XP-L2

[kiriba-ru]

@vestureofblood

The thing that bugs me about that dome the most is the poor quality color blending. Every Cree LED made in the past 8 years has had better color blending around the edges than what XPG3 has. Lower VF will be nice though I suppose.

EDIT: In fact the color rendering period with XPG3 has been poor in my opinion. Even the high CRI neutrals to me don’t look nearly as good as equivalent emitters from another series.

XP-G3 domes are similar to those from XT-Es and they were not made for use with reflectors. Mostly for street lightening and lenses like Ledil Strada and etc. Not sure you will be so dissapointed with them under any frosted TIRs.

[Texas_Ace]

@djburkes

Well…I wouldn’t go buying any XP-L2s anytime soon. I got 4 in today, planned on using one of them in a S2+ host and the other three in a X6 triple. They may be fine in a triple but they aren’t worth a crap when used as a single led on 16mm noctigon in combination with a fet and a 30Q or VTC6. They just turn blue and die in turbo mode. I’ve got two left, I don’t know how much it costs to ship to Amsterdam (I have djozz in mind) but I would like to send these to someone that has the equipment to test them so no one wastes their money on something that’s not going to work for them.

I have been setting up a LED test station of sorts, I will be running some XHP35 test next week anyways. I could toss some XP-L2’s in the mix as well since they are something we were considering for the GT project anyways if you wanted.

[RMM]

@djburkes

Well…I wouldn’t go buying any XP-L2s anytime soon. I got 4 in today, planned on using one of them in a S2+ host and the other three in a X6 triple. They may be fine in a triple but they aren’t worth a crap when used as a single led on 16mm noctigon in combination with a fet and a 30Q or VTC6. They just turn blue and die in turbo mode. I’ve got two left, I don’t know how much it costs to ship to Amsterdam (I have djozz in mind) but I would like to send these to someone that has the equipment to test them so no one wastes their money on something that’s not going to work for them.

I just got some 4000K V5 binned XP-L2s in and have been testing them for a few days. I have one set up with an FET driver in an S2 host and it doesn't turn blue at all with a VTC5 or HE2 and the output drop on the meter is consistent with other LEDs I've tried. There is a definite tint shift around the hotspot and spill, but not nearly as bad as XP-G3. These are usable in smooth reflectors, but not as good as XP-L because of the tint shift.

They are a tight fit, but I put them dome on under some unmodified Carclo 10507 optics and the domes haven't detached yet after several 80C+ body temperature runs. The tint shift is much less noticeable in the triples, but still there (we already knew this from XP-G3). I haven't tried them with other Carclos yet, but if you do be careful because the cup shape is a bit different on all of them.

All-in-all these aren't a really big deal...an incremental upgrade at best, but as with the XP-G3 we're giving up something in return for more lumens (beam quality and ability to dedome).

[giorgoskok]

Richard , any luck with dedoming ?

[RMM]

@giorgoskok

Richard , any luck with dedoming ?

Haven't tried, but the phosphor / dome look just like what we've seen with the latest generation Crees (won't dedome very cleanly, and if it does the surface isn't very smooth) --- I was sort of thinking that the Carclo would do it for me.

I'll take a look at doing one when I do more dedomes later this week.

[giorgoskok]

@RMM

@giorgoskok

Richard , any luck with dedoming ?

Haven’t tried, but the phosphor / dome look just like what we’ve seen with the latest generation Crees (won’t dedome very cleanly, and if it does the surface isn’t very smooth) —- I was sort of thinking that the Carclo would do it for me.

I’ll take a look at doing one when I do more dedomes later this week.

I had the same thought about some newer xp-l’s , i was hoping for a miracle

[djozz]

I got two XP-L2’s in from Kaidomain (very cool V4’s). I have no time for an emitter test, but I just made a pretty stereo picture at 0.5 mA. And indeed, the phosfor looks no different than the XP-G3.

I checked it in a few reflectors (small OP reflector and smooth C8 reflector) and, as Richard pointed out, the tint variation over the beam is really not as noticable as the XP-G3, they should be fine in flashlights (apart from that they will not dedome well), and if they come in 90+ CRI just like the XP-G3, there is no competition in output.

[RMM]

Just did a current draw test:

• FET driver w/ XP-L2 V5 4000K on Noctigon w/ HE2 fully charged: 8.2A!
• FET driver w/ 3x XP-L2 V5 4000K on Noctigon w/ HE2 fully charged: 15.2A!

Better make sure you've got your heat sinking and reflow right!!! These have low vF similar to the 219Cs.

