Efficiency Copper Lumintop Tool, Worm, Maratac, ReyLight

Until now I thought it was the low conductivity of the TiTool that was inefficient, some people suspected the electronic switch. It turns out its the driver. The inefficient driver is also in the ReyLight Copper Tool, the regular Copper Tool, and my copper Maratac. Only one of my ReyLights has the efficient driver, and my Worm has the Efficient driver.
The bottom axis is in Minutes.

Tested Medium, the Worm is regulated and lasts past the 4 hour mark when I ended the test because the ReyLight turned off by then. The bottom axis is in hours.

I have data from 3 other people as well
running score
Lights with Efficient driver
1 Copper Tool w Nichia (maukka)
1 Reylight Driver from gunga (from the Copper Reylight Run) (jon_slider)
4 Worms (3 copper w Nichia (1 ronniepudding, 1 UPZ, 1 jon_slider), 1 Stainless w XP-G2 (ronniepudding))

Lights with INefficient driver
1 Copper Tool w Nichia (UPZ)
2 Copper Rey Light w Nichia (ronniepudding and me)
1 Copper Maratac (me)
1 TiTool Reylight version w Electronic switch (maukka)
1 Brass Tool w Electronic switch (UPZ)

so far, all lights with Electronic switch have the Inefficient driver, and all Copper and Stainless Worms have the Efficient driver.
Copper Tools (combined ReyLight and MLH versions) are split, 3 inefficient (jon, UPZ, and ronniepudding), 2 efficient (maukka and jon)

Note all lights tested use the NoPWM driver that came out about Oct 2015. I have not tested any of the earlier models with the PWM driver.

It would be great to see those drivers element side.
Mike

Interesting, thanks for testing, I would have to test my copper Reylight Tool, and the four bare drivers I bought from Rey (of which one is owned by Gunga, is that the one tested?).

Were the tests performed with Eneloops?

I was hoping there would be a way to tell without disassembly.

So far only the Worm has consistently tested to have the efficient driver.

Gunga thinks the inductor changed:

[QUOTE=gunga] … the ReyLight driver. I’ve used and sold many. I did notice a change in inductor size. It’s possible that the earlier run had a bigger and more efficient inductor. …

… the inductor changed on some or all. I currently don’t want to dismantle everything to check .[/QUOTE]

Good info, great post, thank you.

I used fully charged Eneloops, but I did not use the exact same battery in each light, and I only ran one test per light. So I hope you will share your own tests.

the Inefficient Copper ReyLight on the far left I bought from the Group buy. The Efficient ReyLight driver on far right came from gunga. The two ReyLight drivers “look” the same to me, same traces, same buttons:

The Worm driver looks like the ReyLight drivers, but with a larger button. The Maratac driver looks different from the ReyLights and Worm driver.

The test on the left is my inefficient Reylight against my efficient Worm. The test on the right is my efficient gunga ReyLight Driver, against my inefficient stock Maratac Driver

The high mode can be tested in 30 minutes. By then the efficient driver will still be running regulated, just ~3 lumens below its starting brightness. The inefficient driver will be running at less than Half its initial brightness.

The Medium mode test takes 4 hours. By then my inefficient Maratac driver had turned off the light completely. By contrast my efficient ReyLight driver from gunga, was still running regulated, less than 2 lumens below its initial brightness.

I will add the data for 2 Ti’s and one copper today as well. The Ti’s have the ReyLight driver and the copper has the Maratac driver. I will also test a pair of AAA Maratacs with XP-G3 3 and 4 bin emitters and the Lumintop copper tool has an XP-G3 5 bin.

thanks. I will be curious to learn if your TiTools do what maukka reported in his thread

My test did not confirm maukkas comment that “on mid the difference is gone”. I found the Worm is significantly more efficient on Medium, than the Maratac.

if you need a Worm for an example of the Effient driver, “the Brass Worm is on sale
Discount codes and link deleted, Ive been informed Im not supposed to share… sorry… contact Freeme and M4D M4X and Pablo and Banggood

I might buy another Worm just to move the driver into one of my Maratacs or Reylights.
this assumes Copper, Brass, and Stainless Worms got the Efficient driver (Im not talking about the 4th gen that have pocket clips)
So far only 4 worms have been tested, all are Efficient.

