Review: KD 7135 V2 drivers 3040/2280/1520 mA with mode configuration

Does this fit the "famous" UF-980L? (17mm?) Now that i have so many throwers, i'd like to give that light a new lease of life. The looks and built is pretty decent, but then the PWM turns me off.

I'll see if it fits the Yezl big head XM-L floody as well. That light is decent, and is a XM-L flooder, has a decent low but the 90Hz PWM renders it somewhat unusable.

Had a couple of the 8*7135 version arrive today. Both are 38K's

Thanks very much for the well done review! Frontpage'd and Sticky'd.

Any idea on the lumens of the low low? I am waiting for the 3040 to arive. I was worried about the low low being too high. Now I'm really worried it's too low. Would it be lower than a quark low?

A measurement of the LED (XM-L T6) in low mode was 0.9 Lumen in my integrating sphere. In a light that will become around 0.7 Lumen.

That doesn't sound too bad. Quarks are around .2 lumens to .9 . I guess I'll have to see when I get it though.

On a Quark the next step up isn't 300+ lumens. :p It would have made so much sense to go with 4 levels. I bet a revision will be in the works quickly.

The 105c gives me 2.8 and this one gives 2.91 with a 4.05V Rev.Jim. The low is a really nice single lumen. To me, the leads were easier to solder than on the 105c. Just a bit more room. I went for three mode, LMH with no memory. I really like this driver a lot with all the different setup choices.

I hope to get around to testing them after Xmas , ordered a lot of stuff , and nothing got here before Xmas [ my stuff ]

I bought an ebay light , and the plan was to use it for testing these drivers

I just replaced the driver in my MF UF 3 mode with one of these. No way to measure current at the led but I'm seeing 3.04A at the tail with a freshly charged (4.21v) AW IMR and 3.00A from an AW 3100 at 4.07v. I'm pretty happy with these results since I was seeing 3.8A+ from the 3100 and 4.5A+ from the IMR with the original driver. Hopefully the heat and output sag will be reduced. I also like the low. It seems to be about perfect for reading a map in a dark car without blinding the driver or looking for something in the bedroom without disturbing the wife's sleep.

How does mode switching work here?

The OP writes: "The mode memory snaps in about 0.5-1 second after a mode switch. I normally prefers memory after switch-off so I do'nt have to tap twice to shift level."

In a KD review is written: "I would rather have it switch modes with a single 'off/on', but it takes two 'off/of' cycles to switch modes. Not really a big deal, maybe even better. Just used to switching with a single click is all..."

Two taps to switch modes when the light is on? Or just one?

And what about memory - what does it mean that it "snaps in about 0.5-1 second after a mode switch"? Only that if I switch the light off less than 0.5 a second after a mode switch it doesn't remember the last mode or anything more than that?

Do the answers to the above questions change if I disable mode memory?

I have memory disabled so that it starts in high every time but the way I understand it is that it will remember the mode if left on in that mode for .5-1s. In order to switch modes you have to switch off then back on (to clear the memory) then quickly switch off and back on again to jump to the next mode. I'm not sure what happens if you switch modes and then turn it off within .5s but my guess is that it would start in the next mode when you turn it on again later.

Has anybody tried making a sandwich with these drivers? I'd like to make a 3 board sandwich with the 3A version and I was wondering if a single mcu would handle all 24 of the 7135s?

Thanks,

Tony

anyone tried programming the PIC12F629 with their own code? I seem to have problems communicating with the chip. I checked my connections, but all seem ok. could it be one of the components on the PCB that prevents somehow the programming signals from working correctly?

I gotta say, I love what you listed as a con. I loaded up one of the 3040 mA version with a XML U2 in a p60 and using the panasonic 3100 cells, the ultra low will run for hours and hours and hours and put out enough light to read by, read a map, check on sleeping kids, etc. If I find anything is wrong with the driver, the medium is too close to the high. If I could, my alteration to it would be to keep the high and low and lower the mid by about 1/2.

Wouldn’t a 2 board sandwich work better for our 26650trple XML lights?

You mean whole board or only AMC's

The 7135

Well, not the prettiest idea but if needed to remove a single or few amc 7135 chips i simply crushed them with pliers and carefully removed the leftovers. Works.

Probably.

I'm just exploring options. Right now I'm running mine basically DD using the UF XM-L P60 driver and according to my meter with 10ga leads it pulls around 12A (4A per emitter) at startup off of a fresh imr. I figured 9A from a 3 board sandwich would make for a nice "wow" or turbo mode leaving medium and low for normal use. Though I guess I'd be better off to keep it below 2C from a 4000mah cell so it's not limited to running imr. Maybe a 2 board sandwich with some extra 7135s to push it closer to 8A on high? Anyhow, I was just curious if there is a limit to how many 7135s a single mcu can handle if I remove the mcu from the other board and slave the "dummy" board to the board with the mcu?

Thanks,

Tony