Ultrafire T8 modding

well it should arrive soon from manafont, and being me, its to be modded

first off, by its size, i dont think its worth waiting for XML. i feel it will overheat WAY too fast with that much wattage (3 x 3.6 x 3amp = 32.4 watts)

i feel the R5 might be a better option at 16 watts.

this depends ENTIRELY on available heat sinking. well see

my question is in terms of driving them

should i just do a direct driven series? meaning the 3 leds in series driven by two 18650's?

or should i come up with such a complicated driver?

Three leds in series with a Vf of ~3.2V would require a voltage of 9.6V, two li-ions in series only gives 8.4V (and that is when fully charged). I don't think direct drive is a viable option. You could use a boost type regulator or a step down regulator with the leds in a parallel configuration.

An underdriven XM-L produces more light at the same current than an XP-G, it all comes down to what costs you find acceptable. Three XM-L's will give you a light with more overall light output and slightly less heat (if driven to the same currents) at the expense of a few bucks, it will also probably have a bit floodier beam and wider hot spot.

well after viewing the angles on the XP-G vs the XR-E, i found that the R5 XP-G has ALOT more flood, yes a nice small tight hot spot.

its both a throw and a flood

the reason is the led has ALMOST a full 180 degrees of viewability, whereas the XR-E did not, and had rings WITHOUT a reflector!

the XP-G has no such rings from my experience.

also if I was to use XM-L's i would want them fully driven. I dont buy leds to underdrive em!

i plan on having an uber pocket Aurora V6 with an XM-L.

I already have the V6's as:

XR-E Q5

XPG R5 (have 2 so far lol)

MC-E (not sure bin but about the same light at 2.8 amp as the R5 at 1.4 lol)

so an XM-L is next, along with ANOTHER MC-E of better bin!

The R5 is my new fav, which is funny cause it used to be the Q5!

but there is alot of light loss due to the reflector designed for a XR-E

Back on to the T8

this has 3 SMALL reflectors, most suited towards an R5 in my opinion.

my choice is run 4.5 amps, or run them in series.

if there WAS a driver that could handle that, i would buy it, BUT i cant seem to find it.

will the R5 handle 4.2 Vf in direct drive? or would that make it go BOOM! lol

well after viewing the angles on the XP-G vs the XR-E, i found that the R5 XP-G has ALOT more flood, yes a nice small tight hot spot.

It doesn't. Counterintuitively, the "flood" is from the central angles of an emitter, but the "throw" is from the side angles.

will the R5 handle 4.2 Vf in direct drive? or would that make it go BOOM! lol

Emitter Vf is luck of the draw. However, this assumes 1 battery and if you put 3 emitter in parallel, they're all going to be at different currents and together drawing ~5A from one cell (if it were an IMR, probably 3A or less if standard lithium, which I guess would solve your BOOM problem).