[djozz]

@RMM

Just did a current draw test:

• FET driver w/ XP-L2 V5 4000K on Noctigon w/ HE2 fully charged: 8.2A!

• FET driver w/ 3x XP-L2 V5 4000K on Noctigon w/ HE2 fully charged: 15.2A!

Better make sure you’ve got your heat sinking and reflow right!!! These have low vF similar to the 219Cs.

Ah, so that is the deal, low Vf, nice for single cell multi-emitter lights! (if you like output, that is )

[MRsDNF]

Nice update guys. Thanks. :+1:

[The_Driver1 (The_Driver)]

Thanks Guys!
The low Vf should substantially increase the efficiency at higher currents even it the LED isn’t actually brighter compared to the current XP-Ls.
You probably all know this, but it will be much easier to make a single cell light that stays in full regulation at 3A+ for the entire runtime (currently very few lights, mainly from Zebralight and Armytek manage to do this).

[Tom_E]

Very good point. I should have known that, but never thought of it that way. I got my head in the high amps/max output mode most the time, but that kind of usage on 7135 based drivers, for example, is pretty darn good.

[Texas_Ace]

Has anyone seen 90+ CRI XP-L2’s yet?

I just looked through the places I know to check and could only find 80cri. Thinking this could make for a pretty nice EDC LED with a bit more power then what I have now.

[djburkes]

@RMM

@djburkes

Well…I wouldn’t go buying any XP-L2s anytime soon. I got 4 in today, planned on using one of them in a S2+ host and the other three in a X6 triple. They may be fine in a triple but they aren’t worth a crap when used as a single led on 16mm noctigon in combination with a fet and a 30Q or VTC6. They just turn blue and die in turbo mode. I’ve got two left, I don’t know how much it costs to ship to Amsterdam (I have djozz in mind) but I would like to send these to someone that has the equipment to test them so no one wastes their money on something that’s not going to work for them.

I just got some 4000K V5 binned XP-L2s in and have been testing them for a few days. I have one set up with an FET driver in an S2 host and it doesn’t turn blue at all with a VTC5 or HE2 and the output drop on the meter is consistent with other LEDs I’ve tried. There is a definite tint shift around the hotspot and spill, but not nearly as bad as XP-G3. These are usable in smooth reflectors, but not as good as XP-L because of the tint shift.

They are a tight fit, but I put them dome on under some unmodified Carclo 10507 optics and the domes haven’t detached yet after several 80C+ body temperature runs. The tint shift is much less noticeable in the triples, but still there (we already knew this from XP-G3). I haven’t tried them with other Carclos yet, but if you do be careful because the cup shape is a bit different on all of them.

All-in-all these aren’t a really big deal…an incremental upgrade at best, but as with the XP-G3 we’re giving up something in return for more lumens (beam quality and ability to dedome).

Well crap, I don’t know why the ones I had died on me then. The remaining two that I had are in route to someone to test…it may have been a crappy reflow?…but it was on two different mcpcbs and they both have XP-L V6s on them now and run fine…so I don’t know.

[RMM]

dj, I'm not sure what was going on then because I have run these very hard repeatedly with no signs of thermal stress. Maybe yours had extra low vF? Did you measure the current draw or forward voltage?

[pilotdog68]

How many lumens you think it is doing at 8+ amps ?

[Mitko]

@pilotdog68

How many lumens you think it is doing at 8+ amps ?

Like 2250-2300( v6 sample, Mouser breed, kit 51), yet it runs hot like hell…i aint quite sure how long how it will hold those on a long term base
G3 isnt much of a high amp long term champ, they die pretty fast( personal exp)

The most annoying is that they dont dedome, thus makes them useless fro throwers

[RMM]

@pilotdog68

How many lumens you think it is doing at 8+ amps ?

I'm only seeing 1500-1600 at startup OTF, but that's non-AR w/ an OP reflector. 1400+ after 30-60 seconds. I'd believe 1900-2000 LED lumens if you could keep it cool enough.

[djburkes]

@RMM

dj, I’m not sure what was going on then because I have run these very hard repeatedly with no signs of thermal stress. Maybe yours had extra low vF? Did you measure the current draw or forward voltage?

Nah, I don’t have a very good meter and I’m doing (what I consider to be) “ok” with a meter if I can measure battery voltage, lol. I’ll let you experts handle that end of it all. I probably need to go back to the drawing board and start off with this to learn about current, lol.

[Texas_Ace]

I just received a package from DJ :partying_face:

Hopefully I will have some time later today to see what was up with his emitters and get some hard numbers.