Review: Zeusray FL05518 Domed & De-Domed

Video Review:

Nice video review :slight_smile:

And surprisingly good camera work in the dark with lots of different flashlights to keep track of :wink:

What is the effect in terms of lifespan on the pill after de-doming it?

I would happily convert all my pills but if it kills the life it’s not a good trade.

I think you have a point Wentil. Cree has come out with an almost domeless version, but it has some left to protect the LED. I think the life span effect must be negligible as long as you keep the light indoors.

I don’t think it’s a weather issue, as after all the interior of the flashlight’s head, including the collaminator, is pretty much waterproof, given its O-ring design and tight threading.

I’m more concerned that by removing the dome, the lifetime of the emitter surface will be adversely affected. It may burn much more brightly, but at what cost? Surely the engineers at CREE didn’t waste their time and money engineering, manufacturing and applying that dome atop each LED emitter surface for no purpose.

— Wentil

THe purpose of dome is to extract more lumen, make the LED more efficient, so its not wasting their time and money. WE dedome it, is to either get more throw or to change the tint, its like trading for lumen & efficiency.

If have dedomed and dome version, you can compare it. The light is more gradual and even across the illumination area with dome version, where as dedomed version have different tint (colour), different brightness, different throw distance, etc. There are a thread sharing all about dedome facts, but i forgot where is it ~

It seemed to me (in the photos of the review, above) that far more lumens were being generated by the pills with their domes removed.

My interest is mainly in getting the most lumens possible, it doesn’t matter to me whether the tint of the light is cooler or warmer.

However, if removing the dome significantly shortens the life of the pill, that’s something I want to know in advance. :slight_smile:

I’m not sure I understand what you are saying. When you say “pill” do you mean driver? If all else is equal, a domed LED will produce more output than a de-domed LED. If output is all that you care about, leave the dome on.

Used in rain and dust, even though it starts off sealed, I would expect that the LED will likely need wiping off some time. Without the dome, that means wiping off the bond wires as well as the dust and mud.

https://www.google.com/search?q=led+phosphor+seal+volatile

I’m sure domed emitters last longer, but they last a lot of hours anyway. They won’t be the first things to go out on your flashlight, unless, of course, they get fried and go poof, but de-doming won’t change that anyway. I’m not a huge fan of de-doming, but I’m in the minority, and haven’t done much of it.

My only goal is to increase lumen output of the flashlight, so if de-doming accomplishes that — and does not massively reduce the emitter’s lifespan — I’ll give it a shot. I have a large number of LED flashlights to experiment with. :slight_smile:

Yes, lumen output is my main goal. So de-doming will not increase output. Thanks, I’ll leave my LEDs domed. :slight_smile:

Dedoming increases throw. Lux I think is the unit of light per solid angle. It slightly decreases lumens, total light output in all directions.

That’s admittedly a bit puzzling, as the throw of the lumens being generated is dictated by the angle of the reflector, not the emitter. If you aren’t actually generating more lumens by de-doming, and also since you aren’t changing the reflector by removing the dome, you must be changing the angle of the generated light before it hits the reflector. Making it deeper in the well of the reflector, per se, less “floody”, and more concentrated into one area… which would, in turn, increase the effective throw by reducing the width of the beam — which makes sense, given that you say you effectively reduce the light output in other directions than the throw.

As Dr. Jones explains, the dome helps light escape at the surface of the phosphor. Without it, that light is reflected back and some of it scatters out. That makes the surface brighter. Dedoming makes the LED surface brighter but makes it look smaller from the outside so the total light is less.

Well then, I’ll keep the domes on, for maximum light output.

Thanks, Fritz! :slight_smile:

I have 3 Zeusray’s, one de-domed, all used and abused and all still working. :slight_smile:

Review of the Zeusray EDC120:

Thanks for a nice review.
I decided to get one Zeusray EDC100 after trying few other zoomies.

I’m very happy with the light, its very bright and good made for the price. In fact, I ordered 2 more, that’s how much I like it :slight_smile: Also, I would like to add that mine has last mode memory :slight_smile: It memorizes last mode if you leave it on for a 2 seconds or even less. That’s perfect, exactly what I need. I just hope Dealmetic will send me same lights in my new order.