuTool all have small buttons, mrmatt’s is different than the rest, it has the gold square at 10 oclock.
my takeaway is that all the worms tested have been efficient, even when they have different sized contact buttons
one but not all reylights is efficient, two but not all CuTools are efficient, none of the TiTools are efficient.
Based on mrmatt’s runtime report, he got 24 more minutes on medium from the efficient driver
maukka got 30 minutes longer runtime from his efficient driver (w eneloop pro)
it does appear there are efficiency differences in terms of runtime on medium as well as on high. On high mode the efficient drivers run both regulated and longer. On medium both efficient and less efficient drivers run regulated, but the efficient ones run about 25 minutes longer.
I expect it would show a difference in the inductor, as gunga reported, but, there is no way for a buyer to recognize which light will have the efficient driver, by outward appearance. The only way to “guarantee” you get an efficient driver, is to buy a worm. Similarly, you can guarantee getting the non efficient driver, by buying a TiTool or Brass Tool…