Thanks for the info Jon, I will test my brass worm later if I don’t forget.
Just an FYI that code works for all the worms and other Lumtop-direct products. Great if you have prime, I think it’s one time use though.
Also a great deal is Prince Mini $31.92

My copper Reylight Tool (Nichia 219b version) high on an Eneloop (maybe a graph later):

min lumen
0_78
1_78
4_78
8_79
12__75
16__74
20__68
24__62
28__48
29__35
30__19
32__6

thanks! Another unregulated High mode, same as the TiTool and Brass Tool. The “inefficient” driver


the graph shows no regulation and a 30 minute runtime. This is the “inefficient” driver, although it meets the current 30 minute spec. I believe it is also inefficient on medium.

By inefficient on medium, I mean it meets the new spec of 4 hour runtime, not the old spec of 10 hour runtime. The medium IS regulated, for the first 3 hours, but then drops off rapidly in my test

Sorry for the crappy cell phone pic, in order of testing.

Looks like I had the luck of the bad draw one mine! I have an extra driver for one of the Ti’s from Rey, I will have to test it out after I find it. I wonder if Rey will fix this issue and sell us new drivers?

I do not have a light meter, so I could not measure output. But, I can say that the 3 tools do not appear to be regulated and the Maratac did, it held good output through most of the test.

thanks for your efforts and shared info
3 more Reylight TiTools w electronic switch in the “inefficient” group

your maratac Im guessing is a 2 mode w PWM, a Rev 2 model? the runtime is over 1 hour, congrats

to clarify about this “defect”
It is technically not a defect, Lumintop changed the specs to 30 min on high, and that is what the new driver does. by “new driver” I mean in the ReyLight Copper and Titanium, and Brass Tool, all with NoPWM. For the Maratacs, Im also only reporting the 30 minute runtime on high, on the late Rev3 model w NoPWM. The CuTool w NoPWM is also starting to look like it has the shorter unregulated runtime. With the exception of maukkas early 2016 Massdrop sourced Copper Tool, which he says is NoPWM also.
this is his TiTool and his CuTool (non reylight version)

what is unique about maukkas Copper Tool is that it runs regulated on High for over 40 minutes, like all the Worms, and one of my Reylight drivers.

I have a Copper Tool coming in the mail. Will report.

Im close to pulling the trigger on a Brass Worm, I would really appreciate confirmation that it runs regulated for 40 minutes on high, instead of dimming steadily such that after 35 minutes it is at half brightness or less, like the ReyLights. A photo showing the inside of the head would also interest me.

My Maratac is the copper twisty with 3 modes, PWM and should be Rev. 3 since it has the GITD ring in the bezel end. The 3 that had bad runtime were 2 titaniums and a copper Lumintop Tool.

Testing now. I don’t have a light meter but I will let it run on high for 35+ minutes and see if there’s any significant output drop.

thank you matt, that makes sense. I bought a Rev 3 in April of 2015 and it did have the GITD ring and PWM also. I hag gunga put i a Reylight driver, from the copper reylight group buy at end of 2015.

thanks also for clarifying your had 2 electronic switch and one mechanical switch, tools

that confirms that so far all the electronic switches have the 30 minute spec driver, that is unregulated on high mode.

The Maratac in my test is also a Rev 3 w GITD ring, but it is from Oct 2015, and is NoPWM. The Tools I bought after that are also NoPWM

it would seem that the PWM Maratac you have runs considerably longer than the NoPWM one I have. However, before jumping to conclude that the NoPWM drivers are ALL 30 minute spec… I highlight again the Worms, which have all tested regulated for over 40 minutes… and NoPWM

much appreciate your time developing and sharing data

the quest for me is to learn how to recognize the drivers w NoPWM that run regulated for more than 40 minutes, as in the worm. At least Two Tools got the regulated driver, my reylight driver from gunga and maukkas CuTool… seems the only visual difference in those is at the inductor level… im hoping gunga may revisit the topic sometime when hes got a mod in hand

thank you for taking the time, in the interest of science :slight_smile:

Ok, tested with a standard 750mah Eneloop.
Here are some shots at 0 min, 30 min, and 35 min respectively

At about 36 minutes it started to dim but was still running well into 40 minutes.
I’d say pretty confidently that this is the efficient driver.

thank you,
from your photos, I agree you seem to have the driver with the regulated high, it does not look 50% dim at the 30 minute mark.

now Im tempted to get a Brass Worm as a driver donor for a Copper Tool…:slight_smile:

It can be done. :).

Also tested a Lumintop Copper Worm (219B) which was bought from BG a couple of months ago. Mine has the efficient driver. The button on the driver board is smaller than on my efficient Copper Tool, similar traces though.

From the left: Cu Tool, Cu Worm, Ti Tool. No PWM on any of them.

Runtimes with a fan