When the PWM is used to get lower levels from a MOSFET, itās still getting full power just pulsed, so the emitter isnāt in itās prime efficiency range. With the single 7135 chip the emitter IS inside itās efficiency range and so itās more ārelaxedā, giving itās true tint. Pushed harder, even slightly past the 7135 chip level, the MOSFET gives it a more intense color being overdriven.
This is the reason the blink at the junction of where the MOSFET starts coming into play is important, it will greatly influence the output once the MOSFET is utilized. It might even be prudent to have a stop instead of a blink. Ramp the full 7135, then ramp the combined 7135/FET. That would give a more pure use of the efficient lower channel for those wishing to conserve cell life. With the full ramp taking only ~2 seconds to complete, the blink is passed by pretty quickly. Perhaps a lean towards the full 7135 to create a shelf might make it easier to hit the mark, say if 130 in the 0-255 is the mark to hit, perhaps have 5-10 130 levels so the ramp has a plateau in that spot?
In the default configuration, the ramp stops at the highest regulated level and the only way to go higher is by double-clicking for turbo. The user can change this in the config though.
I love the look of this light. Is there any reason that a double-walled design was chosen instead of putting the driver board in the tail of the light? It seems like that would make the construction simpler and cheaper, as well as making it easy to make a version for an 18350 or 18500 cell, but I could be missing something obvious.
The thermal sensor is built into the tiny85, so it needs to be as close to the emitters as possible.
It would need a double-walled design (or an extra wire) either way. The driver needs access to both BAT+ and BAT-, even when the LED power is switched off.
Itās kind of standard for flashlights to have the driver in the head end instead of the tail.