Slacker. There is no question at all you should be adding the full compliment of 3 chips. If your not happy you can always remove 1 or 2 chips. We need to have before and after night shots as well. Thanks.
) work in the real world myself. He shows a peak starting at 4.1A, but very little gain above 3.8A or so. Haven't come across any corraborating evidence in real flashlight tests.
Seriously I would try one at a time and check for heat build up. I have no idea what the heat sinking is like on this flashlight. The hotter the LED the less efficient. Before and after shots with the same camera settings will give a good idea whether the light is working better or not. 3 amps is the sweet spot for output and battery life. Good luck on your mission.
Yeah, hopefully
Only thing is the heat sinking. The 3 leds are bonded on a single aluminium star that is glued into the head of the light, so the only area of contact with the head is around the edge of the star.
+1 - they are all in parallel so doesn't matter where. That's why you can even remove some, or double stack (3 high) them. But, oh boy, pushing a single 26650 over 5 amps? Not sure what the limit is on high qual batteries... I know there's been things published here on BLF about that. 6 amps would be nice, 2 amps per LED, but 6 amps on 1 battery? - only the best batteries, maybe...
Not sure, but 9-10A even on an IMR may be unrealistic -- should check this.