Texas_Ace BLF Calibrated Lumen tube / Sphere No math skills needed - Several spheres still available

SKV89 · August 14, 2018, 2:41am

Wiping contact points with alcohol really works miracles. Today I received my Mini GT. At first I kept measuring about 500 lumens with every battery I thought I got a dud. Then I wiped down the springs with alcohol and got 1,140 turn on lumens! This worked several times on the TC20 when turbo stopped working correctly.

teacher · August 14, 2018, 2:51am

Sorry my friend… pictures are a strict no - no. This method is such ’secret & refined double naught spy type stuff’…. I dare not share pictures or video at this time.

JasonWW · August 14, 2018, 2:54am

I’ve never heard of a spring that dirty before. Glad you got it sorted, though.

Newlumen · August 14, 2018, 2:56am

Nice… 1140 lumen sound legit… jason got 1200 lumen…

Can i know which 18650 you using on the mini gt ?

Texas_Ace · August 14, 2018, 2:58am

I got 1200 on my sample mini-GT as well.

Newlumen · August 14, 2018, 3:04am

Yes… very nice. Unfortunately, i ordered my mini gt 2 days ago…

teacher · August 14, 2018, 3:04am

I think you certaily do win brother. Your device is clearly better than mine… no doubt. :+1:

Do keep in mind however, if there are ‘floaters’ present the intergration properties will change in proportion with the density of the ‘floaters’.

I think the formula to figure that is.

BS=T x ฯ x μ x ฯD ÷ F>§°

Good luck….

SKV89 · August 14, 2018, 3:49am

VTC5D

On the VTC6, I got 1,105 lumens.

toobadorz · August 15, 2018, 2:39pm

I got ~1150 lm @ 0s (TA lumen tube, NW GT mini, VTC6).

Newlumen · August 26, 2018, 2:22am

What’s the best way to clean this thingy? Warm water ok?

JasonWW · August 26, 2018, 3:19am

Why would you need to clean it?

I guess if you got some dust build up, just wipe it with a dust cloth. Maybe a damp paper towl?

teacher · August 26, 2018, 3:37am

That should be fine. :+1:

scannerguy1968 · August 26, 2018, 5:13am

Tex, I just now opened the sphere and took a try tonight with lights. I saw it was reading high on many higher output lights. Logged into this thread and now see this. What do I have to do to get the updated filters? I never saw any in the mail so maybe you missed me. Thanks much.

JasonWW · August 26, 2018, 8:11am

You’re just now using it for the first time?

TA will send you the extra filters.

peabody · August 26, 2018, 8:51am

Texas_Ace:

I just got done finding, printing shipping labels and packing all the orders I could find. I got 27 out of the 32 total ordered between the people that sent a new payment and those that I could find from the old payments.

If anyone does not get the correction discs just let me know and I will send you out a set.

I also sent 3 discs to most of you, just in case one breaks in shipment, it is easier to include an extra then ship another. Only 2 of them will be used though.

These discs seem to read slightly different then the sheet I get before. This seems to work out to around ~.67, so pretty darn close to prefect in most cases. Although a few of the old discs are mixed in so it is possibly it could vary a little if you get one of the old discs.

Luckily no matter which combo you have it should still be within the tolerance range I was aiming for as I didn’t even notice the difference when putting together the 13 spheres yesterday and they still came out within spec.

The official install instructions for the correction discs are as follows

The discs have a textured side and a smooth side.

Simply remove the lux meter from the PVC pipe and insert 2 of the correction discs Both smooth sides should face towards the INSIDE of the PVC pipe

It is hard to tell in the pictures but both textured sides are facing out, towards the meter.

Then simply reinstall the meter to hold them in place:

I forgot to include the directions for installing the 4” discs with the package. The pictures below should help explain it.

Use some normal tape and run it around the edge of the lux meter and disks to hold them in place. It does not have to be very fancy, just hold them in front of the meter.

Alternatively you can hot glue the discs to the meter but this is not super easy to do.

After the disks are attached to the meter simply insert it into the tube and enjoy!

Texas_Ace · August 26, 2018, 12:39pm

I generally just lightly blow the top out with some compressed air and it gets it clean enough to bring the readings back in line.

If needed a damp cloth could be used.

Texas_Ace · August 26, 2018, 12:44pm

It is possible I missed someone, I think I was 1 or 2 people short when I sent out the discs as I could not find the payments.

I do have 2 discs left, although they are from the “old” batch that read a bit differently.

So you will most likely need to do a little trial and error with different orientations on the discs to get the correction factor to the desired ~0.68.

I would just pick a nice stable light or 2 and take measurements before and after the discs are installed until the correction factor is as close to 0.68 as possible. You can add some reflective tape or electrical tape to the inside of the first bend if needed to fine tune the readings.

PM me your address or you can send a small payment to my paypal (it can be .10 cents so I can use the paypal shipping system to print the label).

KawiBoy1428 · August 26, 2018, 12:56pm

I have an extra filter you can have, I got three with the tube.

SKV89 · August 26, 2018, 3:31pm

I recommend you get the calibration light set from Maukka so you can know for sure if your lumen sphere is calibrated correctly.

Texas_Ace · August 26, 2018, 3:36pm

Indeed, this would be ideal.