All those tricks for FET drivers holds true for boost drivers. It’s essential to keep the voltage as high as possible when under load.
First of all, thank you for your great reviews and information ToyKeeper. I highly appreciate all of your input of time and effort into everything you do for this community. (That goes for all reviewers.)
I have a question about the above statement you made. Due to the different optics and other variables that go into the equation, would a D18 with (XP-L HI 5000K) emitters in it, out throw a D18 (SST-20 5000K) model? I am looking for the best throw and tint if possible.
The only other soda can sized light I have is the Olight X7 which the box claims it is 24,500 Candela with 313 meters of throw 9,000 lumens.
How would the Olight X7 and the D18 compare using the (SST-20 5000K) emitters and the D18 with (XP-L HI 5000K) emitters? I know I am asking very basic questions, but my expertise does not lie in mathematical conversions when it comes to flashlight math.
The SST-20 5000k will out throw the XP-L HI model by quite a bit.
The manual says nothing about that. At least, not the manual linked from Noctigon’s M43 page. Perhaps the translator forgot to mention it?
https://intl-outdoor.com/noctigon-418650-meteor-m43-p-864.html
In any case, manuals are great… but test results are better. The manual says it has constant current output… but test results show it does not actually achieve steady output. It’s very sensitive to changes in voltage, even on low modes which should be easy for the driver to handle.
That sounds like a good idea in theory, but it doesn’t seem to actually work. Again, maybe I just got a bad Meteor. But I have the LG high-amp cells recommended on the Meteor’s product page. They’re freshly charged. The light has freshly cleaned contacts. I put them into the M43 and hold the button for maximum turbo. I get about 4800 lm.
Then I take those cells out of the Meteor and place three of them into a D18. I get over 10,000 lumens. 200% as much light from 75% as many cells.
FET drivers are sensitive to many things like cell type, charge state, and contact resistance. But as far as I can tell, the M43 is also sensitive to those things… perhaps even more so. Its highest-power mode is so fickle that I don’t think I’ve ever gotten it to run within 2000 lumens of its spec. It appears to be running in low-power mode even with the exact cells it is designed for.
Maybe I just got a bad Meteor.
If I were more motivated, I’d do like a couple other people have done and replace the driver. It’s a really cute and well-designed host which is enjoyable to use. Hank really did a good job with it. But I haven’t modded it, so it’s still completely stock.
Yes, this is standard low-voltage protection. Almost all lights have this now.
No, there is no point. With a FET, that tests the batteries… not the driver.
If you want to see the shape of the water-cooled turbo discharge curve, look up your cells on HKJ’s battery comparison site. It’s the same curve, and HKJ has all the data meticulously documented.
Thank you for registering your opinion. If there is an error in the data, feel free to make corrections below:
How do you feel about linear drivers in flashlights?
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I agree. I’m not sure AEDe agrees though:
He also posted that the D18 is not an upgrade from the M43 because the D18 requires high-drain cells. This would imply that the M43 does not require them. And he included graphs, to make the point that the voltage need not be as high as possible and the cells need not be as high-amp as possible. But then he talked about the importance of keeping the contacts clean, which seems to imply the opposite.
So… mixed messages. It’s a little confusing.
Continuing the discussion about it doesn’t seem to be getting us anywhere, but it does at least keep this thread on the front page and help promote Emisar’s new light. Discussing the M43 here also helps teach the search engines that people looking for “M43” might be interested in “D18” instead. :+1:
So it will out throw the Olight X7 I am guessing ?
Olight X7 specs, according to maukka’s review: 36.5 kcd / 8940 lm = 4.1 cd/lm
D18 5000K specs, from Intl-Outdoor: 65 kcd / 14000 lm = 4.6 cd/lm
The D18 lux (cd, kcd) is higher, so it should throw farther. Additionally, the D18’s beam shape (cd/lm) is slightly more throwy, so it should be slightly more practical for seeing into the distance.
Neither light is particularly throwy. If you want to see farther, try an Emisar D1S. It gets 130 kcd / 1300 lm, or about 100 cd/lm. It also weighs much less than either of these larger lights, runs longer at turbo, and costs less. It’s much more practical if throw is what you’re looking for.
