Well I guess I jinxed myself. I was using the above C8 tonight, since we were talking about it… all of a sudden it decided it only wants to use moonlight mode for all levels of intensity. Low is like 1 lumen, medium 10 lumens, high 50 lumens.
Looking at the led on low, one of the arrays is brighter than the other 3. Did I finally blow the emitter?
This boost driver (input voltage is lower than output voltage) can drive 6V LEDs, such as the XHP50.2/70.2 from a single rechargeable lithium-ion battery at an output current of up to 4.2A. It can also drive a 12V LED, such as the XHP35, at up to around 1.3A. The MTN-BST2 uses a highly efficient synchronous boost converter squeezed into a tiny 17mm form factor.
Unlike most of the high power boost drivers out there, this driver can achieve a wide dimming range and utilize popular firmwares.
This driver takes up to 10 business days to be built, tested, and shipped. Your order will not ship until the driver is completed.
Battery & Host Requirements:
In stock form, this driver will pull just over 10A peak current, therefore a 10A+ continuous rated battery is required (unless you reduce the input current limit). The more voltage the battery can hold under load, the better the driver will perform. Your switch, springs, etc. must be able to handle the 10A+ input current; this means that you must have high performance or bypassed springs in your light.
The driver _must_ be soldered into the pill or held firmly in place with a retaining ring. This is required both for adequate thermal and electrical performance. If during use the light turns off and on, the driver is overheating and needs to be switched to a lower mode or turned off and allowed to cool. Continued operation at excessively high temperature will damage the driver (damage from excessive temperature will not be covered under warranty).
Specifications:
Boost Converter (input voltage must be lower than output voltage)
3V - 5.5V input voltage range (suitable for a single lithium-ion battery)
Designed to drive 6V LEDs, such as the XHP50.2 and XHP70.2 at drive currents up to 4.5A
Can also drive 12V LEDs, such as the XHP35 at currents up to around 1.3A
Output voltage range: ~6V —- ~13.8V
Output current range: 6V LED: 1A —- 4.2A
XHP50 / 50.2
XHP70 / 70.2
MT-G2 6V
12V LED: ~1.3A
XHP35 HD / HI
Input Current Limit Option:
If you are running any battery that is not capable of 10A+ continuous discharge current, you must change the input current limit to a lower value.
~10.5A | 4.2A w/ 6V LED maximum recommended output current
~8A | 3.5A w/ 6V LED maximum recommended output currnet
~4A | 2A w/ 6V LED maximum recommended output current
Output Current Option:
The output current is set using one or two sense resistors. You can choose between any of the following output current limit options:
1A
2A
2.5A
3A
3.5A
4.2A
Firmware Options:
Currently only guppy3drv is available. We will have Bistro available as soon as we get it 100% dialed in.
Yes, I’m surprised the 12v is not a bit closer to half the 6v output.
We know that a bigger size driver can do 12v up to about 3A, but I’m not sure if Richards will go that high. He may dial it back a little to get better reliability.
Richard is about to be flooded with boost driver orders once he lists them in stock
Is there a reference you guys use to determine the proper output for XHP and MT-G2 LED’s. I mean, is there a good output to heat chart for each that shows how many amps it would take to blow an emitter?
I don’t want to be selecting 4.2 amps for a XHP50.2 when it can’t handle it. While I wouldn’t want 1A if it can really handle 4.0A either.
Check out these examples and look in each of their signatures. I like each member for different information so you should decide for yourself but they basically all test LEDs till they are almost or completely dead.
Just so’s ya know, Richard has tested this boost driver of his to death. That’s the way he does things, he won’t release it until he’s very confident it will work reliably. And he’s at that point now. So while we’re just now seeing these he’s been torture testing for quite some time and tweaking to ensure they hold up.
I’ve talked to him about these quite a lot and of course am as eager as anyone to get an order placed. I’m told “Soon”, and I believe they’ll be worth it.
The 17mm boost driver looks good, but I’m hoping the larger ones will have more power. I’m at a point in my flashaholism that I’m not satisfied with a reasonable amount of power. I need an impractical amount of power.
There’s not a big difference between 4.2A and 6A. So if you wanted a 70.2 in an S2+, 4.2A is still great. You’ll get much longer run time compared to using 2 x 18350.
Maybe you mean the 12v output? That I can understand.
Personally, I’m still waiting for the e-switch versions with ramping.