Led4power.com : LD-4 CC linear drivers, ILC-0/1 illuminated tailcaps, optics, MOSX, copper DTP MCPCBs...

Dear Neven,

Is there any chance to get your LD4 driver with e-switch firmware in the near future? I am highly interested to use it in the new Sofirn C8F since this one is only available with tailclicky and side switch. Meanwhile the one without side switch is hard or impossible to get.

Cheers,
Thomas

I'm finally close to an end of designing other stuff (mostly pcbs, large batch of various designs is coming within 2-3 weeks ), which took a lot of time and money, so drivers upgrade is one of the next things on to-do list (I left them last because they require a lot of time for developing).

I think it needs to be 31mm to fit X6 .

They will be 31.4mm in diameter, so they should fit X6, there is small possibility they will not fit on some hosts because of production tolerances, but in that case there is maybe ~0.1mm material to sand down, and that should be very easy because PCBs have 5.5mm central holes, so you can use battery drill in combination with M5 screw+some washers to quickly sand it down.

Awesome , thanks !

Added couple IR LEDs: new 4715AS-EA (upgraded AS), Luxeon IR 850nm 90deg and 150deg variants, all on 20mm mosX board:

https://led4power.com/product-category/leds/infrared/https://led4power.com/product-category/leds/infrared/

Hows does the efficiency of the 1S LD-A4 driver compare to a common 7135 driver?

LD-A4 doesn't use PWM, so overall light efficiency is higher at lower currents.

On high mode driver efficiency is theoretically the same: Eff=Vled/Vbatt.

Average LD-A4/B4 efficiency (from full to empty battery) is around 85-90% for most LEDs.

Did you ever explain anywhere how it actually works? How do you use a FET to make a linear driver?

Variable linear regulator.

A FET can work as a variable linear regulator.

More expensive, but allows for higher efficiency since it is not using PWM.

That's probably ~100years (almost) old technology, FET works in linear mode (hence the name linear regulator) as variable resistor (from few MegaOhms to few miliOhms), analog electronics+ uC controls FET so that output current remains constant.

In theory it's simple, in practice not so much if you want wide output current range (from mA to 10-20A),low internal resistance,small size etc.

led4power, I so wish I could have Andruil with your driver….

That would be quite difficult to do, ad the LD A4 and B4 does not support e-switches if I remember well.

I will start with driver firmware/hardware upgrade soon, I was too busy with other stuff for quite a bit of time. But since change will not be cosmetic (pretty much complete redesign+e-sw+high power variants), this will take some time.

I got an impression that it wouldn’t be a quick job as it requires porting software to ATTiny1617 or to Pic16 or finding board space for ATTiny85. But nothing terrible either, especially that there’s good change someone would provide porting assistance.
Other than this I don’t think it would be hard. But then - I know very little about how it’s really done, so I may be very wrong.

That’s fantastic news! I am already excited thinking about a new Sofirn C8F with LD4 driver, triple XP-E2 red and side switch. :slight_smile:

I already use PIC16 on LD-x4 and always write my own firmware, so that's not problem, only problem currently is lack of time.

I was referring to how awesome it would be to run Andruil with your driver…and to be able to customize it to fit my needs perfectly.
Open source makes your hardware more valuable.

@led4power: I plan to mod an Astrolux S41 with Quad XP-E2 red (overcurrent up to 2.5A per LED if they sustain it). Do you think the LD4A driver would work in that flashlight. I’m not sure if the power dissipation might be too high for it. If it works, can you give me some recommendations what I should consider in terms of configurations, please? Thank you!

XP-E2? This test shows maximum at only 2A.

At 10Amps total LD-B4 is better option (in combination with mosled 4xp board) because its much larger heat dissipation capability.