So what if the M43 can make its max performance on lesser batteries…it’s max performance pales in comparison to the D18’s max performance. 
A maglite can make its max performance on crappy D cells, so anything that requires 18650 cells to achieve maximum performance isn’t an upgrade! 
Thank you. I have an Olight M3XS-UT it is rated at 250,000 Kcd and 1,200 lumens 1000 meters throw. However it is a larger light. It takes 3 or 4 CR123A’s or 2 18650 which makes it a little long and the head is about 2.5 inches I believe. I was just curious how the Emisar and the Olight stacked up. I think I will go for the Emisar. SST-20 5000k.
Exactly what I wanted to know! Thank you! Thank you!! :+1:
How much distance from the optics is required so that mixxed cct setup is not noticeable in the beam? Wondering specifically about close up use indoors. Is it fully blended at 1 ft away from light? Closer, further?
Thanks
It seems to blend in about 10 to 15 cm.
Thank you.
Thats a lot closer than I expected!
It is not true.discharge curve has stable current or power.
Fet driver has neither stable current nor stable power.
So what is not clear?
Is something really wrong with circuit than driver restrict pover. Usual 10A batteries has good enough resistans to hold turbo . About 25W/cell <10A
Ofcourse 10A cells provide less stabilized/nonstabilized rantime ratio but absolute turbo rantime is almost the same as using hidrain 3Ah cells.
The last question. Is contact betwin tail copper board and aluminium host cleaned too? (contact of two metals. best place for oxidation )
How do you feel about linear drivers in flashlights?
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Linear driver is good for moonlights where efficiency of buck and led on constant current are low.
ANSI lm of M43 is almost twice D18 ANSI lm.)
TK, what’s the emitter you got in your M43? Nichia D220 219B?
First impressions are good! Mine landed today and will be replacing the Q8 tonight 
Thank you TK for the review and work put into this 
Hank puts together a gook looking light, no doubt!
AEDe, you obviously really like the Meteor M43, as a great many of us do. But the complexity of the driver and it’s UI make it a Love/Hate kind of thing, not everyone loves how it works and I know quite a few shelving the light or selling it for this reason. No need to target anyone here because they don’t hold your viewpoint, that’s an argument that really can’t be won.
I have modded the M43 to make it perform to my liking, but it was not an easy mod! The MCPCB creates limitations by it’s design, the compact nature of the build allows very little space for changes. I’m very happy with how Anduril works in my Meteor but the light doesn’t handle high temperature well due again to the extremely compact design. Love the M43’s style, as a first production Noctigon light it really is impressive although it did leave ample room for the improvements brought to the table by the D18.
TK has a lot invested in Hanks success and her involvement in his developments is greatly appreciated by a high majority in this forum. I may well be her biggest fan and have her firmware in as many of my lights as possible. The very fact that manufactured lights are coming out with TK UI’s attests to her success in this field, job well done and I am deeply grateful to her extensive efforts.
If the FET+ style driver is not your thing, there are other lights out there for you I’m sure.
I think that AEDe has a more in-depth understanding of the Meteors driver than most here do. Its obviously rather complicated compared to most drivers here.
In the turbo mode the Meteors driver provides constant brightness (>=90%) until the batteries are empty if the light is kept cool. All the diagrams posted here regarding this show this. I have also done this measurement myself and got the same result.
Emisar lights use FET drivers and so the D18 does too. This does not make them better than the boost driver in the Meteor. They are just different and certainly cheaper to develop and produce. Many people here on the forums care about the max output. Hank wants to sell lots of lights, so…
But of course, one developer pitted against another… each with a far different viewpoint on what constitutes correct. They will each gain a following, that’s how it works.
But what is the use of a flashlight that can’t be picked up and operated by just anyone? Any emergency scenario where the kids, the wife, a neighbor, a firefighter or police officer gets handed the light and they can’t work it. No time to figure it out, throw it down and grab the light that works.
There is a following of the coffee that comes from coffee beans eaten by an elephant and then collected from it’s dung. That doesn’t mean it’s a main stream coffee (no pun intended).