1) The Zebralight will be more efficient due mainly to their buck drivers, versus the linear regulators in the FW3A. Here’s some examples of measurements Maukka has done:
SC64C (90 CRI XP-L2): 140 lm/W on lower output, 106 lm/W on high.
Emisar D4 (80 CRI 219C): 84 lm/W at regulated channel, ~67 lm/W on medium FET
There is, of course, a ~2x difference in price, and you trade Anduril for a different UI (although one that is still well-liked by most users).
Edit - Since Maukka now has numbers in his review, the FW3A with XP-L HI showed 93 lm/W at max 1x7135 channel, and 85 lm/W at max regulated level.
2) The default ramp ceiling for both smooth and discrete modes for the FW3A build of Anduril is the maximum regulated level.
If you want both channel boundaries, for the FW3A specifically, you can set the minimum ramp at level 1, the maximum at level 130, and 7 steps. This will result in mode 4 being the maximum 1x7135 channel, and mode 7 being the maximum 7x7135 channel.
It’s not really a fair comparison. XP-L2 is very efficient, 219C not as much.
LH351D right up there with XP-L2 in efficiency and the additional 7135’s add more efficiency to the medium modes.
This frosted lens will also be a few % worse too. In any case the Zebralight will still probably be more efficient but the FW3A will be closer and have a better range of efficient modes as well.
My brightest X6 is 10,660 lumens, my favorite is the solid copper one-off with it’s Nichia NVSU333A UV emitter, but only by a slight margin. The Tritted Titanium X6 is pretty close…
For me, it’s about output first and foremost. If we could pack 30,000+ lumens into a package the size of an Emisar D4 with a 18350 tube that (somehow) doesn’t get hot SUPER quick, that’s what I’d like to see.
Question for you Dale: of all the emitters you’ve used over the years, is there much of a difference in heat created by different emitters running at the same wattage? Does a XML2, XPL2, XHP35 etc heat up the same at say… 10 watts? I wonder if there will ever be technology that would give us LED’s that don’t get hot as quickly and could give us 30,000 lumens in a pocketable flashlight.
WELL, 10 watts from an MT-G2 doesn’t make much heat. Especially from a 9V variant MT-G2. Barely running. 10 watts from an XHP-35 is pretty miserly as well, still making lumens, just running well within it’s limits. See a pattern here?
30,000 lumens, pocketable, and we win the lottery twice a year, right? All fly Lear Jets and drive Corvettes? See a pattern here? Even if the emitter technology headed us that direction, what Alien is going to bring the battery technology up to par? Can’t say it won’t happen, but it’s doubtful I’ll live to see it… never know though. My Dad is 90, remembers lighting their house with kerosene lamps…
Hahaha I guess one can dream right! I kind of figured watts = energy = heat in one way or another. I was just curious as to wheather the newer LED’s were getting exponentially more efficient in energy to output or not really.
I suppose the next step would be to put a laser behind a diffuser lens and see what you get. Maybe a triple; red, blue, green lasers with a heavily frosted optic.
The thing is that we tend to push these emitters up against the ceiling, and of course they’re inefficient up there. We need to lower our demands to conserve that heat and bring them into the realm of efficiency, maybe use 70.2’s in 12V at lower current and use more of them, something like that. Like the SST-40 really shines over an XM-L2, but not so much at lower levels as the Cree is more efficient down there. So we need some lights like this one that are elegant, stylish, more of the gentleman’s EDC than a Search and Rescue master blaster. There needs to be diversity, not an all or nothing approach.
Y’all didn’t think I could see that, did ya? Of course I like making a light do all it can do, but when I use them I typically spend most of my time in level 4 or 5 of 7.
This is one of the things I love about Anduril, it’s two lights in one… the ramp ceiling keeps the light sane, a good all around working light. Double click to find the alter ego…
Of course I like making a light do all it can do, but when I use them I typically spend most of my time in level 4 or 5 of 7. 